668

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. '

October 6, 1916.

Notes from the Coal Fields.

[Local Correspondence.]

South Wales and Monmouthshire.

Amalgamation Rumours—The Serious Delays of Coal
Vessels in French Ports—Cardiff Complaint against
Swansea Committee—Huge Profits of Ship Owners—
Colliers and Waste Timber—Serious Position of the
Tin-plate Trade.

Water having broken in from an old colliery adjacent, the
Lynch Colliery, near Swansea, has been flooded, and about
150 colliers are affected. The day shift had a narrow escape,
as they were in the act of descending, when a fall occurred
which necessitated delay, and meanwhile a report was
heard, and when the cause was investigated it was found that
the underground workings were flooded to the “ level five.”
• One of the London papers has issued a statement as to
another important combine of Welsh collieries being contem-
plated; but local enquiries in South Wales do not corrobo-
rate the statement. Rumours have been .in circulation for
two or three weeks past concerning two of the larger under-
takings ; but as to these an explicit denial has been forth-
coming from authoritative quarters. Nevertheless, amalga-
mation schemes are on foot in other directions.

Notification has reached the Cardiff committee for the
supply of coal to France that the delays at French ports are :
Rouen, 6 days ; Treport, 10; St. Nazaire, 5 ; La Rochelle, 3;
Marans, 4; La Pallice, 7 ; Rochefort, 3; Bordeaux, 4; and
Bordeaux (Queyries), 18.

The Chamber of Commerce at Cardiff had an important
discussion on Friday. Mr. Instone, ship owner, complained
of the delay in unloading coal in the French ports, which he
described as ” something horrible.” He said that their firm
had had boats outside the ports a week before they could get
in. There was also a delay on the English side in the matter
of loading; and also, before they could get away to France.
Those who had vessels on time charter were in an awkward
position, for they were unable to fulfil their obligations; and
those who were not on time charter had to pay large amounts
in demurrage. On vessels carrying from 700 to 800 tons of
coal there had been a loss of £1,800 to £2,000 a trip ; and the
members of the Chamber could therefore see the seriousness
of the position. What he wished to know was whether the
Chamber could not get something done in the way of relief.

Mr. Instone referred also to the shipping of anthracite,
asking whether the Chamber could not do anything to protect
Cardiff people against the Swansea committee, who, he
understood, had excluded Cardiff people from shipping
anthracite. He had heard of a case where a Cardiff firm had
an order to ship anthracite to Paris, and the order was taken
from him and handed, without any compunction, to a Swan-
sea man. If that was the attitude of the Swansea com-
mittee, then Cardiff should retaliate and prevent Swansea
people from shipping Cardiff coal.

Mr. North Lewis stated that this matter had been dis-
cussed by the Cardiff committee, who had resolved to bring
it before the Central Committee in London.—Mr. John
Andrews said it was regrettable that committees elsewhere
in the country should have taken the view that they were
authorised by the scheme to refuse recommendation of
licences to persons who had not been shipping coal from that
particular district before the outbreak of war. There was
absolutely nothing in the scheme to justify that view—
nothing in the circumstances, and nothing in any under-
standing that had been arrived at.

The president of the Chamber (Mr. T. E. Watson) advised
Mr. Instone to make his complaint to the Swansea, and also
to the Central Committees, and, failing redress, to bring the
matter up again, in order to secure the Cardiff Chamber’s
support. He made the suggestion also with regard to other
firms who were similarly affected. With regard to the delay
of shipping, he had mentioned this matter to the French
representatives, and had talked with some of the leading
men, but it was exceedingly difficult to know what could be
done in view of the dearth of labour, dearth of accommoda-
tion, and the enormous quantity of coal that France wanted.
His suggestion was that merchants should send particulars
of concrete cases to the secretary of the Chamber, supplying
name of ship, dates, and extent of delay. They must be in a
position to give chapter and verse.—Mr. Instone stated that
the Board of Trade had given every assistance, and he under-
took to send to Mr. Hawkins, the Cardiff secretary, the
particulars as suggested.

The chairman of the Swansea Coal Export Committee
promptly replied to Mr. Instone’s complaint that that com-
mittee had decided to exclude the Cardiff merchants from the
shipment of anthracite. He said that the statement was
absolutely without foundation, but that, on the contrary, a
large number of authorisations for anthracite had been
approved by the Swansea Committee in respect of the Cardiff
exporters. In his opinion, the complaints made at the Cardiff
Chamber of Commerce meeting were from a few exporters
who had a grievance; but the Swansea Committee had kept
absolutely to the lines laid down in the scheme.—Mr. H. J.
Marshall, secretary of the Swansea Committee, also contra-
dicts the statement.

