February 18, 1916.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

319

J. W. BAIRD AND COMPANY,

PITWOOD IMPORTERS,
WEST HARTLEPOOL,
YEARLY CONTRACTS ENTERED INTO WITH COLLIERIES.

OSBECK & COMPANY LIMITED,
PIT-TIMBER MERCHANTS,
NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.

SUPPLY ALL KINDS OF COLLIERY TIMBER’.
Telegrams—“ Osbecks, Newcastle-on-Tyne.”

* * For other Miscellaneous Advertisements see Last
White Page.

Ito (Mwnj Guardian
AND

Journal of the Coal and Iron Trades.

Joint Editors—

J. V. ELSDEN, D.Sc. (Lond.), F.G.S.

HUBERT GREENWELL, F.S.S., Assoc.M.I.M.E.

(At present on Active Service').

L OND ON, FRIDA Y, FEBR UAR Y 18, 1916.

The London coal market continues firm. • The
colder weather has stimulated public orders. Stocks
at the depots are depleted. Both seaborne and rail-
borne house coals are scarce. Manufacturing coals
are strongly in demand. <

The general position of the provincial coal markets
has changed very little since last week. In all
districts the demand is considerably in excess of
supply, and in the house coal markets this position
has been rendered more acute by the cold weather
prevailing. Exports are being further restricted.
In view of the scarcity of fuel all round the tone of
the markets is firm, and any spot lots available fetch
maximum prices.

Quite a number of important cases under the Coal
Mines Act have been before the Scottish Courts
during the past week.

Meetings of the North of England Institute of
Mining and Mechanical Engineers and the Alining
Institute of Scotland took place on Saturday last.

It is understood that makers of iron and steel
whose works are under Government control have
received intimation that they must not accept further
private orders without permission of the Ministry of
Munitions.

Rules of procedure at colliery recruiting courts
under the Military Service Act have been issued by
the Home Office.

Prof. Armstrong on Wednesday read a paper
entitled “ The Problems of Coal with Reference to
the Complete and Provident Utilisation of the
Supplies.

An interesting debate on the shipping question
took place in the House of Commons yesterday
(Thursday).

Judge A. O’Connor has been appointed as
arbitrator to adjudicate on the 5 per cent, wages
dispute between the South Wales anthracite miners
and owners.!

Both the coal owners and miners in South Wales
are applying for changes in the wage rate, and it has
been decided to lay the matter before the new
independendent chairman of the Conciliation Board,
Lord Muir Alackenzie.

The Coal Conciliation Board for the Federated
Area of England and North Wales yesterday decided
to place the men’s application for a 5 per cent,
increase in wages before the independent chairman,
Lord Coleridge.

A short time back we drew attention
The Miners’ in this column to the Seventh Report
Health. of the Explosions in Mines Com-
mittee, embodying Dr. Haldane^s
conclusions respecting the influence of shale dust
upon the health of the miner. Since the publication
of that report a point has been raised in The Times
Engineering Supplement to the effect that sufficient
consideration had not been given to the mortality
statistics of miners over 65 years of age, which, it
was claimed, show a marked excess in mortality from
bronchitis and pneumonia, pointing, in the view of
the writer of that article, to a very serious increase
in invalidity, attributable to the inhalation of stone
dust, incidental to ordinary mining operations.
Dr. Haldane has replied to that objection in the

columns of our contemporary, and, as he wishes that
reply to be regarded as a supplement to his report, it
is desirable that the points raised by him in this
connection should be put on record in our own
columns. The matter is important in view of the
present state of the stone-dusting controversy, for
the criticism, if it had remained unanswered, might
have had a damaging effect upon the attitude of the
miners towards the proposed method of dealing with
the dangers of coal dust in the mine.

Dr. Haldane maintains that mortality statistics of
miners above the age of 65 are not trustworthy
evidence, for the following cogent reasons :—Coal
miners, as a rule, seek retirement, or lighter employ-
ment, on the approach of old age, to a greater
extent than those following other occupations. Thus,
according to the census of 1901, only 1J per cent,
were older than 65, as compared with an average of
4 per cent, for other occupations. The older and
less healthy of the miners would be expected to
give up the arduous work of coal mining. Now,
statistics show that for all males the death-rate
above the age of 65 reached the total of 148’0 per
1,000 among those who retired and 88’4 among
those still occupied. But, if we consider the coal
miners alone, these rates are reversed, being 109’6
for the retired, and 139’8 for the occupied.

We are, therefore, confronted with the apparent
anomaly that it is the less healthy among the coal
miners who continue their employment after reaching
the age of 65 ; and the explanation, in Dr. Haldane’s
view, is to be found in the higher wages and
increased prosperity of the coal miners. The figures,
in fact, show that a retired coal miner is much less
likely to die than a working coal miner; but if he
does die he is more likely to succumb to bronchitis than
are those following other occupations. The reason
for this, however, is not so clear. Dr. Haldane
does not deny that exposure to dust may have been
a contributory cause, but there are also other possible
reasons, amongst which may be mentioned over-strain
of the lungs, producing an emphysematous condition
conducive to bronchitis. This condition may, in
fact, be expected to occur in an occupation like coal
mining, in which there is much heavy work and
laboured breathing in an atmosphere containing too
much carbon dioxide for human susceptibilities.
The same heavy incidence of. bronchitis among men
older than 65 is found amongst carmen and coal
heavers, both of which occupations involve great
muscular exertion. If, therefore, a high bronchitis
death rate is the general rule in occupations
associated with heavy exertions, it can scarcely be
regarded as evidence of the effects of breathing
stone dust.

