764

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

October 20, 1916.

Notes from the Coal Fields.

[Local Correspondence.]

South Wales and Monmouthshire.

Colliery Combination : Extension of Lord Rhondda's
Interests — Llanelly's Growing Trade — Colliery
Developments in Monmouthshire and Glamorgan—
Invention of an Underground Ambulance—The Pithead
Baths in Use—Will of Mr. J. P. Gibbon.

A circular has now been issued to shareholders by the
directors of the Gwaun-cae-Gurwen Company, in which they
state that Lord Rhondda, Mr. A. Mitchelson, and Mr.
Seymour Berry offered to purchase the shares at £2 for each
£1 fully-paid ordinary share, with proportionate rates for
other classes; and that the directors have agreed to sell on
these terms—the offer remaining open to shareholders until
Tuesday next. A lump sum of .£6,000 will be paid the
directors as compensation for loss of office. Very largely the
shares of this company are held in the Sheffield district. The
new directors of Gwaun-cae-Gurwen Company will be the
gentlemen already named, with Mr. E. R. Llewellyn (of the
Bwllfa and Merthyr Dare Colliery), Mr. T. Jones (of the
Imperial Navigation), and two others. The taking of the
Gwaun-cae-Gurwen extends to 5,000 acres, and the chairman
of the company is Mr. E. W. Hodgkinson, the registered
office being at Rotherham. It is anticipated that other
anthracite properties will also be acquired. The Gwaun-cae-
Gurwen Colliery is in one of the best anthracite centres, and
has an output of nearly 300,000 tons. Its capital totals some-
thing over £200,000, and the dividends for 10 years past
have ranged from 62J (bonus year 1910) to 5 per cent., the
ordinary distribution being 10 per cent.

Lord Rhondda has also extended his interest in shipping,
for an announcement was made on Wednesday t-ha't Messrs.
Humphries Limited, ship owners, of Cardiff, had acquired
control of the Hazelwood Shipping Company; and Lord
Rhondda is chairman of Messrs. Humphries. There are
three steamers in the fleet—each being between 6,000 to

7.500	tons burden.

The changing conditions at Cardiff docks during the past
few days have been remarkable, there being fairly good
supplies of coal—most of it of the best quality, hitherto taken
almost exclusively by the Admiralty. Unfortunately, owing
to the shipping delays, there is difficulty in the return of
trucks; and unless speedy improvement takes place it has
been feared that collieries would have to suspend working
for lack of empties.

The circumstances of Llanelly port have become very much
brighter, owing to the improvement in the channel through
the carrying out of the Carregfach scheme, which was
described in this column a short time ago. This gives a
much better approach through the sands; and one result is
that during September the exports of coal were threefold the
amount in the corresponding month of 1915. Seeing the
proximity of Llanelly, not only to the prosperous Amman
Valley, but also to the rapidly developing Gwendraeth
Valley, the prospects of increased shipments are very bright
—Llanelly being much nearer to these collieries than
Swansea.

The workmen at Bed was Colliery met on Friday, and
resolved to co-operate with the management in reducing
absenteeism. They appointed a committee for this purpose,
and also passed a resolution to assist in increasing the
output of coal.

Developments are in progress at the Metros Collieries,
Llanharran, the company having acquired additional mineral
land between Brynina and Llanharran, about two miles from
Pencoed; and there is a probability of new pits being sunk.

The Rhondda Council have taken up the question of retail
coal prices in their area—having before them an appeal by

3.500	residents, who urged them to purchase and distribute
coal. Some of the members referred to the difficulty experi-
enced in getting household supplies in this colliery district;
and the clerk to the Council said he had to buy by the
hundredweight instead of by the ton. One of the members
said that soldiers’ wives had to pay Is. 9d. a cwt. It was
stated that, although the Council had power to form a depot,
they could not compel the colliery proprietors to furnish them
with supplies.

At Rhondda Council meeting on Friday, the question of
Pentre Colliery tip, which is sliding down the mountain side,
came up. The clerk read correspondence showing that liti-
gation had already commenced between other parties, and
the opinion was expressed in the meeting that nothing could
be done by the Council. In the meantime, however, it was
feared that the slide might reach the highway, or even the
railway, and so down to the river. It was stated that the
Council had done all they could to remedy the evil, and that
it rested with the litigants, who should be held responsible
for the consequences of delay. One member thought that the
water permeating the slide could be drawn off, and thus, to
some extent, afford a remedy.

