January 28, 1916.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

167

Midland Institute of Mining, Civil, and Mechanical Engineers.

MINING PROBLEMS OF THE DAY.

A well-attended meeting of the Midland Institute of
Mining, Civil, and Mechanical Engineers was held at
the Danum Hotel, Doncaster, on Saturday, January 22,
when a review of current mining problems was given by
the President (Mr. C. Chetwynd Ellison, managing
director of the New Monckton Collieries); and there was
a valuable discussion on the present position and future
prospects of the coke oven by-product industry.

The following elections were made :—Member, Mr.
Harold Charles Harrison, Staveley, near Chesterfield.
Associate members : Mr. William Fletcher, 4, Station-
road, Royston, near Barnsley; and Mr. Frank Faure
Mairet, Wharncliffe Silkstone Colliery, Tankersley, near
Barnsley.

Presidential Address.

The President, in his inaugural address, observed
that the granting of a Royal Charter to the Institution
of Mining Engineers was certainly an important step in
the status of their profession, and one which perhaps
some of them did not fully appreciate. It would con-
siderably improve the standing of the mining engineers
of this country. The ever-increasing difficulties which
had to be met in the management of modern mining
operations made it essential that the very best class of
man should have adequate inducements to take up the
mining profession. It was a sine qua non that, to be a
successful mining engineer, in the future a man would
have to be highly educated and trained. Both his prac-
tical and theoretical education should be facilitated, and
the means of acquiring the highest degree of education
should be brought within the reach of those who had
ability and industry. The special circumstances of the
war made it incumbent on us to see that our young men
who were giving their service, and perhaps their lives,
for their king and country—and, while so spending some
of their best years, were losing touch with their work—
should not suffer more than could be helped; and it was
our duty to get what relief we could for them, in order
that they might become qualified as colliery managers
without undue hardships being placed upon them. He
was glad to say that this matter was being taken up by
the council of the Institution of Mining Engineers, and
was, to' some extent, recognised by the Home Office
authorities. The Yorkshire universities in Leeds and
Sheffield were helping earnestly and successfully to
train the mining men of the future, and he recognised
their assistance with gratitude.

He took it that the subject of a presidential address
should be something which had special relation to the
circumstances and questions which affected them as
mining engineers at the moment, and should deal with
the perplexities and difficulties by which, as a body and
individuals, they might be beset. If this were true in
ordinary years, how much more was it the case in this
year of war and national trouble, when all “ the founda-
tions of the earth were out of course,” and colliery
managers were confronted with difficulties and per-
plexities such as they had never had to face before.
They were all hampered in the working of their pits by
a shortage of men. Many of their best fellows had
answered the call of king and country. They at home
were passing through a period of inflated wages, and, as
they knew, these did not conduce to special regularity of
attendance on the part of those who wore still left at
work. Outputs were down 15, 20, or 25 per cent.:
standing charges had to be carried by a decreased
tonnage; stores, timber, and anything that had to be
bought were enormously dearer—some had more than
doubled, or even trebled, in price—and the costs of
production were on a scale that none of them had ever
expected to see. Such was the position to-day in Avar
time, but apart from special Avar conditions, things had
been tending for some years past toAvards more costly,
and, at the same time, less efficient, labour in our pits,
and almost every year some new’ restriction on Avorking
hours or Avorking conditions Avere forced upon them.

A great responsibility rested on those Avho- produced
coal, Avhethor by the use of capital or by their labour,
not to raise the price of coal so as to hamper th? manu-
factories of this country. It must ahvays be borne in
mind that the cost of a primary necessity like coal Avas
a tax on our trade and a handicap in a Avorld in Avhich
every civilised nation Avas in keen competition Avith m.

He ventured to think that during th? last twenty years
no industry in the country had made greater strides than
colliery enterprise, not only Avith regard to the Avinning
and Avorking of coal at depths Avhich Avere considered to
be almost outside the bounds of practical politics 50 years
ago, but also in working areas of 6,000 to 8,000 acres to
one pair of shafts, involving amounts Avh’ch Avould have
staggered our forefathers. The AA7orking of these seams
under such conditions entailed continuous care, atten-
tion, foresight and energy, to cope Avith difficulties
Avhich Avere never dreamed of years ago. The Avinning
and Avorking of these deep mines had brought for Avar d
new problems of all descriptions Avhich avo had now to
deal Avith and solve1.

Ono of these difficulties Avas the enormous increase
in small coal produced from seams working at these
groat depths; and this, under the conditions prevailing
40 years ago, Avould have made profitable Avorking
impossible. At that time practically the Avhole of the
small coal, except that required for colliery consumption,
was left in the pits. At all collieries, riddles or forks
and pans Avere used Avith the object of large coal only
being sent out: and in some parts of the Midland districts

large coal only, picked by hand, Avas loaded into the
tubs, everything else being left behind in the pit. The
Avhole of the coking industry, except to a very small
local extent, Avas then centred in Durham and the
neighbouring district, 'Avhere seams were being Avorked,
in many cases, entirely for the purpose of making coke.

