436

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

August 27, 1915.

In other words something like 47 per cent, of our mining
accidents are preventable.” Mr. Allen adds that in the three
months ended June 30, 1915, he held inquests on eight
persons killed in mines, and of these five died from accidents
caused by breach of rule or neglect of one sort or another.
“ I object also to threats to report me, and accusations of
prejudice such as have been made on behalf of the York-
shire Miners’ Association. Threats will not deter me from
speaking what I believe to be true, and if hereafter any
person wishes to accuse me of prejudice, let him do it in my
court before a jury, and he will then learn the meaning of
‘ contempt.’ ”

Lancashire and Cheshire.

Coal Contracts for Education Authorities—Penalties for
Carrying Matches Below Ground.

Capt. Arthur L. Bryham, of the l/5th Battalion,
Manchester Regiment, of Wigan and Kendal, who has been
wounded in the fighting at the Dardanelles, is a son of the
late Mr. William Bryham, colliery proprietor, and brother
of Mr. William Bryham, the general manager of the
Douglas Bank Collieries, Wigan. He is 35 years of age,
and an engineer by profession.

The will of the late Capt. Henry Milward Rogers, mining
engineer, of Aldersbrook, Parbold, a member of the firm of
Messrs. Kellett, Walker and Rogers, mining engineers,
Wigan, who died from wounds received in action in the
Dardanelles, has been proved at .£17,529 17s. 7d. gross, with
net personalty £16,516 13s. 6d.

The Lancashire County Education Committee has issued
a circular letter to district education committees suggesting
that a considerable saving might be effected by contracting
for the coal supply for all the Council schools within the
areas covered by the respective committees, and pointing
out that in the case of voluntary schools the local managers
could combine with a view to obtaining a general contract.
At a meeting of area 14 sub-committee at Ghorley last
week it was pointed out that one difficulty in the way of
making a general contract to cover all schools was that
the districts were very scattered. It was decided to ask
the school managers to go into the question to ascertain if
money could be saved by entering into contracts on the
lines suggested.

Threats of heavy penalties on offenders against the Coal
Mines Act appear to have a salutary effect, for it was stated
at Chorley Police Court a few days ago that whereas there
were 10 cases against local miners for carrying matches into
the mines between February 1913 and 1914, there had not
been one during the past eighteen months, following a
statement by the Bench that heavy fines and possible
imprisonment would be imposed on future offenders. Last
week the Pearson and Knowles Colliery Company Limited,
of Coppull, summoned two miners for taking matches into
the mine, and they were each fined £3, the alternative being
25 days’ imprisonment. The magistrates stated that
future offenders would be more severely fined, and if
another case should be brought in the near future it was
possible that the offenders might be sent to prison without
the option of a fine.

The wedding took place at St. Helens Parish Church last
week of Mr. Oswald Edward Dickens, son of Mr. Edward
Dickens, of Earlestown, and Miss Lilian Melling, youngest
daughter of the late Mr. Wm. Melling and Mrs. Melling,
of 20, Hall-street, St. Helens. Among the presents received
by the newly-married couple was a handsome case of cutlery
from the staff of the Sutton Heath and Lea Green Collieries
Limited.

Information has been received that Capt. D. G. Norton,
of the 7th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers (Salford
Territorials), was wounded at the Dardanelles on August 7.
Capt. Norton is a member of the firm of Sir James Farmer
and Sons Limited, engineers, Adelphi Ironworks, Salford.

The Roughfield Colliery, Walkden, belonging to the Earl
of Ellesmere, used for more than 20 years as a pumping
pit, has now been dismantled, with the exception of the
stack. The Roughfield pit dates back to 1833. The site
will be used for building purposes.

Mr. Coroner S. Brighouse was the means of bringing to
light recently at an inquest which he held at Hindley,
a truly remarkable story of heroism on the part of five or
six officials and daywagemen in their efforts to recover the
body of a comrade who had been overwhelmed by a fall of
roof in the Grange Colliery of Messrs. Crompton and
Shawcross, on Monday previous. The deceased man was
Charles Comber, a timberman. John Birchall, fireman,
employed in the Park Mine at the Grange Colliery, deposed
that he had a quarter of an hour previously inspected the
particular road where the fatality occurred, and found it
all right. Mr. Hewitt, manager of the mine, informed the
coroner that it took two hours for the fireman, the hooker-on,
and several datallers to recover the body. They were
working at great risk under a dangerous fault the whole
time, during which there was a continuous falling of stuff.
The jury returned a verdict of accidental death. Mr. F. N.
Siddall, H.M. inspector of mines, said he had seen the place,
and thought the men who stuck two hours to the task of
trying to recover Comber and Costello were worthy of all
the praise that could be given to them. There might have
been a big fall any moment, and the fault in the roof was
so high that it rendered the work extremely dangerous.

The Midlands.

War Ambulance Scheme—Boy Labour—South Staffordshire
and the Limitation Act.