A collier was charged at Bridgend on Saturday with being
an absentee under the Military Service Act, and the local
police inspector said he had been idling about the streets for
nine weeks. As soon as he was called up for military service
he found work at a colliery, but when the manager found he
was an absentee he was discharged. When arrested, he
pleaded that he had been ill.

The Bedwas Colliery directors have leased for 10 years
two fields, at a rental of £3 per acre per annum, in order to
provide alllotments for the men employed at their colliery.

The Eastern Valleys of Monmouthshire are the scene of
colliery extensions that will prove of a very important
character, providing work for hundreds of additional men.
On Monday it was reported in the district that at the Lower
Varteg Colliery a seam had been struck inside the Big fault.
It was also stated that good coal had been reached in the
short slope which had remained unworked for some years.

At Dowlais on Thursday of last week, an underground
ambulance car was “ inaugurated,” and Mr. Howell R.
Jones, general manager for Guest, Keen and Company, who
took the leading part, stated that the car would probably be
the forerunner of thousands of similar cars throughout the
country. The car has been invented by a collier named
Samuel Jones, who two years ago met with an accident which
has since debarred him from working, and he has devoted
his time to the invention of an ambulance which will bring
injured men quickly and easily to the pit top. His models
were so satisfactory, that Mr. Howell R. Jones encouraged
him; and, in conjunction with Mr. Tudor Davies, mining
engineer, a full-sized car was constructed. Mr. Davies stated

that it had had a trial run at the South Tunnel pit of
1,320 yds. up a drift with a steep gradient. The run was
completed in 20 minutes, and the car was on the surface five
minutes later. The inventor addressed the meeting, and gave
a description showing how patients could be treated
who were suffering from shock; how .they would be
safe from danger, seeing that the covering was of
steel; and how the springs prevented all jerks and
discomfort. He acknowledged very cordially the assist-
ancegiven him by Mr. Howell Jones and Mr. Davies, stating
that without their help it would have been impossible to
complete the work. Since his accident, Mr. Samuel Jones
has been in charge of the horse ambulance of Messrs. Guest,
Keen and Company’s collieries; and he is corps superinten-
dent of the ambulance brigade stores at Dowlais.

The will of Mr. J. P. Gibbon, agent for North’s Naviga-
tion Collieries, has been proved at the gross value of £17,732.

The pithead baths which the’Ocean Company have estab-
lished at their Trehanris collieries are proving very successful.
Nearly three times the number of employees now use them
each week, as compared with the first week they were opened.
There are numerous expressions of satisfaction at the great
alteration brought about in the homes of the colliers, who
are, able to change at the baths into clean clothes, and do
not now bring into the house the coal dust, or find them-
selves under the necessity of pursuing the old-fashioned prac-
tice of a bath in front of the kitchen fire. It is the younger
men and the boys who have taken most readily to the new
system. Visitors from other of the South Wales collieries
have inspected the building and its equipment; and it is
currently believed that similar establishments will be put up
at some of the large collieries by different employers who
have witnessed the .success of the Treharris institution. The
chief proprietor of the Ocean Collieries is Col. D.
Davies, M.P.

To the Cardiff Hospital managers it was reported that
Messrs. Worms and Company, coal exporters, have con-
tributed 1,000 gs.; Messrs. Furness, Withy and Company,
250 gs.; Messrs. Manin, George and Company, 100 gs.; and
the Meiros Collieries also 100 gs. A notable feature was that
the Ynysfaio lodge of the Miners’ Federation had increased
their annual subscription from £50 to £150.

The new manager of Messrs. Burness and Company, coal
exporters, Cardiff, is Mr. Trimby, who for over 25 years
was manager for Messrs. D. Davis and Sons in London.

The officials of the Cambrian Combine are forming a War
Saving Association, and the directors of the undertaking are
furnishing a stimulus by offering a bonus proportionate to
the number of certificates taken out. The scheme will have
relation to the salaries of the different contributors.

At a meeting of the Anglo-French Society in Cardiff, M.
Le Bars, Vice-Consul at Swansea, referred to Mr. Watson,
president of the Chamber of Commerce, and said that that
gentleman had initiated the movement by which millions of
pounds had been saved to x rance in the purchase of coal. He
added that the French were more indebted to the South Wales
towns than to any other part of the United Kingdom for
the present position of French industry.

A new departure is recorded from Newport, where the
Arrow Patent Fuel Company are employing women in the
place of men, paying them the same piecework rates as were
given to their predecessors. Some are the wives of men who
have been called to the Army.