The rapid development, liOAvever, of the iron trade,
folloAving on the boom Avhich set in in the early
’seventies, and the impossibility of obtaining supplies
from the North of England, consequent upon the
abnormal demand thus created, caused attention to be
drawn to the possibility of coking the small coal of
Yorkshire and some of the . gas and house coals of
Derbyshire. Some coke had at that time been made in
Yorkshire, but it Avas almost entirely made from large
coal and but little Avas made for blast furnace purposes,
hard coal being used almost exclusively in Derbyshire
and in Yorkshire for blast furnace fuel. Steel-melting
coke for crucible steel Avork was made from the Silkstone
seam, but this coke had, up till then, not been made
from small coal.

About 1871, Messrs. John BroAvn, Cammells '"Oaks
Colliery), and others, built beehive or similar ovens, and
commenced to make coke out of the small coal from the
Barnsley seam, but it Avas found that the coal Avould
not make a satisfactory coke unless first Avashed and
ground. Washing in the old-fashioned spout system
Avas largely introduced, and grinding by pans and other
types of disintegrators was practised for crushing the
coal; and by these means a very fair coke Avas produced,
quite suitable for blast furnace purposes, in Yoikshiro
and the North Midlands.

Thus a certain proportion of the small coal Avas
absorbed, and the high price that coal in general rose
to in 1872-3-4 caused small coal to be treated to very
much greater advantage than had hitherto been the case,
and to be more and more utilised for all sorts of com-
mercial and domestic purposes. Apart from the fact
that coke was produced for commercial purposes, the
system of firing boilers by the Avaste heat from the coke
ovens was also introduced, this being the first step
toAvards economy in the direction of colliery con-
sumption.

The period of intense inflation which culminated at
the end of 1874 Avas folloAved by a period of extreme
•. depression of .six or seven years: the collieries Avere only
Avorking in many cases half time, and prices fell to
a point at Avhich it Avas impossible to produce coal at
a profit, notAvithstanding the fact that Avages Avere
reduced to the 1870 basis. In fact, an average selling
price as Ioav as 4s. 6d. per ton on the Avhole output of
the colliery Avas not an uncommon figure. It would be
seen, therefore, that at that time colliery managers were
placed in a most difficult position, and it Avas only the
exercise of the utmost economy and Avatching every item
of cost and expenditure that enabled collieries to be
carried on at all.

Coke was sold at very Ioaa^ figures, and even then it
was impossible to dispose of it, and the question of
cultivating coking operations stagnated for a considerable
number of years. No improvements Avere introduced,
and the Avhole trade went through a period which, it
AA^as to be profoundly hoped, would not occur again.
Efforts Avere made in one or Iavo directions to secure some
relief by the extraction of oil and other residuals from
coke ovens,- but for a number of years nothing Avas
obtained but oil of a very crude character and of low
value. One firm in Yorkshire put doAvn a large plant
which could not be exactly described as a coking plant,
but one Avhich Avas established primarily for the pro-
duction of residuals.

This condition of things prevailed until about 1900,
when by-product ovens began to be introduced. He
thought he was correct in saying that the Wharncliffe
Silkstone Colliery Company, or in other Avords, their
secretary, Mr. George Blake Walker, might be con-
sidered the pioneers in this direction in South Yorkshire,
as it Ava,s in 1896 that he had the pleasure of making
Mr. Walker a report on the various German coking
plants, and the Wharncliffe plant Ava.s commenced in
1897.

In the first instance, there Avas a very considerable
prejudice against the character of the coke made bv
these ovens, but this Avas more sentimental than real,
and as time Avent on this prejudice Avas overcome, and
by-product ovens of various types Avere introduced. It
Avas interesting to note that at the present time a
similar prejudice was, lie believed, being gradually over-
come. He referred to the use of by-product coke for
steel melting; OAving to the short supplies of beehive
coke, steel melters Avere being obliged to use a certain
amount of by-product coke, and Avere able to obtain
satisfactory results: that Avas only AA’hat had been done
in Germany for a considerable number of years. At the
present time there Avere many installations in their dis-
trict Avhich had been Avorked Avith highly satisfactory
results. These installations varied in type, but speak-
ing generally, these ovens Avere, on the whole, giving
satisfactory results, and Avere uoaa’ regarded as a normal
feature of colliery plant.

He Avas afraid he had gone into that matter initially
at very considerable length, but he had endeavoured to
trace the groAvth of the coking industry in the district,
and to sIioav the enormous strides that had been made in
finding markets for the small coal, Avhich could not have
been sold or dealt Avith at anything like the price it had
realised in normal times during the last 10 years, except
for the increased value represented by the bv-products
obtained in coking operations. Sulphate of ammonia
Avas tire first and most valuable product: uoav benzol and
other residuals Avere being produced on a large and pro-
fitable scale.

