618

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

March 31, 1916.

Liverpool and Glasgow, who knew all about- passengers. and
cargo, but little or nothing about the coal trade; and the
application from South Wales that there should be a repre-
sentative was refused. There had also been the refusal of an
application that there should be one or two members who
represented charterers, in particular coal charterers.

The report for 1915 submitted to the Cardiff Chamber states
that the output of South Wales during 1915 has declined to
51,000,000 tons, as compared with 53,879,728 tons in 1914,
and 56,830,972 tons in 1913. The exports of coal, patent
fuel, and coke, excluding purchases by the Government, but
including bunkers on private account, totalled 23,347,837
tons from the Welsh ports of Cardiff, Newport, Swansea, and
Port Talbot, as compared with 36,407,289 tons in 1913.
Excluding Government purchases, except during the first
quarter, no best Admiralty coals were on sale. Seconds,
which in January ruled about 18s. 6d. per ton, were about
37s. 6d. in April, declined subsequently to about 18s. 6d. in
October, but rising again to 25s. in December. [It should
be noted that at the present time these coals have been
quoted as high as 40s., dealings having been recorded round
about 35s.] The report states that, small coals fluctuated
widely, bunker descriptions advancing from 13s. in January
to 23s. in July, declining to 11s. in November, and subse-
quently rising to 12s. 6d. Cargo smalls rose from 11s. to
19s., declining in the last quarter of the year so as to . give
an average of 8s. The report, of course, deals fully with the
important question of freights. Pit wood imports during the
year are said to have amounted to 1,048,389 loads, compared
with 1,006,283 loads in 1914, and 1,130,941 loads in 1913.
The shortage as compared with 1913 is made up by an
increase in the use of home-grown timber.

The blizzard had most serious consequences for the miners,
a large number of the night shift being unable to proceed to
their homes when their period of work ended, whilst the day
men were unable to reach the collieries. Many thousands of
men were thus compulsorily idle on Tuesday. In addition
to these hindrances, business on the Cardiff Exchange was
entirely impracticable, because the telephone and telegraph
wires were down, and communication between the offices
and the collieries could not be obtained.

The Cardiff Bailway Bill, which seeks to extend the time
for purchase of land in connection with the Acts previously
obtained by the company, has been before the Select Com-
mittee of the House of Commons, when evidence was tendered
by Col. Denniss, general manager, who stated that the
Treforest junction with the Taff Vale line was absolutely
essential to their work.—Both the Taff Vale and the Bhymney
railway companies opposed the proposal for the extension of
time; and on their behalf it was stated that the Cardiff
Company could do all that was required without any exten-
sion. Col. Denniss stated that it was the intention of the
promoters to build an independent line to the docks if they
got the extension of time.—The Committee have decided to
make the period two years in regard to the Treforest junction,
and the promoters have until August next to serve notice to
treat in regard to the independent line.

A case came before the Swansea County Court on Monday
and Tuesday, wherein two 'hauliers claimed £37 each from
the New Lynch Colliery Company; and an important point
was raised as to whether the plaintiffs assented to a change
in the system of payment at the colliery. Judge Bryn
Roberts, giving his decision, said that up to November 1914
a system of payment at per ton had prevailed, but after
that date 8s. per day net was paid; and plaintiffs contended
that the employers were not entitled to change the system,
which should be on the original price list. The change had
been made, so the manager of the company said, because it
had been found that by ordinary haulage they could not
deal with the increasing quantity of coal. The judge stated
that agreements in general should provide for future hard-
ships, or 'as to termination of the agreement. Persons
should not come to court and plead that .agreements were
hard and cruel because of developments that had occurred.
An impression existed that where the Conciliation Board
effected an -agreement as a body, individuals were bound by
it, whereas individuals by -agreement could terminate it. In
the present case he had to decide whether the plaintiffs did
agree, expressed or by implication, to the new arrangement of
payment. He held that the change was a reasonable one ;
and having regard to the fact that plaintiffs had worked
under it from November 1914 to March 1915 without tom-
plaint, that they had accepted the new arrangement; and he
therefore gave judgment for the defendant company with
costs.

At the annual conference of the South Wales Miners’
Federation, held in Cardiff, on Monday, .a decisive vote—
67,682 to 59,788—was given against providing, jointly with
the employers, a convoy of ambulance cars for use with the
Army, the adverse majority being thus 7,894. Other sections
of miners in the United Kingdom have agreed to assist in
making such provision; but some of the delegates at Cardiff
went so far as to blame the general secretary (Mr. T.
Richards, M.P.) for issuing a circular in favour of the
idea, although his action in this respect was only carrying
out a unanimous recommendation of the executive council.

