944

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

November 5, 1915.

securely fenced. On the first charge, Mr. Flint stated that
when enquiring into the cause of the explosion referred to
he found that there was no indicator on the fan, and he
was consequently unable to check the revolutions and to
ascertain the cause of the accumulation of firedamp. The
manager told him that the reason an indicator had not been
provided w*as that the agent, Mr. Westwood, did not think
one was necessary. Mr. Mottram submitted that it was a
serious matter when the agent of a colliery would not let
the manager carry out the Mines Act. The fan should run
night and day, and it was necessary to have an indicator
so that the night running could be checked each morning,
or’at any time. The ventilation had to be constantly pro-
duced, whether there was anyone in the mine or not.
Defendant was fined 20s., and on the second charge a fine
of 20s. and costs was imposed.

In connection with the Brodswortli Main Colliery Com-
pany’s colliery war relief fund, the amount contributed by
the company up to October 31 last was .£8,322 12s. 2d.; by
colliery employees and private donations, £2,726 5s. 2d. ;
making a total of £11,048 17s. 4d. The amount paid out in
relief contributions to various public war funds, etc., was
£9,635 17s. 2d.; leaving a balance in hand of £1,413 Os. 2d.,
of which £1,000 has been ear-marked for the relief of disabled
soldiers at the end of the war.

Prof. J. W. Cobb, Livesey professor in the department of
coal gas and fuel industries (with metallurgy) at the Leeds
University, in his third annual report, states that the influ-
ence of the war was indicated at the opening of the 1914-15
session by a complete reversal of the progress in numbers
which he had been able to report in the two previous
sessions. The temporary depletion, he says, has gone very
far, but the demand which seems certain to become insistent
in the near future for scientifically trained men in all
industries can be relied upon to correct that shortcoming.
Alter reviewing the special lectures on by-product coke oven
practice, Prof. Cobb reports that he and Mr. Hodsman, his
assistant lecturer and demonstrator, have carried out the
preliminaries of a research on toluol. At the invitation of
the council of the Institution of Gas Engineers, Prof. Cobb
has joined its committee on refractory materials, and
numerous tests of such materials have been made in the
laboratories. By the generosity of Sir Corbett Woodall, a
fund was placed at the disposal of the Institution of Gas
Engineers for the endowment of a scholarship in gas
engineering, and it was decided that the scholarship should
be made tenable at the Leeds University. There will be no
election this year. A number of prominent firms in the
gas, coke oven, and allied industries offered facilities for
placing students in works during the long vacation, but
it was only possible to accept their offer to a limited extent.

Lancashire and Cheshire.

Pits Closing Through Enlistments—Retail Coal Prices
Agreements.

A correspondent learns that several powerful colliery con-
cerns in the Manchester and Leigh areas are introducing com-
pressed air coal-cutting machines on a more extensive scale.

Mr. Daniel Darlington has been appointed certificated
manager of the New Moss Colliery Limited, Audenshaw, near
Manchester, where he has been engaged for upwards of three
years as under-manager.

Amongst other developments foreshadowed at the New Moss
Collieries, Audenshaw, near Manchester, which was recently
purchased by a Liverpool syndicate, will be the opening up
of new seams and the carrying out of various surface
improvements.

It was announced on Monday that owing to further heavy
enlistments of colliers and other workers, several mines in
the Bolton and Manchester districts will have to be closed.
The few men left in them will be transferred to other mines
belonging to the same owners.

At meetings of miners held on Monday night in the Man-
chester and Bolton districts, the suggestion was made that a
special small levy should be made for the purpose of insuring
against death all their comrades who have joined the Colours.
Miners in certain parts of Northumberland have already
inaugurated such a levy.

Amongst other firms in South Lancashire now using elec-
tricity in greater bulk for various purposes, both on the
surface and below, are Messrs. A. Knowles and Sons, Clifton
and Kersley Coal Company Limited, Messrs. Fletcher,
Burrows and Company Limited, Astley and Tyldesley Coal
Company Limited, Hulton Colliery Company Limited,
Tyldesley Coal Company Limited, and the Earl of Elles-
mere’s extensive and well-equipped generating stations have
just been built at Lord Ellesmere’s Ashton Field and Mosley
Common collieries, near Walkden.

