July 30, 1915.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

233

Fig. 29a is a transverse section of a small cone with
sporangia . (B) ; what are shown are micro-sporang a
probably from a small Bothrodendron cone. Fig. 30 are
two large megaspores of the same type of the smaller ones
shown in figs. 21, 22. Fig. 35 shows a horizontal section
of two spores with hirsute appendages different from any
others seen. Fig. 36 shows the ground mass composed
mostly of microspores of a comparatively large size.
Fig 37 is a vertical section cut from the same zone as B
in fig. 33, the megaspores are plainly shown in a grown
mass of microspores ; the large mass in the centre is a
microsporangia full of spores. Fig. 38 is one of the
large megaspores covered with long hair-like appen-
dages ; such megaspores as 38 continue to the top of the
spore or hard coal, which suddenly ends, the spores
becoming rapidly 1 ss in size and quantity. Fig. 39 is
cut from the upper portion of the hards of the Walsall
seam, showing the alteration cf the spore walls. Fig. 41
is a horizontal section from the same region. Fig. 40
is a horizontal section from the Walsall seam, showing
a megaspore which is different from any of those hitherto
seen ; as will be noticed, the walls are covered with
bulb-like protuberances; similar bodies have been
described by some authorities as fungus, but on minute
examination they are found to belong to the spore body.
Fig. 42 is cut from the soft coal about 6 or 7 in. above
the hards of the Walsall seam. Here we have a return
of megaspores similar in size to those found beneath the
hard coal. The coal above this horizon contains few
spores and is soft, approaching in texture the lower
portion of the seams.

(To be continued.)

COASTWISE SHIPMENTS DURING JUNE.

According to the monthly returns issued by the
Commissioners of H.M. Customs and Excise, the
quantities of coal shipped coastwise during June were
as follow:—

From	Total	cargo.	Total	bunker.
	1914.	1915.	1914.	1915.
	Tons.	Tons.	Tons.	Tons.
Bristol Channel ports 		324,308	176,988	19,315	11,103
North-western ports 		239,761	256,123	58,733	57,243
North-eastern ports 		575,320	667,919	19,393	40,516
Humber ports		208,162	152,471	9,937	10,021
Other ports on east coast		15,398	8,195	8,364	10,804
Other English ports 		1,944	3,037	5,092	1,904
Total from England and Wales		1,364,893	1,264,733	120,834	131,591
Ports on east coast of Scotland			129,021	57,240	36,241	11,619
Ports on west coast of Scotland		136,212 i	173,038	29,326	25,901
Total from Scotland		265,233	230,278	65,567	37,520
Irish ports 		— !	12	3,946	2,241
Total from United Kingdom 		1,630,126 i	1,495,023	190,347	171,352

The destination of cargo shipments during June was
as follows:—

m x .	June 1914. June 1915.

To ports m	T<mg	Tons.

England and Wales........ 1,102,984	...	990,244

Scotland................... 155,543	...	71,410

Ireland ................... 371,599	...	433,369

Shipments to London during the month amounted to
708,300 tons.

COLLIERY ACCIDENTS.

Kirkby-in-Ashfield.

The adjourned enquiry into the cage disaster which
occurred at the Bentinck Colliery, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Notts,
belonging to the New Hucknall Colliery Company, on
June 30, by which nine miners were killed, was opened on
July 22, by Mr. D. Whittingham, the district coroner.

The coroner, in opening, explained that the shaft in which
the accident took place was an upcast shaft. It was about
14 ft. in diameter, and was sunk in 1895 to a depth of
440 yds. It was fitted with two double-decked cages, and
14 men at a time were generally carried on the lower deck.
Methods differed a great deal as to the means of winding,
and in this connection Mr. Whittingham observed that in
very cold weather contraction in some of the gear took place,
and in continuously hot weather, such as was experienced
up to the end of June, there was a certain amount of
expansion, and there was always a fight going on in the
winding ropes to get back to original conditions. It was
necessary, therefore, that they should be in the greatest state
of perfection possible. At some local pits, where the output
was very large, there were six guides, and several collieries
had safety guides—that was, two additional guides, which
were kept rigid and acted as a sort of buffer. This acted as
a counter-influence to the vibration which always occurred.
In the Bentinck pit, he took it, all had gone on satisfactorily
for many years in the present conditions. Methods of fixing
the guides differed. At many places they were held m
position by weights. At the Bentinck pit four of the six
guides only were weighted, the others being held taut by
means of clamps through timber. It had come to his
knowledge that certain statements had been made alleging
that bumping had been going on for some time. No doubt
the jury had heard similar rumours, but he asked them to
disregard rumours which might have no foundation.