A movement which has been initiated among colliery
owners and their employees throughout the country to assist
the Joint War Committee of the St. John Ambulance Society
and the Red Gross Society in providing further motor
ambulance service in France, is being well supported in the
Midlands. In Warwickshire the majority of the owners have
already agreed to Contribute, and the men are following suit,
their contributions in some cases equalling the owners’. It
is believed that eventually all owners and men will join.
The unit of action in Warwickshire is the owner and men
respectively at each colliery, but the movement has the sup-
port of both the owners’ and the miners’ associations in the
county. An ambulance costs £600, and it is hoped that
Warwickshire will be responsible for 10. A provisional con-
tract has been placed by the Joint War Committee of the
St. John Ambulance Society and the Red Cross Society,
which will be put in hand the moment the necessary funds
are assured. Information may be obtained from Mr. W.
Johnson, M.P., secretary of the Miners’ Association, Bed-
worth, or Mr. Frank Impey, secretary of the Warwickshire
Colliery Owners’ Association, Newhall-street, Birmingham.

The question of boy labour in the Black Country is occu-
pying the attention of some of the local authorities! in the
district, owing to some thousands of colliers and iron workers
having joined the Colours. At present the reduction of the
age at which boys can leave school suggests itself as a
possible remedy. The Staffordshire County Education Com-
mittee have arranged a series of labour examinations, when,
upon a certain degree of efficiency being shown, boys will
be released from school 12 months earlier than required by
the bye-laws. It is anticipated that parents will readily
grasp the opportunity of helping themselves over a period of
stress, and at the same time assist in the production of
national requirements.

Mr. Edmund Howl, the general manager to the South
Staffordshire Mines Drainage Commission, who is respon-
sible for the organisation of sappers required at the front,
is constantly receiving letters from local men describing the
work on which they are engaged. Altogether, Mr. Howl
has sent some 70 men to do this work, most of whom were
members of the Dudley rescue station. More men are still
required, and the readiness with which they respond is a
glowing tribute to their patriotism.

The South Staffordshire and East Worcestershire trade
continues to be upset by the effect of the new Act.
Difficulties are arising as to what the strictly legal charges
for forward contracts at the pit heads should now be regarded
as representing. Coal masters declare that what is
apparently expected by the Legislature has created for them
a situation of considerable anxiety. While coal owners are
sharply divided respecting the new prices which should be
fixed at the pit’s mouth, coal merchants are holding off the
market. They are evidently expecting a reduction of some
importance, and refuse to give out the customary August and
September contracts until coal masters show their hand.
The local difficulties are increased by the fear that as the
winter comes on the output at the pits may prove much
below the market’s requirements, in which event incon-
venience and delay would have to be faced by iron works
and other manufactories in the execution of the Government
contracts. This event is not looked forward to without
apprehension. Especially is this so since the Government
inspectors in this district are at date pressing the iron
masters to rush out every possible ounce of iron and steel.
Coal prices this week are quoted iron works forge coal,
15s. to 16s. at the pits; best house coal, 22s. to 23s.; house
lumps, 20s.	per	ton;	deep	second, 21s. to 22s.	per

ton; steam	fuel,	12s.	6d. per .ton; rough slack,	10s.

to 12s. per	ton;	and	coke	prices are—steam nuts,	15s.

to 16s. ; hard furnace	coke	(delivered Midlands) South

Yorkshire sorts, 26s.; North Staffordshire and North Wales,
25s. to 27s.; and South Wales best hard, 30s. to 35s. Gas
coke is quoted 20s. per ton; purple ore for the iron works’
forges for fettling purposes, 27s.; and pottery mine for the
forges, 28s. to 30s. (maximum).

An important case under the Weights and Measures Act
was heard at Newcastle Borough Police Court on Thursday
the 12th inst., when John Bentley, Eli Bentley, and William
Bentley, trading as Bentley Brothers, Crackley Colliery,
Chesterton, were summoned for selling coal of a less weight
than represented. The facts as stated by the prosecution were
that on July 20 the inspector of weights and measures
discovered a large steam lurry laden with slack going
to the Holborn Paper Mills. When he got to the mills, he
found the driver of the lurry and a clerk there, and a ticket
had just been handed to the clerk showing that the net
weight of slack to be delivered should be 5 tons 11 cwt. As
the lurry was too large for any weighing machine handy,
the inspector had the slack tipped in the mill yard. He
obtained a horse and cart and had the slack weighed in
loads on the machine at the mills, the clerk at the paper
mills checking the weight with the inspector. It was found
that there was a deficiency of 5|cwt., which was equivalent
to a hundredweight on every ton, or 5 per cent. After a
consultation, the Mayor said the opinion of the Bench was
that it was a proper case to bring before the Court,
particularly at a time like this, when the price of coal had
risen. There was some doubt as to the accuracy of the
machines and the weighings. They thought the defendants

From	Total	cargo.	Total 1	Dunker.
	1914.	1915.	1914.	1915.
	Tons.	Tons.	Tons.	Tons.
Bristol Channel ports 		342,015	147,118	27,242	11,668
North-western ports 				278,394	269,535	74,018	54,319
North-eastern ports 		623,240	623,573	30,492	38,804
Humber ports		233,097	156,264	10,356	10,658
Other ports on east coast		11,664	5,364	9,238	8,992
Other English ports		3,584	3,085	8,475	2,223	j
Total from England and Wales		1,491,994	1,204,939	159,821	126,664 j
Ports on east coast of Scotland	'..	107,091	30,804	30,020	9,913
Ports on west coast of Scotland		109,213	175,096	26,894	27,363
Total from Scotland		216,304	205,900	.56,914	37,276
Irish ports 		16	—	2,142	1,756
Total from United Kingdom 				1,708,314	1,410,839	218,877	165,696	|

should have had the opportunity of being present and of
testing the accuracy of the weighings. The case would be
dismissed. There was no suggestion that the defendants
had fraudulent intent.