A committee of Manchester coal merchants on Monday
passed a resolution in which they agree to do everything
possible to maintain present prices, and will not advance any
price unless circumstances, such as an advance in the price
of coal at the pit head or an increasing cost of distribution,
compels an advance. — The coal retailers of Chorley have
agreed that the prices charged for household coal during the
winter shall be increased by 5s. per ton, the amount of the
increase made by the colliery companies. — At Blackburn
representatives of 63 local firms attended a conference con-
vened by the Mayor, and decided that, provided no unfore-
seen circumstances arise, the retail price of coal in the town
shall not be increased by more than Is. 8d. per ton over
present prices, making the maximum prices Is. 8jd. per cwt.
for best and Is. 5£d. per cwt. for seconds. — Retail coal
dealers at Bolton decided last week to advance coal prices
by |d. per cwt.—The Todmorden Town Council report that,
after a conference with all the local coal dealers, it has been
unanimously agreed not to charge more than a fixed percen-
tage on the actual cost of coal delivered at the railway
station to cover expenses of distribution and profit. All the
coal dealers in the borough have promised to abide by this
decision.

An interesting case was heard by the Oldham magistrates
recently, when James Henry Wrigley, coal merchant, of
Chief-street, Oldham, was summoned for breaches of the
heights and Measures Act and the Merchandise Marks
Act. Mr. Garside, deputy town clerk, said that defendant
was summoned under section 2 of the Merchandise Marks
Act, 1887, for selling certain coal to which he had applied
a false trade description. Inspector White went up to
defendant as he was delivering coal at a house, and asked
if he had delivered the weigh ticket. Defendant replied
that he must have left the ticket at the office of the
Chamber Colliery Company in George-street. They went
to the office, and the inspector was there handed the weigh
ticket. On comparing the ticket with tha-t given by
defendant to the purchaser of the coal before the coal was

delivered, it was found that whereas the ticket handed to
the purchaser described the coal as “ best,” that received
at the office described the coal as “ cobbles.” Wrigley
charged the purchaser £1 3s. Id., which it was alleged
represented the price of coal on the basis of best coal. On
weighing the coal, the inspector found it was deficient by
361b. It was stated in evidence that the difference in price
between best and cobbles was. 2d. per cwt. Defendant
stated that he had been in business for over 20 years.
His customer, with whom he had dealt for 10 or 12 years,
told him to bring her 10 or 15 bags if he saw some nice
coal—not big lumps. He went with his carter to the
Chamber Colliery Company’s yard, and he and his man
hand picked nearly all the coal. He classed the coal as
best,” and sold it at Is. 5Jd. ^per cwt. The cobbles he
delivered were equal to dozens of “ best ” coals. He had
put “ best ” on the customer’s ticket and “ cobbles ” on the
other because they had hand picked the coal when filling
the bags. A magistrate pointed out that defendant bought
the coal as cobbles ^nd sold it as best, and defendant
said if he had been delivering Chamber Colliery best he
should have wanted Is. 6d. per cwt. He had to go to
extra trouble in the matter. In the end the Bench dismissed
the summons taken out under the Weights and Measures
Act, coming to the conclusion that the weigh . tickets
coincided as to weight. The case under the Merchandise
Marks Act, said the chairman, was a more serious matter,
and it was possible under the Act to send an offender to
prison for four months with hard labour. This was -a first
offence, and a £5 fi$ie would be imposed. He hoped the
case would be taken as a warning by the trade.

Notts and Derbyshire.

Relief ^Society and Enlistments.

The recent lamentable disaster at the Bentinck Colliery,
Kirkby, in which nine workmen lost their lives and several
were injured as the result of the colliding of the cages in
the pit shaft, is recalled by the death of a tenth victim,
Charles Henry Bacon. At the inquest held last week a
verdict of accidental death was returned. Mr. Percy F.
Day, the manager, replying to the coroner, said that since
the iaccident, <and after the inquest on the other victims,
certain alterations had been made at the pit. Two large
separating ropes had been put in between the cages, making
now eight ropes in the shaft, other than the winding rope.
Guiders were expected to be delivered shortly. The company
were going to “ weight ” all the conductors as soon as
possible. New lattice gates had been ordered.

With a view to utilising the water of the River Trent, the
Clifton Colliery Company have obtained the sanction of the
Works and Ways Committee of the Nottingham City
Council for permission to allow a channel or culvert, running
from a new electric power house, to be placed underneath
the roadway to permit of it joining the Trent, so that, it is
estimated, something like 20,000 gals, of water may hourly
be drawn to the power house, and be returned without loss
or waste. The colliery is close by the river.

