March 17, 1916.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

511

nuts II., 15/35 min., 18 mk.; nuts III., 8/15 mm.,
17 mk.; nuts III., 4/15 mm., 17 mk.; nuts IV.,
0/8 mm,, 12 mk.; nuts slack, 2/15 mm., 15-60 mk.; fine
slack, 11 mk.

Siegerland Iron Ore and Iron Market.

Prices have advanced all round, especially in plates
and bars, and no one can say when this movement will
stop,'the demand for manganiferous ore, pig iron/ and
rolling mill products, for military purposes, giving .the
market a very firm tone. Contracts have been placed, at
current rates, for delivery in the second half of the year,
and there is every prospect of the works being kept busy
for a long time -ahead.

The ore market is very firm. The Siegerland Iron-
stone Association has decided to increase prices, for
delivery next quarter, by 7 mk. per ton for raw spathic
and brown ironstone, and by 10 mk. for roasted spathic
ore, thus bringing the prices up to 16*30 mk. for raw
spathic, 17*20 mk. for brown ironstone, and 25*50 mk.
for roasted spathic, at which rates the available supplies
find a ready sale. There is a good demand for
manganiferous slags, but highly phosphoritic ores con-
tinue to be neglected.

Pig iron prices have recently .been increased to
90*50 mk. for puddling pig, 93*50 mk. for steel-iron,
113 m. for steel-iron , low in copper, 114 mk. for
spiegeleisen (10-12 per cent. Ain), 100-102 mk. for
addition iron, 96 mk. for No. 1 foundry pig, and 91 mk.
for No. III., ex Siegen, Wetzlar, etc. Foundries are
not ordering much pig, but steel-iron and spiegeleisen
are in strong request. In the semi-manufactured
market the enquiry for slabs and mild steel blooms, for
rolling and forging, is greater than the local works can
meet.

The plate market is in a state of high tension,., all
the mills producing fine and medium plate being taxed
to their utmost capacity, and requiring 6-12 weeks for
delivery. Current prices range from 230-240 mk. for
fine -plate, net, ex works; and basis prices of 250 mk.
and over are asked for thin commercial plate. The
works are practically sold out until the end of June.
Tire basis price for mild steel plate is 200-210 mk. net
cash, ex works; and the Government has fixed 300 mk.
as the basis price of fine plate for export to neutrals.
The Heavy Plate Union recently decided to charge a
basis price of 165 mk., net, ex Essen, for ordinary plate,
and though middlemen are charging a little less, the
amount available outside the Union is small. Tin-plate
and galvanised are in great request.

The bar iron market is also very firm, with plenty of
orders; and the basis price for open-hearth bars ranges
between 160 and 170 mk., net, ex works. Sales have
been concluded for delivery up to and even beyond the
first half of the year. The small .quantity of welding
iron produced in this district is also in good demand at
improved rates, about 190 m. being paid for horse shoe
bars, and 210 m. for rivet bars, ex works. In small
iron goods, orders are generally satisfactory. The
rebate on screws has been reduced, and the price of
rivets, up to 1-in., has been raised by 20 mk., and all
others by 30 mk. per ton.

Coal and Iron Market in Upper Silesia.

On the whole, there was not any great change in the
coal market during February, the demand—even for
house coal, in spite of the mild season—being ahead of
the supply, though, nevertheless, there was no actual
scarcity of fuel. The greatest shortage was in gas and
coking coals, which are not produced by all the pits.
Deliveries were retarded, to some extent, by the scarcity
of river craft toward the end of each week, but, as the
quantities held up at the pits could mostly be shipped in
the first half of the ensuing week, there was little per-
manent increase in stocks. The coke market continued
favourable, the diminished output finding a ready sale at
good prices, and plenty of wagons being available for
transport. The supply of iron ore and slags fell oft
slightly, but not so far as to cause inconvenience. Prices,
however, were extremely high, and forced the iron works
to advance the rates for pig, the demand for which
continued unabated, with little prospect of diminishing.

Company Reports.

Sprengstoff-Fabriken Hoppeke A.G., Cologne.—A
working profit of 464,969mk. (396,967 mk.) was made,
but after deducting general expenses, 108,826 mk.
(158,288 mk.) the whole of the remaining 356,144 mk.
(238,678 mk.) have been applied to writing off.

Gewerkschaft des Bruckdorf-Nietebener Bergbau-
vereins, Halle.—Gross profit,'532,086 mk. (486,429 mk.);
interest charges, 147,199 mk. (158,017 mk.); writing-off,
355,807 mk. (307,533 mk.); net profit, including balance
in hand from old account, 104,392 mk. (91,216 mk.);
bonuses and profit-sharing, 18,621 mk. (15,984 mk.);
carried forward, 85,770 mk. (75,233 mk.).

