714

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

October 13, 1916.

MIDLAND COUNTIES INSTITUTION
OF ENGINEERS.

ANNUAL MEETING AT NOTTINGHAM.

The annual meeting of the members of the Midland
Counties Institution of Engineers was held at the
University College, Nottingham, on Saturday last. The
retiring president, Mr. G. S. Bragge, was in the chair.

New Members.

The acting secretary (Mr. Percy W. Lewis)
announced the election, by ballot, of the following
associate : Charles Perkins, mining overseer and quarry
manager—blasting opeiations, etc., Victoria Memorial
Marble Quarries, Makrana, J.B. Railway, Rajputana,
E. India.

t Annual Report.

It was decided that the report of the council and the
balance-sheet be taken as read. The report showed a
membership of 337, as compared with 356 last year, and
367 in the year preceding. The financial position again
showed an improvement, although the subscriptions of
members on Active Service have been remitted. A sum
of £700 has been invested in 5 per cent. Exchequer
Bonds during the year. The council regretted that no
papers for discussion had been contributed during the
year. Eleven more members had joined his Majesty’s
Forces, making a total of 28 members, one associate
member, six associates, and 14 students since the
outbreak of hostilities- During the year one member
(Capt. W. B. Creswick) had been killed, in action,
making a total of three members and two students who
had laid down their lives for their country. To the
relatives of these the council desired to convey its
sincere sympathy and condolence.

The Election of Officers.

The acting secretary announced the election of the
following officers :— President, Mr. George Spencer ;
vice-presidents, Messrs. P. Beaumont, H. O. Bishop,
E. E. Bramall, T. G. Lees, B. McLaren (retiring vice-
presidents), J. Mein (new nomination); councillors :
Major T. P. Barber, Capt. H. Dennis Bayley, Messrs. C.
Dickinson, C. M. Haslam, C. R. Hewitt, F. N. Iliffe
(retiring councillors), Mr. F. Chambers, Lieut.-Col. R. P.
Leach,Messrs. H. March,H. E. Mitton, W.Tate,andD. N.
Turner (new nominations). The following are ex-officio
members of the council for the ensuing year :—Messrs.
J. A. Longden, M. H Mills, W. D. Holford, Maurice
Deacon, W. B. M. Jackson, W. G. Phillips, G. J. Binns,
W. Hay, J. Piggford, J. P. Houfton, W. H. Hepple-
white, G. S. Bragge (past presidents), and Mr. R. H. F.
Hepplewhite (vice-president of previous year).

Presidential Address.

The President said that since the war began the
mining industry of the country had contributed its full
share in filling up the ranks, no less than 25 per cent,
of the workers, or a total of 250,000, having joined the
Colours—an eloquent testimony to the patriotism of our
miners. The immediate effect of such heavy drafts on
the workers of the collieries was a serious diminution
in the output of coal. Whatever misgivings or un-
certainty there might have been at the outbreak of war
as to its effect upon the coal trade, it was soon
apparent that the demand for coal would with difficulty
be met. An influx of men to the mines from other
industries improved the situation in a slight measure,
but such men could not take the place of the skilled
miners who had left the pits to join the Army. The
demand for coal had continued to increase, and at the
present time it was notorious that there was a serious
shortage in the country—so much so that public bodies
had issued notices to the public exhorting them to
exercise the most rigid economy in household consump-
tion both of fuel and lighting. We were face to face, in
fact, with a serious problem, viz., how to increase our
output so as to meet the growing needs both of
ourselves and of our Allies.

Absenteeism was undoubtedly responsible for a great
deal of the shortage, and steps had been taken in
co operation with the officials of the miners’ unions to
set up machinery to deal with the question. This had
met with only partial success, and more drastic steps
appeared to be necessary. The suspension of the Eight
Hours Act had been suggested as a remedy, but such a
step was viewed with disfavour by the men as only to
be adopted as a very last resource. The advocates
for suspension claimed that by increasing the working
day by one hour a large increase in the output would
result, although not necessarily in the same ratio. The
question was fraught with many difficulties, bo1h from
the owners’ and workmen’s point of view, but in the
interests of the country such difficulties ought to be
met in a fair and reasonable spirit. If it should be
proved necessary for the carrying on of the war to a
successful issue it was inconceivable that the miners,
living at home in security, would refuse to work the
extra hour a day, seeing that their comrades at the
front were making still greater sacrifices.

