1308 THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN December 24, 1915. , m such manner that the A .RAISE LOWER \SIEADY STEADY/ LOWE 8 MEN ON. ,9? 7 '9 - T9 28' XZ6 iO ■12 2! 13 is a pawl 14, connected with the weight 15, and adapted to engage a ratchet wheel 16, which drives the fan 17 through the medium of the gear wThe ‘ rotation of the fan 17 retards the return movement of the arm 13, and thereby pre- vents its re-engagement with the said lever 11, carrying the retaining pin 10, unless eufficient time is allowed to elapse; the arrangement being such that in giving a signal necessitating a plur- ality of pulls on the pull rope, etc., the arm 13 is not given sufficient time to re- engage with the lever 11 until the signal has been given, and, at any further operation, after the arm 13 has moved into engagement, the lever 11 is operated so as to move the pin 10 out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 6, in such manner as to release such wheel 6, and first cancel the signal (the wheel 6 and pointer 2 being returned to the “ zero ” or starting point by the action of the spring 5), so that the signal may be repeated without causing accumulation and consequent con- fusion. In order that the cautionary signal “ men ” (or an equivalent sign) may be displayed at the opening 3 in the dial 1, on the active signal being given, the pin 4 is provided with a cam or equivalent 19, which comes into operation on the cautionary “ men ” (“ 3 ”) signal being given, and operates a lever 20, which is thereby brought into the path of the arm 13, and is operated thereby on the further signal being given. Projecting from a tail piece on the lever 20 is a pin 21, adapted to engage and operate a swinging lever 22, which latter carries on its lower end a card or plate 23, with the word ‘ ‘ men ’ ’ (or other suitable sign); and the operation of the lever 20 by the arm 13 causes the card or plate 23 to swing round until the sign thereon is visible through the opening 3, the card or plate 23 being retained id this posi- tion by means of a weighted hook 24, adapted to engage a projecting pin 25 on the lever 22. The signals are cancelled automatically from the winding engine, or by hand, etc., by means of a rod or other connection 26, which is connected with the lever 11 in such manner that the pin 10 may be readily drawn out of engagement with the teeth of the wheel 6; and to permit the pin 4 and pointer 2 being moved back to the zero position by the coil spring 5, the pin 10 is held out of engagement with the wheel 6 by an arm 27, which is pulled downwards by its spring until its outer end is in position to engage and prevent the return movement of a pin 29 on the lever 11. On the pull rope being operated to give the next signal, this arm 27 is moved out of the path of the pin 29 by means of a pin 30, which is provided on a short arm 31 on the operating pin 9, and is adapted to engage and depress a tail piece or lever 32 on the arm 27, so that the pin 10 returns to its operative position under the influence of a pull spring 33 secured to a tail piece 34 on the lever 11. For the cancellation of the “ men ” signal exhibited through the opening 3, the weighted hook 24 is provided with a projecting pin 35, which is pressed upwards by the tail-piece 34 in such manner that the hook 24 is moved out of engagement with the pin 25, and the lever 22 and plate 33 fall by gravity. In order to give an audible as well as a visible signal, a bell 37 (partly broken away) is provided, and the hammer 38 is operated by a trigger 39, which is engaged by the member 7 during each return stroke of the latter. (Three claims.) 23270 (1914). Improvements in and relating to Tell-tale Appliances for Indicating Signals from Pit Bottoms or Pit Heads, and the like. R. B. Brodie and A. Alison, of the Melville-Brodie Engineering Company, Sinclairtown Foundry, Kirkcaldy.