Mr. John Andrews, one of the leading shippers at Cardiff,
replies to the chairman and secretary of the Swansea Com-
mittee, and asks : “ Whether it is not a fact that they have
refused licences to Cardiff exporters, because they have not
been in the habit of shipping coal from the Swansea district
before the war; and if so, what justification there is under
the French scheme for this refusal?”

Mr. J-. Emlyn-Jones follows Mr. Andrew’s letter by asking
“ whether it is not a fact that the Swansea Committee have
refused licences to Cardiff exporters on behalf of clients in
France for whom the Cardiff exporters act exclusively; and
have allocated such orders to Swansea exporters who have
not previously done business with the firm whose orders they
have so allocated?”

With regard to the position in Swansea, it is stated that
actual shipments during August and September were only
about 400,000 tons, although there were licences authorising
shipment to the extent of 600,000 tons. At the weekly
Exchange on Tuesday, it was stated that already the orders
in sight are so heavy that it is not likely there will be suffi-
cient coal up to Christmas to meet the demand.

As demonstrating further the great gains of ship owners,
attention may be drawn to the Tatem Company, of Cardiff,
which shows that during the year ended June 30 the profits

amounted to £226,831. The capital of the company is
£350,000, and in the year 1913 the profits exceeded the capital;
and the value of the steamers have been so far written down
that they stand now at only £150,000, which is probably only
the value of one steamer out of the 12 which the company
possess. During the past five years the profits have totalled
£1,115,211; and the company has a special reserve of
£500,000, an insurance reserve of £200,000, and other cash
assets making a total of £1,377,354. Dividends have been
restricted to 15 per cent., and the balance accumulated. As
this company is directly associated with the coal trade, its
returns are of special interest.

Great interest was manifested in a case which came before
the Abertillery Bench, and the collieries of that district,
employing about three thousand men, were idle for the day.
Several colliers appeared to answer charges of bringing
timber from the pit whilst persons were being lowered in the
same shaft. One of the men was summoned for bringing up
a block of wood contrary to the regulations. The summonses
were issued some time -ago, but adjourned from time to time,
in the hope of a (settlement being reached by (agreement; but
this had proved impracticable. Mr. Kenshole prosecuted,
and he stated that a deputation of men sought permission to
bring up small pieces of timber, but was refused, on the
ground that it was a violation of the Act. Moreover, it was
an inducement for the man to cut timber unnecessarily so as
to get small pieces for taking home as firewood. When the
decision of the management was made known to the men
they replied by a letter which stated that they had unani-
mously decided to take up timber if they wanted to. The
practice was a source of danger to men being lowered or
raised; and in June, when one of the men got into the cage
with a piece of timber under his arm, and was told he would
not be allowed to come up with it, he refused to get out, and
the cage was kept standing for twenty minutes. The danger
was made manifest on that day by the fact that a piece of
timber dropped down the shaft into the sump. Notices had
been previously posted warning the men.—The colliery
agent, who gave evidence, stated, under cross-examination,
that he might have described the practice as ” down-right
thieving.”—Mr. Lincoln Reed, barrister, said that the inten-
tion of the Legislature in framing the regulation was to pre-
vent the management using the cage for taking down and
bringing up articles at the same time as the men, and
certainly not to prevent the men from bringing up small
blocks of waste wood.—The Chairman said the Bench were
satisfied an offence had been committed, and they imposed a
fine of 10s. in each case.—Mr. Reed gave notice of his inten-
tion to apply that the magistrates would state a special case
for the High Court as to whether bits of wood were

timber ” within the meaning of the Act.

The Chancery action of Gardner v. Ystrad Owen Colliery
Company has been settled, and the Colliery Investment
Trust will now proceed to un-water and develop the work-
ings. As the area in which the colliery is situated is one of
the best of the anthracite district, it is anticipated that the
operations will add materially to the prosperity of the upper
part of Swansea valley.

It is stated that the Globe Collieries Limited has extended
its undertaking by the purchase of two other properties in the
Swansea Valley.

