September 24, 1915.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

637

Lancashire and Cheshire.

Heavy Fines for Absent Furnacemen—Colliery Pollution:
Further Experiments at Hulton—Collieries and Muni-
tion Work: Release Certificates.

Additional accommodation for new compressed air plant
is being made at the Bridgewater (Sandhole) Collieries,
Walkden, belonging to the Earl of Ellesmere. Extensive
repairs are also being made in the shaft at the old Wardley
Colliery, near the Bridgewater Collieries. The shaft at the
Wardley pit, which was closed many years ago, has been
damaged by the heavy motor traffic on the highway which
immediately adjoins the pit.

In connection with the extensive developments which the
Hulton Colliery Company are carrying out in the shape of
opening out new collieries at Cronton, between Present and
Liverpool, it is reported that a Wigan syndicate propose
sinking pits in the neighbourhood of Knotty Ash.

Robert Buckley, an assistant furnaceman at Dallam Forge,
was prosecuted at Warrington last week by the Pearson and
Knowles Coal and Iron Company Limited for absenting
himself from work, and he was ordered to pay .£10 damages.
It was stated that the man’s action involved the firm in a
loss of over £12, and in addition a squad of 12 men were
temporarily rendered idle, with an aggregate loss in wages
of over £5.

With reference to the complaints of pollution of water
by the Hulton Colliery Company, the surveyor to the
Atherton District Council has reported upon a visit to
Messrs. Cuthbertson and Bateson, of the company named,
when he was shown how the firm were treating the water.
The surveyor states that it appears to him that a genuine
attempt is being made to purify the water by means of lime
treatment, and the Council has decided to seal and keep for
future reference a sample of the water obtained by the sur-
veyor upon the occasion of his visit.

Joshua Bleakley, a labourer in the moulding department
of the works of Messrs. Harrison and McGregor, appeared
last week at the Bolton Munitions Court, and stated that
he had been offered work by the Astley and 'Tyldesley
Colliery Company, but his present employers had refused to
give him a release certificate. He expressed the opinion
that he could be of more service to the nation down a coal
mine than doing the work he had been doing. It appeared
that his present employers were shorthanded in the depart-
ment in which Bleakley was engaged, and, although they
were not on munition work, they were expecting to be
shortly. It was pointed out that the Act was only to assist
manufacturers of munitions, and the court decided that it
was not necessary for Bleakley to have a clearing certificate
before accepting work elsewhere.

The officials and miners at the Huncoat Pit, Accrington,
have presented a purse of gold to Mr. Charles Gordon, late
under manager, who recently retired after over 50 years’
colliery service. Mr. Gordon commenced work at the Bartie
Hill pits, near Burnley, when he was 10 years old, and
later went to the Dill Hall pit. His career with Messrs.
George Hargreaves and Company started in 1859 at the
Woodnook pit, where he was first employed as a drawer, and
later as a dataller; 15 years later he was transferred to
Moleside pit as fireman, and shortly afterwards became
under-manager, a position he held until the pit was closed.
For about seven years he was in business as a coal merchant
on his own account, and when the Scaitcliff pit was reopened
in 1891 he was appointed under-manager, being transferred
three years later to Huncoat pit, where he served 21 years.
He has been prominently connected with ambulance work for
over 30 years, holds the Queen’s medal and the long service
medal, and is president of the Accrington Collieries’
Accident and Burial Society, and a member of the general
committee of the Accrington Victoria Hospital. In acknow-
ledging the gift, Mr. Gordon said he was thankful he had
been spared to serve for 58 years in a coal mine. He added
that he had worked for one firm for over 50 years.

North Wales.

Mr. John Davies, formerly of the Brynmally Colliery,
Mold, -and latterly manager at a North Staffordshire colliery,
has returned to his native heath as manager of the Mold
Collieries Limited, which have been taken over by a Stafford-
shire company.

Apparently the number of coal pits in this locality will be
materially increased in a short time, as in addition to the
new colliery at Chirk, and the one at Llay Main, Gresford,
arrangements have been made to re-open the old Tryddyn
Colliery, near Mold, which has been closed for some time
past.

Notts and Derbyshire.

The Status of Firemen: State Control Advocated—The New
Clipstone Colliery.

