568 _________________________________________________________________ _____________ THE IRISH COAL TRADE. Thursday, March 23. Dublin. There is no further change in any class of fuel since last week, although there is increased difficulty in obtaining supplies, especially Scotch coal, and stocks are still low. The trade generally continues to be active, quotations standing as follow:—Best Orrell, 38s. per ton; Hulton Arley, 37s.; best Wigan, 36s. ; best Whitehaven, 36s. ; best kitchen, 34s. ; Orrell slack, 30s;, all less Is. per ton discount for cash. Welsh steam coal is commanding 40s. per ton ; coke 38s. per ton delivered. Pit prices of Irish coals at Wolfhill Collieries, Queen’s County :—Best large coal, 30s. per ton; best house- hold coal, 28s: 4d. ; culm, all prices from 3s. 4d. per ton upwards, f.o.r. Athy, the nearest railway connection, 5s. per ton extra. Pit prices for Kilkenny (Castlecomer) coal, outside of contract prices, are as follow :—Best small coal, 23s. 4d. per ton;, best large, 21s, 8d. ; second quality, 20s.; bottom coal, 16s. 8d. ; breakage, Ils. 8d. ; culm, 5s; to 8s. 6d. The imports of manufacturing and railway coal have been pretty brisk of late. It is stated that a number of cargo steamers engaged in Irish Channel traffic have been filling their bunkers at the Liffey of late, and that a passenger- carrying line of boats which, had some trouble in getting bunker coal across the Channel, is considering the advisa- bility of establishing a supply depot in Dublin. The coal vessels arriving during the past week amounted to 39, as compared with’ 43 the week previously, chiefly from Ayr, Newport, Troon, Diverpool, Ellesmere Port, Partington, Swansea, Cardiff, Preston, Glasgow, Hook, Manchester, and, Milford. The total quantity of coal -discharged upon the quays was 1'6,500 tons, as against 18,200 tons the previous week. Belfast. . The local coal trade is unchanged in any particular, and the situation in the matter of supplies remains much the same as during recent weeks. Current quotations for house- hold coal are as follow :—Best Arley house coal, 38s. 6d. per ton; best Wigan, 37s. 6d. ; Scotch household, 34s. 6d. ; Orrell nuts, 37s. 6d.; Orrell slack, 34s. 6d. Scotch steam coal runs from about 25s. to 30s. per ton, according to quality; Welsh, from 30s. to 35s. per ton for the better grades ; gas coke, 35s. per ton ; foundry coke, from 45s. to 50s. per ton. Coal-laden vessels arriving during the past week were chiefly from Garston, Ayr, Ardrossan, Maryport, Silloth, Glasgow, Ellesmere Port, Partington, Newport, Swansea, Troon, Preston, Workington, Point of Aire, Irvine, Birkenhead, and Lydney. __________________ THE BY-PRODUCTS TRADE. Tar Products.—There is quite a stagnant tone about the market, and business generally is unsatisfactory. The posi- tion of benzols is uncertain. Tar'and pitch move off fairly well for export. Nearest values are :— Rise ( + ) or 1 fall (-) on the week. Benzols, 90’s ...................... ,, '90’s North ................ ,, 50’s North ................ Toluol ............................. Carbolic acid, crude (60 per cent.)... ,, crystals (40 per cent.) Solvent naphtha, south (90% at 190 r degs.), as in quality and package... Solvent naphtha, north (90% at 190 degs.), as in quality and package... Crude naphtha, north (in bulk) .... Creosote (for ordinary qualities) ... Pitch (f.o.b. east coast) ............. ,, (f.a.s. west coast) ....’......... Tar (per ton ex works) ........... 1/01-1/1 ... - /10-1-/111 ... - 1/3—1/4 ... — 2/3 ... — 3/4 . ... — 1/4 ... - 2/3—2/4 2/3—2/4 /6J-/7 /2J~2| 15/—16/ 14/—15/6 16/9—20/6 [Benzols, toluol, creosote, solvent naphtha, carbolic acids, usually casks included unless otherwise stated, free on rails at maker's works or usual United Kingdom ports, net. Pitch f.o.b. net.] Sulphate of Ammonia.—The market is rather uncertain, and nominally easier in some localities, while the general position is unsatisfactory. The exports have been' about 2,000 tons.' Closing prompt prices for home consumers are :— Rise ( + ) or fall (-) on the week. London (ordinary makes) £16/17/6—£17 .. ■. —2/6 Beckton (25 per cent.) £16 . —2/6 Liverpool £16/15—£17 .. . —2/6 Hull ' £16/12/6 — Middlesbrough £17 — Scotch ports £16/15 . — Wales £16/12/6 . —5/ Nitrate of soda (ord.) per cwt. 17/ — [Sulphate of ammonia, f.o.b. in bags, less 2J per cent, discount; 24 per cent, ammonia, good grey quality; allowance for refraction, nothing for excess.'] __________________________ THE TIN-PLATE TRADE. Liverpool. Business is daily becoming more difficult. Makers are faced with an increasing shortage in labour, and deliveries of steel and acids are getting worse; consequently most works