August 18, 1916. THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. 309 ing tests were made at Greensburg, sufficient informa- tion has been obtained at another mine to show the starting pull of plain bearing cars to be about 150 per cent, higher than for flexible roller bearing cars. For the running tests a piece of track with a pro- nounced grade was selected, because it was found that the effect of the pull on the instruments was far more uniform and steady on a grade than on the level; this, in turn, means that the results after being corrected for grade are more certain. A number of tests were also run on level track, and the results obtained agreed in every instance with the corrected results of tests made on a grade. Oxygen Treatment for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning. When administering oxygen under pressure, says A. F. Knoefel (Queensland Government Mining Journal), particular care should be taken to see that the pressure does not exceed 15 centimetres, water gauge. If the victim of gas is not dead when discovered and the proper treatment is promptly begun, practically every subject should recover from the immediate effects of the gas in from 42 to 72 hours. There is always shock present, and treatment for this should be given without delay. The principal elements in this treatment should be retaining the patient’s own heat by covering the body and limbs with blankets, and this should be supple- mented by the use of hot-water bottles, jugs of hot water, or hot bricks. In applying this heat care must be taken not to burn the patient, by wrapping the objects in cloth or paper. A benumbed or unconscious person cannot notify you that the application is burning him. The person should be kept in a reclining position, with the head low. The first-aider is supposed to confine his efforts to the following :—(1) See that a doctor is notified. (2) Perform artificial respiration, with the administration of oxygen, if the same is at hand. (3) Treat the patient for shock. If he is conscious, a teaspoonful of aromatic spirits of ammonia in a half-glass of water should be administered. Other treatment should be left to the doctor, for the reason that any surgical operation if wrongfully or carelessly performed may forfeit the person’.s life. Artificial respiration should be continued, even though the case seems hopeless. Many cases have been reported in which the person had been resuscitated after several hours of artificial respiration, in one of which the efforts were maintained for six hours, with the subsequent recovery of the person. After the person has been resuscitated he should be carefully watched, as relapses are not uncommon, because, as observed by Dr. Haldane, when the blood contains 70 per cent, of carbon monoxide it requires from six to seven hours to free itself. THE GERMAN 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 :— German Ironfounders’ Association. At the 47th general meeting of the German Iron- founders’ Association on 5th inst., it was reported that the situation of the foundries producing machine cast- ings was very satisfactory in all branches. The asso- ciated groups have contented themselves with raising prices only to the extent necessitated by the increased cost of production, the continuance of which is expected to lead to a further advance in prices ere long. Most of the works producing commercial castings are very busy (except, perhaps, makers ..of high-class stoves)/ and buyers have to wait a long time for delivery. In spite of the various increases, selling prices are scarcely adequate, and it will be difficult- to avoid a further advance in the autumn. Ruhr Goal Market. Though, in comparison with the preceding month, the output for July showed a considerable increase, it was insufficient to ameliorate the pressing demand for fuel, both house and industrial coals being scarce. Generally speaking, there is a growing tendency among industrial consumers to substitute coke for coal; and it is highly probable that the balance between the supply and demand of coke suitable for steam raising will bo reached. It is also probable that the exportation of small nuts will be prohibited, except where highly impor- tant economic considerations are concerned. The prices for home delivery during the second half-year have only been slightly advanced. In the coke .market the require- ments of the iron industry are very heavy. With regard to the renewal of the Coal Syndicate, the example of the Pig Iron Union, which recently extended its agreement until 1920, is regarded as a good omen. During the month the state of the Rhine was generally favourable for traffic, and enabled vessels to reach Lauterburg without lightening cargo. High water in the Ruhr hindered the loading of craft with high free- board for a few days; and the supply of coal and coke for shipment was generally insufficient. Westphalian Iron Market. The situation shows little change, except that the works are endeavouring to secure, as far as possible, the control of the sources of raw material they require, especially as regards the Siegerland manganiferous ore mines. So long, however, as the • Siegerland Ironstone Association is in existence, and circumstances compel the systematic distribution of the ore output, there will not be much extension of the attempts to buy up the mines until after the war. The scarcity of semi-pro- ducts, rolled wire, etc., is already leading to prospective amalgamations and fusions of interests, in order to combat the difficulty. The works all along the line are busy, and compelled to exert every effort to keep up with the demand, and the needs of the army are so great that export orders have to be relegated to the background. In the ore market, Siegerland ironstone is in very active request, but the output has somewhat receded. Prices remain at 17*30 mk. for raw, and 26 mk. for roasted ore. Recent contracts for Nassau ore have been concluded on the basis of 24 to 25 mk. per ton of 50 per cent. ore. Minette, too, is in improved demand, and prices have advanced, siliceous minette