552

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

September 22, 1916.

process treating, to begin with at any rate, the very
cheapest coal, first by distillation at the temperature
found to yield the most valuable oils, and second by
destructive distillation in some form of gas producer,
so that all the calorific value was available as gas. The
prior treatment for recovery of the oils would reduce the
total amount of ammonia obtainable by the simpler gas
producing plant; and it had yet to be proved that the
value of the oils was greater than that of the loss of
ammonia and expense of working. The gas might then
be utilised to generate electricity on a very large scale,
and the power be absorbed in part by some electro-
chemical or metallurgical process on the same site, and
in part distributed for industrial and domestic use on
the lines of the scheme outlined by Ferranti in his
address to the electric engineers in 1910. In time it
might be found economically sound to treat more valu-
able coal in this way, and he did not say that it was
out of the bounds of possibility to produce from certain
classes of coal by low-temperature distillation a char
that the public would buy for domestic use, and at the
same time recover by-products of sufficient value to
make the process commercially successful.

Speaking on scientific education, he had often thought
that that institution would fulfil a useful purpose if it
could report from time to time on the effect of the
changes made by our educational authorities in the
methods of teaching in the higher standards of our
national and board schools. Indeed, its collective
opinion if this could be focussed would carry some weight
in the controversy now in progress as to how much should
be scrapped of the classical studies which had in the past
bulked so largely in the education given in the secondary
schools. His own opinion was that every man would
benefit by some knowledge of the ground-work of scien-
tific truths, but that little real useful scientific know-
ledge could be assimilated by most boys before the age
of 16 or 17, and he would regret to see lost much of the
old-fashioned literary and mathematical education,
which undoubtedly cultivated a broad outlook and a
suppleness of brain and assisted a man to tackle any
subject he chose in after life by developing the general
reasoning powers of the mind.

In their profession they came in contact with practi-
cally every science; we could not hope, nor did they
attempt to pose as geologists among geologists or as
chemists among chemists and so on, and the most they
could look for was to have enough knowledge to follow
the arguments of the experts in any subject put before
them. He therefore thought that, for a young man being
trained for their profession, the ideal education that could
be given him was a thorough literary and mathematical
education up to the age of 16 or 17, with as much know-
ledge of one modern language as was possible, then six
months or more doing some real work daily underground
before he went to a university or technical college, where
he should chiefly be taught pure science, chemistry,
physics, and geology, etc., for three years, spending a
considerable part of his vacations underground.

If a youth so trained were willing to work, he was
worth a good salary to start with at any large colliery, or
he might, if gifted • beyond the average, go on as a
research worker within the scheme that has been
inaugurated with profit to himself and the community.
If he preferred it, no doubt he could find suitable employ-
ment in some industry allied to mining. Such an
education was now available at a very moderate cost,
materially reduced by bursaries and scholarships, to the
sons of practically every one resident in our chief mining
districts, but the young man who had received this
education must recognise that he had got to enjoy a
period of very hard work in order to grasp the practical
questions he was called upon later to deal with. The
sooner such a young man was given a job, however small,
to carry through on his own, the sooner he would develop
into a valuable employee, and it was well worth some
risk to give him such jobs.

Many firms in this country had made great progress
in the solution of problems bearing on trade and industry,
and in the elaboration of economical and improved pro-
cesses of manufacture, and while they would all welcome
Government assistance to accelerate progress and bring
those who had lagged behind into line with the best, it
must always be remembered that it was by individual
effort we had made this country what it was, and to rely
upon Government assistance and control would, in his
view, be detrimental to the best interests of the whole
community.

He did not dispute that both employers and employed
in this country had got to improve their practice in
order in the future to maintain or improve upon the
standard of living of, say, the year 1911, but he did
emphatically protest against the notion that, in order to
do this, we must imitate German methods. Our army
had proved our capacity to master the Germans in war,
provided the conditions as to numbers and munitions
were anything like equal, and we had now no reason to
doubt that in time we and our Allies would achieve
victory. The more strenuous our efforts, especially at
home, the sooner that time would arrive. Provided we
had in the future reasonably wise legislation and freedom
from internal strife, industrial or otherwise, he had no
fear that we should be able to hold our own and more in
industrial affairs also, and he trusted that that institution
might prove itself worthy of its Royal Charter by assist-
ing the advancement of coal and iron ore mining and
allied industries.

Publication Economies.