are very “ chary ” about making quotations at all. 14 x 20 cokes have been done at 30s. a box, and more money is now being asked. Following is an indication of current rates for coke tins :—I C 14 x 20 (112 sh. 108 lb.), 30s. 3d. to 30s. 6d. per box; I C 28 X 20 (112 sh. 2161b.), 60s. 9d. to 61s. 6d.; I C 28 x 20 (56 sh. 1081b.), 31s. to 32s.; IC 14 x 18| (124 sh. 1101b.), 30s. 9d. to 31s.; IC 20 x 10 (225 sh. 156 1b.), 44s. to 45s. IC squares and odd sizes, 31s. to 31s. 6d. basis. Charcoals, I C 14 x 20, 32s. 6d. per box and upwards, according to tinning. Coke wasters of all kinds are in great request, and stocks are being snapped up at almost any price the buyer likes to ask. Present rates might be called:—C AV 14 x 20, 28s. 6d. per box; CW 28 x 20, '58s. 6d.; CW 14 x 18|, 28s. 6d. ; C W 20 X 10, 40s. 6d. All f.o.b. Wales, less 4 per cent. __________________________ North Staffordshire Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers. — A general meeting of the North Staffordshire Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers will be held in the Central School of Science and Technology, Stoke-on- Trent, at 5 p.m. on Monday next. Mr. W. Simons will read a paper on “ Qualities of Iron and Steel Most Suitable for Colliery Work, and Suggestions for Specifying Same.” THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. THE GERMAN AND AUSTRIAN COAL AND IRON TRADES. We give below further extracts from German periodicals that have reached us, showing the course of the coal and iron trades in Germany and Austria :— German Pig Iron Union. At the last meeting of the Pinion it was reported that the heavy demand for non-phosphoritic and mangani- ferous grades of pig in the home market continued, also that for foundry pig, so that the blast furnaces were fully engaged. Luxemburg foundry pig likewise showed improvement. Foreign busines is still extremely active, large orders being received continuously for available kinds of pig. The distribution in February amounted to 59*76 per cent, of the participation for 1916, or 62'65 per cent, of last year’s participation. Fuel Traffic on the Rhine-Herne Canal in February. The total shipments of coal, coke, and briquettes amounted to 228,787 tons (116,357 tons in 1915), of which 21,528 tons (16,404 tons) were from Arenberg- Prosper; 59,419 tons (29,275 tons) from the State mines administration; 21,970 tons (15,020 tons) from Bismarck; 14,248 tons (nil) from Concordia; 7,408 tons (15,364 tons) from Friedrich der Grosse; 3,500 tons (nil) from Hibernia; 8,032 tons (nil) from Koln- Neuessen; 4,475 tons (8,543 tons) from Konig Ludwig; 5,320 tons (nil) from Konig Wilhelm; 19,605 tons (15,485 tons) from Mathias Srinnes; 3,509 tons (nil) from. Nordstern; 3,690 tons (nil) from Victor; and 48,842 tons (12,961 tons) from Wanne-West. Austrian Iron Output in 1915. The Austrian iron production amounted in 1915 to 449,250 tons of bars and sections (an increase of 113,837 tons over the previous year), 80,287 tons (deficit 17,312 tons) of girders, 52,030 tons (increase 10,345 tons) of heavy plate, and 66,461 tons (increase 3,952 tons) of rads. Iron Market in Upper Silesia. The market situation has remained firm, with an upward tendency in prices. In spite of difficulties, the export trade has considerably improved, and the high prices demanded are readily paid, both in this and the home markets, owing to the relative scarcity of stocks and the prospect of a further shortage. The rolling mills are well occupied, having sufficient orders in hand for fine and heavy plate to keep, them going for months. Fine plate is so scarce for home consumers that export licences are difficult to obtain. Wrought iron pipes have been selling well, in spite of the high prices; but many of the works have been busy on munitions, and are not caring for pipe orders. It has also been difficult to place orders with iron and steel founders, for the same reason. Enquiries for semi-products have been very active, and the steel works have hardly been able to meet the demand. Stocks of pig and semis are exhausted. Scrap iron is short in supply, because Austrian iron works are in the market, for the better grades, more particularly, such as core, scrap, crop ends, etc. ______________________________________________________ LAW INTELLIGENCE. _______________________________________ HOUSE OF LORDS.