September 1, 1916. THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. 401 solution of picric acid, or, if this is not available, common baking soda in solution, w a paste of flour and water. If none of these is available, use a heavy oil, such as machine oil, transformer oil, or vaseline. Cover the dressing with clean waste, gauze, or whatever is available. For a dry, charred burn, do not put anything on it, but protect it with a light dry dressing. Never open blisters. Treatment of Flash. Keep the eyes closed, and apply at once a compress of boracic solution (a teaspoonful of powder in a cup of ’■W - - i**#* ■ Fig. 1.—No. 2 Winding Engine. SURFACE PLANT AT BRODSWORTH MAIN COLLIERY. The Brodsworth Main Colliery is situated about two miles from Carcroft Station, and about 4| miles from Doncaster, and is served by the Great Northern, the Great Central, and the Hull and Barnsley railways. There are two shafts,'each 26 ft. 6 in. diameter, finished at 50 yd. centres, and are bricked throughout their whole length, down to the Barnsley seam, a depth of 595 vds. electrically driven, but all auxiliary haulages, etc., being operated by compressed air. Winding Arrangements. The head frames are of oak and pitch pine, the head- gear at the upcast pit being completely eased in a brick tower. The frames are 52 ft. high from the bank to the centre of the pulleys, which are 18 ft. 6 in. diameter in the tread. Coal is wound from the downcast shaft by double decked cages, holding six tubs, the working load being 18 tons 13 cwt. The winding ropes are of the locked coil type, 5|in. in circumference. From the up- cast shaft the coal is wound in single-decked cages holding three tubs. In this shaft the winding ropes are also of the locked coil type, but only 3|in. in circum- ference. Both sets of cages are fitted with Ormerod detaching hooks of 25-ton pattern, and with four guide 1| in. ropes on the outside of each cage, each rope being weighted at the bottom with 6-J- tons. The winding engine for the downcast shaft, built by Messrs. Markham and Company Limited, Chesterfield, is fitted with two cylinders 46 in. diameter by 7 ft. 6 in. stroke, and is constructed for a pressure of 1201b. per square inch. The valves are double-beat, Cornish drop valves operated by Gooch link motion reversing gear, under the control of a steam reversing engine with cataract oil cylinder. The engine is fitted with a Wild and Petrie overwinding preventer, a Wigan electrically- operated signal apparatus, and also with a tachograph recorder which shows graphically the number of winds, the speed of each, and the duration of stoppages. The winding drum is conical, 17| to 30 ft. in. diameter, making 20 revolutions per wind. The brakes are of the band type, operated by a deadweight, and held off by steam pressure. The winding engine (fig. 1) for the upcast shaft, made by the same firm, has cylinders 36 in. diameter by 7 ft. stroke. The diameter on the conical drum is 14 to 24 ft., and the brake is of the pest type. The other details, are generally similar to those of the engine for the down- cast shaft. Eoilers. For steam raising, 14 boilers are installed, 10 of which are working. They are all of Lancashire type, 8 ft. 6 in. diameter by 30 ft. long, and tested for 1751b. pressure, the actual working pressure being 120 lb. per square inch. Feed water is supplied by one Weir feed pump, one Coal- water); keep the victim in a darkened room, with eyes closed, and compress on until a physician arrives. There is no doubt that a majority of deaths could have been avoided by the application in time of the methods here given. Better,' however, than the application of any remedies is a serious striving for care in working with any electrical apparatus, so as to minimise accidents. Institution of Mining Engineers.