The annual meeting of the secretaries of the National
Association of Colliery Deputies was held on Saturday at
the York Hotel, Derby. The president (Mr. Wm. Birkin)
was .in the chair, and there was a very large attendance.
Mr. Herbert Gill (Chesterfield), the general secretary, stated
that the association had now 34 branches with a member-
ship of 1,403. The greater part of the proceedings were
devoted to a discussion on the question as to whether deputies
should be State paid and State controlled. It was held by
various speakers that under the present system a deputy
was more or less the tool in the hands of the management
of the colliery at which he was employed. Many deputies,
it was declared, were in a false position as, through fear
of the consequences to themselves if they acted otherwise,
they had to allow men to work in places which were not
fit to work in. This state of things was often brought about
by lack of time in which to make proper examinations, a
deputy being called upon to perform so many other duties in
addition to that of attending to the safe working of the
mine. Instances were cited of reports being sent back for
alteration by the management to the deputies who had
reported the finding of gas in the workings, and it was
held that this and other irregularities quoted would be a
thing of the past, and the State would be assured of the
safer working of the mines, whilst statistics would show
a decrease in the number of widows and orphans created
through explosions if a deputy were employed and paid by
the State, and thus be free to fulfil his obligations to the
State in a fearless and conscientious manner. A resolution
was unanimously passed to the effect that the meeting was
fully convinced that the only way to place the deputy in
his true and proper position was that he should be State
paid and State employed, and the meeting pledged itself to
use its utmost power to accomplish this end. The general
secretary was instructed to act in co-operation with branch
secretaries in arranging meetings at all centres to propagate
the proposal.

Mr. J. P. Houfton drew attention at the meeting of the
Mansfield Town Council last week to an item in the Water
Committee’s minutes announcing that a water supply had
been laid on to two houses and workshops on the site for
the new Clipstone pit belonging to the Bolsover Colliery
Company. This was an indication that operations were
being commenced in connection with a new colliery which
would be of considerable benefit to Mansfield.

An official statement has been issued showing a fine
record in regard to enlistment and the money raised at
the collieries in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire of the
Blackwell Colliery Company for war funds and grants to
soldiers’ dependants from September 1, 1914, to September 4,
1915. The enlistment at the A Winning colliery is 121, and
the amount of the colliery company’s grant £801 12s. 6d. ;
B Winning, 175 men and £1,733 12s. 6d.; Alfreton, 77 and
£717 12s. 6d.; Shirland, 36 and £188; Sutton colliery, 256
and £2,290 10s. 3d.; totals, 665 men and grant,
£5,731 7s. 9d. The percentage of workmen enlisted of the
number employed on July 31, 1914, was 16‘12 per cent.
The workmen’s contributions are : — A Winning,
£970 18s. 5d.; B Winning, £640 Ils. Alfreton,
£464 16s. 8d.; Shirland, 354 7s. lOd. ; Sutton Colliery,
£949 3s. Id. ; total, £3,397 17s. Thus the grants by the
colliery company and the contributions by the workmen make
an aggregate of £9,111 4s. 9d. In addition to allowances
for dependants of soldiers, the managing body of the
collieries’ relief fund have made grants to various other
funds, and the Red Cross Society, including £1,050 to the
Prince of Wales’ Fund.

The Midlands.

New Works at Tipton—Trade in the Black Country.

Remarkable progress is being made with the several
works extensions that are proceeding in the Black Country,
and before long the firms concerned will be employing
thousands of iron workers, engineers, etc. The new works
which the Vono Company are laying down at Tipton are
proceeding satisfactorily, but at the more important under-
taking at Dudley, a wages dispute with the navvies has
caused a regrettable delay this week.

Coal owners in the Brownhills and Walsall Wood dis-
tricts state that summer prices will cease to apply at the
end of the present month. Purchases by coal merchants for
winter stocking purposes have, during the past two or three
weeks, been unusually large. Current house coal prices are
from Is. 6d. to 2s. per ton lower than before the passing
of the Price of Coal (Limitation) Act. Brooch coal at many
of the Cannock and Hednesford collieries is quoted at date
at 22s. per ton, large kibbles 21s., and large nuts 20s.
There is a good demand for best deep coal of excellent
quality at 30s., while the best 4 ft. coal seam is quoted :—
Hand picked large, 18s. 6d. one way (a mixed second-class
house coal) 18s.; kibbles, 4 in. to 12 in., 18s.; nuts, 2 in. to
4 in., 17s. 6d.; and kitchen coal, 16s. The quotation for
best shallow large coal, free from sulphur, at collieries,
ranking as second and third-class quality concerns on the
Chase, is 19s. per ton, small hard being 17s. 6d., brights
one-way 17s., and main coal 17s. 6d. Kitchen coal is
mostly 15s. 6d. to 16s. per ton, London brights 3 in. to 8 in.
size is quoted 16s., and bright nuts 1J in. to Sin. size 15s.
Buyers are offering 15s. to 15s. 6d. per ton at ffhe ovens for
blast furnace coke, and being accepted. The pig iron trade
has fallen away so badly that makers state they cannot
possibly .afford to give late coke prices. The figure quoted
is equal to about 22s. per ton delivered to the blast furnaces
in South Staffordshire. In ironstone there are few con-
tracts offered this week, large sales over the year having
been made previously.