—March 2i and 22. Before the Lord Chancellor, Earl Loreburn, Viscount Haldane, and Lord Atkinson. Minimum Wage and the “ Butty ” System. Hooley v. The Butterley Iron and Coal Company Limited. Judgment was decided in this appeal, which arose out of a claim by the appellant, a “ holer in a Derbyshire colliery, to recover the difference between the wages paid to him during a certain period and the wages which would have been paid under the Coal Mines (Minimum Wage) Act. The colliery company said that they were not the appellant’s employers, and were not under any liability to pay him any wages whatever; that the appellant was working at their colliery under a stallman or contractor; that the sums paid to the stallmen were sufficient to pay the minimum rate to everyone working in the stall; and that if the appellant had' not been paid what lie ought to have received, his remedy was against his employer, the stallman, who alone was liable to pay his wages. The workman said the rela- tions between the company and himself exhibited every inci- dent of the relations between employers and employed, and that he was engaged and controlled, and was liable to dis- missal by the company, and by them alone. Air. Gordon Hewart, K.C., M.P., who appeared for the workman, said his case was similar to, and, indeed, stronger than, Churm v. Dalton Alain Collieries Company, which their lordships had recently decided in favour of the workman. Sir Robert Finlay, K.C., M.P., for the colliery company, contended that the terms of the contract were different. The Lord Chancellor, in giving judgment, said in his opinion the county court judge stated the true conclusion to be drawn from the facts and documents in this case. The ■appellant on April 8, 1912, entered the service of the respondent company for work on one of their mines, known as the Britain mine, upon conditions contained in an agree- ment in writing of that date. This agreement appeared to have been in common form. His lordship, having read the terms of the agreement and the contract rules applicable to the case, said although qualified to work as a stall man, the appellant accepted the subordinate position of a “ holer,” and was put to work at a stall where were two stallmen, named Wragg and Slack. The method of payment adopted in the mine was that shown in the contract rules, and the sum calculated at 2s. Id. plus 50 per cent, per ton was, m accordance with a common practice, paid week by week to Wragg, who in turn paid to the holers and fillers the amount of their earnings according to rates fixed and accepted in the colliery; the balance being retained for himself and the other stallman. Records of these payments were kept, and there was evidence to show they were from time to time furnished to the management of the colliery. For the period between April 16 and August 13, 1912, the sums earned by the appellant at the recognised rate of pay- ment were less than the amount he was entitled to by virtue of the Minimum Wage Act, 1912, by a total sum of March 24, 1916. ______________________________________ £5 6s. 8d. It was for that sum that the proceedings were instituted which had given rise to .this appeal. There were two defences upon which the colliery company relied :—(1) That under the Minimum Wage Act the obliga- tion to pay the minimum wage only arose where the contract for service underground was a contract by 'which the employer bound himself to pay wage. That in this case tlie employer was the stallman, and not the company, or if the company were file employers they never employed the appellant at a.wage; (2) that the amount paid to the stall- man was, in fact, sufficient to provide a minimum wage for all the persons concerned, and this was in any event the full extent of their obligation. The first question, therefore, was whether the appellant' was in fact employed by the respondents, and he (the Lord Chancellor) had not the least doubt that he was. The contract was a complete contract of service, although it omitted the rate of payment by which those services ’ were to be rewarded. That, however, was provided by clause 2 of the Incorporated Rules, coupled with the well recognised and accepted pate at which the holers and fillers in this mine were entitled to receive out of that sum remuneration for their work. The second point appeared to him to require but brief consideration. The payments per ton handed over by the stallman were in his view to be distributed by him according to the rates of remuneration applicable to the holers and fillers, and the balance constituted the stallman’s wage. The amounts so paid were rightly and properly applied by the stallman, and in the case of the appellant fell short of the minimum wage, and as the colliery company were his employers, this defici- ency they were bound to make good. He therefore moved that the judgment of the Court of Appeal should be reversed and that of the county court judge restored; the respondents to pay the costs both there and below. Earl