—Has reference to improvements in and relating to tell-tale appliances, more particularly designed for show- ing indications of signals made from a pit bottom or head to the engine house, and which show what signals have been passed, should these not have met with immediate attention, and consists in the construction or arrangement and combina- tion of the parts of such appliances. Figs. 1 and 2 are sectional elevations. The mechanism is contained within a casing 1, which carries a dial 2, marked to form two series of segmental divisions, one being numbered from 0 to 7, or any other numbers required, the other and outer series being marked to show what signals the numbers refer to. Hands are fitted to point to the various divisions as they are moved by the mechanism. The longer hand is secured on the outer vw2' ——o; end of a spindle 5, fitted with a ratchet wheel 6, by which it is rotated. The shorter hand is secured on a hollow arbor 7, placed loose on the spindle carrying the long hand, and is also fitted with a ratchet wheel 8. The short hand is carried round by an arm, etc., fixed to the long hand ratchet wheel 6. This movement of the hands is effected by a bell crank lever 9, oscillating on the spindle 5, and actuated by a hang- ing bar 10, connected at its upper end to a cord or rod con- nected to the signalling apparatus at the pit head or pit bottom or both, the lever 9 rotating the ratchet wheels by means of a pawl 11. The hanging bar 10 has a projection 12, which comes into contact with a roller 13 on the signal lever 9, to raise it, when the hanging bar 10 is raised. The lever 9, which is raised when a signal is given, passes through an opening in the casing, and carries at its inner end an arm 14 at right angles, which carries the actuating pawl 11. This pawl engages with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 6, and moves over said ratchet wheel the space equivalent to one tooth (or more, as may be arranged) at each upward pull of the lever. The lever 9 and bar 10, falling by gravity after each pull or signal, move the ratchet wheels 6 and 8, and the hands to point to the figures on the dial 2. A retaining pawl 15 pivoted to the casing engages with a tooth of the ratchet wheel 6 to prevent it turning back when the lever 9 is being raised. If a signal is received in the engine room, and no reply given, the signal will be repeated, and to obviate a false reading, the long hand is returned to the zero position by the following means. A weighted lever 16 oscillates on a stud 17 on the casing, and is raised by the signal lever 9 coming into contact with a stud 18 thereon. A pawl 19, carried by a projection 20 on lever 16 engages with the teeth of an escapement wheel 21 mounted on the same stud 17, and rides over the teeth as the lever is raised. When the signal lever 9 is lowered, the lever 16 would also fall at once, but is prevented by its engagement with the escapement wheel 21, which turns slowly only by the action of a pendulum escape- ment 22. Before lever 16 comes again into contact with the lever 9, a projection 23 on its inner end engages with a pro- jection 24 on the retaining pawl 15, and lifts the retaining pawl out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 6. A pro- jection 25 is hinged to the actuating pawl 11, which passes under a projection 26 on the retaining pawl 15 when the lever is raised to give the second signal, and as pawl 15 is pre- vented from rising by a stop pin 27, the projection 25 causes the pawl 11 to oscillate on its pivot, so as to disengage with the ratchet wheel 6, and allow the long hand to turn back to zero by the action of a weight 28 suspended by a steel cord passing over a pulley on the same spindle. When the signal lever is lowered again, the long hand will point to the first figure on dial. A projection 29 on the ratchet wheel 6 strikes a projection 30 on retaining pawl 15, and raises pawl 15 when the highest or last figure or indication is reached, and so allows the long hand to return to zero, when the signal lever is again raised. (Four claims.) HEW PATEHTS CONNECTED WITH THE COAL AND IRON TRADES. Applications for Patents. 17405. Steam condensing plant. D. B. Morison. 17417. Automatic time device for exploding explosives. A. Williams. 17420. Deep hole drills. J. Oakley. 17439. Igniters for safety fuses. C. Millman. 17443. Detonators. W. J. Mellersh-Jackson. (Bombrini Parodi-Delfino, (firm of), Italy.) 