Northumberland and Durham.

'Coal Supplies and the Ordinary Consumer.

The Lambton and Hetton Collieries Limited are
circularising local bodies who have contracted with the
company for coal supplies to the effect that it may be neces-
sary -at any time, in the national interest, to curtail or cease
deliveries in accordance with instructions received from the
Coal and Coke Supplies Committee for the Durham district.

Messrs. Pease and Partners Limited -are reported to have
under consideration a scheme for the introduction of a very
important .addition to their Bankfoot Works at Crook.
Details have not yet been made public, but it is hoped that
the scheme will materialise in a very short time.

At Amble, last week, Capt. Vernon Merivale, of the
7th Northumberland Fusiliers (T.F.), son of Mr. J. H.
Merivale, 'agent for the Broomhill Collieries Limited, and
ex-president of the North of England Institute of Mining
and Mechanical Engineers, was presented with an
illuminated address by the local War Heroes’ Presentations
■ Committee, in honour of his having won the Military Cross,
and having been mentioned in despatches. The address was
handsomely framed, -and included a portrait of the officer,
surrounded by beautiful scroll work.

Sergt.-Maj. Albert Booth was the recipient of numerous
presentations at Stanley last week, in honour of his having
gained the D.C.M. Sergt.-Maj. Booth, who was employed
as deputy-overman at West Stanley prior to the war, was
presented with a cheque by the members of the local miners’
lodge, and the South Derwent Coal Company Limited
intimated that they intended to make him a suitable acknow-

ledgment. The townspeople presented him with a solid
silver cigarette case and a cheque for £10, and he was the
recipient of a gold watch from friends and of a cheque
from the West Stanley deputies.

Mr. George Williamson, manager of the Birtley Iron
Works, has taken up an important position in America.
He held the position of manager at Birtley for over seven
years. To. mark the occasion, gifts consisting of two
travelling trunks, set of military hair brushes, collar cpse,
and gold bracelet watch (the last-mentioned for Mrs.
Williamson) were subscribed for by the workmen and
officials. Mr. P. Kirkup, the company’s agent, made the
presentation.

Cumberland.

Roof Support: Home Office Prosecution.

At the Workington Police Court last week, George
McDonald, manager of William Pit, belonging to the Aller-
dale Coal Company, was charged, at the instance of Mr.
J. R. R. Wilson, H.M. inspector of mines, with having
failed to cause the roof under which the work of getting coal
was carried on, to be systematically and adequately sup-
ported. He was further charged with having failed to
cause the roof and side of a certain travelling road and work-
ing place in the Little Main seam to be secure. John
Mumberson, pit deputy, was charged with failing to see that
the workmen under his charge carried out their duty, and
also with failing to see that the roof was properly supported.
—Mr. Lightfoot, for the prosecution, said these proceedings
were the result of a fatal accident at William Pit on
October 27. On that date there was a fall of stone from a
working in the Little Main seam. As a result, John McAvoy
was killed, and his brother very seriously injured. There
were two faults which were known to the management, and
after the accident a third was observed. For a period of
about 14 days no timber had been sent into the place.—Mr.
G. Cook, inspector of mines, said the men had not worked
the coal at the sides, and they had not touched the coal at
the working places. The roof was not secure; there were
faults in it. It was a shale roof. He thought that the roof
ought to have been timbered. There ought to have been six
sets of timber, which were not there up to the brushing.—
For the defence, Mr. Curwen said the Coal Mines Act recog-
nised that there might be different conditions in different
localities. He submitted that if the place was so secure as
practical men could possibly make it, it was unnecessary to
do anything. His proposition was that, if this was a per-
fectly solid place with a rocky roof, and so secure that nothing
was required, it would be a farce to put timber in.
Mumberson was the man who fired the shot to bring down
the brushing. He examined it at 7 o’clock, and found it
all right. He saw two slips on the outside, and he examined
again at 10 o’clock, before he fired the shot. He waited
10 minutes, and then went back behind the brushing, and
sounded all round, and he was perfectly satisfied the roof
was secure. Turning to the second summons, Mr. Curwen
said, according to Mr. Lightfoot, it was their duty to timber
it right up to the working place, but he submitted that con-
tention was not well founded. He contended that the Act
meant where it was necessary. It was not compulsory to
use props and bars in all working places.—The defendant
McDonald pleaded not guilty, and claimed that the roof did
not require any support. Until this happened, he had never
known a fall of black plate.—The Bench fined McDonald
40s. in the first case, and 20s. in the second. Mumberson
was fined 30s.