In the inquest upon the two men who lost their lives in
the Hook Colliery, through flooding, it was stated that the
inrush of water was so great that no man could stand
against it. Lights were extinguished, and the mine was in
utter darkness, some of the men who dashed along for safety
being swept off their feet and carried down gradients like
corks. The manager said that he had worked by plans, which
showed no trace of an old working in that part; but it was
stated in evidence that warnings had been given that they
were approaching an old working, and were nearing water.
The jury, in their verdict, recorded their opinion that negli-
gence had been shown, but not criminal negligence.

The Rhondda Council passed a resolution with regard to
the colliery tip landslide at Pentre. The clerk reported to
the Council the result of interviews with solicitors for the
colliery owners; and read correspondence on the subject of
carrying out remedial works, so as to prevent damage to the
public highway. The Council resolved that, solely with the
view of preventing further damage being incurred, and without
in any way admitting responsibility, to intimate that they
were prepared to carry out remedial works, on the 'under-
standing that complete liberty of action is reserved to them,
as if no arrangements had been made. The Council has
decided to take such proceedings as may be necessary for the
public interest.

Mr. V. Hartshorn, miners’ leader, has referred to Lord
Rhondda’s statement that the Government should have taken
over the control of the collieries at the outset of the war, and
that if this had been done much of the unrest in the South
Wales coal fields—an unrest due to the impression amongst
the miners that the coal owners are making undue profits—
would have been avoided. Mr. Hartshorn, in regard to this,
expresses his regret that Lord Rhondda did not make this
statement when it would have been comparatively easy to
put the scheme into practice, and especially that he did not
seek help from the Miners’ Federation in carrying the scheme
through, this being the organisation which has the will and
the power to force such agreement upon the serious attention
of the Government. He adds : “ The Labour movement
would welcome Lord Rhondda’s public adherence to the
principle of Government control.”

Mr. V. Hartshorn has been -invited by Mr. Arthur
Henderson, Labour Adviser to the Government, to take a seat
on the Consultative Committee, by whom definite means of
co-operation between the Government and trade unions will
be established. This Consultative Committee is said to
include 15 prominent trade union leaders. It should be men-
tioned that Mr. Hartshorn has for some time past been a
member of the Coal Trade Organisation Committee, which
was established by the Home Office.

Three youths were committed for trial on the charge of
manslaughter as the result of an inquest upon a fourth, who
had been killed by accident while playing with them in the
yard of the Naval Colliery, Penygraig. They were riding on
trams up and down the incline, having started the steam
winch which worked the trams, and, according to one
witness, must have opened the cock and valve on the steam
pipe serving the winch, and also tampered with the throttle
of the engine. Because of the accident, it is now intended
to cut off the steam further back in the pipe, and measures
will be adopted to keep boys off the colliery premises. The
jury expressed the opinion that the enginehouse should not be
allowed open.

The tin-platers of Swansea have had a meeting, represen-
tative of most of the works in that district, wherein discus-

sion took place as to the serious position of the trade. A
resolution was passed stating that they viewed with the
greatest alarm the present policy of the Government regard-
ing the tin-plate trade, and, whilst recognising the urgent
necessity of men for the Army, they maintained that the
trade’s voluntary contribution in men to the Forces compares
most favourably with that of any trade in the country—over
50 per cent, having already volunteered. They protested
against any further men being taken, “ as such action will,
in our opinion, cause immediate and unnecessary hardship
and distress, and will result in irreparable losses and ruin to
the trade in future, by allowing the United States manufac-
turers to capture our trade in neutral markets which have
been solely occupied by British manufacturers for nearly
half a century.” The executive council of the tin-platers
will try to arrange a joint meeting of employers and
employed to confer with the Minister of Munitions and the
Reserved Occupations Committee “ with a view to safeguard
what is left of the trade.” It was stated that some works
are operating less than half of their mills, and that others
had actually closed down. Reference was also made to “ the
very serious position which is arising owing to the lack of
steel bars for the tin-plate works, there being a difficulty on
the part of steel makers who cannot secure the necessary
licences to supply steel for tin-plate purposes—nearly all the
valuable metal being taken for shells and other munitions.
A suggestion is made that more steel for munitions should be
bought in America. The great fear of the Welsh tin-platers
is, as has been expressed in the workmen’s resolution, that
the United States will capture the foreign trade and be in a
position to hold /it after the war.

The period for the availability of September export licences
has been extended in Swansea until October 7. The French
Coal Committee, it appears, agreed to grant the extension to
“ licences from the Swansea district,” but the War Trade
Department says : “ No general extension can be allowed for
other ports. Individual cases put forward by the local com-
mittee to the French Coal Committee would be considered on
their merits.”