17447. Method of producing corrosion resisting refractory materials, and the product thereof. Mineral Pro- ducts Company. 17467. Combination oil box and internal tube plate for oil fuel heater. C. J. Abell. 17472. Packing means for the shafts of centrifugal pumps. N. V. W. Conrad. 17493. Manufacture of refractory articles. Williamson, Cliff Limited, and A. Cliff. 17523. Production of iron or steel. T. Rouse. 17540. Winding mechanism. A. Jaques and E. Jaques. 17559. Audible and visual indicators for use in mines and the like. W. Baxter. 17583 and 17584. Explosives. Stockholms Superfosfat Fabriks Aktiebolag. 17588. Visual signalling apparatus for use in collieries. A. Gillespie and H. Gillespie. 17590. Steam condensing plant. D. B. Morison. 17592. Compressors. British Thomson-Houston Company Limited. (General Electric Company, U.S.A.) 17595. Machines for generating and distributing electric cur- rents. F. L. Hollister. 17596. Carriers for connection with aerial ropeways. Bulli- vants’ Aerial Ropeways Limited, and A. 0. Gray. 17670. Proportioning gaseous mixtures. A. C. lonides, junr. 17731. Means or apparatus for warming the feed water of fuel economisers and the like. W. J. Ogden. Complete Specifications Accepted. (To be published on January 6.) 1914. 22404. Coal shutes for delivering coal to boiler furnaces and like purposes. Flinn. 23986. Steam generators. Fairweather. (Babcock and Wilcox Company.) 24001. Chain grate and the like automatic stokers. Bennis. 24080. Independent vertical double-acting air pumps. Nishioka. 24120. Grinding and crushing mills. Bouvier. 24522. Hydraulic transmission gear. Lentz. 24552. Electrical resistances. Curtis. 1915. 1045. Apparatus for purifying gas. Climie. 1758. Sliding valves. Haigh, and Bryan Donkin Company. 4141. Gyratory crushers. Power and Mining Machinery Company. 4602. Apparatus for charging gas retorts, furnaces, and the like, and withdrawing coke or other residues there- from. Bancroft and Hansford. 7422. Automatic regulation of centrifugal and turbine pumps. Willans and Robinson Limited, and Bell. 8283. Water tube boilers. Soc. Anon, des Etablissements Delaunay-Belleville. 13098. Aerial railways. Odazio. Hull Coal Exports.—The official return of the exports of coal from Hull to foreign countries for the week ending Tuesday, December 14, is as follows :—Amsterdam, 502 tons; Bergen, 2; Boulogne, 2,137; Calais, 1,015; Christiansund, 47; Dieppe, 629; Gefle, 1,762; Gothenburg, 603; Guernsey, 369; Harlingen, 699; Oporto, 1,459; Rouen, 19,632; Rotter- dam, 1,561; West Africa, 700—total, 31,117 tons. The above figures do not include bunker coal, shipments for the British Admiralty, or the Allies’ Governments. Corresponding period December 1914, total 34,964 tons; corresponding period December 1913, total 100,639 tons. GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS. *** Any of the following publications may be obtained on application at this office at the price named post free. Bills, 1915 : Finance, 7d.; Munitions of War Amendment, 2|d.; Companies of Enemy Character, l^d.; Increase in Rent, ljd.; Trading with the Enemy Extension, Id. Consular and Trade Reports : Gold Coast, 1914, 4d. Clyde Munition Workers : Report, l|d. Workmen’s Compensation : Rule No. 1133, l£d. Boiler Explosion Report : No. 2395, at the Electric Generating Station, Chester-street, Birmingham, 4|d. Statistical Abstract for the United Kingdom, 1900-14, 2s. 2d. Labour Gazette, December 1915, 3d. Housing Act Account, 1914 and 1915, Id. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. ‘ Monthly Bulletin of the Canadian Mining Institute ” (No. 44), December; “Mining Magazine’’ (Vol. 13, No. 6), December, price Is.; “New Zealand Minister of Mines Annual Statement for 1914 ’ ’; “ The Geology and Mineral Resources of the Buller-Mokihinui, Westport Divi- sion,’’ by P. G. Morgan and J. A. Bartrum (Bulletin 17, New Zealand Geological Survey); “Transactions of the Institution of Mining Engineers ’’ (Vol. 49, Part 7), price 6s.; “Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society’’ (Vol. 30, Parts 3 and 4); “ The Institution of Mining Engi- neers, List of Members, 1914-15,’’ price 6s.; “ The Press- man ’’ (Vol. 2, No. 9), December, price 2d.; “ The Journal of the Royal