Kent.

Swingate Boring—Chislet Sinking—Miners and the Dover
Coal Dues.

Boring at Swingate on the Dover to Deal road is being
continued, and it is stated one or two seams of coal have been
passed through. The anticipation is that the seams in this
boring will be very similar to those in the Fredville boring,
which proved for Tilmans tone and Snowdown collieries.

Mr. Chas. Golden, who was well known in connection
with Kent coal, as private secretary to Mr. Arthur Burr,
whom he accompanied to the meetings of the various com-
panies, is a lieutenant in the Durham Light Infantry, which
he joined soon after the outbreak of the war, and is now with
his regiment in Flanders.

At the Chislet Colliery, near Canterbury, the work of
sinking is being steadily continued, and a quantity of
additional machinery is now being delivered at the works.
The two pits have both made a fair amount of progress, but,
of course, in common with many other undertakings of the
kind, the present circumstances have had the result of
impeding operations. The fact that they are continuing to
sink pits at the present time shows the company’s faith
in the value of their undertaking.

A deputation .of the Kent Miners’ Association on Tuesday
afternoon waited upon the Dover Corporation with regard
to the collection of coal dues at Is. 7d. in the ton, on coal
which they receive from their employers for household pur-
poses. The tax is .imposed under an old local Act of
Parliament on all coal coming into the town. A test case
heard a year or so ago in the County Court went against
the miners. Mr. Williams, president of the Kent Miners’
Association, now contended that the coal received by the
miners from their employers was really part and parcel of
a man’s wages, as it was given under a general custom
of the mining trade. In reply to questions, Mr. Williams
explained that the miners were allowed 16 cwt. of coal for
every 24 shifts worked—that was, per month. He con-
tended that the local Act only referred to coal “ sold,” and
therefore did not affect the miners. A coal mining industry
in Kent was not dreamed of when that Act was passed.
Mr. Varley also contended that the coal was part of the
miners’ wages, and described the tax as an injustice. He
stated they would be represented by eminent counsel in any
litigation. The matter was explained to a meeting of the
men on Sunday morning, when all three shifts could be
present, and they were advised to pay the dues this time,
pending the decision of the Council. They, however, “to
a man,” refused to pay the dues. The Mayor explained
that the Council had no power to differentiate as to payment
of coal dues. Various questions were raised by members of
the Council during a lengthy discussion, and it was pointed
out to the deputation that the dues only amount to a penny
per cwt. In reply to contentions raised by the deputation,
the town clerk ruled that the Act stated dues were to be
levied upon coal which may be brought into Dover. He
thought it was the duty of the Corporation to enforce the
Act, or they might have applications from other classes of
the community who might consider themselves equally hard

hit by the coal dues. The position seemed to him to be
this : If a man came to live in Dover he had to pay Is. 7d.
a ton more for his coal than he had outside; and if a man
as part of his wages received coal he had to pay Is. 7d. a
ton. It was as broad as it was long. Eventually a resolu-
tion was passed : That the town clerk be instructed to inform
the Miners’ Association that the Council regret they are
unable to make any preference in their favour, and the
Council are not in a position to take any steps with regard
to the abolition of the coal dues. The town clerk was
also instructed, in the event of the miners not paying the
dues, to take action against them in the County Court.

Scotland.

Newfoundland Timber at Bo'ness—Valuation Appeals—
Glasgow and the Price of Coal (Limitation) Act: Con-
ference with Coal Owners—Important Home Office
Prosecution at Airdrie.

Aitkenhead Colliery, Mount Florida, near Glasgow, has a
war record of which the management and workmen are
justifiably proud. One of the first employees to join the
Colours was the under-manager, Mr. George Liddell, whose
brother, Mr. Drummond Liddell, is manager of the colliery,
and his example was followed by no fewer than 83 of the
workmen. When it is stated that the total working staff
does not exceed 200, it will be conceded that the Aitkenhead
miners have done their duty.

The pitwood trade at Bo’ness has been revived by the
receipt of large cargoes from Newfoundland. The cargoes
brought into Glasgow were despatched by rail to Messrs.
Love and Stewart’s yard at Grangepans. Smaller cargoes
from Sweden are being dealt with at Granton. Bo’ness,
which is on the upper reaches of the Forth, is one of the
ports closed by the order of the Admiralty, and which in
peace times is one of the largest importers of pitwood.