A number of labourers in the employ of the Ebbw Vale
Company were summoned before the Munitions tribunal at
Newport on Tuesday, for stopping work and refiising to con-
tinue working. Only one defendant attended in the court
out of 13 who had been served, and there were a number of
others against whom summonses had been issued. A curious
point in the evidence was a statement that the men desired
to work four hours a day more, making 141hours a day; and
as they would not resume work, serious delay has been occa-
sioned in connection with the new Bessemer extension. A
fine of £3 each was inflicted in all the cases except one, and
in that the fine was £1.

The Ebbw Vale Company, after having discussion with the
office clerks, raised their bonus from 5s. to 10s. a week for
all who are earning under 55s. per week, the advance to be
retrosnective from August 1.

Northumberland and Durham.

Increased Shipments—Helping the Dependants—Compen-
sation Cases—Colliery Fire.

The outstanding feature of the coal and coke shipment
returns presented to the Tyne Improvement Commissioners
at this month’s meeting was the great increase shown in coke
clearances. During last month, for instance, 75,169 tons of
coke were sent off, an increase of 27,898 tons when com-
pared with September 1915, and of 45,811 tons when com-
pared with September 1913 (the last pre-war year). The
shipment for the nine months just ended amounted to 676,732
tons—increase of 423,655 tons and 450,552 tons when com-
pared with the respective periods of 1915 and 1913. The
figures as to coal sent off showed that 1,026,617 tons as
cargo, and 111,002 tons as bunkers were despatched last
month, a decrease of 40,112 tons as cargo, but an increase of
9,450 tons as bunkers when compared with September 1915,
and decreases of 488,445 tons and 56,667 tons respectively
when compared with September 1913. Thus far this year,
8,884,929 tons as cargo, and 1,022,045 tons as bunkers have
been sent off, decreases of 527,511 tons and 82,781 tons respec-
tively, when compared with the first nine months of last year,
and of 4,278,451 tons and 657,016 tons respectively when
compared with the corresponding period of 1913.

Burradon miners have commenced a fund, levying them-
selves 6d. per fortnight, to assist the dependants of those of
their old comrades who fall in action, and to provide a sum
of 5s. per week per head for men. home on leave wounded or
on furlough from foreign service. The workers at Kelloe
Colliery are subscribing to recognise in a tangible form those
of their mates who have been awarded honours for gallantry
at the front. Two D.C.M.’s and two Military Medals have
already been awarded to men from Kelloe.

Mr. Wm. Weir, compensation agent to the Northumber-
land Miners’ Association, states in his report for the three
months ended September 30, that £1,731 has been recovered
from the employers in respect to fatal accidents. In eight
instances the fatalities were due to falls of stone, in two
cases to being crushed with coal tubs, and in one case each
to being crushed between the buffers of wagons and to shot-
firing mishap. Thirteen cases have been before the medical
referre. Of these, compensation is being continued in eight
cases. Of 11 disputed cases, the following are of special
interest :—W. Calloway, of Crofton, happened an accident

on June 2 last. It was reported to an official. Dr. Beattie
examined him on behalf of the owners, and certified him to
be suffering from varicose veins. The owners refused com-
pensation. Dr. Martin, on the men’s behalf, had an X-ray
photograph of the injured part taken, revealing the presence
of a fracture. The owners paid the full claim.—J. McGleave,
of Ben well, happened an accident on the day on which he
tendered his notice, which notice expired on June 1. He was
medically examined for the owners on June 2, and was cer-
tified to have recovered. The owners paid him one week’s
smart money and an odd day’s compensation. The associa-
tion applied for a full fortnight’s compensation, but the
owners refused to pay, and the association, having been
legally advised that it had no case, dropped the claim.—W.
Hudswell, shifter at Sleekburn West, was badly injured
through a 'Stone shot, which, exploding, killed another man.
No evidence as to the cause of the shot exploding while the
men were in the place could be found. Before agreeing to
pay compensation, the owners had the claimant examined
by Dr. Beattie, after which they admitted full liability.—E.
Foster, of Blucher pit, happened an accident in August 1909,
for which he was paid compensation. In February 1910 he
commenced work on the rolleyway, and, as his earnings were
higher than at the time of the accident, he was not entitled
to any compensation. In May last he was dismissed on the
ground of neglecting his work. He commenced work at
another colliery as a hewer, but could not manage. He then
commenced as a shifter. ” We put in a claim for part com-
pensation,” says Mr. Weir, “ which the owners refused, con-
tending that, if the man had attended to his work, he would
still have been earning a wage higher than what he was
earning at the time of his accident. While we admitted a
certain amount of negligence, we were not prepared to give
up the claim. We agreed that the man should forego his
part compensation for three months.”—Concluding his report,
Mr. Weir refers to the Woodhorn Colliery disaster, and
remarks that the last two months have been very unfortunate
as regards fatalities in the county. He appeals to all men
and boys to use the utmost care regarding their safety.

