July 9, 1915.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

83

and the fact that the output had gone down showed the
seriousness of the absence of the workmen. In making an
order for the amount claimed, the magistrates declared their
determination to deal severely in future with any similar
cases brought before them.

A fatal accident at the Batley Colliery was investigated at
the Batley Town Hall, on the 5th inst., by Mr. P. P.
Maitland (district coroner). Henry Lockwood, 22, was
working at the rear of a coal-cutter last Friday, when he
got into the revolving wheel of the machine, and was killed
instantly. Tom Lightfoot, a deputy at the colliery, said the
machine in use at the time of the accident was a
“ Diamond ” coal-cutter, and the bed which was being
worked was 17| in. thick. There had never been any trouble
with the machine, which was installed nine years ago. It
was Lockwood’s duty to follow it and shovel away the dirt,
so aa to keep the cutters clear. When the machine was put
into motion Lockwood should have been standing at least
a yard away from the wheel. The wheel was 4 ft. 6 in. in
diameter, and there were about 40 cutters on it. Mr.
John Brierley, assistant manager at the colliery, advanced
the theory that when the machine was started the
cutters had pricked into the coal surface, the result
of the contact being that the machine was thrown back
a few feet immediately it was set in motion. The cutters
should have been just clear of the coal face when the
starting switch was put on. Cahill, who was in charge of
the machine, was an excellent workman, and the witness
suggested that it was by an oversight that he had the
cutters slightly in the coal when the machine was started.
Asked how the recurrence of such an accident could be pre-
vented, Mr. Brierley said care should be taken to introduce
gradually the cutters into the coal face.—James Henry Cahill
stated that he and Lock wood saw the cutters in proper posi-
tion, after which the witness went to the switch, and started
the machine on receiving an assurance of “ all right ” from
Lockwood. Almost immediately the machine had started he
missed the light from Lockwood’s lamp, and he stopped the
machine at once. He was unable to account for the accident,
as he had so adjusted the machine that the cutters were clear
of the coal face and the wheel was free to revolve. It was
after the machine started that it jumped back several feet.
The jury found that death was accidental, and that no blame
attached to Cahill. The coroner said this appeared to be the
first accident of the kind in connection with a coal-cutting
machine.

After 34 years as an underground official at the Heming-
field Colliery, Mr. Edward Atkin, of Elsecar, was presented
on Saturday with a timepiece and a gold-mounted umbrella
by the workmen and officials as an expression of goodwill on
the occasion of his retirement. Mrs. Atkin also received a
gold-mounted umbrella.

At the West Riding Police-court, Leeds, on Tuesday,
Joseph H. Corden, manager of the Fanny Pit, Rothwell
Haigh, owned by J. and J. Charlesworth Limited, was
summoned under the Coal Mines Act of 1911 for causing
several pit ponies to be worked in an unfit condition. George
Ward, horse-keeper at the colliery, was summoned on two
charges for failing to record the condition of the ponies, and
for having failed to report injuries to them. It was stated
by the prosecution that a Government horse inspector found
a number of ponies, which had either just ceased working in
the pit or were actually working there, with sores and
abrasions on their backs. Subsequently he examined the
underground roof, where the animals had been working, and
found the roads were not high enough to permit the ponies
to pass without rubbing against the roof and the boards
supporting it. The injuries had undoubtedly been caused by
the rubbing, not on one day, but on a number of days. The
manager said that difficulty had been experienced in keeping
the roads in a proper condition owing to the number of
workmen who had enlisted. The stables were in excellent
order, and, generally speaking, the animals were in good
condition. Mr. A. Willey, for the defendants, called evidence
to show that the roof of the pit was liable to sink suddenly.
The condition of the ponies, it was contended, was not con-
sistent with the statement that the sores found upon them
were due to their continually rubbing against the roof. The
defendant Corden was fined £5 on each of the two summonses,
and was ordered to pay the costs of witnesses. Ward was
fined £1 on each of the three summonses.

Lancashire and Cheshire.

Coal Owners and the War Loan.

Messrs. Andrew Knowles and Sons Limited, Pendlebury
Collieries, Manchester, have put into operation <a scheme
which will enable their employees to participate in the War
Loan by easy instalments. Facilities will be given by thq,
company to any workman expressing a desire to invest 5s.
and upwards, the proprietors holding the vouchers until
payment is complete.

Lieut. Kenneth Burrows, son of Mr. Miles Burrows, who,
as previously reported in our columns, has been wounded in
the fighting at the Dardanelles, left Malta for home last
week.