The Fife Valuation Appeal Court had before them appeals
by the Fife Coal Company and the Lochgelly Iron and
Coal Company to have miners occupying houses belonging
to the companies entered in the valuation roll as occupiers,
and the companies’ names to appear only in the owner’s
column of the roll. After hearing Mr. Connell, solicitor,
Dunfermline, for the companies, and the assessor, the com-
mittee dismissed the appeal. Mr. Connell intimated his
intention to state a case for appeal to the Court of Session.

At a sitting of the Valuation Appeal Court for the Middle
Ward District of the County of Lanark, Mr. H. McNeill-
Hamilton, of Broomhill, Larkhill, appealed against the
valuation of £167 16s. put on the minerals of Bentrigg No. 2
Colliery, Dalserf, and claimed that the figure should be
exactly one half less. Mr. Clark, writer, Glasgow, who
appeared along with the appellant, explained that the appeal
had been brought up last year, but said that circumstances
had altered somewhat since then. The assessor this year
had valued the minerals at 6d. per ton, and the appellant
suggested that the figure should be 3d. Previous to 1901,
the minerals were let to Messrs. Sym, and the lordship
charged was 4d. per ton. In 1901 the lease was transferred
to the Larkhall Collieries, which were eventually merged in
the United Collieries, and the lordship was 6d. Since 1913,
Mr. Hamilton, the proprietor, had worked the coal himself,
but at the Court last year it was stated that the working had
resulted in a heavy loss. The accounts for the last two years
showed that there was a loss of £4,000. The assessor said
that, last year, appeals were lodged in connection with No. 1
and No. 2 Bentrigg collieries. In the case of No. 1 Colliery,
he thought he proved to the satisfaction of the Court then
that 3|d. was at least a fair rate, and quite justified in the
circumstances. It had been mentioned that day that No. 2
Colliery had made a loss, but he thought he was right in
saying that No. 1 had made a profit, so that the question
of profit and loss had nothing to do with it. He was not
prepared to acquiesce in a disturbance of the royalty of
No. 2 without an alteration in the rate of No. 1. The Court
retired to consider their decision, and on their return the
chairman intimated they were of opinion that the case of
No. 1 was irrelevant at present. They fixed the rate for
No. 2 at 5d. per ton.

At the same Court an appeal by Messrs. Wm. Barr and
Sons, coal masters, against the valuation placed on their
wagon repair works at Allanton, Hamilton, was considered.
The assessor contended that the appeal was not in form, as
it had not been lodged in time and did not state the amount
of reduction desired. He had written offering to give a
reduction of £15, but he did not know if that had been
accepted. Asked by the Chairman of the Court if he would
accept the reduction of £15 which was offered, the agent
representing the appellants declined, and the Court, having
unanimously considered the appeal, dismissed it. The
agent then contended that the valuation should be entered
at £15 less—this being the amount of the reduction offered—
but he was told that since he had declined to accept the
offer, the valuation must now stand at the assessor’s figure.

The employees of No. 6 pit, belonging to the Auchlochan
Colliery Company have presented Mr. Wm. G. Gallacher,
under manager, with a roll top deck and a silver tea service
for Mrs. Gallacher, in view of his promotion to a better
post with the Mount Vernon Coal Company, near Baillieston,
Shettleston. Mr. Gallacher has been under-manager in the
Coalburn district of Lanarkshire for nearly 13 years, first
with Messrs. Wm. Barr and Sons Limited, and afterwards
with the Auchlochan Coal Company.

The effect of the Price of Coal (Limitation) Act, 1915,
on the price of coal at the pit head was under consideration
on Friday last at a conference held in Glasgow between
■the Glasgow Corporation Special Committee on Coal Supplies
and representatives of the Lanarkshire Coal Masters’
Association. The coal masters’ representatives expressed
the opinion that the full maximum allowed under the Act
would be added to the prices prevailing in the corresponding
periods of 1913-14. They also stated that any shortage of
supplies would have no influence on prices, as these are
regulated by the new Act. It was indicated that there was
every possibility of an increase in prices in accordance with
the advances which normally take place in the winter season.
It was remitted to the chairman and clerk to prepare a
report to be submitted to the Corporation after approval
by the committee.

Glasgow Corporation have had under consideration recom-
mendations regarding the price of coal made by the Special
Committee on Coal Supplies. The recommendations were
arrived at by the committee at a meeting held on Monday
to consider the evidence submitted to them by coal merchants
and coal owners regarding the effect of the Price of Coal
(Limitation) Act, 1915, and to draft recommendations based
on that evidence. After a long discussion it was agreed that
the committee report simpliciter the statements made to
them by coal merchants and owners, as recorded in the pre-