384 THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN August 20, 1915. doors can be removed and replaced more quickly than those of ordinary pattern, there is less cooling of the oven walls by the external air during the operation. The cost is about £14 10s., or £10 more than ordinary doors, making £1,200 extra for a 60-oven battery; but this is covered in two years by the economies set forth above. How far the Bareuter doors will remain tight on the discharge side of the ovens (where the oven material suffers from the effect of the quenching water) has not yet been ascertained; but this question does not arise.in the case of the other two, except as regards the durability of the iron frames. That of the Koppers door has not been sufficiently tested; but the Limberg frame has stood prolonged trial without warping or cracking, a result largely due to the wrought iron bands incorporated with the frame castings. FUEL CONDITIONS IN SOUTH AMERICA. Some interesting data relating to the above subject are given in a paper by Mr. James W. Hardy, sales agent, West Kentucky Coal Company, read before the International Rail- way Fuel Association. During the autumn of 1914 the author was sent to South America by the Southern Coal and Coke Mining Company, of St. Louis, to investigate fuel matters in Chile and Peru, and to see what effect the cata- clysm in Europe had on their fuel supply. The real object of the trip was to try to interest those countries in the use of North American coal. Chile, under normal conditions, uses about.3,000,000 metric tons of coal annually; about one-half of this amount comes from foreign countries, and the other half is produced at home. In addition, during the year 1913 they used 230,845 tons of oil. The production of coal in Chile in 1913 was 1,334,000 metric-tons. Their most extensive and valuable known coal deposits, located between 35 and 38degs. south latitude at Lota, Coronel, Talcahuana, and Concep- cion, embrace a small territory estimated at about 50 square miles. The crop line of the coal is exposed along the shore near the ocean, and inclines back under the ocean, so the future recovery of most of their coal supply will be limited by the distance to haul to nearest opening to the water. Chilean methods of mining and preparation are very faulty. Local coal is sold for considerably less than foreign coal, on account of its lightness and preparation. The consumption is about one-half of normal since the start of the war in Europe. The prices paid for railway coal by the Chilean Government for the past 11 years range from 4-44 dols. to 7-28 dols. (American) per short ton ; the average was 5*62 dols. Moisture Volatile. Carbon. Ash Calories. B.T.U. Sulphur. English briquettes 0’75 16'42 70'58 12'25 7,974 14,354 1'12 German briquettes 0*55 18'85 73 80 6'80 8,651 15,572 1'39 Welsh coal 1'62 11'72 84'05 3'22 8,440 15,200 0'79 German coal 0'96 26'27 67'88 4'89 8,353 15,036 Scotch coal — 25'32 70'50 2'21 8,400 15,118 0'84 Australian coal 1'89 40'62 51'94 5'06 7,400 13,328 1'22 Pocahontas, W. Va 2'63 18'25 73'87 5'25 8,200 14,810 0'62 New River District, W. Va 2'50 19'00 76’00 5'00 8,280 14,900 0 55 Pennsylvania coal 2'50 19'00 73'00 8 00 7,975 14,350 1'25 Alabama 2'50 34 00 59'00 7'00 7,805 14,050 1'00 Illinois 8'00 38'00 53'00 9'00 7,225 13,000 2'00 Kentucky Chilean coal— 2'25 35'00 54'00 8'00 7,835 14,100 1'75 Talcahuana mines 3'80 37'81 56'26 2'13 7,749 13,948 1 27 Lota and Coronel 366 40'64 49'49 6'20 6,346 11,423 1'30 Lota and Coronel 3'72 37'28 55'52 ' 3'58 7,588 13,658 1'22 Quilachauquin 2’50 40'93 52'47 4'10 7,687 13,837 1'26 Colico 177 43'40 47'99 6'84 7,665 13,797 1'29 Curuailahu 2'33 41'00 52'98 3'70 7,665 13,797 1'12 Peruvian bituminous 17'50 22'00 46'80 13'70 — — Peruvian anthracite 1'34 6'66 82'40 9'60 — — — Note.— English briquettes show 5 per cent, pitch as binder reported as volatile. per short ton for all coal. The specifications were drawn up in such a way that they practically exclude North American coal. They place a limit of 2-11 dols. (Chilean) per million calories (based on kilogs. of fuel). This would mean a price of 4-86 dols. per short ton for coal running 12,800 British thermal units per lb. In addition to this, 5 per cent, moisture, 15 per cent, ash, and 2 per cent, sulphur was the maximum, and a further limitation of 15 per cent, screen- ings through a J in. bar screen, set at an angle of 45 degs. Mr. Hardy adds :—“ I was given to understand quite early that it would