Dr. Haldane next turns his attention to the con-
clusions of Dr. Collis respecting the death rate from
respiratory diseases in the different coal fields. Dr.
Collis showed that this death rate is remarkably
low in the Durham, Northumberland, Nottingham,
and Derby districts, and he suggests that this may
be due to the character of the coal mines in these
areas, and the low proportion of stone in the dust
breathed by the miners. This conclusion, however,
is invalidated by the analyses quoted by Dr. Haldane,-
which show that the mine dust in the Nottingham
and Derby districts contains a high proportion of
stone dust—so high, indeed, as nearly to reach the
proportion recommended by the Explosions in Mines
Committee as a protection against coal dust explo-
sions. These mines, in fact, are in a high degree
naturally protected, and, in consequence, not only
have they been practically immune from explosions,
but also the miners themselves are typically healthy
as compared with those in other coal fields. Yet, if
we consider only the miners older than 65, the death-
rate from respiratory disease in the Nottingham
district is as high as in other coal fields. South
Wales, again, has the lowest old age death-rate and
the highest rate at lower ages ; while Northumber-
land and Durham have nearly the highest old age
death-rate and almost the lowest at the lower-age
periods. Thus, Dr. Haldane concludes, the death-
rates among the older colliers are not trustworthy
indices of the effects of occupation.

As a matter of fact, we are still far from the
possession of full knowledge of the hygienic influence

of dust inhalation. The human lungs appear to
have a remarkable capacity for getting rid of some
kinds of dust, but this process of adaptation to the
environment is at present somewhat obscure. It is
satisfactory to learn that this matter is still engaging
Dr. Haldane’s attention, and we may look forward
with confidence to the result of the further researches
now being carried on for the Aledical Research
Committee under the National Insurance Act.
Although we are not yet in a position to define
exactly the kind of dust which is to be regarded as
dangerous, Dr. Haldane is sufficiently convinced
that there need be no hesitation in the use of shale
dust for stone-dusting purposes. We are glad that
this unequivocal statement has been made, and we
regard this supplementary contribution to his report
as being particularly valuable in removing any
impression to the contrary that might have been
gathered from the somewhat guarded conclusions in
the original document.

It is with mixed feelings that we
The find that the Board of Trade has
Distribution decided to give partial expression to
Of Coal. a suggestion made in these columns
six months ago. With the prospect
of increased stringency in the situation arising from
the further depletion of labour supplies and the
dedication of every effort to the production of
munitions, it then appeared to us to be necessary
that the Government should promote means to
facilitate the passage of fuel into the channels best
calculated to assist the nation in bringing the war to
a successful close. It was pointed out that the
Retail Coal Prices Committee had decided to regulate
prices and exports, but had hesitated to round off
their policy of expediency by undertaking to
reorganise the system of distribution; and at the
same time, as an alternative superior to that of any
system of distribution by the State, it was urged that
the Government should have impressed upon the
coal owners the necessity of devising a scientific
scheme of distribution to meet the altered conditions
of trade. Steps at that time had already been taken
in South Wales which promised to attain these
objects locally, and it was suggested that the whole
question of distribution might be greatly simplified
by the formation of committees in the various coal
fields, with a central organisation, to whom could be
entrusted the duty not only of dealing with matters
generally affecting the trade, but also of adjusting
the balance of requirements as between district and
district.

We cannot do better than quote the words used in
our issue of August 20, viz. :—

The State must be, in the immediate future, by far the
largest customer of the collieries, and this fact has led
many worthy people to think that the time has arrived
when the mines should be taken over by the State ; but
we believe that the aims, in pursuance of which a Coalition
Government could be induced to consider nationalisation
as feasible and necessary, can be much better satisfied by
enlisting the co-operation of a., concert of mine owners
under any system of State control that may be deemed
advisable.

It has taken Mr. Runciman six months to appre-
ciate the importance of this step, and it may be
hoped that its value will not be discounted by any
narrowness of view, which too often characterises
the counsel of expediency. Eleven representative
committees have been formed, or are in process of
formation, and, in addition to these coal and coke
supplies committees, Mr. Runciman has appointed an
excellently - constituted central committee. The
object, it is stated in the official memorandum, is to
ensure that munition firms and other important con-
sumers shall obtain the supplies they need with as
little delay and friction as possible, and that the
resources of the different districts are utilised to the
best advantage.

We trust that both ends of the question will be
kept constantly in view. Much of the trouble of
last year was the direct • consequence of over-rating
the importance of the London household trade, and,
at a time when even the most zealous upholder of
economic theory must surrender his belief that supply
and demand should always preserve a beautiful