August 6, 1915.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

285

On Saturday afternoon last the foundation-stone laying
ceremony in connection with 12 aged miners’ homes which
are being built by the Hetton and Eppleton and Elemore
lodges of the Durham Miners’ Association, under the
auspices of the Durham Aged Mine Workers’ Home Associa-
tion, took place. The scheme provides for 20 houses, but
only 12 are being proceeded with at present. Their cost
will be about £‘2,000. Sir Lindsay Wood has given a
donation of £500, and the Lambton and Hetton Collieries
Limited will give the bricks. The rest of the cost will be
defrayed by the miners. Mr. Holmes, who is treasurer of
the scheme, stated that the whole of the workmen at the
three Hetton pits had been subscribing Id. per week per
man for over two years, and had raised in that way over
£1,500. With gifts and donations, the fund now had about
£2,100 in hand. He referred with gratitude to the gifts of
Sir Lindsay Wood and the colliery company. Mr. Cann and
Mr. Dickinson made references, in their addresses, to the
deductions made from old age pensions of those who lived
in such homes, and denounced the deductions as iniquitous.
Mr. Cann pointed out that the aged miners’ homes move-
ment had saved the country thousands of pounds, and
averred that the Government should recognise its duty and
assist rather than hinder the movement.

The circumstanes under which Andrew Turnbull Crook,
30, a chargeman at Redheugh Colliery, was electrocuted have
not been fully discoverable. At the inquest on Monday it
was stated that he was found lying near to the main cable,
and that about 6 in. of insulation had been torn from the
cable. A piece of the cable tape was lying between the
switches, and three of the cables had been tied together with
rope, for what purpose the electrician who gave evidence
could not say, nor could he explain how it came to be beside
the cable. A current with a voltage of 300 to drive a 10 h.p.
pump passed through the cable. Crook, at the time of the
casualty, had been switching off the power from pump. The
jury, in the absence of further evidence, returned an open
verdict.

Despite its huge membership of nearly 180,000, its income
from members’ contributions of about £200,000 per annum
and its total receipts of about £216,000, the Northumberland
and Durham Miners’ Permanent Relief Fund cannot make
ends meet on its present rate of contributions—5d. per
member per week. x This is not surprising in view of the
lact that last year, for example, relief was granted in the
cases of 276 fatal accidents, and over 40,000 non-fatal,
involving a total outlay of nearly £209,000. Last year the
total expenditure was £10,000 in excess of the income. For
the last seven years there has been a deficit each year and,
although the fund is still worth nearly half a million
sterling, a delegate meeting held in Newcastle last Saturday
decided that the time had come when an effort should be
made to adjust the income to the calls upon it. Therefore,
it has been decided to increase the contribution by Id. per
week,, which will yield an extra £7,500 per annum. It was
explained that the deficit on the accident department had
been accentuated by the fact that over 50,000 members had
joined the British forces.

Maj. Arnold Irwin, of the 5th Northumberland Fusiliers,
was married at Tynemouth on Wednesday to Miss Elsie
Maude Storey. Maj. Irwin is the eldest son of Mr. Chas.
Irwin, fitter to the Cramlington Collieries, and is at present
on furlough from the front.

Mr. Mann, late under-manager of Messrs. Strakers and
Love’s Willington Colliery (Sunnybrow), who has been
appointed under-manager at South Hetton Colliery, has been
presented by the officials, workmen, and his personal friends
at the former colliery, with a silver tea service.

Cumberland.

Closing of the Watergate Colliery—Munitions Committee
Appointed.

Mr. James Hill Stephenson, Old Vicarage, Great Brough-
ton, has been appointed under-manager at Pica Colliery
(Cumberland), in succession to Mr. R. Fell, who has obtained
a ^similar appointment at St. Helen’s Colliery, Flimby.

. Lieut. Herbert Johnson, of the 2nd Battalion 13th Welsh
Regiment, son of Mr. George Johnson, coal shipper, Selby-
terrace, Maryport, has been gazetted captain from June 17.
Capt. Johnson, who was a mining engineer in South Wales,
obtained his second-lieutenancy commission in October. He
has thus risen to the rank of captain after eight months’
service.

The Ullcoats Mining Company Limited and the Wyndham
Mining Company Limited have posted notices at their pits
intimating that, at the suggestion of the Government, and
in order to assist their employees to take an interest in the
War Loan, and so help the country to carry on the great war,
they offer to purchase on behalf of each of their employees
a £5 War Bond. The condition is that each man who accepts
the offer shall agree to repay £4 15s. for the War Bond by
instalments of not less than 4s. per fortnight.