The effect of enlistments upon the membership of the Mid-
land District Miners’ Fatal Accident Relief Society was
reflected in the report, at the quarterly meeting of the board
at Derby recently, that the total had declined from 43,580
to 41,645 during the past year. It was mentioned by a
Butterley delegate that as many as 500 men from the colliery
at which he was engaged had joined the Army or Navy. The
financial statement showed' that the income for the quarter
amounted to £3,836, members’ contributions to £2,262,
showing a falling off of £149. The expenditure amounted
to £1,924, the balance carried forward to the credit of the
benefit fund being £1,912, as against £2,201. A sum of
£4,973 was invested in the War Loan during the quarter,
and the balance in hand was £2,758, as against £3,336.
There were now 321 widows and 423 children on the funds.

. The Midlands.

Improper Storage of Explosives—Recruiting : Starred Classes
at Mines—Drainage in September.

The Stourbridge Town Council have arrived at an agree-
ment with local coal merchants as to the regulation of
prices of house coal. .	<

At Dudley, on Friday, Ernest Bunn wras fined 20s. for
neglecting to keep explosive cartridges in a secure case until
actually required for firing. The defendant was employed
by the Stourbridge Glaze Brick Company at one of their
collieries. The allegation against the defendant was that
after receiving a canister of cartridges, he took them out
of the case and handed them to a horse driver for delivery
to the man at the blow hole. The horse driver accidentally
dropped one of the bobbins, causing an explosion, the powder
coming into contact with the candle. The result was that
the horse driver was seriously burned. Defendant admitted
the offence, and said he was anxious to retain the case so
as to fetch more powder.—The Chairman said the terrible
explosion at a neighbouring colliery should be a warning
to miners to exercise every care. — A summons against
another miner for using a steel stemmer for ramming pur-
poses, contrary to the regulations, resulted in the defendant
being fined 10s. It was stated that a proper copper stemmer
was provided, but as this was not long enough, defendant
used a steel drill. An explosion occurred, and the man was
burned about the face, neck, and shoulder^, and he had
been at play several weeks as a consequence.—Aid.
Chambers said the fine was light because defendant had
suffered for his folly.

At a meeting of the Old Hill Miners’ Association, the
question of recruiting among miners and Lord Derby’s appeal
were discussed. A resolution was passed expressing the
opinion that as between 500 and 600 miners from the area
had already enlisted, no more men could be spared for the
Army. The agent (Mr. S. Edwards) was instructed to
attend’ a meeting of the Dudley Parliamentary Recruiting
Committee and explain the position of the district. It was
further stated that owing to the presence of water in the
local-mines, men had to be kept at work continually, Sundays
included, if the pits were to be kept open. Owing to the
shortage of men, the employers had not. sufficient miners to
put on the night shift, and sometimes two, three, or four
hours elapsed before the day shift could commence to raise
coal. The output has seriously decreased, and, if further
men are to be taken, it is feared some of the collieries ‘will
have to close.

Twenty-five per cent, of the miners in the North Warwick-
shire coal field are serving with the Colours. Coal owners
are, of course, in these circumstances, unable to maintain the
normal output from the pits, and further enlistments would
very gravely affect production. The Board of Trade have for

some time past been pressing owners to obtain the fullest
possible output, but at the same time the military authorities
have been recruiting their men. The owners have, there-
fore, sought a clear direction from the Government, and the
following intimation, which sets all doubt at rest, has been
received from the Home Office by way of the secretary to the
Mining Association of Great Britain :—“ Re your letter
on enlistment of miners received this morning, all under-
ground workers are starred, as well as the following classes
of surface workers, namely, winding enginemen, pumpmen,
weighmen, electricians, fitters, and mechanics. I would be
glad if you would notify to your branch associations that
they should inform the divisional inspector of mines of any
specific complaints of cases where persons belonging to these
classes are being approached by recruiting agents and induced,
to become recruits in H.M. Forces, giving occupation and
age.”