Major Norman Pilkington, who is second in command to
his brother, Col. Lionel Pilkington, of the 5th South Lanca-
shire Regiment, has returned home with a section of his men
from the front. The St. Helens Territorials left the trenches
on Sunday, and reached home on Monday afternoon. Major
Pilkington says the miners in the corps have done magnificent
service. The way in which the St. Helens men had riddled
the German positions and defeated the efforts of the enemy’s
miners were the admiration of every regiment at the front.
Several men had received the D.C.M. for their skill and
bravery as miners.

The board of management of the Lancashire and Cheshire
Miners’ Permanent Relief Society have decided to invest the
sum of £17,000 in the War Loan.

Notts and Derbyshire.

Accident at Gedling—Pit Ponies Win Prizes—The Bentinck
Accident.

The Gedling Colliery, two miles from Nottingham, which
is owned by the Digby Colliery Company Limited, was on
Friday afternoon, July 2, the scene of a somewhat serious
accident; as a result of which nine men sustained more or
less severe injuries. The accident was due to overwinding.
It occurred when men were being lowered for the afternoon
shift. Thirteen men were on the descending cage, and
instead of it slowing down on nearing the bottom of the
shaft, it continued at a good pace. The sudden impact at
the bottom gave the men a severe shock, one of the men sus-

taining a broken leg, and other men were injured at the
knees mainly.

The entries in the two classes for pit ponies at the Royal
Agricultural Society’s show at Nottingham, last week, were
less numerous than in recent years, probably the main reason
being the heavy demand upon the collieries in this national
crisis. The animals were judged by Mr. Wm. Beattie, of
Hardwick Grange, Clumber Park, on Saturday, the con-
cluding day. Shipley Colliery secured the premier award in
both classes, not exceeding 13 hands and not exceeding
14 hands. The Wollaton Collieries Company Limited were
second, and Shipley third and reserve and highly recom-
mended in the former class; and the Babbington Coal Com-
pany and the Wollaton Collieries Company second and third
respectively in the latter.

The inquest on the 10 victims of the pit-cage disaster at
the Bentinck Colliery, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, last week, was
opened at the Lime Burners’ Arms, East Kirkby, on the 1st
inst. After evidence of identification had been taken—in
order to permit of the funerals taking place as soon as
possible—the enquiry was adjourned for three weeks. One
remarkable feature of the inquest was that the question
arose as to whether there were nine or 10 victims. Nine
had been identified, but there was only a portion of a
trunk of another, and with the bodies being so mutilated, it
was suggested it might belong to one of the others. Dr.
Hamilton and Supt. Rodgers, however, were of opinion
that there were 10 men killed. Mr. D. Whittingham, the
coroner, said he understood there was a collision between the
descending and ascending cages, the former of which was
chiefly injured, part of the bottom, constructed of iron, being
knocked out. The men on that deck were dashed to the
bottom of the shaft, and were instantly killed, and the bodies
were much mutilated. Other men died in the cage, and
seven were injured. It was an important case, went on Mr.
Whittingham, and was unprecedented so far as the history
of the county was concerned. For nearly half a century
there had been nothing like this either in Nottinghamshire
or the adjacent counties, and it might be without parallel
in the history of the country.

At a meeting of the Buxton Lime Firms Company’s staff
and friends, on Tuesday, a sword was presented to Mr. Tom
Ryan, jun., now a lieutenant in the 228th Field Company,
Royal Engineers.

The Midlands.

Colliery Re-opened at Coseley—South Staffordshire Mines
Drainage—Trade in South Staffordshire.

Mr. J. Hartshorn, late certified manager at the Thornleigh
and Bunns Lane Collieries, Dudley, has been appointed
certified manager for Messrs. Robert Fellows Limited, at
their Corngreaves Collieries, Cradley Heath.

A commencement has been made to re-open the Deepfields
Colliery, Coseley, Staffordshire, which has remained water-
logged for a number of years. The plant has been purchased
by Messrs. Parrish, colliery proprietors, of Pensnett, who are
at present engaged stripping the shaft. Several thousands
of pounds will have to be expended before any coal can be
drawn. Special concessions have been made by the South
Staffordshire Mines Drainage Commission, and when in full
working order the colliery will find employment for between
400 and 500 miners.