—The 27th annual meet- ing of the institution will be held in the Royal Technical College, Geomge-street, Glasgow, on Thursday, September 14, commencing at 11 a.m. The Institution Medal for 1915-16 will be presented to Dr. W. N. Atkinson, in recognition of his investigations in connection with colliery explosions and coal dust. Papers on “ The Permeability of Coal to Air or Gas, and the Solubilities of Different Gases in Coal,” by- Mr. J. I. Graham; “ The Formation of Water in Coal,” also by Mr. Graham; and “ The Form and Structure of the Coal Fields of Scotland,” by Mr. D. Ferguson, will be presented. The papers open for discussion relate to “ The Health of Old Colliers,” by Dr. J. S. Haldane; “The Estimation of Moisture in Coal,” “ The Absorption of Oxygen by Coal,” and “ The Atmospheric Oxidation of Pyrites,” all by Mr. T. F. Winmill. In the afternoon the Lord Provost and Corpora- tion will hold a reception in the City Chambers, and in the evening an informal dinner will be held in the Central Station Hotel. Members who wish to attend the dinner, the tickets for which are 6s. each, should notify the secretary, Mr. G. L. Kerr, 39, Elmbank-crescent, Glasgow, by September 11. On Friday, September 15, a river excursion (ladies invited) will proceed from Broomielaw Pier to Lochgoilhead. The remit- tance for excursion tickets should reach Mr. Kerr by- September 11. Molasses Fuel Briquettes.—In 'Several beetroot sugar and refining factories in Central Russia there is some anxiety about the disposal of beetroot molasses as a waste product of the sugar industry. This molasses, as distinguished from potato molasses, is not used as a sugar substitute, and has led to the invention of a new type of briquette for fuel. With the closing of the spirit factories which readily used to buy up the molasses referred to at about 20 copecks per pood, the sugar industry lost its market for the product. Chemists, aware of the properties of the ash obtained from beetroot molasses, therefore began to experiment in the application of the ash as a fertiliser, with successful results. Molasses ash was sold to the local agriculturists at 60 copecks per pood, but as the ash forms only 8 to 9 per cent, of the weight of the burned product the resulting price did not satisfy the sugar manufacturers. Experiments were then made in the use of molasses as fuel. Under suitable conditions it gives 3,500 calories, and therefore possesses an industrial value. The best method, however, of utilising molasses for fuel consists in working it up with coal slack into briquettes, the results being then quite satisfactory. Properly made briquettes are burnt in the sugar factories themselves, and experts have expressed themselves favourably in regard to this new kind of fuel. A correspondent in the Gorno Zavodskoie Dielo, giving the foregoing particulars, says that, without predicting the future of such briquettes, they seem adapted to form a useful auxiliary fuel for sugar factories in the present difficult times of fuel supply. A A LP. Outlet LP. Inlet HP. Inlet Fig. 2.—Section through Turbo-Compressor. HP. Outlet r r L FW------------w-" I w ..w. J tei Fid. 3.—Mixed Pressure Impulse Turbine. It was originally intended that the shaft pillars should be taken out and the ground allowed to settle, and for this reason the head frames and the original buildings were constructed of wood, but as coal was found at a less depth than expected, the pillars were allowed to remain. The coal is now being worked on the longwall system, with gateways at 50 yd. centres, the main haulages being brookdale duplex ram pump, both steam driven, and also by one three-throw ram pump operated electrically by a 50 horse-power 220 volts direct-current motor. Water Softening Plant. Feed water is drawn from the shaft by a pump installed 62 yds. below the surface. The water shows 43degs. of hardness, and is treated with lime and soda fcr boiler use. Two water softening plants by the Kennicott Company have been in- stalled, one having a capacity of 15,000 gals, per hour for the boilers, and the other of 3,500 gals, per hour, for the village. Compressed Air Plant. All auxiliary haulages and the pumps under- ground are operated by- means of compressed air supplied by a turbo- compressor (fig. 2), capable of compressing 7,500 cu. ft. of free air per minute »to 801b. per square inch gauge pres- sure when running at a speed of 4,100 revolu- tions per minute. This plant, including mul- tiple-jet condenser and air pump, was made by the British Westinghouse Electric and Manufac- turing Company, who also supplied the chim- ney type cooling tower for 145,000 gals. of water per hour. It comprises one Westinghouse Rateau mixed-pressure impulse-type turbine (fig. 3), fitted with six low-pressure rotors and one high- pressure velocity element having a double row of blades. The turbine is also fitted with patent governing gear, ensuring a constant speed independently of varia- tion in the quantity of low-pressure steam available, and