Mr. John Merivale, Accrington, chairman of the
Finance and Publications Committee, reported that, in
common with all persons and institutions who were con-
sumers without being producers of a saleable article, the
institution had suffered through the war. The net result
was a deficiency of £134. Their capacity for usefulness,
however, was threatened by the Government’s restric-
tions upon the consumption of paper by one-third, and

unless they could make some change in the type and
paper, the Transactions would require to be reduced one-
third in bulk. The council had gone thoroughly into the
matter, and had decided upon certain changes which
would tide them over the war, and, after the war, should
former conditions prevail, would give them an assured
surplus of income over expenditure. At the suggestion
of Mr. Strzelecki, the question of the institution’s
liability for income-tax had been raised and the Inland
Revenue authorities had decided that the institution wras
not liable and had refunded the income-tax paid during
the last three years, amounting to £164. Then, at the
suggestion of the Mining Institute of Scotland, the
council had decided to adopt the type used by the Insti-
tution of Mechanical Engineers, w’hich was somewhat
smaller, and to use a 30 instead of a 36 lb. paper. These
alterations would decrease the cost for printing and
postage by a very substantial amount,about £600>atpresent
war prices, and would allow them to issue the usual bulk
of Transactions—the lighter paper and the smaller type
covering the Government restrictions. The type and
paper differed so little from that now in use that he did
not think the majority of the members would be aware
that any change had been made. The reform could not
be adopted at once. The current volume, lii., would be
printed on thinner paper with the present type, while
vol. liii. would be made up of thinner paper and the new
type. There were also some minor economies proposed,
with the net result that for the current year they antici-
pated a .small surplus. Next year, when both volumes
would be printed under the new conditions, they hoped
for a substantial surplus of about £400. The latter esti-
mate was based on the assumption that the present war
conditions as regards prices would prevail.

Mining Students on Service.

It was reported by the council that a committee
appointed to consider the position of mining students
serving with the Colours, in regard to the term of train-
ing necessary to qualify them for examination as colliery
managers, had presented a memorial to the Home
Secretary, praying that generous consideration should be
given to any candidate for time given to military or
naval duties during the period of the war. A reply,
dated June 23, 1916, had been received from the Under-
secretary of State, stating that, while it would be
impossible for him to agree to any lowering of the stan-
dard of the examination, he was anxious to give all
reasonable facilities to students whose training had been
interrupted by absence with the Forces, and he was pre-
pared to sanction certain specified arrangements in the
case of such candidates.

DISCUSSIONS.
Occlusion of Gases in Goal.

The President invited discussion on the papers read by
Mr.‘J. Ivon Graham on (1) “ The Permeability of Coal to
Air or Gas, and the Solubilities of Different Gases in
Coal,” and (2) “ The Formation of Water in the Oxida-
tion of Coal. ’ ’

Dr. J. S. Haldane said there was one point which Mr.
Graham had not mentioned in his first paper, and that
was in regard to the manner in which coal would take up
carbon dioxide. What he meant to infer was that carbon
dioxide was enormously more soluble in coal than in
water. Fortunately for mining in this country, there
was no carbon dioxide to speak of in any of the coal
seams. In the north of France, however, there were
sometimes enormous outbursts of what was described as
carbonic acid from coal. Generally speaking, the out-
burst was so enormous that the gas went up the shafts
and there were many casualties on the surface by people
being gassed. Not only was everyone killed in the mine,
but people, as he had said, were actually killed on the
surface. The carbonic acid gas went right up the shaft
and overwhelmed everyone in its course. There was no
doubt that the solubility of carbon dioxide in coal went a
long way to explain this phenomenon. If, for any reason
—probably because of volcanic action—the coal had
become highly charged with carbonic acid, it formed a
huge reservoir. The coal was highly charged with
carbonic acid, and the amount of gas liberated would be
simply enormous—far more so, indeed, than was the case
with firedamp. If they holed in a place where there was
a lot of coal highly charged in that way, the coal would
simply fly to pieces in all directions. The paper which
Mr. Graham had read was interesting in connection with
the phenomenon he (Dr. Haldane) had alluded to.

Estimation of Moisture in Coal. Absorption of Oxygen by
Coal. Oxidation of Pyrites.

The President, in announcing that it was proposed to
close the discussion on Dr. Haldane’s paper on ‘‘The
Health of Old Colliers,” expressed the hope that the insti-
tution would be favoured in the future with many similar
contributions. He suggested that the following series of
papers read at last meeting by Mr. T .F. Winmill, B.A.,
B.Sc., might now be discussed : (1) ” The Estimation of
Moisture in Coal ”; (2) ‘ ‘ The Absorption of Oxygen by
Coal ”; and (3) “ The Atmospheric Oxidation of
Pyrites. ’ ’

Mr. J. Ivon Graham. Doncaster, said he had carried
out some tests with a piece of coal ground so a^s to pass
through a 200 mesh sieve, and he had been interested to
observe that oxidation took place at practically the same
rate as the fine pyrites to which Mr. Winmill had
referred. Personally, he had the feeling, when he began
that test, that the same rate of oxidation would not take
place. Much to his surprise, however, he found it was
exactly similar.

Prof. Louis asked if the thermal efficiencies were the
same, and Mr. Graham replied that that particular
aspect of the subject had not been tested by him as yet.