Loreburn concurred. The1 first section of the Minimum Wage Act imposed the duty on the employer to pay wages to the workman, and expressly provided that the parties might not contract out of that obligation. One had therefore only' to find the employer. He entertained no doubt that in that case the respondents were the employer; the agreement said so in plain terms. Viscount Haldane also agreed. The .appellant had signed a document by which he agreed with respondents to serve them at their coal mine, on terms and conditions set out in the document. Lord Atkinson, concurring, pointed out that, although the agreement of service did not mention who was to pay Hooley wages, it contained provisions enabling the company to make deductions from his wages in respect of certain benefits' con- ferred upon him, and also by way of fines. It was a strange contention that a man wlm did not pay wages was entitled to make deductions from wages paid by some person other than himself, more especially as that person was not a party to the contract at all. The appeal was thus unanimously allowed. ___________________________ TRADE AND THE WAR.' It is stated by the Board of Trade that the Spanish Govern- ment has appointed a Commission—the “ Junta de Trans- poses Maritimos ”—for utilising Spanish merchant vessels for the transport of coal and other necessaries, and to fix freight rates every month. In order that British manufacturers may have an oppor-. tunity of familiarising themselves with German methods of publicity, the Board of Trade have collected over 3,000 specimen catalogues of German origin, and these may be inspected at the Foreign Samples Section of the Commercial Intelligence Branch, 32, Cheapside, London, E.C. Arrangements have been made by the Ministry of Muni- tions whereby the makers of high-speed steel will take back all scrap, short ends, etc., at uniform prices. The prices which have been fixed are : 5d. per lb. for turnings, 6d. per lb. for bar ends, delivered steel makers’ works. All material of this kind should be returned as far as possible to the manufacturer who supplied the original steel. The President of the Board of Trade has decided to appoint committees to consider the position of certain important British industries after the war, especially in relation to international competition, and to report what measures, if any, are necessary or desirable in order to safeguard that position. The following committees have accordingly been constituted :—For the iron, steel and engineering industries : Sir Clarendon Hyde (chairman), Mr. A. Balfour, Sir Hugh Bell, Bart., Mr. A. J. Hobson, Sir Hallewell Rogers, and Mr. Douglas Vickers. For the shipping and ship building industries : Sir A. A. Booth, Bart, (chairman), Prof. V7. S. Abell, Sir Archibald Denny, Bart., Sir Edward Hain, Capt. H. B. Hooper, Mr. James Readhead, and Mr., Oswald Sanderson. All communications relating to the above com- mittees should be addressed to Mr. Percy Ashley, the Board of Trade, S.W. Sweden has prohibited the export of peat briquettes. By Order in Council the exportation of patent fuel is prohibited on and after the 27th inst. to destinations other than British Dominions and Protectorates. The address of the Coal Exports Committee has been changed to No. 3, Central Buildings, Westminster, S.W. A committee has been appointed by the Chamber of Shipping, acting in co-operation with the Liverpool Steam- ship Owners’ Association, to consider trade policy after the war. The appointment of this committee is in 'accordance with the terms of a resolution passed at the annual meeting of the Chamber of Shipping. ____________________________ Hull Coal Exports.—The official return of the exports of coal from Hull to foreign countries for the week ended Tuesday, March 14, is as follows:—Calais, 657 tons; Gothenburg, 700 ; Dunkirk, 864 ; Harlingen, 446 ; Halmstadt, 825 ; Havre, 747; Oxelosund, 1,929; Rotterdam, 952; Rouen, 4,642 ; total, 11,762 tons. Corresponding period March 1915, total 23,910 tons. These figures do not include bunker coal, shipments for the British Admiralty, or the Allies’ Governments. . South Wales Institute of Engineers. — The 58th annual general meeting of this institute will be held at the Royal Jubilee Metal Exchange, Swansea, on Tuesday next, at 5 o’clock p.m. A lecture on “ Superheated Steam ” will be delivered by Mr. Thomas Sugden, Wh.Sc., M.I.Mech.E. The following papers will be discussed ” Notes on the Subject of Testing Portland Cement,” by Mr. W. A. Brown, Assoc. Am. Soc.C.E.; “ Turbo Blowers and Compressors,” by Mr. H. L. Guy and Lieut. P. L. Jones, B.Sc. A paper on “ Steam Plant Efficiency,” will be read bv Mr. Vernon Smith.