The monthly reports of the engineers to the South Stafford-
shire Mines Drainage Commission, issued on Saturday, show
a decreased pumping of 1| million gals, compared with a
year ago, when 13,228,500 gals, were raised each 24 hours.
The general manager and engineer for the Old Hill district
(Mr. Edmund Howl) reports that it is still necessary to work
Gospel Oak Mond gas-driven plant and Moat old engine to
assist the Moat new engine. On the 18th ult., the third
rod in No. 1 plunger left broke. The rod was of pitch pine,
18 in. square and 56 ft. long, was an uphill buffer rod, and
had been at work for nearly 30 years. A spare rod being
in stock, the engine was standing four days only. The come
of water was now about 4| strokes per minute, full speed
being 6 strokes a minute. The Deepfields new engine alone
was now sinking the water in that district, the water being
now below the fireclay coal. The water was being lowered
at Leabrook and Crown Meadow, while at Park-lane the
accumulation of water in New Mine coal was being pumped
out. In the Old Hill district, it is reported that owing to
the almost total 'absence of rain during June the water in
the northern portion had still further decreased, and was
easily dealt with by the one engine. At the meeting, held
on Wednesday, it was decided that, in accordance with an
award of the arbitrators, a mines drainage rate for the year
ending June 1916, payable in two instalments, be assessed
and levied upon all occupiers of mines within the Tipton
district after the rate of 3d. per ton on fireclay and limestone,
and 9d. per ton on ironstone, coal, slack, and other minerals.

Mr. John Henry Bailey has been appointed manager of
the Rawdon and Marquis collieries, owned by the Moira
Colliery Company Limited. On Tuesday, June 28, a*
presentation was made to him by the officials and workmen
of the Birch Coppice Colliery, Hall End, Tamworth. The
gifts included a marble clock and bronzes from the workmen,
including >a purse of gold; a beautiful barometer, by the
officials and staff. Mr. Bailey has worked at the colliery for
over 35 years, from a pit boy to the position of assistant
manager at the same colliery.

Some of the Cannock Chase collieries have now added the
price-advance anticipated during the past week or two, house
coal being 2s. dearer, and slack Is. per ton. The Warwick-
shire colieries have not yet taken any further general action.
There is a disposition by the Warwickshire coal masters to
await the Government plans for regulating wages and profits
in the coal trade. But it is thought the early autumn at
least must see material additions both to cost of production
and selling prices. So far, no stocks have been accumulated,
and the anticipations of the householder of his winter require-
ments easily absorb all the house coal available. More
bitter complaints are heard as to the working of the
miners. Many pits in Warwickshire, South Staffordshire,
and Cannock had from 100 to 200 men playing on Monday
and Tuesday this week, and it is found difficult now to get
the younger men to work more than three days a week.
Managers find they can get far larger outputs from the
middle-aged and elderly colliers—men least physically fit.
The proprietors have done their best to obtain larger produc-
tion. The local miners’ officials are very active and
emphatic in the same endeavour, realising, perhaps, that
unless there is an immediate improvement the prospect of
their securing exclusion for the miners from the compulsory
arbitration provision of the Munitions Bill is vanishing.
The employers now reproach themselves that they did not
insist on the condition that the war bonus should only be

paid where a specified number of days were worked. Con-
sumers of coal report that barely adequate supplies have been
obtained during the week. Agents are firm for recent prices.

Mr. Edmund Howl, the general manager to the South
Staffordshire Mines Drainage Commission, recently pur-
chased, at a local sale, a portrait in oils of the late Mr.
Joseph Hall, the founder of the Bloomfield Ironworks,
Tip ton; and the Tipton District Council, at their meeting
on Tuesday, accepted the offer of the portrait for hanging
in the council chamber. Mr. Joseph Hall lived in the
seventies, and the firm which became Burrows, Brahmah and
Hall were the makers of “ B.B.H.” brand of iron, that
became famous throughout the world. It was stated
during the presentation that George Stephenson, when
laying the first railway track, insisted on having “ B.B.H.”
iron. The late Mr. Hall was the discoverer of the process
of “ pig-boiling,” and at a later date invented an entirely
new type of furnace, which resulted in increasing the output
from 50 tons to 1,000 tons weekly.

Kent.

Capital Raised for the Tilmanstone Colliery.

The £50,000 required to be raised for Tilmanstone Colliery
by June 30 was duly subscribed by the shareholders and
debenture holders, and the only condition that remained to be
fulfilled in the agreement with the old debenture holders
has thus been complied with. The colliery is, therefore, now
safe from any foreclosure, and the necessary work for
increasing the output is being put in hand. At present only
300 or 400 tons of coal weekly are being raised from the
Five-feet seam, this being principally owing to the financial
stringency that has prevailed, but within a very short time
the directors hope to have increased the output to 2,000 tons
weekly, and to double that amount within three months
afterwards. That would bring the colliery up to the largest
output it had reached prior to the unfortunate water trouble
that was responsible for the financial difficulties. Under the
scheme of the expert mining engineers who went into the
question with the shareholders’ committee, the works to be
carried out will enable the output of the colliery to be steadily
increased.