take considerable lubricant on the wheels of Government to ‘ get by ’ with some of the minor officials, who passed on screening, weighing, etc.” They have used briquettes to some extent in Chile until the European war started, and prefer them to coal, and pay about 10 per cent, more for them. They prefer to handle them, and so do the ship people prefer them as freight, as they can be loaded and unloaded more rapidly and with less waste. Peru is not developing her fuel supply to the same extent or as rapidly as Chile, and uses much less coal than Chile. The only coal being mined in Peru is by the Cerro de Pasco Mining Co., near Cerro de Pasco, and that is of such inferior grade that they discontinued its use on their locomotives; it clinkered badly, and ran over 20 per cent, ash, fusing at a very low temperature. The Peruvian steamship line uses oil altogether. There has recently been a discovery of^ a large body of coal in northern Peru, known as the Oyon field, but it is not developed on account of transportation facilities. The reports of competent mining engineers and specialists on coal designate the Oyon coal region as the largest coal measure in South America, being some 220 kiloms. long, and from 50 to 60kiloms. wide. This coal is semi bituminous, low in ash and moisture, contains a good proportion of volatile, and is high in fixed carbon. It is an excellent steam coal, quick of ignition, and develops heat rapidly; the small amount of this coal that has been used is carried for miles on llamas. Freight rates are cheaper from Australia than they are from the United States. Coal is placed on ships at 10s., or 2*50 dols. per metric ton, and taken across in sailing vessels at from 4-30 dols. to 5 dols. per ton freight charges; English coals at 4s. to 6s. higher. The freight cost to get North American coal down there is considerably more than this. The toll through the Panama Canal is 1-20 dols. per 100 cu. ft. of carrying capacity, so it costs about 60c. per ton to get coal through the canal. The best ocean freight rate to the west coast would be between 5 dols. and 6 dols. per ton. Sailing vessels cannot follow the coast as they would like to do; but must go nearly to Australia, and then to South America on account of adverse air currents. Another thing that is of vital importance is that ocean shipping doesn’t breathe the restraining atmosphere of the' inter-State Com- merce Commission as the railroads do. The rates have a wide range of fluctuation, they go largely on the theory of “ charge all the traffic will stand,” and this very feature is a grave danger in getting tied up in contracts for fuel deliveries to those countries. There is but one port on the west coast of South America (Callao, Peru) where ships can go up to a dock and unload; at all others everything is unloaded in lighters, and then handled to shore by hoists. What is wanted in South America is a hard, bright, lump coal that will stand numerous rough handlings with the least possible breakage; a coal that stores well, with little danger of spontaneous combustion, and as little deterioration as possible. A coal that is reasonably free from clinkers on account of their using stationary grates; a coal that can be placed on engines in the most serviceable condition, as it is only the usable heat that is of any value to the purchaser, and it’s a long way to haul coal. Mr. Hardy thinks the preparation of Welsh and Australian coal is far superior to the preparation of American coal, and the purchaser comes nearer to getting all coal than anything he has ever seen before. He adds :—“ To do business exten- sively with South America we must establish banking faci- lities with them. We must extend long credits, six months to a year at least; we must teach them the American dollar instead of the English pound. We must find a home for their exports; their regular markets are now closed, and, as their revenue is largely from exports, how can they buy or pay, unless they can borrow or sell? Representatives must go down there and live; learn the language, customs, and habits of the people, their needs and requirements, and cater to them. Make things the way they want them, instead of trying to convert them to our standards, and then sell at reasonable profits.........The English have financed and developed those countries; many of their firms are a century old. They have married among the people, and are a vital part of the organisation; they buy the raw