A decrease of a quarter of a million gallons, compared with
September, is shown in the pumping returns of the South
Staffordshire Mines Drainage Commission just issued. The
general manager (Mr. Edmund Howl), in his monthly report
as engineer for the Tipton district, states that the rainfall
for the last four weeks was 1-89 in. The pumping had been
10,736,100 gals, per 24 hours, as against 10,984,400 gals. last
month. The water at the Moat pound was now being dealt
with by the Moat new engine and the Gospel Oak Mond gas
driven plant, without the assistance of the Moat old engine..
The Bradley engine was now working at 3J strokes per
minute, full speed being six strokes per minute. At Deep-
fields the new engine alone wTas keeping the water down to
the broken coal level at a little more than three-quarter full
speed. There was little change at Leabrook and -Crown
Meadow, and some diminution in the quantity of water at
Park Lane.—Mr. S. B. Priest (surface drainage engineer)
reports that the surface pumps have been maintained in good
order, and have worked when necessary. An electrically-
driven surface pump was being used at Havacre Colliery.
The Buckpool culvert was being diverted jointly with the
Brierley Hill Council and the ’ Kingswinford Council.
—The engineer for the Old Hill district (Mr. W.
B. Collis) reports that during the past month the
water, owing to the small rainfall, had still further fallen
off in the northern portion of that district. It had only
amounted to 4J strokes per minute on the Windmill End
pumping engine, the Buffery pumping engine being almost
entirely idle.

Kent.

The output at Til manstone Colliery last week was nearly
fourteen hundred tons, which is the record since the colliery
was restarted.

At Shakespeare Colliery it is reported that very satis-
factory work is being carried out, and also at the Channel
Colliery Trust’s borings at Swingate and Folkestone.

Forest of Dean.

The series of classes in connection with the Forest of Dean
mining education scheme was brought to a close on the
25th ult., when 12 students returned to the Forest of Dean
after a visit to the South Lancashire coal field. It is usual
for the premier scholarship, valued at £100 per year, and
tenable for two years, to be awarded to the student who
gains the highest number of marks through the year. The
student to head the list for the session 1914-15 was Mr. A.
B. Underwood, of Bream, and he has already taken up his
studies at Wigan Mining and Technical College, and is
also acquiring practical knowledge and experience at Messrs.
Pearson and Knowles’ collieries in the South Lancashire coal
field. The nine students immediately following Mr. Under-
wood, together with the three elementary students who head
the list, went on a visit to the South Lancashire coal field,
as above mentioned. Starting from Gloucester on Monday,
September 20, they arrived at Wigan at 6.45 p.m., Mr.
J. A. Hooper, who is one of Mr. J. J. Joynes’ assistants,
accompanying the party. On Tuesday they were conducted
over the Maypole Colliery. On Wednesday the party visited
Moss Hall Collieries. On Thursday the students went to
Chisnail Hall Colliery, in the afternoon visiting the Wigan
Mining and Technical College. On Friday the party visited
the Wigan Corporation power house and the engineering
works of Messrs. R. Wood and Company. The students
returned to their homes on Saturday, after a most enjoyable
and profitable week. The success of the tour is very largely
due to Mr. Eames, general manager to Messrs. Pearson and
Knowles Limited, and to Mr. Gee, his secretary, together
with Mr. H. Entwistle. The mining classes have now
restarted for the session 1915-16.

Scotland.

Responsibilities of Managers Under the Mines Act.

It is stated that the whole of the ordinary shares of the
Clydebridge Steel Company Limited, Rutherglen, have been
acquired by David Colville and Sons Limited, steel manu-
facturers, Motherwell.

The new colliery that has started at Camelon for the pur-
pose of developing that part of the Stirlingshire coal field,
has now tapped the Main coal, but before doing much in
this seam the company intend reaching the Mill coal, which
is reported to be of good quality.

Representatives of the Glasgow Corporation’s special com-
mittee on prices of coal to small consumers attended a
meeting of the council of the Coal Merchants’ Association of
Scotland, and after conferring on the means that might be
adopted to secure the delivery of coal to small consumers,
it was agreed to postpone the matter for further considera-
tion. It is understood that the Corporation suggest the
development by merchants and lorrymen of district depots,
so that a system of delivery by order may be encouraged as
distinct from hawking of coal in working-class districts.
Under a system of delivery by order it is computed that
one lorry is able to deliver 7| tons per day to customers,
whereas in hawking coal the total deliveries usually amount
to only 2J tons.

In Hamilton Sheriff Court on Saturday, Sheriff Shennan
heard additional evidence in the series of charges against
John Smith, manager of Murdostoun Colliery, Cleland,
Lanarkshire, for alleged contraventions of the Explosives in
Coal Mines Order.—Wm. Lithgow deponed that he was a
backshift fireman in the pit at the time when the explosion
occurred in the-right back dook of the Lower Drumgray seam,
whereby the boy Meharry was injured. For months before
the accident witness had been in the habit of handing out
detonators to the brushers at the commencement of their
shift, although he knew it was wrong.—Witness had definite
instructions from the respondent and the officials under him
to bring to the surface any explosives and detonators which