Cleveland and the Carnegie Research Fund.—The Cleve-
land Institution of Engineers, at a meeting in Middlesbrough
on Tuesday evening, discussed the Carnegie Research Fund.
The committee of the institution had approached Mr. Carnegie
with a view to having the age limit for’research scholarships
raised so as to include men over 30 years of age. Mr.
Carnegie decided to leave the matter in the hands of the
committee, which had resolved that in future competition for
scholarships should be open to men over 30 years of age. Dr.
J. E. Stead, the metallurgist, emphasised the necessity of
taking the fullest possible advantage of the enhanced facili-
ties for research thus granted. They did not expect that
much could be done this year, but, when the proposed new
Engineering Research Laboratory was opened at Middles-
brough next year, it would be possible to do a great deal. It
was high time that such a scholarship came to Middlesbrough.

MANCHESTER GEOLOGICAL AND
MINING SOCIETY.

A meeting of the Manchester Geological and Mining
Society was held on Tuesday last at the rooms of the
society, John Dalton-street, Manchester; Mr. Leonard
R. Fletcher, the president, was in the chair.

The President, at the outset, referred to the death
of Mr. Robert Winstanley, who was first elected a
member in 1876, and filled the position of president in
the years 1895 and 1896. In addition he had con-
tributed five valuable papers to the Transactions, and
took a prominent part in the discussions at the monthly
meetings. They always looked upon him as a valuable
member, and by his death the society had suffered a
great loss.

Mr. John Gerrard, in moving that a letter of-con-
dolence be sent to the family of the deceased member,
said Mr. Winstanley held a very important position in
the mining world. He was one of the oldest mining
engineers in the country, and his practice extended over
Lancashire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, and Yorkshire. As
a professional man.he was held in the highest repute,
and fortunately he left behind sons who would carry
on his good work. Mr. Winstanley also filled with
success the position of examiner for the Board of
Examiners for Lancashire and Cheshire for a number
of years.

Air. Ashworth, in seconding, remarked that he looked
back with satisfaction to the fact that he had had the
pleasure of being associated with Air. Winstanley in the
profession of mining engineering. Both in business
and mining cases the deceased always acted straight-
forwardly, and as a gentleman, even towards his
opponents.

The resolution was carried.

The President also referred to the death of Lieut.
Laithewaite, of the 20th Batt., Alan Chester Regt., who
has been killed in action in France. As a society they
were proud that so many of their members had been
able to serve their King and country, and the least they
could do was to honour the memory of the deceased
officer by forwarding a letter of condolence to his
parents.

Mr. Edgar Charles Evans, B.Sc., F.I.C., read a
paper on “ Carbon Dioxide as an Agent in Extinguish-
ing Mine Fires, with Special Reference to its Application
at the Senghenydd Colliery,” which is given on p. 508.
Value of the Experimental Fan in the Mining Laboratory.

Air. David E. Thomas submitted a written reply
to the discussion on his paper (Colliery Guardian,
January 14, 1916, pp. 68 and 69). He expressed his
thanks for the kind reception given to the paper, and the
interest shown in the discussion. Several valuable sug-
gestions had been made. Air. Williams had raised the
question as to whether the Pitot tubes recorded any
pressure on the outlet side of the fan when the fan inlet
was closed. Theoretically, the reading should be zero,
and in actual practice it was very small; in the case of
the fan at the Gamble Institute, being a “ single inlet ”
fan, a slight leakage might take place between the fan
and its casing on the side remote from the fan inlet. In
a good type of fan, the influence of eddies due to
re-admission at the discharge was absent. The reason
for selecting the discharge side of the fan for the
measurements of dynamic water gauge, rather than the
inlet side, where possibly the influence of eddies was
less pronounced, opened up the whole question of the
method of measurement adopted. In order to ascertain
the work done by a fan, both the dynamic water gauge
and the static water gauge must be determined, and
added to each other. If a fan was working in a position
where it- blew direct to the atmosphere as an exhaust
fan, there was always a loss of energy generated by the
fan equal to the dynamic head at the fan outlet. That
was always minimised as far as possible by the introduc-
tion of the “evasee ” outlet, and if this was properly
designed to suit the conditions, then the gradual reduc-
tion of the velocity was converted into useful work on
the inlet side of the fan. The fan at the Gamble
Institute did not possess an “ evasee ” outlet. These
remarks would serve to show that the dynamic head or
water gauge must be measured on the exhaust or outlet
side.

With reference to the observations submitted by Air.
Williams on the Sirocco fan at Owens College, Alan-
chester, the apparent disagreement of the results with
those submitted by the author in the paper, was due, in
all probability, to the fact that the minimum “ open-
ing ” used was 0*4 sq. ft. If plates with “ openings ”
of 0*1, 0*2 and 0*3 sq. ft. respectively were used by
Air. Williams on his fan, it was quite possible that
similar results to those obtained at St. Helens would
be produced.