Yorkshire.

Progress at Hatfield—Boy Labour and Mechanical Power
Plants—The Installation of High-Speed Machinery—
Rossington Development and the Labour Question.

■ The directors of the Hatfield Main Colliery report that the
progress made -during 1915 has been satisfactory considering
the unprecedented conditions caused by the war. But for
this No. 1 shaft would have reached the Barnsley seam before
now’. A breakdown of the sinking engines at this pit
materially reduced the speed of sinking, owing to the extreme
difficulty experienced in getting the replace parts, and the
non-delivery of the permanent winding engines. The depth
of the No. 1 shaft is 701 yds., and the Barnsley seam is
expected to be reached at a depth of about 800 yds. The
depth of No. 2 shaft is 439 yds. A feeder of water vzas
met with at the base of the lower limestone in No. 2 shaft
at a depth of 362 yds., and was successfully cemented back.

At Sheffield, on Friday, William Gainsford, colliery agent,
and Michael McDermott, colliery manager, were summoned
on the information of Thomas Harry Mottram, divisional
inspector of mines, with a breach of the Mines Act, 1911,
section 57, sub-section 4. It was alleged that, contrary to
law, they had placed Lawrence Taylor, -a person under the
age of 18 years, in charge of machinery worked by
mechanical power at the Birley East pit, Handsworth.
Taylor was killed last December, and Mr. W. M. Gichard,
for the prosecution, argued that he was the person actually
in charge of a 30 horse-power motor, and that the manage-
ment had inadvertently misconstrued the section relating
to such matters. A man named Vickers worked an 80 horse-
power motor in the same engine house. One -of these hauled
tubs from the south and the other from the north district,
both of which were quite distinct. Vickers was in general
charge and in a position to switch off the current of the
smaller motor. But that was not “ being in charge ” within
the meaning of the Act, Mr. Gichard contended, because
the person in charge could only be the person who had
actual control of the machine. In his evidence, Vickers
stated that he could not control both motors when both were
running. For the defence, Mr. A..Neal pleaded war-time
emergencies. Moreover, the Act only applied to cases where
persons were allowed to ride on the haulage system, whereas
in this case only minerals were carried. The case was
adjourned for re-hearing, owing to a difference of opinion
among the magistrates.

At- a meeting of the Yorkshire branch of the Association
of Mining Electrical Engineers, at Wakefield, on Saturday,
a paper on “ Hints on the Installation, Erecting and
Starting Up of High-Speed Machinery ” was read by Mr.
J. A. McLay, who said he had recently been engaged in
investigating troubles which had developed in connection
with high-speed machinery, principally turbine pumps, after
the machines had been installed and set to work. It had
been found that these troubles had been due entirely to
defective installation, erection on site or starting up. He
considered it was a good method to consult the practical
men on the job before plans were definitely adopted, but it
was an even better idea to submit the whole of the arrange-
ment's proposed to the manufacturers of the plant. Many
of them were vitally concerned with the erection of plant on
the site, that was in or about the colliery, as it was so

largely the custom for collieries to erect pretty well every-
thing apart from the main plant, the winding engines, fans
and generating plant, and, assuming the manufacturer had
had all the .information -necessary as to local conditions etc.,
more depended on the erection on site than upon anything
else. The four points which settled practically the satis-
factory working of any high-speed machine were : (1)
Foundations and grouting-up; (2) level and alignment; (3)
coupling ; (4) connections ; and they were all of equal import-
ance. Standard high-speed machines, such as turbine
pumps, fans, motors, etc., were designed to be mounted
on solid foundations of 'concrete, brickwork, masonry, or
steel construction, and they should not be set up on
temporary foundations, such as timber, without first con-
sulting the makers.