The question of pit timber had been a serious one
since the outbreak of war, and a stimulus had been
given to the use of substitutes—such as rolled joists,
tubular pit props, reinforced concrete, composite props,

and a host of others. Valuable information had been
imparted at several of their own institution meetings,
and the subject was one still worthy of being followed
up. The restriction in the use of steel had further
increased the difficulty. Supplies of pit timber bad
been coming in more fieely of late from abroad, and
large demands had been made on our home-grown
woods and forests. This had brought into prominence
still another subject to be forced on the members of the
various mining institutions, viz., that of forestry—not
that it could be expected that the mining engineer must
be an authority on forestry, but undoubtedly he could
render assistance, by collaborating with the forestry
expert, when the time arrived for practical steps to be
taken for the afforestation of suitable lands in our own
country. They could be looking ahead and noting
which of the many different kinds of timber used in the
mines proved to be most suitable.

Owing to the great demand on the time and energies
of the members of the institution, the number of
meetings had been reduced, and the number of papers
written had certainly not been numerous, but in these
strenuous days one had hardly the time to read the
Transactions, much less to write papers. They must,
however, do all that was possible to maintain the
interest in the institution, and every encouragement
should be given to their younger members to write
papers and take part in the discussions.

The question of fuel economy was one which con-
cerned not only the public, but also themselves, as
mining engineers, to a large degree. How to utilise
their inferior fuel to the best advantage at the mine
was, at the present time, of national importance. Every
t >n of coal saved at the pit was one ton gained for the
country. Here was a great scope for their students and
younger members in the collecting and recording in a
scientific manner the results of tests and the experiments.
In conclusion, he could only wish that before the expira-
tion of his term of office they might meet, under more
happy circumstances.

Mr. W. H. Hepplewhite proposed a vote of thanks
to the president for his address He said he had known
Mr. Spencer for a great many years, and he was one of
the few remaining who was in harness when he (Mr.
Hepplewhite first took up office.

Mr. J. Mein said that, as an old member of the
institution and a great admirer of the newly-elected
president, he had great pleasure in seconding. Those
who knew Mr. Spencer knew that they had to drag out
of him his excellencies; he was one of those modest
men who would not shine unless they got a very
powerful and strong influence on him to make him
do so.

The resolution was unanimously carried, and briefly
acknowledged by the President.

New Rules.

Mr. Bragge announced that the rules and regulations
of the Federated Institution of Mining Engineers had
now been settled by Royal Charter, and as the Midland
Counties Institution formed part of the Federated
Institution it was thought desirable by the council
that their rules and by-laws should be brought into line
with those of the Federated Institution. A small com-
mittee was appointed by the council to go into the
matter, and draw up amended rules for the guidance of
that institution in the future so as to bring it into line
with the Federated Institution. The matter had been
brought before the council and remarks had been made,
but nothing could be done except at a general meeting,
and notice must be given that it would be brought
forward in accordance with the institution by-laws.
He therefore gave notice that at the next general
meeting the alterations, as shown in the draft copies,
would be considered. It did not mean that they were
bound to accept the alterations just as they were
printed. At the next general meeting any member
could propose any alteration or amendment, and if they
were accepted by the meeting they would become law.
The draft rules were merely drawn up for the members’
guidance, and they would be brought up for adoption
or amendment as the case might be.

Pit Timber and its Preservation.

A discussion took place on “ Pit Timber and its
Preservation,” by Prof. Percy Groom, M.A., D.Sc. (see
Colliery Guardian, March 24, 1916, p. 554).

Mr. W. H. Hepplewhite (Tamworth) said that he
thought the method suggested could scarcely be adopted
with any kind of success about the pit. There were a
few things he would like to comment on. The author had
said that timber should have an application of water to
prevent it from decaying, but how they were to drench
timber on the roadway without causing the sides and
roof to give way he did not tell them. Their aim had
been not to water—or at least as little as possible con-
sistent with keeping down the dust. Further on, Prof.
Groom said that in order to prevent wood from
decaying it was sufficient to keep it absolutely dry.
The complete settlement of a roof did not take
place within half a mile or three-quarters of a mile
from the working face, and that was the place
probably where preserved timber might be used. .
The greatest amount of decayed timber was in the air-
roads, where the ventilation current was not so good.
Prof. Groom spoke about fiesh props. That was to
say, that some timber would not decay to the same
extent as others in the same atmosphere. If a larch
prop gave way they should put up an oak or pine prop.
He gave some figures about the relative duration of

props, but did not say if they had been subjected to any
kind of pressure. The author had made one good
suggestion—viz., to apply a coating of whitewash ; it was
a wonderful preservative of timber, though he (the
speaker) had known cases where, owing to the atmo-
sphere, timber which had had six or eight coatings had
lasted no longer than untreated timber. Reinforced
props had been found to act very well. It was not
because there was any amount of pressure, since if they
could stop the r. of from coming away and allowed it to
settle instead of allowing it to creep, which was the
cause of timber giving way, they would find the benefit.