A number of suggestions had been put forward in
explanation of the apparent discrepancy between the
results submitted in some of the tables, and the generally
accepted theory that when the fan inlet was completely
closed the depression observed was the greatest at that
speed of the fan. He was of opinion that that depended
largely on the particular characteristics of the make of
fan, the particular shape and angle of the blades; those
varied considerably in different types of fans. The
various suggestions offered were of real value, and
afforded lines of investigation for further experimental

work. It had not, perhaps, been made clear enough in
the paper that the use of the Pitot tube and the
determination of the dynamic water gauge had only been
attempted in the experiments on the fan at the Gamble
Institute. The experiments on the larger colliery fans
were carried out solely for the purpose of confirming
the results obtained with the experimental fan. It was
interesting to note that Air. Bryson’s conclusions with
reference to the value of “ the coefficient vena con-
tracts ” were in close agreement with the value sub-
mitted in the paper. Reference was made to the need
of standardisation in the method of carrying out tests
on fans. It was highly necessary, and some organised
steps should be taken as soon as possible to effect such
standardisation. The suggestion made by Mr. Williams
that a committee of the Institution of Alining Engineers
should, in conjunction with the Government, make use
of the Eskmeals. Experimental Station for the purpose
of testing fans was most timely, particularly in view
of the encouraging attitude of the Government in their
scheme for the organisation and development of scientific
and industrial research. Such a committee as sug-
gested would investigate the best method of carrying out
fan tests, and such a method might then form a basis
to which all fan tests might be standardised.

In conclusion, he. expressed the hope that the paper
had sufficiently demonstrated the value of an experi-
mental mine fan in a mining school. The number of
mining schools and colleges in this country which had
been in existence for a number of years, and had not yet
a fan equipment in their laboratories, was surprising,
and only served to emphasise the reason why that branch
of mining engineering had been so barren of increased
knowledge during recent years.

COSTS AND SELLING PRICES OF COAL/’

By G-. S. Rice.

In /the United States, except in the anthracite district
of Pennsylvania, coal mining conditions are generally
more favourable than in Europe. The mines are com-
paratively shallow, the coal bads are level or little folded,
beds less than 24ft. thick are seldom worked, except
in the anthracite mines less fire damp is encountered,
and less dead work is required.

The average value of coal in the United -States, on cars.
at the mine in 1913 is reported as 1*18 dols. per short
ton (1*30 dols. metric) for bituminous coal, and 2*13 dels,
per short ton (2*35 dols. metric and 2*39 dols. per long
ton) for anthracite. In Wales in 1913 the average value
per long ton at the mine for all kinds was 2*86 dols., and
in Great Britain as a whole 2*48 dols. (2*44 dols. metric).
In the German empire the average value for all kinds
of coal f.o.b. cars at the mine, in 1913 was 2*50 dols. per
metric ton, and for Westphalian coal, 2*61 dols.

Net mining profits in Great Britain and Germany are
between 25 and 50 cents per ton, as compared with
probably not more than 5 cents for bituminous coal in
the United States. Evidently, in the United States,
costs at the mine on export coal can not be much
reduced, but railroads may perhaps be able to lower
their tariffs for such coal.

Because of low mining costs, the on-ship price of
United States bituminous coal is less than that of corre-
sponding British and German coals at their home ports.
In 1913 the average declared value of all classes of British
coal exported was 3*40 dols. per long ton (3*33 dols.
metric) and the price of best Welsh steam coals f.o.b.
Cardiff ranged from 4*50 dols. to 5*10 dols. per ton (4*40
dols. to 5 dols. metric). Westphalian steam lump coal
f.o.b. Hamburg ranges from 4 dols. to 5 dols. per metric
ton.

Compared with sailing distances from British coal
ports, those from the chief United 'States export ports
are 460 miles less to Atlantic ports of South America, and
vid the Panama Canal, 2,560 miles nearer to Pacific
ports. Compared with German, ports, distances are 767
miles less to Atlantic coast ports, and 2,867 miles less
to Pacific coast ports vid the Panama Canal.

Yet in spite of higher prices at shipping ports, and
longer distances, coal exports to South America are
chiefly from Great Britain. The reasons given are the
claimed higher grade of British, particularly Welsh,
coals, and their better preparation, the heavy freight
charges and cost of delivery that limit business to the
best coal, the regularity of freight service from Great
Britain, the large stocks of British coal kept on hand at
ports of entry, and the* financial arrangements that
relieve South American customers from risks of trans-
shipment, storage, and handling.

As regards these disadvantages, the best Pocahontas
and New River coals are equal to the . best Welsh steam
coal, although possibly more friable. Some United
States gas and coking coals may have a trifle more ash
and sulphur than British coals, but this disadvantage
can be more than offset by lower prices. Satisfactory
storage and financial arrangements can be made by
United States shippers, but unless regular service can
be given coal shippers in the United States will be at
a great disadvantage as compared with those in Great
Britain and Germany in normal times.

* Abstract of paper on ‘ ‘ Mining Costs and Selling Prices
of Coal in the United States and Europe, with Special
Reference to Export Trade,” read at the Second Pan-
American Scientific Congress.

A meeting of the Institution of Petroleum Technologists
will be held on Tuesday next at 8 p.m. at the Royal Society
of Arts, John-street, Adelphi, W.C., when a valedictory
address will be given by the president, Sir Boverton
Redwood, and a paper on “ The Natural Gas Industry; its
Progress and Importance,” will be read by Dr. J. A. Leo
Henderson.