Percy Francis Day, who has been manager of the colliery
for three and a-half years, said he was not aware of any
difficulty with the winding apparatus up to the day of the
accident; but two years ago a tub caught the shaft side and
dislocated the gear, and one of the ropes was damaged.
About December 18 last a statement was made to him by

the under-manager, William Ward, as to cages catching,
and a very full investigation was made. The enginewright
told him it had been mentioned to him that the cages had
caught about three months ago, and he instructed the
enginewright to make an examination of the whole of the
equipment, which was done. No report was made upon
it, as nothing was wrong. All the guides were held by
means of clamps, but weights were left on four of the guides.
The management did not rely on weights at all. There was
a difference of opinion amongst colliery managers as to
which system was to be preferred. Personally he preferred
weights. Due examination had been made from time to
time of the winding apparatus in accordance with the Mines
Act. Witness agreed that it would be an advantage to have
extra guides, and also that the weighting of the guides might
be improved. They had, in fact, decided to put in two more
isolating guides. He did not think the sudden steadying
or sudden application of the brake by the engine driver had
anything to do with the accident. He thought the accident
might have been caused by the opening of a fence gate.
There was evidence of one of the cages having got opened
in the shaft. There were marks on the side of the shaft.
The length of one of these marks was 5 ft. This was at
a distance of 408 yds. down the shaft. Witness thought an
hour was sufficient time in which to make a statutory
examination. The general method of examination was to
feel the guide through the hand as the examiner descended
the shaft. He was not aware of any instance or any
occasion on which it was necessary to tighten the guide
within the last six months. All the shafts on a certain day
were examined by the four men. In his opinion a thorough
examination of the shaft could be made in that time. The
time taken by the statutory examination was left in the
hands of the men. The time was not fixed at all. In future
they were using sliding drop gates. Witness gave it as his
opinion that if a guide had to be replaced by a new one he
would not think it necessary to report that in the record book.

The coroner said he should tell the jury he disagreed with
that. The examination was “ to make a full and accurate
report of the result of the examination.”

Mr. H. Smith (Yorkshire Miners’ Association) asked the
witness if he had taken any statements from men who were
in the cage at the time of the accident, and witness replied
in the affirmative, and also that the statements were signed
by the men.—Mr. Smith said they should like a ruling on

the point as to whether the manager was justified in getting
signed statements from the men.

Mr. Elliot Smith, for Mr. Day, said in a great accident
like this a colliery manager, working day and night, had
many enquiries to answer on all sides, and many documents
to prepare for the mines inspectors, and it was very necessary
he should have first hand information. The coroner said
he agreed.

Mr. Day was next questioned on behalf of the injured
workmen and dependants, by Mr. Berryman, who stated that
he was instructed that the clearances between the conductors
was 12| in. That would be 6f in. from the centre of the
shaft. He was told that by measurement the cage protruded
into the other half of the shaft. Witness denied this, and
that he had heard for a long time that men had been
grumbling about these contacts.—Mr. Elliot Smith said he
wished to clear up a matter in reference to the report book
which had been referred to. This, said the witness, had
been kept in accordance with the regulations of the Mines
Act. It was not kept by the witness, but by the men who
made out the reports. Asked as to how long the gates on
the cages had been in use, witness said it was since the
commencement of the Low Main four years ago, and during
that time he had never known the gates to fly open. In
fact, if the gates were properly fixed they could not fly open.

Mr. Day then related in detail the steps he took to try
to fathom the rumour as to bumping going on in the shaft,
and he further said that as the result of his careful investiga-
tions he was satisfied that the cages were running in proper
order, and that there could be no truth in the rumours that
the cages were “catching.”

Mr. Mottram (H.M.I.M.) asked for the gates of the cages
concerned in the accident to be brought into court, when
it was stated that they had been repaired. Mr. Day said
he was not aware of this. Nothing was touched after the
accident until they had been seen by the inspectors and the
mining officials.

Mr. Mottram said he asked Mr. Day to leave the gates
as they were after the accident, but Mr. Day said he did
not remember the request.

The coroner questioned Mr. Hunt, the enginewright, as
to who gave the instructions for them to be repaired, and
Mr. Hunt did not know, unless it was his assistant. Mr.
Stringfellow was then called, and he said he gave the black-
smith the instructions, but he could not say that anybody
gave him the authority to do so, except that the manager
ordered the pit to be got ready for working again.

When the enquiry was resumed the next day, the evidence
of some of the miners who were in the cage at the time of
the accident was taken, and statements that frequent
catchings ” of tlie cages had been noticed by the men
were made, but in no case had they brought the state of
affairs to the notice of the management, and neither had
they organised an examination of the shaft, as they are
empowered to do under the Mines Act.

George Henry Hunt, of Bentinck Town, enginewright, of
twenty years’ experience, said he considered the methods of
winding at the Bentinck Colliery had been good and effective,
and that the material used was of the very best quality. No
record was kept of the tightening or slackening of the
conductors, and up to the time of the accident the winding
gear had worked all right. His attention had been called
to grazing of the cages in the shaft—as near as he could
recollect two or three times, the last being about 14 weeks
ago. On that occasion he made a most careful examination,
but could find no sign of any grazing either on the cages or
on the bolts or anywhere else, nor was any evidence of
grazing found in the shaft. He should have personal
preference for three conductors fastened to the cage, and two
isolating or separating guides. As to the cause of the
accident, he could not conceive of anything other than that
of a gate flying open, being left open, or by some means
getting open almost immediately the descending cage left
the top. He did not think the oscillation of the conductors
was excessive. They found a defective place in one of the
conductors. It was of quite recent occurrence, and was
found after the accident.