It might be thought by some people, in times of
abnormal prosperity, when slack realised a very high
price, that coking did not pay even Avith the addition of
residuals, but it must be borne in mind that if this small
Avas not utilised for coke making, and Avas put upon the
market, the inevitable result Avould be a slump all
round in the value of small coals, and on that ground
it appeared to him to be desirable that this important
industry should be fostered in every possible Avay. They
Avere all aAvare Avhat an important part benzol Avas play-
ing in the present Avar, and Iioaa’ everyone Avas striving
to produce as much as possible, both at coke ovens and
gas works. Large plants had been and Avere being
erected for extracting from the benzol the toluol Avhich
Avas used in the manufacture of high explosives. So
interesting Avas the extraction of by-products, and so
little Avas really knoAvn of the treatment and uses of the
by-products of coal by most members of the mining pro-
fession, that it occurred to him that a paper on the
subject Avould be most Avelcome at the present time, and
he Avas pleased to say that ho induced a member to put
together a feAA^ notes in order to afford them an oppor-
tunity of a discussion on the subject. He felt sure they
Avould feel very much indebted to that gentleman for
the notes Avhich the latter Avished him to say must not
be taken as an adequate treatment of an immense sub-
ject, but Avhich Avould convey a great deal of useful
information to many of them, Avho Avere not specialists
in the by-product industry. There Avas an enormous
field open, and after this lamentable and deplorable war
Avas over, it appeared certain that it Avould be their
duty to encourage home industries to a very much
greater extent than hitherto, and to rely on themselves,
instead of obtaining innumerable articles from Germany
Avhich Ave Avere just ns Avell qualified to produce here, if
Ave Avould take the trouble to lay ourselves out to make
them.

It seemed to him, therefore, that it should be an essen-
tial part of the coming mining engineer’s education to
combine Avith other things a good Avorking knoAAfledge
of chemistry, and particularly of organic chemistry, and
that the value of the mining engineer Avould be gauged
by his being able to adapt himself not onh’ to producing
coal, but also to adopting methods of dealing Avith it
which had never hitherto' been contemplated. They
avouIcI be glad to knoAV that the Government had
appointed an advisory council for scientific and indus-
trial research, and that the council of the institution had
submitted certain subjects to tlm advisor a- council Avhich
they thought Avere most important for immediate con--,
sideration, and it Avas sincerely to be hoped that the
G-overnment Avould give its full and thorough support to
the recommendations Avhich might, from time to time,
be made by this advisory council, and Avould, Avhen
required, assist the industries of this country financially,
in a similar manner to the valuable support AA’hich had
done so much to assist the German manufacturers in the
past, and Avhich had greatly tended to enable the German
people to become so strong commercially. The British
Association had appointed a committee on fuel economy,
of Avhich Prof. O’Shea Avas a member, and at the last
meeting of the Institution of Mining Engineers, Mr. :
T. Y. Greener, of the North of England Institute, and
Mr. G. Blake Walker were nominated as representatives
of that body.

The question of deep mining and the enormous outputs
obtained from the areas of coal necessary to justify the
expenditure Avhich had to be incurred in opening up
•seams at a depth of 700 to 1,100 yds. from the surface,
together with the special difficulties Avhich invariably
folloAved sinking operations as they advanced to greater
depths (oAving to the upper or hoaAuly Avatered measures
having to be encountered), made it most necessary for
a mining engineer to enlarge his experience and to
obtain information in a hundred Avays AA’hich Avere
unnecessary Avhen the shalloAver mines Avere being
worked.

The question of dealing Avith the Avater-bearing beds
by freezing, cementation, or pumping, necessitated
grave consideration, and it Avas fortunate for them that
these neAAr processes Avere available. But, having dealt
Avith the water and sunk the pits to the coal, the under-
ground operations at these great depths Avere beset Avith
great and ever increasing difficulties, such as roof pres-
sure, the question of ventilation, and the cooling of the
mine in order to make the temperature and the condi-
tions, of Avork even reasonably satisfactory.

One of the most acute problems in that immediate
district Avas the question of gob-fires, to consider the
method of Avorking and the method of ventilation in
relation thereto, in AA’hich connection thoA* Avere greatly
indebted to the investigations of Dr. Haldane and his
collaborators of the Doncaster laboratory. When it Avas
remembered that the success of an undertaking, involv-
ing an expenditure of perhaps half a million or upAvards
in money, might be ensured by proper measures or
ruined for all time by initial mistakes on the part of
the mining engineer, it behoved the latter to take every
opportunity of increasing his knoAvledge in this as in
every other direction.

Having regard to the interest Avhich had been taken
by that institute in the subject, he felt that he must
refer to the material question of colliery consumption.
Such vast improvements had been made in recent years
that old collieries had been hard put to it to exist, but
some have beer^able to reduce their consumption to nearly
one half Iia* adopting more economical appliances. There
Avas not the slightest doubt that there Avas still, at many
places, a very great Avaste of good coal Avhich ought not
to be, but he thought that colliery managers might plead
ffie excuse that it Avas Avant of capital, and not Avant of
knoAvledge, that alloAved this Avaste to go on. The
adoption of mixed-pressure and exhaust-steam turbines
was, perhaps, the means by AA’hich, in most cases, the
greatest saving could bo effected. The question of
nUlising in gas engines coke oven gas and producer
gas, which Avas largely made, from bad or inferior coal