An encouraging statement as to the progress that is being
made with regard to colliery developments at Rossington,
near Doncaster, was given by Lord Aberconway, chairman
of directors of the Rossington Main Colliery Company
Limited, at the annual meeting on Monday. His lordship
said that since the balance-sheet was issued the whole of
the shares had been allotted, Messrs. John Brown and
Company having taken up the balance of the shares. That
put the company in a very sound financial position, though
owing to slightly increased costs of sinking and construction,
through shortage of labour and other causes, they might
want to raise a little more capital for the full operation of
the undertaking. But that, they could easily arrange for.
They had about 8,300 acres of coal secured out of a total
area of about 9,000 acres. Therefore, having regard to the
fair success they had achieved in sinking, he thought their
prospects were very good indeed. The Barnsley seam of
coal was reached in No. 1 shaft on May 4 last, and in
No. 2 shaft on November 6, both at a depth of 872 yds.
The shafts had been sunk to the Dunsil seam, which lay
15 yds. below the Barnsley seam, and coal had been proved.
They found the house coal of very good quality, though they
did not propose to work it at present. What they were
doing was to arrange for the pit bottom, and the opening-
out to take place in the Dunsil seam, and not in the Barnsley
seam. The seam was 5 ft. 4Jin. thick, and there was k
strata between that and the Barnsley seam. This was very
strong, and it had often been found in opening out in the
Barnsley seam that considerable damage was done at those
great depths. They thought it would save expense in the
long run to open out in the lower seam, and so extend to the
Barnsley seam, which was the seam they intended to work.
They hoped towards the -end of the year to be seriously open-
ing out and turning coal. Of course, they could not tell in these
days what the position of any new colliery would be, because
of the scarcity of labour. It was difficult to get men, and
when they had been obtained, it was most difficult to keep
them. If they could get men, they hoped to have an output
of 1,000 tons a day in 12 months from the present time.
Workmen’s cottages to the number of 254 had been built.
84 were in the course of erection, and it was hoped to build
another 162 this year. He believed their prospects were
exceedingly favourable.

Mr. W. H. Armitage, receiver on behalf of the debenture
holders of the Mickley Colliery, was served with 16 sum-
monses at the instance of the inspector of mines for
infractions of the Coal Mines Act and Regulations, and Mr.
Simpson Crombie was similarly summoned. At the hearing
in Dronfield, Mr. Armitage was fined 10s. and Mr. Crombie
5s. fid. each in four cases, and the other summaries were
dismissed on payment of costs, including £10 special costs.

The annual report of the West Riding of Yorkshire Miners ’
Permanent Relief Fund States that the membership is 8,843,
a decrease of 836. The ordinary revenue for the year -was

* £9,995, and the disbursements were £10,932. The available
balances amount to 43,943. The total number of incumbents
on the fund at the end of 1915 was 255 widows, 281 children,
and 198 permanently disabled members. The benefits paid
during the year totalled £9,403. The position of the No. 1
capital account at the end of 1915 was :—Widows and
children, £30,363; permanently injured members, £3,065;
management fund, £1,247; total balance of funds, £34,677.

Lancashire and Cheshire.

Two Miners’ Relief Funds Annual Reports—The Economical
Use of Coal.

Acording to the annual report, the membership of the
Wigan and District Miners’ Permanent Relief Society
decreased from 7,415 to 7,206. Over 300 members enlisted
during 1915. Altogether over 900 members joined the
Colours. The total income from all sources during the year
was £8,898, or £564 less than last year, the decrease in
membership accounting for the difference. The expen-
diture was £7,824, against £8,184, a decrease of £360.
The balance on the year’s working was again very favour-
able, being £1,074, compared with £698 in 1913, and £1,278
in 1914. The accumulated funds on December 31, 1915,
amounted to £10,151, compared with £9,076 in 1914, and
£7,798 in 1913. The progress in funds for the last three
years has been remarkable, for in 1912 there was an adverse
balance on the year’s working.

The annual report of the Lancashire and Cheshire Miners’
Permanent Relief Society states that the membership at the
close of 1915 numbered 51,149, a decrease of 3,979 on the
previous year. The revenue was £61,199, and the expendi-
ture £50,265. Available balance, £202,056. • During the
year there were 11,554 new cases of accident. The report
for 1914 recorded that about 9,000 of the society’s members
had enlisted. There must now be added 6,325 members,
making a total of some 15,325, or 24-7 per cent, of the
society’s membership as it stood at January 1, 1914.

In order to cope with their increasing canal traffic, the
Astley and Tyldesley Coal Company Limited are building
a number of additional barges to ply on the Bridgewater
Canal.

Several leading colliery concerns have opened depots in
Trafford Park, adjoining Salford Docks, and others are to
follow their example.

Recent research relative to the micro-chemical constituents
of coal was explained to the Bolton Field Naturalists, on
Monday, March 20, by Mr. J. Lomax, A.L.S., of Great
Lever, Bolton, the lecture being illustrated by micro-photo-
graphs of thin sections of coal, and by lantern slides. Mr.
A. J. Hutchinson, A.M.I.Meeh.E., presided. Mr. Lomax
said just now was the time to use coal for the purpose for
which it was most fitted, scientifically and hygienically.
One important by-product was the coal tar dye, which had
been allowed to slip into the hands of the Germans. Then
followed a long list of by-products that may be obtained,
including benzol, oils, explosives, carbolic acid, and many
derivatives from these. The open fire grate was condemned,