materials from those countries and send it home, and it is worked into the finished product where the labour charges are much less than ours, and returned to South America and sold for more raw material. They own all of the dock and shipping facilities, and can beat us by far on low freight charges. Australian coal can be sold on the west coast of South America for nearly Idol, per ton less than we can make deliveries, and this is especially true without return cargoes for us. So how can you walk away with the South American trade? The only way we can hope to do a coal business down there is to have storage and dock facilities, so we can have a supply of coal on hand. They are too far away from the base of supply to figure on deliveries from ships for current use. They.would get tied up, sure, and we would be expensively penalised.” The following shows coal tonnage imported from United States and Great Britain respectively by some of the principal countries of South America during the year 1913 :— U.S.A. Metric tons. Great Britain. Metric tons. Total. Metric tons. Per cent, supplied by U.S.A. Argentina.. . 38,834 .. . 3,768,911 .. .. 3,807,745 ... 1'02 Brazil . 236/59 .. . 1,820,874 .. . 2,057,033 ... 11'53 Chile . 112,491 .. . 618,217 .. 730,708 ... 15'39 Uruguay .. . 4,400 .. . 974,750 .. . 979,150 ... 0'45 391,881 ... 7,182,752 ... 7,574,636 ... 5T7 New Monckton Collieries Limited. — The report of the directors for the year ended June 30, states that the profit on the year’s trading, after full depreciation, is £3,182 15s. 4d., which, with the balance of £24,122 15s. Id. brought forward, makes a total of £27,305 10s. 5d. From this has to be deducted £4,382 4s. 9d. debenture interest, and £5,100 preference dividend, leaving a sum of £17,823 5s. 8d. to carry forward. The directors regret that the results of the year’s operations are so unsatisfactory, and do not warrant the payment of a dividend on the ordinary shares. They add : ” The fall in prices which set in during the early part of last year was accentuated by the war, and the conditions of the coal trade were such that it was impos- sible to forecast what the future would bring forth. Con- tracts could only be made at prices which have since been found unremunerative owing to the heavy increase in the cost of production, both in wages and materials, culminating in the war bonus which was conceded and paid as from the first pay day in May. The large number of workmen who left the collieries during the year has very materially increased the difficulties of carrying on the company’s opera- tions. The new shaft which has been sunk to the Barnsley bed has reached the coal, which is of excellent quality and thickness. It is being rapidly opened out, and in the course of the current year increasing benefits will be felt from this source. The difficulties in obtaining men and materials have been largely increased owing to the war, and the work has been considerably delayed. Progress has been made with the development of the new High Moor coalfield, mentioned in last year’s report, but no benefit has yet been derived from this part of the undertaking.” BOOK NOTICES. Sections of Strata of the Coal Measures of Yorkshire. By a Committee of the Midland Institute of Mining, Civil and Mechanical Engineers. With Cross-country Sections and Map of Yorkshire Coal Field. In two volumes. 10 in. x 6Jin.; boards. Sheffield: Midland Institute, St. James’s Chambers, 1914. The title page of these volumes contains the dates 1902-1913, which expresses in the most modest way the duration of the labours of the Sections Committee of the Midland Institute in the preparation of these two works. The work has been compiled from records of borings and sinkings in Yorkshire, with a few in Derby- shire, filling 300 pages, less 13 pages devoted to intro- ductory notes on the geology of the Yorkshire coal field. In these introductory pages an outline is given of the chief points bearing upon the extension of the concealed portion of the coal field. To the north there has been no very sanguine opinion in favour of any considerable portion of this coal field occurring beneath the younger rocks, but the committee point out that the results of the borings at Barlow and Selby would appear to favour a greater northerly extension than was previously thought probable. For some reason, which is not obvious, neither of these boreholes are described in the records, but the details are, of course, easily accessible