The Watergate Colliery, near Maryport, the property of the
Flimby and Broughton Moor Coal and Firebrick Company,
ceased working on Friday, a notice having been posted up in
the afternoon to the effect that the pit would be closed until
further notice. The men therefore brought up their gear,
and the ponies were brought to bank on Tuesday. Upwards
of 250 men and boys will be thrown out of employment. The
company, which was recently placed under a receiver, own
three other pits in the district, viz., Bertha, Alice, and Seaton
Moor, and batteries of coke ovens, which adjoin the Water-
gate Colliery; but it is understood that these will all continue
working. Operations at the new sinking pit at Risehow,
belonging to the same company, have also ceased, and the
pit was stopped a week ago. For the last month the com-
pany have been opening out the Little Main seam in this pit,
and at the time of the stoppage four shifts of men were
engaged, the coal being brought to the surface by means of
kibbles. The closing of Watergate Pit is another serious
blow for Maryport, as the colliery has been one of the indus-
trial mainstays of the town for many years. There is still
plenty of coal in Watergate, and at the new sinking pit at
Risehow the work of coal mining has practically just com-
menced. As the winding enginemen and the pumpsmen at
both places have been retained, it is the general opinion that
the stoppage will only be of a temporary character, and it is
fully expected that both pits will again be in full swing in
the course of a few weeks. Why a pit should cease working
at a time when there is such an urgent demand for coal is a
question upon which the outside public have no accurate know-
ledge, but, at the same time, it must be remembered that the
cost of coal getting has increased enormously since the war
began. The new wage agreement and the war bonus have
added considerably to the anxieties of coal owners with small
pits, not to speak of the increased price of pitwood and other
things which are essential to the carrying on of a colliery,

and, taking all things into consideration, it is almost safe
to assume that the owners were better off in normal times
than they are at present, even with coal selling at 4s. 2d. a
ton more than it was a year ago.

On Tuesday afternoon a meeting, which was convened by
the Mayors of Workington and Whitehaven, at the request
of the Lord-Lieutenant of the county, was held in the
Council Chamber at Workington, for the purpose of electing
a representative committee to consider how the resources of
the district could best be utilised, and submit to the Ministry
a scheme for the production of munitions. Aid. P. Walls
(Mayor of Workington) presided, and there was a large
gathering of representatives of all the interests concerned.
The town clerk of Workington (Mr. John Warwick) read a
• letter from the Minister of Munitions, instructing the meet-
ing as to the constitution of the committee and its duties.
On the motion of Sir John Randles, M.P., it was agreed
that the committee should consist of 27 members, equally
representative of the employers, the employed, and the muni-
cipal and urban authorities in the West Cumberland area.
The following were appointed to form a committee :—
Employers : Sir John S. Randles, M.P. (steel), Messrs. T.
G. Marley (iron), L. T. Helder (iron ore), L. H. Fletcher
(coal), J. Milburn (engineers), J. A. Haynes (transport), W.
Burnyeat (limestone), J. Ellis (ferro-mangancse), W. J. D.
Burnyeat (coke, benzol, and other products). Employed :
Messrs. J. Flood, J. Cassidy, J. Carruthers, T. Cape, T. G.
Duffy (Cleator Moor), W. Carlton, A. J. Gibbs, W. Cowen
(Whitehaven), and L. S. W. Sandham. Municipal and urban
authorities : The Mayors of Workington and Whitehaven,
and the chairmen of the Ccckermouth, Maryport, Harrington,
Cleator Moor, Arlecdon and Frizington, Egremont and
Millom Urban District Councils.

Yorkshire.

The Cowdall-Braithwell Railway—Developments in the
Rawmarsh District—More Summonses at Barnsley.

Among the many industrial schemes and developments in
the South Yorkshire coal fields retarded by the war must be
included the construction of the new railway, 22 miles in
length, which is to run from Gowdall, near Goole, to a
terminus near Braithwell, about six miles south-west of
Doncaster. The new line passes through the richest portion
of the South Yorkshire coal field, and for the purposes of
construction is divided into two sections, the first of which
ends at Bentley, and the other at Braithwell. Bentley is to
have a station of its own. Excavations for the foundations
are now being made. For a time the shortage of labour
severely handicapped the contractors, but the difficulty is
now being overcome by the employment of older men to take
the places of those who have enlisted. Junctions will be
effected with the collieries throughout the district which the
line traverses, including Bentley, Bullcroft, Edlington,
Askern and Conisboro.