Mr. H. O. Bishop (Ilkeston) said that now they had
had to come down to English timber they found that
in some districts it had stood exceedingly badly. He
thought the cause was that the English timber was not
barked and the sap had not had time to dry out. They
had found that foreign timber, generally speaking, had
stood, not as against pressure but as against decay, far
better than the English fir or larch. If English timber
were allowed time to dry he thought they would have
much better results.

Mr. W. Tate (Tamworth) said that for some time
they had been trying the “ pencil point ” system but
recently Mr. Hepplewhite had given him a new way.
That was, instead of having the end like a pencil point,
it should be made chisel shaped. They would find that
instead of breaking in the middle or higher up it would
bend. It held the roof all right; and they put a lid at
the bottom of the prop so that it could not go into the
floor.

Mr. Bragge (Moseley) said that the question of
preserving pit timber did not apply so much to pit
props as to the timbering of main roads. Face timber
did not last long enough to be worth while treating it.
He would like to ask what really caused the fungus on
the timber to appear. One found it in unexpected
places, and not in places where one thought it would
have appeared. He believed that the timber must be
infected with germs when it came to them from abroad,
and these developed in certain circumstances and in
certain places. He agreed that whitewash was a very
good preservative. It stood to reason, for lime was a
disinfectant and destroyed the spores of the fungus.
If some of the younger members of the institution
w ould whitewash a length of roadway where they saw
the fungus appearing it might be of interest to com-
municate the results to the members at a future
meeting.

The President said that with regard to Mr. Hepple-
white’s remarks about the timber being wet and dry,
he thought the intention of the writer of the paper was
that timber should be either totally immersed or kept
perfectly dry. It recalled to his mind what he had
heard from an old friend of his who was an engineer in
Rumania. He described how they had found piles of an
old bridge which was put across the Danube by the
Romans. They had to disturb some of the piles, and it
was said that they were perfectly sound although
it must have been nearly 2,000 years ago. The point
was that where timber was totally immersed it would
last for a vast number of years; where it was subject
to wet and dry alternately it decayed very rapidly.
Those were the conditions usually obtaining in the pits.
The roads might be, according to the conditions of
the atmosphere, dry at one time and wet at another.
He fully agreed with what Mr. Bragge had said about
whitewash. He believed for the best results they should
whitewash when the timber was dry so as to destroy
the fungus or germ. With regard to the durability of
timber—foreign as against our own—he had found in
recent months that the timber they were having from
France—poplar and French pine—contained very thick
bark, in some cases Jin. Some of the timber was very
weak, and rotted in a short time owing to the thickness
of the bark. If it were barked before it was exported
to this country they would find it vast’y improved.
The reason why English timber did not last longer was
that it was not seasoned. He had seen some with green
leaves still on it. It was not so strong when it was
unseasoned, and, for his own part, he did not think it
was so durable. With regard to the system of
sharpening props he thought it a very good one,
and he looked forward to trying the experiment.
Mr. Tate said that a lid should be put at the bottom of
the prop. That, however, applied only in cases where
the floor was soft. In the case of a hard floor—like
his Kilburn seam—a lid would be unnecessary, and, in
fact, detrimental.

Fuel Economy.

On the suggestion of the President a discussion on
“ Fuel Economy ” was postponed until the next meeting.

The Acting Secretary said that a committee had
been appointed by the British Association to consider the
question of fuel economy and the coal requirements of
the country. He would obtain a copy of the com-
mittee’s report so that it could be used at the next
meeting of the institution.

An anonymous donor has presented .£100 to the mining
department of the Heriot-Watt College, Edinburgh, for
research and rescue apparatus.

The late Capt. K. C. R. Blair, D.S.O., managing director
of the Whitehaven Colliery, who was killed in action on
July 21, left estate valued at £3,276.