Northumberland and Durham.

Hut Fund—Water in Old Workings—Pony Driver Killed—
Work for Discharged Soldiers—Miners and Infirmary
Funds.

How Northumbrian and Durham coal owners respond to
appeals for financial assistance of efforts to mitigate the lot
of our soldiers is splendidly exemplified by the second list
of donations to the Northumberland Y.M.C.A. Hut Fund,
for which a total of £50,000 is sought. The second list of
donations includes the following generous gifts : Sir Wm.
Stephenson (of the Throckley Coal Company Limited),
£1,000; the Bedlington Coal Company Limited, £600; the
Ashington Coal Company Limited, £600; the Cowpen Coal
Company Limited, £600; the Priestman Collieries Limited,
£600; Messrs. U. A. Ritson and Sons Limited, £600; the
Mickley Coal Company Limited, £250; the Cramlington
Coal Company Limited, £200; Messrs. Wm. Mathwin and
Son, coal exporters and Admiralty contractors, £200; the
Seaton Delaval Coal Company Limited, £200; Mr. Lewis
Priestman, £200; the Newbiggin Colliery Company Limited,
£105; the Consett Iron Company Limited, £100; the
Shipping Coal Company, £100; the South Derwent Coal
Company Limited, £100; the Wallsend and Hebburn Coal
Company Limited, £100; the Backworth Collieries Limited,
£75; and the Pontop Coal Company, £50; besides many
large donations from ship owners whose main interest lies
in the coal trade. Thus far, £26,551 has been subscribed.

The position accepted by Mr. Mark Hudson at the Auck-
land and Black Boy Collieries of Messrs. Bolckow, Vaughan,
and Company Limited is not, as erroneously stated in these
notes last week, that of “ assistant under-manager,” but
that of assistant manager.

An inrush of water from old workings the existence of
which was unknown—they not even being marked on the
plans, which went back 100 years—resulted in the death of
Thos. Bell, hewer, at Harraton Colliery last week.
Deceased’s “ marra,” Wm. Charlton, who, with Bell, holed
into the old workings, had a narrow escape. He and Robt.
Everett, deputy, did all possible to rescue Bell, and, in the
course of their endeavour, Everett’s light was extinguished
by gas. At the inquest, a verdict of “ Accidental death ”
was returned, and Charlton and Everett were complimented
on their endeavours to save Bell.

Sergt. George Jacobs, of the R.A.M.C., formerly a mining
engineer at Wearmouth Colliery, has received the D.C.M.

A Backworth Colliery constable found a box containing
26 oz. of bobbinite on top of a little wooden house in the
colliery yard. Subsequently, John Guthrie, hewer, was fined
40s. by the Whitley magistrates for having neglected to
return the explosive to the store at the end of the shift at the
Maud Pit. It was stated that it was very dangerous to leave
the box in the place in which it was found, as there was a
road adjoining.

Whilst riding on the first tub of a set, Luke Cuthbertson
Mitcheson, 15, pony driver, was killed in the Burradon
Weetslade pit by being jammed between the tub and the
frame of the trap door. There was no trapper lad in attend-
ance at the door, because of the shortage of boys, and the
pony pushed the door open. In doing so it must have
stepped off the road and have caught the left side of the door.
At the inquest, the mines inspector said he thought it was
desirable that the lads should walk through the door instead
of riding, and it was stated that an instruction to that effect
had now been issued. A verdict of “ Accidental death ”
was returned.

As many miners now serving with the Colours may return
home incapacitated for work in the pits, the suggestion
was made, at a meeting of the Houghton-le-Spring Rural
District Council, that the council might seek to induce the
local coal owners to provide these disabled men with light
work. It was proposed, for example, that the colliery com-
panies should undertake various housing schemes upon
which the discharged soldiers might be employed. How-
ever, the council came to the conclusion that the matter was
one which the coal owners and miners should settle between
them without outside intervention.

An allegation of a state of affairs which does not do credit
to the Durham miners was made at a meeting of the
governors of the Newcastle Infirmary, on Saturday last, by
Mr. Charles Irwin, fitter to the Cramlington collieries. He
stated that he had been looking into the Durham position,
and he found that in 15 years they had had 12,144
in-patients from the miners of Durham, upon whom they
had spent £52,795. From the Durham miners and owners
they had received £41,544, leaving a deficit of £11,251. In