Interesting information with regard to the new colliery
which Earl Fitz william is sinking at Stubbin, Greasborough,
was given last week at a meeting of the Rawmarsh District
Council. On a letter relative to housing sent by the Local
Government Board, Mr. J. Speck urged the Council not to
lose any time in dealing with the question. A fortnight
previously they appointed a committee to meet Mr.
Newbould, the engineer to Lord Fitz william, to discuss the
widening of a road leading to Greasborough, and they had
the assurance from that gentleman that they were about to
commence getting coal. This signified that the new pit
would be a large one. He understood from Mr. Newbould
that Lord Fitzwilliam was wanting to build houses at
Elsecar, and that it was expected that there would be a
similar demand at Rawmarsh. Houses at the present time
were difficult to get, and he had heard of Is. per week more
than the ordinary rent being offered. Mr. Charles Rhodes,
when the sew’age works were being opened, told them that
there was coal in Rawmarsh for 200 years. Mr. Newbould
further informed them that the new pit would be up to date,
and that it was desired to assist Rawmarsh and
Greasborough as much as possible regarding the roads.
The new pit would reach the coal early next year. Mr.
Speck went on to suggest that in view of the importance of
the housing question they should co-operate with
Greasborough in seeking an interview with Mr. Newbould
and Mr. Talbot (the agent). A sub-committee was formed
to meet the Greasborough Council.

There was a large attendance of miners at Barnsley on
the 28th ult., when 56 fillers employed at the Houghton
Main Colliery were summoned for absenting themselves'from
work, and damages at the rate of 10s. per day were claimed.
The claim against four men was withdrawn. The claim
against nearly the whole of the men was in respect of
July 8. They worked in the Melton Field pit, where the coal
was cut by machine and filled by defendants. Prior to
July 8, said Mr. Gichard, one or two men had claimed that
they had not been adequately paid in respect of some
by-work. That allowance was made by the deputies, but if
there was any dissatisfaction the proper course was not to
stay away from work. They had a proper remedy, which
should have been taken. On the days in question the men
who were on the afternoon shift d.id not attend, and the
pit was thrown idle. There was a fall in No. 4 district on
July 7, and some men had to leave, their places owing to
that. But the fall was cleared away, and that did not
affect the staying away from work on the following day.
Another fall which occurred on July 8 was also removed on
that day. The men would have been found other work in
the pit. Mr. Mellors, manager of the colliery, said the
standing charges at the pit were £1 3s. 4d. per day. The
chairman (Mr. T. Norton) said they were satisfied that the
claim was made out, and ordered the men to pay damages at
the rate of 10s. per day. It was unfortunate that men with
grievances should go the wrong way about getting them
remedied. They had a legal remedy which he hoped they
would take. The only question was that of damages, and
he criticised the statement of losses handed in by the prosecu-
tion. He asked the Bench to consider that a number of
men working in that pit had been frequently sent home by
the management, whilst at. the time there was only one-third
of the full complement working in the No. 2 district of the
pit.

Lancashire and Cheshire.

The Tyldesley Council Gas Works Sub-Committee has
decided to interview Messrs. Travers and Gale, mining engi-
neers. of Leigh, with a view to their reporting as to future
developments of the gas works on the present site.

At the recent examination held at London University. Mr.
John Whitaker, second son of Nfr. Whitaker, of Brookfield.
Ashton, successfully passed his inter-Bacheloi' of Science
degree in mining engineering. Mr. Whitaker is a student
in the Wigan Mining College, and is the first mining student

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to take the B.Sc. course in the college. Between the sessions
he was at the Gars wood Hall Collieries, Bryn.

At the monthly conference of the Lancashire and Cheshire
Miners’ Federation, held at the Miners’ Hall, Bolton, on
Saturday, it was decided that the officials of the Federation
meet the employers of Lancashire and Cheshire with a view
to providing money for an ambulance convoy, at an esti-
mated cost of £35,000.

Notts and Derbyshire.

The Midland Accident Society—Mr. Dennis Bayley's
Ambulance Scheme.