Society of Arts ’’ (Vol. 64, No. 3291), price 6d.; “ The Journal of the Franklin Institute ’’ (Vol. 180, No. 6), December; “Alphabetical Hand-List of the New Zealand Tertiary Mollusca,” by H. Suter (New Zealand Geological Survey); “ Transactions of the Mining Institute of Scotland’’ (Vol. 38, Part 1); “Mining Institute of Scotland, List of Members, 1914-15’’; “ Statistics for the Month of October 1915 of the Department of Mines and Industries, Union of South Africa ’’; “ Transactions of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland ’ ’ (Vol. 59, Part 2); “ Bulletin of the American Institute of Mining Engineers,’’ December; “ Mathieson’s Handbook for Investors for 1916 ’’ (London : F. C. Mathieson and Sons), price 2s. 6d.; “Dividend Income-Tax Tables (No. 14) for Deductions at 2s. 8d. in the £ ’’ (London : Effingham Wilson), price 6d.; “Mining Highest and Lowest Prices, Dividends, etc., for the Past Six Years ’’ (London : F. C. Mathieson and Sons), price Is. Id. War Bonus Calculator.—We have received a very useful ready reckoner compiled by Mr. T. J. Peace, check weighman at the Round wood Collieries, Ossett, Yorkshire, which enables one to see at a glance the amounts to which the colliers are entitled under the new 14-8 per cent, war bonus scale on all sums between Id. and £1, and from £1 to £13. It may be mentioned that the reckoner has been approved by Mr. G. Moorhouse, A.C.I.S., F.C.I. Dutch Liners and the Suez Canal.—Commenting on the fact that the Nederland and Rotterdamsche Lloyd steamship companies have decided to forward the mails to the Dutch East Indies provisionally vid the -Cape, beginning on January 1, and that the reason assigned is the uncertainty of coaling arrangements, The Times says London coal con- tractors do not quite appreciate the official reason given for the decision to divert the Dutch liners from the Suez to the Cape route—namely, “ the increasing uncertainty of being able to obtain the necessary coals at the appointed stations.’’ They say that though prices are high, there is plenty of coal to be had at Port Said and the Mediterranean stations. The price next month at Port Said will be 85s. or 95s. per ton, as compared with 25s. or 26s. before the war, but owing to the withdrawal for Government purposes of many vessels which used the Suez route in normal times, and the absence of German traffic, the reserves are now very large. Further, the Dutch liners are accustomed to bunker at Sabang with Sumatra and Indian coals, and only require to take compara- tively small amounts at Port Said or the Mediterranean ports. In any case, the saving on coals by using the Cape route (bunkers are comparatively cheap at Natal), would not go far to meet the cost of maintaining the liners at sea for an addi- tional 12 or 14 days. There is an inclination to think that the decision may not be unconnected with the German sub- marine attacks in the Mediterranean. It is not thought likely that British ship owners will be influenced by the action of the Dutch companies. Coal Shipped from Ports in the United Kingdom during November.—The following figures, which have been extracted from the returns issued by the Commissioners of H.M. Customs and Excise, show the quantities of coal shipped from each group of ports in the United Kingdom during the month of November, as compared with the corresponding month last year :— Cargo. Nov. 1914. Nov. 1915. Tons. Tons. Bristol Channel ports 1,426,275 ... 1,509,474 North-western ports 29,491 53,019 North-eastern ports 939,259 ... 1,077,636 Humber ports 301,653 ... 248,322 Other east coast ports 8,515 739 Other English ports 842 30 Ports on east coast of Scotland 344,113 ... 256,881 Ports on west coast of Scotland 230,012 ... 156,670 Total 3,280,160 ... 3,302,771 Bunker. • Nov. 1914. Nov. 1915. Tons. Tons. Bristol Channel ports 321,917 ... 251,664 North-western ports 303,003 ... 198,421 North-eastern ports 189,768 ... 161,102 Humber ports 133,640 77,948 Other east coast ports 111,947 94,017 Other English ports 14,370 16,981 Ports on east coast of Scotland... 76,468 42,313 Ports on west coast of Scotland... 98,310 89,058 Irish ports 532 110 Total ................. 1,249,955 ... 931,614