Kent.

The working of the Snowdown and Til manstone collieries
has been carried out from the commencement of operations
by miners from the North of England and the Midlands,
but additional men from these districts have not been avail-
able recently, and as the management are wishful to increase
the output of the collieries as much as possible under present
conditions, they have engaged a number of men from the
Gloucestershire and Somerset collieries.

The progress which has been made at the Snowdown
Colliery in coal getting is shown by the following official
figures :—In the first half of 1914 the amount of coal raised
was 20,000 tons, and in the second half of that year 29,000
tons. For the first half of the present year the amount had
more than doubled that raised in the corresponding half,

being 45,000 tons. The increase has still continued as in
July there was raised 8,900 tons, this being the record
month.

Scotland.

A Gas Committee and its Contracts—Fire at Broxburn—
House Coal Prices in Glasgow.

At a meeting of Dundee Gas Committee last week, Mr.
Alexander Yuill, gas engineer, reporting on the coal contracts
for the current year, said they had received only 21
offers of 52 different classes of coal, aggregating 137,000
tons, against 42 offers of 313 different classes and represent-
ing 1,316,000 tons last year. The limitation of the output
was based at about 30 per cent., and on that assumption they
should have received offers for 400,000 tons. They had offers
from parties who had never offered coal before, while several
firms who were looked upon as their ordinary traders had not
offered. Those who knew about the coal trade would under-
stand that higher prices were obtained for coal for shipment.
The Corporation had redress, as they could intimate to the
Board of Trade that Messrs. So and So had not offered, and
the Board of Trade had then the right to stop such parties
shipping coal, but he did not think they should take that step
yet. Under the Price of Coal (Limitation) Act, they could
claim deductions equal to about £3,774 on the contracts. He
recommended that they should accept 55,000 tons of coal at
prices which showed an increase on last year ranging from
4s. 9d. to 6s. 3d. per ton. This was agreed to, subject to
the prices being conform to the Price of Coal (Limitation)
Act.

The Scottish section of the Co-operative Union have
decided to communicate with the general board with a view
of ascertaining whether or not it would be within the
power of the section to defray the expenses of a report from
a firm of mining engineers relative to the expediency of
inaugurating a co-operative coal field in Scotland.

On Friday night fire broke out in the Turnside mine of
the Broxburn Oil Company Limited. A large staff of men
were soon on the scene, and energetic steps were promptly
taken to combat the fire. In view of the fact that there
was inter-communication between the Turnside mine and
other two mines in the same section, as well as between
the sandhole, ventilating and pumping shaft, it was found
necessary to damp all these down. That was successfully
accomplished early on Saturday morning. If it is found
necessary to shut down the mines affected by the fire it is
believed that the miners thrown idle will be temporarily
supplied with work in the other mines in the district
belonging to the company.

Mr. David Baird, under manager at Mossbeath Colliery
belonging to the Fife Coal Company, has been appointed to
a similar position at Wilsons and Clyde Colliery at
Glencraig, Fifeshire.

A new visual signalling apparatus has been designed by
Mr. McArtney, a Fife miner. With this machine signals
can be transmitted from pit bottom or any mid-working,
whilst it not only shows the signal, but keeps a record of
it also.

The special committee appointed by the Glasgow Corpora-
tion to consider and report on the advisability of petitioning
the Board of Trade to introduce legislation for the special
protection of small consumers of coal for domestic purposes,
has decided to confer with merchants in the city as to the
effect of the Price of Coal (Limitation) Act on the prices of
household coal. The conference, it is expected, will be held
at the beginning of next week.

COASTWISE SHIPMENTS DURING JULY.

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

The destination of cargo shipments was as follows :—
'Fa ~ 4- •	July 1914. July 1915.

To ports in	TLs.

England and Wales........ 1,144,032	...	908,275

Scotland................... 159,935	...	66,182

Ireland ................... 404,347	...	436,382

Shipments to London totalled 631,558 tons during the
month.

Prof, de Vooys, at the request of the Dutch Government,
has left for England in connection with the question of the
export of coal to Holland. He will co-operate with M.
Vollenhoven, the representative of the Dutch Oversea Trust.

The circumstances being regarded as exceptional, the
Treasury has agreed to sanction the borrowing of £16,000 for
the extension of the Stepney Municipal Electricity under-
taking. The proposal is to acquire land for coal storage
purposes, and also to enable a frontage to be secured to
enable a coal steamer to be brought alongside.