The question of extending the operations of the Midland
District Miners’ Fatal Accident Relief Society into districts
where there are at present no agencies, was discussed at
the 129th quarterly meeting of the board of management at
Derby last week. It was stated that not one of the nine
men who lost their lives in the recent accident at the Bentinck
Colliery was a member of this or any kindred society, and
that they left altogether six widows and 28 children, six of
the latter also being motherless. Attention was also drawn
to the fact that the annual conference of the Central Associa-
tion of Miners’ Permanent Relief Societies had unanimously
adopted the proposal of the Midland Society that, in view of
the scheme to form a national fund for the relief of distress
caused by fatal accidents in collieries being left in abeyance,
the consultative committee should seek the support of the
colliery owners’ and miners’ associations throughout the
country in an effort to establish societies for providing benefit
in such events in localities where they were not already in
existence.—Mr. A. Saxton (who presided over the meeting)
mentioned that the consultative committee had now
approached the associations on the matter, and were await-
ing their replies. A great deal depended upon the attitude
of the colliery owners, who were not very favourably dis-
posed towards the permanent societies, having regard to the
fact that some of those organisations were retrogressing.—
It was claimed, in tire course of the discussion, that the Mid-
land society provided the greatest benefits for the smallest
contribution. To 14 widows it had paid in all over £8,000
in annuities, while one alone had drawn £697.—A committee
was appointed to initiate an active propaganda campaign in
the interests of the society.—The quarterly report showed
that owing to enlistments there had been a decline in the
membership, the total now being 41,259, as compared with
45,717 a year ago, and 41,381 at the end of the March
quarter. Nine widows and 13 children had become entitled
to benefit, and the numbers now on the funds were 318 and
424 respectively, increases of 16 and 10. The income,
including £2,252 in members’ contributions, a decrease of
£225, had amounted to £2,285, and the expenditure to
£1,978, as compared with £2,043 in the corresponding quarter
of last year. The balance carried to the credit of the benefit
fund was thus £307, as against £462. A sum of £5,000 had
been invested in the War Loan, and the present bank balance
was £1,366.—The board deferred until their next meeting
the question of making a further investment.—Mr. A. G.
Barnes was re-elected as chairman, and Major R. E. Martin
as vice-chairman. Neither of. these gentlemen was able to
attend the meeting, the first-named being indisposed, and
Major Martin on active service.

Mr. Dennis Bayley, of Nottingham, who is connected with
several collieries in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, and
who a short time ago induced the Notts and Derbyshire
miners and coal owners each to provide a motor ambulance
convoy, at a cost of £70,000, is now proposing that the mine
owners in every coal field shall pay a voluntary levy of £1
per 1,000 tons in their output of coal for 1914, and that the
workmen in their employment shall voluntarily pay a con-
tribution of 6d. per week for 20 weeks, to raise a fund for
the equipment and maintenance of motor ambulances for the
removal of wounded men to the hospitals.

The Midlands.

Important Pollution Case in North Staffordshire—More Fines
for “ Slackers ”—Mines Drainage: Heavy Rainfall—
English v. Foreign Timber.

At a meeting of Rowley Regis Urban Council last week
at the Public Offices, Old Hill, under the presidency of Mr.
John Priest, the Health and Housing Committee stated that
the mining engineer had presented a report upon his inspec-
tion of the working plans of mines at the Fly Colliery, Old
Hill, and they recommended that the Council’s solicitor be
instructed to make a claim upon the mine owners for the
estimated costs of restoring the highways and sewers at
Wright’s-lane, Lion-road, Cherry-orchard, High-street, and
Wagon-street, Old Hill, damaged by mining operations.—
Mr. T. B. Williams called attention to the wretched condi-
tion of the main road between Rowley and Dudley in conse-
quence of the subsidences through mining operations, and
urged that steps should be taken to effect an improvement.
The road at present was like a switchback railway.—The
surveyor explained that it was unwise to spend a large sum
of money on the restoration of the road, owing to the fact
that it was frequently being cut up by the gas and water-
works companies.—It was decided that the matter should be
left in the hands of the surveyor.

At the Hanley Councy Court on the 22nd ult., his Honour
Judge Ruegg, K.C., had before him a question of public
interest arising out of an injunction claim. The plaintiff
was James Wright, farmer, of the Mow House Farm, Mow
Cop, who sought nominal damages and an injunction
restraining the defendants, Messrs. Walley Brothers, colliery
proprietors, Mow Cop, or their servants, from discharging
water from their mines into the watercourse traversing
plaintiff’s land, so as to prejudicially affect plaintiff’s
interests.

Mr. Nelson, for plaintiff, explained that the colliery worked
by the defendants was a footerill colliery. The defendants
drew their coal up an incline, and the water was drawn up
in tubs, which were tipped into the channel on their own
land. The fall of the land being in the direction of the
plaintiff’s farm, the water came down the channel into his
watercourse, and then into the pools used by the cattle. He
contended that the water must not be materially altered
either in quality or quantity.—William Sewall, M.R.C.V.S.,
Tunstall, deposed to having been called in some time ago
to inspect one of the plaintiff’s cows. The water was
submitted to the Veterinary College in London with a view
to determine if it wras injurious to cattle. From the sample
he took, he concluded that the water contained such a large
amount of iron that it would be injurious.—J. Wright, the
plaintiff, in cross-examination, admitted that defendants had
offered to clean the ditch.—T. Thursfield, of the Tower Hill
Farm, Mow Cop, said that until the colliery was started
their pool of water was always clear; to-day the cattle would
not drink it. They lost four cattle last year, and two this
year, but it was not proved that it was due to the water.—