Questioned by Mr. Mottram with regard to the statutory
daily examinations, witness said : “ There were only two
men engaged in the work on June 29, compared with three
men in the ordinary way. The guides at the mouthing were
specially examined only once a week.” Witness could not
conceive of marks on the shaft being made by falling iron
at the time of the accident. If there had been a complete
iron bottom to the cage the men might not have fallen
through so easily, and it might be desirable to strengthen the
bottom of the cages with iron under the timber.

Mr. H. Smith drew Mr. Hunt’s attention to the formal
nature of the report books recording the examinations, which
led the coroner to remark : “ These books must be taken as
formal. The system, in my opinion, is a bad one; it is
formal rather than real.” Witness admitted that although
he signed the reports, he saw only one section of the
examination carried through.

The Coroner said he should tell the jury to reject the
evidence as to catching, because it had not been brought
home. The men could have demanded an examination. If
they were satisfied, in spite of what they said had occurred,
to keep on travelling in the shaft, what was the use of
their thrashing the matter out?

Mr. Elliot-Smith stated that the company were prepared to
carry out Mr. Mottram’s wishes in the matter of weights.
They were prepared also to put in two isolating guides (not
attached to the cages), and to take into consideration the
provision of the fourth guide to each cage, but the extent of
the weight the present headstock was able to bear had to
be remembered. Upon Mr. Mottram’s recommendation, they
would agree to strengthen the cages and alter the type of
gates. Until the strength of the headstock was ascertained
by engineers, the company dare not put in both the pair of
isolating guides and the pair of guides attached to the cages,
but they would put in those first which the miners or
inspector chose. The strengthening of the headstock had
begun, with the idea of putting in four additional guides.
No coal turning would be attempted until the two isolating
guides were established. As soon as they were in, the com-
pany proposed to turn coal, in the meantime strengthening
the headgear with the idea of putting in two additional
ordinary guides.

Mr. W. H. Barwell, consulting engineer, Sheffield, called
at Mr. H. Smith’s request, gave it as his opinion that the
accident was due to the wind caused by the movement of the
cages, which made them oscillate. He thought the con-
ductors must have been rather slack, and there had been a
small amount of neglect at all events.

In summing up, the Coroner said he would like to impress
upon the management the desirability of having the inspec-
tion books more fully, and a little less formally, kent. in
order that they might the better incorporate the life history
of the colliery. The question had been discussed as to the
desirability of the renewal of the guiding ropes, and in regard
to this, he thought it better to anticipate rather than to wait
until old age came on to these guiding ropes. He would like
to tell the jury that, although at this pit the guiding ropes
might have proved satisfactory up to the time of the accident,
the time had now arrived when they might fairly be “ pen-
sioned off.” To his mind, there were thousands of lives
wasted every year through accidents which might have been
prevented by the miners themselves carrying out the law, and
appointing their own examiners. He much regretted to
learn that thev had not in this instance availed themselves
of that valuable provision in the Act, and he would be glad
to hear of Mr. H. Smith, or someone else on behalf of the
mining community, exerting themselves to obtain a miners’
charter, with a view to preventable accidents being really
prevented. He was very glad that the suggested reflection
upon the management—the suggestion of bumping—had not
been proved at all. There was no evidence that this had
been brought to the notice of the management, but. at the
same time, he was personally satisfied that there had been
rumours that some additional oscillation of the conductors
had been a source of danger. He, however, thought the jury
might eliminate from their minds the question of personal
blame, because nothing had been brought home. As regarded
the theory respecting the accident being caused through a
swinging gate, he thought the jury might dismiss that from
their minds. Personally, he was of opinion the accident was
caused by some extra oscillation of the guide ropes.

The jury retired to consider their verdict, and after a
few minutes’ deliberation they came to the conclusion that
the men were accidentally injured and killed by reason of
two cages coming into violent collision owing to the oscilla-
tion of the cages and guide ropes. Thev regretted the miners
had not taken full advantage of the Mines Act bv reporting
to their officials, and having an examination. They thanked
the coroner for his assistance to them, and were glad to hear
that the colliery company were willing to make arrange-
ments in accordance with the recommendation of H.M.
inspector. They also recommended that a better method of
recording the examinations of the shaft should be adopted.

It is stated in Canada that the survey is being made for
a railway between Athabasca and Fort Vermillion, in
Northern Alberta, a distance of 300 miles, in connection with
the coal interests of Mr. D. A. Thomas.

Mr. James Byrne, coal merchant, Middlesbrough, who
died at his residence at Norwood House. Saltburn, on
April 24, left estate in England valued at £42.460 6s. gross,
with net personalty of £29,558 17s. 5d. in England, and
£1,010 abroad. The net real estate in England amounts to
£6,480.