It is gratifying evidence of the faith of the shareholders
in the Kent Coal enterprise, that during the period of the
war £140,000 should have been raised for various East Kent
collieries—£90,000 for those of the Kent Coal Concessions
Group, and now this £50,000 for the East Kent Colliery
Company’s Tilmanstone Colliery. This loyal support should
see these collieries safely through the war period, and people
well qualified to speak on the matter see prospects of a big
business with France in coal of the class now being raised
from Tilmanstone Five-feet seam and Snowdown Beresford
seam, as many French collieries have been put out of action
owing to the German invasion.

Scotland.

Mining Education in the Colliery Districts.

Mr. David Todd has been the recipient of a handsome
testimonial from the officials and workmen employed at
Broomrigg and Knowehead pits, belonging to the Banknock
Coal Company, in view of his appointment as assistant
district manager at Auchlochan Colliery, Lanarkshire. The
gifts took the.form of a beautiful Louis cabinet for Mr. Todd
and a diamond and sapphire ring for Mrs. Todd.

Sergt. Hugh Logan, of the 6th Scottish Rifles, who was
for some time under-manager at Hamilton Palace Colliery,
Lanarkshire, has been wounded in action in France. He is
at present in hospital at Woolwich, suffering from a flesh
wound above the left ankle. Sergt. Logan was one of the
crack shots of the regiment, and won the Duke of Hamilton’s
cup.

Mr. Thomas Arnot and Mr .R. W. Brown have been
appointed joint managers of the United Collieries Limited,
Glasgow.

New coal-washing plant is being erected at the Fauld-
house Colliery, Fauldhouse, belonging to Messrs. Barr and
Thornton, and in other ways is this concern brought up to
latest ideas of mine management.

A Smoke Abatement Exhibition will be held in Glasgow
early in the autumn, under the auspices of the Smoke Abate-
ment League of Great Britain and the Corporation of
Glasgow. Specialities in smokeless fuel and combustion will
be strongly represented.

The Scotch Education Department have issued the sug-
gested outlines of a course of specialised instruction for boys
in supplementary classes of schools in mining districts. It
is explained that the aim of these suggestions is to indicate
an alternative course of instruction for the supplementary
classes of schools in mining districts, where some consider-
able proportion of the boys is likely to follow the occupation
of coal mining. It is not intended that every part of the
suggested programme of work should be attempted, nor that
the scheme should be followed in the precise order laid down.
Teachers will naturally select the more elementary branches
of each of the main subjects for treatment in the first year
of the course, leaving the remainder for subsequent study.
Importance will be attached to the science work being over-
taken mainly by means of actual experimental -work on the
part of the pupils themselves. It will accordingly rest with
the managers of each particular school in such districts to
submit to H.M. inspector for approval the scheme of work
which they consider most suitable for the purpose of pro-
viding a sound and satisfactory preparatory training for
more advanced mining studies in continuation classes. The
following are general outlines of the course :—

1.	Technical arithmetic and mensuration, with particular
reference to mining problems.

2.	The elements of algebra.

3.	The chief geometrical propositions.

4.	Drawing, freehand drawing of machine parts, ele-
mentary machine drawing.

5.	Experimental science, practical measurements and the
elements of mechanics, heat and chemistry.

6.	Geological nature studies, which should be fully illus-
trated by specimens, good diagrams, and, wherever possible,
by personal observation of the features of the district.

7.	Mining, elementary considerations.

8.	Manual instruction.

Official information has been received that Sergt. James
Macmillan, R.S.F., has been recommended for the D.C.M.
for distinguished conduct and bravery on the field. Sergt.
Macmillan was a miner at the New Cumnock Collieries.

Pte. Fred. M‘Luckie, attached to the Sth Royal Scots,
has been awarded the D.C.M. Pte. M‘Luckie enlisted
at the outbreak of war in the 8th H.L.I. (Lesmahagow
Company), and was transferred to the Sth Royal Scots. He
is 26 years of age, and was emploved as a miner in Raploch
Colliery, Larkhall. Mrs. M’Luekie has other four sons in
the Army, and in all has 26 relatives fighting.