by reference to Dr. Walcot Gibson’s memoir. Coal measures were reached at Barlow at a depth of 1,305 ft., and at Selby, one mile north-west of Barlow, at a depth of 1,284 ft. As the two sites are nearly at the same sur- face level, the small difference in the depth of the coal measures may be due to a general easterly slope of the carboniferous floor, as worked out farther south by Dr. Walcot Gibson. With regard to the easterly continua- tion of the coal field, but little fresh information is forth- coming, and the significance of the Willoughby axis is still apparently in doubt, although it is generally under- stood that a critical boring has been lately put down at Market Weighton, by the results of which this question might be expected to be illuminated. Nor are we further enlightened as to the southern boundary of this large concealed coal field. Dr. Walcot Gibson has shown, from the increased thickness of the millstone grit in the Ruddington boring, and the thickness of the coal measures at Owthorpe, that there is no indication of a rapid dying out of the coal field in the southerly direction, and he is, therefore, inclined to support Prof. Kendall’s view which was rejected by the Royal Com- mission as being too hypothetical. One of the great uses of such a collection of boring and sinking records is the assistance thus given to questions of correlation, to problems of the location and throw of faults, and to the determination of the detailed structure of the coal field. For such purposes these records will be invaluable, and the committee of the Midland Institute are to be congratulated upon the accomplishment of so useful a task. In so large a field it is inevitable that great difficulties must arise in correlating seams. The apparent persistence of such beds as the Arley mine of Lancashire, which has been identified as the Silkstone seam of South Yorkshire, the Blocking or Barcelona coal of West Yorkshire, and the Black shale of Derbyshire, is a striking instance; another is the correlation of the Barnsley, Warren House and Gawthorpe coals. Many others are given by the com- mittee, mostly based upon Prof. Green’s memoir, published in 1878, and greatly in need of a re-examina- tion in the light of further knowledge, especially such as the identification of marine bands, of which no less than four have been discovered in the measures above the Barnsley coal of Yorkshire. It is unfortunately generally impossible to locate these marine horizons in the boring and sinking records, simply because the information was never available, and in many cases the existence of marine bands was unsuspected at the time the borings were made. The committee have illustrated the value of their work by the construction of two horizontal sections, one from the Burnley district to Pontefract, and the other more to the south from Manchester to Doncaster. These measure something like 6 ft. in length, but nevertheless have suffered somewhat in reduction. It is, however, a considerable feat to have folded such sections into a book of this size, avoiding the use of tubes, which might otherwise have been deemed necessary for the delinea- tion on an adequate scale of so long a stretch of country. Mr. W. P. Thompson, of Liverpool, has just brought out a sixteenth edition of his Handbook of Patent. Law of All Countries. The handbook, which has been com- pletely revised, gives just that information of which the inventor or manufacturer may at any time be in need, and does not pretend to take the place of the patent agent. Very wisely, we think, the author has not dealt with the temporary rules now in force, as these are being constantly altered, and presumably do not affect the general position of patents; at any "rate, it is not possible to prophesy whether they will or not. The book is published by Messrs. Stevens and Sons Limited, of 119, Chancery-lane, W.C. Dr. W. B. Davidson has been re-elected to fill the post of chemical engineer to British Dyes Limited. Dr. Davidson entered the service of the Birmingham Corpora- tion Gas Department in 1905 as chief chemist, and some six years later he was appointed engineer of the Nechells Gas Works of the Corporation. Dr. Davidson is a graduate of Aberdeen, Wurzburg, and Leipzig. After a period as lecturer at Liverpool and Aberdeen universities, he was appointed research chemist in the experimental department of the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, from which he went to Birmingham.