fetching 3- 20 mk. ex mines (33 to 34 per cent, ore), calcareous 4- 50 to 4*75 mk. Manganese ore is quoted at 28*50 mk. for 50 per cent. The brisk demand for pig iron continues unabated, especially for high-grade qualities, and the union has advanced prices for haematite and steel-iron by 20 mk. per ton, other prices being left unchanged. Sales for September will be made at 114*50 mk. for 10/12 spiegel- eisen; 90*50 mk. for high-grade puddling pig; 93*50 mk. for steel-iron; 133 mk. for steel-iron low in copper; 102 mk. for grey Siegerland addition iron; 101 mk. for mottled; and 100 mk. for white—all ex Siegen. Haematite is sold at 142*50 mk. ex Oberhausen; foundry pig No. 1 at 96, 97 and 102 mk., according to selling district; and foundry pig No. 3 at 91 to 98 mk. The inland price for Luxemburg foundry pig remains unal- tered at 76*50 mk. ex Luxemburg. Sales for export are at high rates, sometimes reaching 140 mk. ex Luxemburg. The union has been prolonged to 1920. Scrap is firm, and occasionally dearer, prime core scrap fetching 68 to 70 mk., railway turnings 57 to 60 mk., casting scrap 58 to 59 mk., and fresh heavy scrap 75 to 76 mk. Semi-products are scarce, but prices remain unchanged at 127*50 mk. for ingots, 132*50 mk. for blooms, 142*50 mk. for billets, and 147*50 mk. for plate bars, with 15 mk. extra for open hearth quality. Special blooms of extra hardness and tensile properties are quoted as high as 245 to 250 mk. The bar iron market shows an increased demand and short supply, the works being busy on war orders, and several months are required for delivery under new con- tracts. The minimum price is 195 mk. per ton ex Oberhausen, with up to 235 to 240 mk. for export, whilst dealers are asking 250 mk. ex stock. Sections are quiet, but hoop iron is actively enquired for at 225 mk., with 25 mk. more for open hearth metal. Cold-rolled hoop iron, which is largely used in place of brass and copper, sells at high prices, as do also welding bars, rivet bars, and horseshoe bars. Orders for plate are again plentiful, at 195 mk. for heavy, 200 mk. for ship plate, 205 mk. for construc- tional plate, and 215 mk. for boiler plate. The demand for medium and fine plate has still further improved, and prices rule at 250 to 260 mk. for 5/3 mm., about 280 mk. (basis) for 2/1 mm., and up to 350 mk. for still finer, though few works will accept orders for the latter. Rolled wire is scarce, and now that there is no union to arrange distribution, many buyers are suffering from delay in executing orders. The general inland price is 185 mk. and in some cases higher. Drawn bare wire is quoted at 215 mk.; galvanised, 265 mk.; screw’ and rivet wire, 247*50 mk.; nail ware, 212*50 mk.; and wire nails, 235 mk.; and all the works are busy. For railway material large new orders are continually coming in, with numerous enquiries for export, which, however, have to be postponed in order to supply the home market first. Prices run : 172 to 183 mk. for heavy rajls; 172 to 180 mk. for pit and field railway rails; 175 to 185 mk. for narrow gauge rails, and 182 to 190 mk. for tram rails, all for inland, export prices being much higher. Report for 1915 of the German Ammonia Sales Association. The distribution, expressed in terms of 25 per cent, salt, amounted to 364,077 tons, as compared with 406,476 tons in 1914. The enquiry for sulphate wTas very active, and far beyond the capacity of the association to meet. At the end of the year stocks w*ere very short. Owing to the complete stoppage of the trade in nitrate of soda, there waas no possibility of tracing the course of prices on the basis of large contracts. In view* of the exceptional circumstances affecting the distribution, the propaganda work was restricted, resulting in a saving of 1,000,000 mk., as compared with the expenditure" in 1914. . The supply agreement, which terminated at the end of 1915, has been renewed, on somewhat modified terms, except that the contract with the Badische Aniline Company is to continue until April 1, 1921. The special arrangement with the Gcwerkschaft Deutsche? Kaiser for the sale of sulphate has not been renewed. Report for 1915 of the German Benzol Association. During the first nine months of the year the associa- tion was not able to satisfy the demand fully, and it was only after the cokeries and large gasworks extended their benzol plant that enough was available to meet the demand and leave a surplus for stocking. The total deliveries amounted to 102,296 tons, against 105,392 toils the previous year. After excluding the foreign pro- duction, the members of the association had a production of 48 per cent, of their participation figures, which were raised, during the year, from 200,000 tons to 210.000 tons, inclusive of the amounts sold by the association on special contracts. The deliveries ” of toluol (crude) amounted to 29,006 tons (12,913 tons), and of crude benzol/xylol and heavy benzol to 11,036 tons (18 715 tons). v V ’ Steel Union Deliveries in June. The deliveries in June (computed as raw steel) amounted to 298,753 tons, as compared with 311,620 tons in May. and 319,928 tons in Juno 1915, and con- sistod of: Semi-manufactured products, 77H83 tons: railway material, 134,584 tons; and sections, 86.686 tons. SOME RECENT DECISIONS UNDER THE WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION ACT. [Specially Contributed.] A Remarkable Dependency Case. Some extraordinary circumstances were disclosed in the case of Taylor v. Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company, which was decided by the Court of Appeal on July 13. In 1912 a woman was deserted by her husband and left with three children. Some time after she began to cohabit witli a work- man employed by the respondent company, the man, woman, and the three children all living in the same home. The man earned about £% 5s., nearly the whole of which he handed to the woman for the maintenance of the household. In 1914 the husband joined the Army after the outbreak of war, and the woman thereafter received a separation allow- ance of 23s. a week. She had a child by the workman with whom she was cohabiting, and, on the death of the father as the result of an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment, application for compensation was made on behalf of the infant. The question was raised whether the child had been wholly or only partially dependent on her father. The county court judge held that, having regard to the fact that the separation allowance and the money received from the deceased workman were used indiscriminately for the maintenance of the whole family, the infant had been only partially dependent on her father. The Court of Appeal, however, held that she had been wholly dependent. Appeals in Connection with Industrial Disease. Those provisions inserted an the Workmen’s Compensation Act to bring industrial diseases within its scope are some- what cumbrously drafted. Industrial diseases scheduled under the Act, or under Orders which the Act empowered the Secretary of State to issue, are to be regarded as accidents when (1) a workman is, by a certifying surgeon under the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, certified to be suffering from such a disease, and is thereby disabled from earning full wages at the work at which he was employed ; (2) a workman is, in pursuance of any special (rules or regulations made under the Factory and Workshop Act, suspended from his usual employment on account of having contracted any such disease ; or (3) the death of a workman is caused by any such disease. The disablement or suspension will then be treated as the happening of the accident, and it is further provided that the disease must be caused by the nature of any employ- ment in which the workman was employed at any time within the 12 months previous to the date of the disable- ment or suspension. As to appeals it is provided that “ if an employer or workman is aggrieved by the action of -a certify- ing or other surgeon in giving or refusing to give a certificate of disablement or in suspending or refusing to suspend a workman for the purposes of this section, the matter shall, in accordance with regulations made by the Secretary of State, be referred to a medical referee whose decision shall be final.” One of the regulations is to the effect that applica- tion for leave to appeal must be made to the County Court registrar within seven days of the action complained of. A recent case in this connection was that of a workman employed in the Nostell Colliery of Lord St. Oswald. The latter desired to appeal against the certificate of a surgeon to the effect that the workman had contracted an industrial disease within the meaning of the Act. Owing to some technical mistakes in the certificate the application for leave to appeal was not made within the specified time, and the registrar refused to grant leave. Application was then made to the King’s Bench Division of the High Court and a Divisional Court (the Lord Chief Justice and Mr. Justice Scrutton) made an order calling on the registrar to show cause why he should not deal with the matter. The point thus raised is of some importance, and the argument upon it should be of interest. Compensation as Affected by Wage Rate Fluctuations. Schedule 1 of the Workmen’s Compensation Act provides that in cases of total or partial incapacity compensation shall be a weekly payment during the incapacity not exceeding 50 per cent, of the average weekly earnings, but not in any case exceeding but in the case of a workman under 21 years of age, whose average weekly earnings are less than 20s., the compensation shall be the full amount of those average weekly earnings, so long as the weekly payment does not exceed 10s. This provision has obviously been made in the interests of those who have not reached their full earn- ing capacity, but an interesting point has been raised in a Scottish case in connection with a workman who was under 21, but was a fully qualified miner, and had admittedly reached his full earning capacity. At first he had full com- pensation of £1 a week as for total incapacity, but that was reduced to about half on the basis of partial incapacity. The schedule provides that at the request of an employer or work- man, any weekly payment may be reviewed with a view to being ended, diminished, or increased. To this there is a proviso to the effect that “ where the. workman was at the data of the accident under 21 years of age. and the review takes place more than 12 months after the accident, the amount of the weekly payment may be increased to any amount not exceeding 50 per cent, of the weekly sum which the workman would probably have been earning at the date of the review if he had remained uninjured, but not in any case exceeding one pound.” In this case the application for review was not supported on the ground that the miner would have been able to earn higher wages because there would have been an increase of natural earning capacity, but on the ground that he would have earned more owing to the higher rate of wages due to war conditions. In the Sheriff Court, however, the Sheriff-substitute was of opinion that the pro- viso was not intended to apply to the case of a workman who had attained his full earning capacity at the time of his acci- dent, but the Court of Session remitted the case for recon- sideration. The Lord President said it was common ground that, but for his accident, the man would be earning a certain wage, and that that fact could bring the proviso into play. What effect it would have on the compensation award was a totally different question, but it appeared to his lordship impossible to say that it should not be taken into considera- tion. He thought the Sheriff-substitute might find himself well entitled to increase the amount of compensation, but was certain that the workman should not be deprived of the opportunity of laying his case before the Sheriff-substitute and pressing the view that the proviso was applied. Last month 2.515 cargoes of coal were exported from this country on commercial account. 1.827 cargoes, or 72-65 per cent., being carried in foreign vesesls. against 69 per cent, in June.