Dr. J. S. Haldane said it was rather an interesting
point that the pyrites in a Scotch slate was absolutely
stable in the presence of air. If they got a typical
Scotch shale, with real crystal pyrites in it, they would
find that it remained perfectly bright for 50 years. He
got the first of those samples of slate pyrites from the
roof of a house in Scotland. The slates in that instance
had been in use for 50 years. He had tested the slates
which came from the Ballachulish Slate Quarries, and
the crystals in those slates were absolutely stable in the
presence of air, so far as anyone knew. That was
rather a remarkable and interesting fact chemically.
There were some kinds of pyrites in slates which did
oxidise slowly. Anyone, however, looking at the roofs
of the houses in Scotland would recognise the differ-
ence between the Ballachulish slates and some other
kinds of slates where the pyrites was not perfectly
stable. •

Prof. Louis said the information given by Mr.
Graham was highly interesting, and, since it dealt with
a question which he (the speaker) had raised at last
meeting, deserved investigation. The information that
both kinds of pyrites when ground down oxidised at
approximately the same rate was distinctly valuable,
and he hoped Mr. Graham would go a step further, and
ascertain whether the thermal efficiency of the two
when oxidised was the same. He thought it was well
worth while carrying on investigations along these lines,
because it might possibly throw a little light on the
point as 'to whether some coals were more liable to
spontaneous combustion than others.

The President said that, with regard to the conclu-
sions arrived at by Mr. Winmill in his paper, he was not
quite convinced, especially in regard to the clean bill of
health given to the smithy coal at Dalmellington. In his
own experience, the Ell coal in Hamilton district and the
Lochgelly splint seam in Fife had been the most trouble-
some in the way of spontaneous combustion. Both the>se
seams had an inferior band of coal immediately above
them. In cutting through the old waste at Merryton
Colliery, Hamilton, long after a fire had died out, he
always found it was adjacent to the top head coal that
most heating had taken place, and that, in fact, it was the
blaes that had burnt most and not the coal. Both the
head coal above the Ell, and the Crow coal above the
Lochgelly splint contained a good deal of sulphur. Both
were soft and easily crushed, and both got the blame,
perhaps unjustly, of being the chief cause of fires.

. Mr. James Black (Shettleston) said that in the past
mining men had been somewhat diffident about
inviting chemists to assist theiti in discovering the
cause of certain minor phenomena. Generally speak-
ing, they were rather inclined to look upon them as
persons whose knowledge was much too theoretical to
be of any service in dealing with the different problems
that were associated with coal mining. Fortunately,
however, that idea had been pretty well discarded, and
to-day they found the chemist, as a result of his work,
forming a very essential and desirable part of the con-
sulting staffs of almost every important and well-
conducted mining concern. If there was anything that
had latterly convinced the practical mining man of the
utility of chemical science, it was experimental work
such as had been recently carried out by Mr. Winmill,
the results of which had been recorded in the Trans-
actions, Personally, he had given a little consideration
to the study of the subject under discussion, and it
seemed to him that the experimental results obtained
by Mr. Winmill gave them a very much clearer con-
ception of the real fundamental causes of spontaneous
heating than anything that had been previously said
or done in connection with that matter. Proceeding
on the lines adopted by Mr. Winmill, it seemed to him
that it was now possible, with a high degree of certainty,
to determine the cause or causes of spontaneous heat-
ing in any coal. When the cause of such heating was
known, there always remained the possibility of remov-
ing it, but so long as the real cause remained unsus-
pected, the remedy adopted might simply aggravate the
trouble. He had been rather impressed with the close
relationship or agreement that existed between the
experimental results of Mr. Winmill and the observa-
tions recorded from time to time by practical mining
men who had considerable experience in the working
of seams liable to spontaneous heating. To illustrate
the point he was driving at, he thought he could not
do better than refer them to the able and interesting
paper on underground fires read some time ago by Mr.
Henry Rowan before the Mining Institute of Scotland.
A careful study of Mr. Rowan’s paper would show that
he, in his practical way, came to much the'same con-
clusions that Mr. Winmill had demonstrated scientific-
ally. In conclusion, he wished to express his appre-
ciation of the most valuable contribution Mr. Winmill
had made to their knowledge of spontaneous heating in
mines. ’

On the call of the President, Mr. Winmill was
thanked for his papers. Votes of thanks were also
awarded the president, the Mining Institute of Scotland
(for the arrangements made for the meeting), and the
Corporation of Glasgow (for arranging a reception), and
the proceedings afterwards terminated.

Civic Reception and Excursion.

In the evening the members of the institution,
with their lady friends, were entertained to a civic recep-
tion in the Banqueting Hall, City-chambers, Glasgow,
by the Lord Provost, magistrates, and Town Council.
Lord Provost Dunlop appropriately welcomed the guests,
and in the course of his speech made suitable reference
to the magnificent assistance and support which mining
men were rendering to our Army in France. On Friday
the members sailed down the Firth of Clvde to Lochgoil-
head.