When Mary Dobson, widow of the traffic manager at
Blackball Colliery, who was fatally injured by being run over
by two wagons, applied at West Hartlepool County Court
for compensation in respect of his death, the judge appor-
tioned the amount of £228, which the Horden Collieries
Limited had paid into court, for the maintenance of appli-
cant and her two children.

Second-Lieut. William Ramsay, of the Welsh Fusiliers,
son of Mr. John Ramsay, manager of Tursdale Colliery, has
been wounded.

A miner who applied to the Newcastle Munitions tribunal
for a leaving certificate, was informed that, as a stoneman
in the mines, he did not need such a document in order to
change his occupation to that of a worker on munitions. It
appeared that, in the absence of such a certificate, a muni-
tion factory had refused him employment.

A fire in the Seghill Colliery joiners’ shop caused some
alarm last Sunday morning, especially as the building
adjoined the fitting and blacksmith departments and some of
the miners’ cottages. The outbreak, however, was got under
before much damage was done.

Lancashire and Cheshire.

Humane Society's Medals—German Prisoners at Work—
Returned Miners.

At an inquest held at Orrell on the body of Henry Smith
(30), a dataller, employed at the Bispham Hall Colliery,
Billinge, it was stated that the deceased went home com-
plaining of the effects of inhaling smoke. He became
unconscious the following day, and died. A brother, giving
evidence, said that they had had 11 touches ” of powder
smoke before. Dr. Kenneth Eraser said death was probably
due to the inhalation of irritating vapour. A verdict in
accordance with the medical evidence was returned.

At the Wigan County Police Court on Monday, four Royal
Humane Society medals were handed to employees of the
Garswood Coal and Iron Company Limited, for rescuing
three men upon whom about 50 tons of roof had fallen. The
recipients were : Martin Rowley, contractor, who was awarded
the silver medal; Thomas Eden, fireman and vice-chairman
of the Lancashire and Cheshire Firemen’s Association ; Thos.
Kelly, dataller; and Patrick Regan, fireman.

Although Lancashire and Cheshire colliery proprietors are
making no increases in their prices, private coal dealers in
various districts are advancing their rates, those of South-
port, for instance, having raised their prices by lOd. per ton.

A number of German prisoners of war, from the Leigh
internment camp, are engaged on drainage work at Tyldesley,
for a local colliery firm.

A correspondent states that batches of former colliery
workers, who have been invalided out of the Army, are now
returning to work in the mines and on the surface at various
collieries in the Leigh, Hindley. Abram, Tyldesley, Atherton,
Bolton, and Manchester neighbourhoods. These men will, to
a certain extent, replace those who are being combed out.

Notts and Derbyshire.

A serious situation has developed in the Derbyshire coal
field. A ballot is being taken at the Staveley Collieries,
where between 7,000 and 8,000 men are employed, and at
the Clay Cross Collieries, where about 2,000 workmen are
employed, as to whether notices shall be handed in to cease
work. In view of the circumstances which have led to the
disputes between the colliery companies concerned and their
workmen, it is expected that the decision will be in favour
of a stoppage. The action of the Staveley Colliery woikmen
has arisen from action taken by the management at the Bond's
Main Colliery, which is practically under the same manage-
ment., A trade union official was recently dismissed at the
Bond’s Main Colliery under circumstances resented by the
other men employed at the pit, and after the management
had failed to carry out an undertaking into which they had
entered to refer the dismissal of the workman concerned to
arbitration. The result of this action on the part of the
management has been to cause the 500 men employed to stop
work. The dispute has been brought before the* Industrial
Commissioner, without any satisfactory result, or the carry-
ing through of the agreement as to arbitration. Now, the
dispute is entering upon a much more serious phase, with
the taking of a ballot of the men working at the Staveley
Company's pits, and the possible stc--" of some 8.000 men.
The dilute at the Clay Cross Colliery has been dragging on
for some months, and the men, to force the dispute to a