October 27, 1916. THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN 803 NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE INSTITUTE OF MINING ENGINEERS. ANNUAL MEL'I'iNG. The 44th annual meeting of this institute was held on Monday afternoon at the Mining School, Stoke-on- Trent, Mr. J. Gregory presiding. In accordance with the new by-laws passed at this meeting, the title of the institute, formerly the North Staffordshire Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers, has been abbreviated as above by the omission of “ and Mechanical.” Mr. Gregory referred to the death of two members of the council of the institute—Mr. W. Barber and Mr. R. H. Cole — and moved that an expression of their regret and condolence be forwarded to the relatives. The motion was carried. The following gentlemen, having been previously nominated, were elected associate members : Mr. A. Greystock, Birchenwood Colliery, Kidsgrove; and Mr. T. G. Kent, Sneyd Collieries, Burslem. The Council's Report. The report of the council of the institute, and the statement of accounts, were presented. The report stated that the membership at July 31 was : Hon. members, 3; members, 99; associate members, 14; associates, 26; students, 20—total, 162, being two less than last year. The balance at the bank at the end of Mr. J. R. L. Allott seconded the adoption of the by-laws, and the motion was agreed to. Election of Officers. The following officers were elected for the ensuing year:—President, Mr. J. Gregory; vice-presidents, Prof. J. Cadman, D.Sc., Mr. F. Rigby, and Mr. W. Statham; treasurer, Mr. A. Hassam; secretary, Mr. A. J. B. Atkinson. Council : Messrs. J. R. L. Allott, F. E. Buckley, N. R. H. MacGowan, R. C. MacGowan, T. T. Mawson, W. Saint, W. G. Salt, W. Tellwright, T. Yates, H. J. Crofts, A. Marshall, and R. A. Passmore. The President said this was the first time that any member had occupied the chair of the institute for three successive years, and, personally, he had been averse to taking on another year’s duty, but it was pointed out by his colleagues that, owing to the war, members were closely engaged in their work at the collieries, so that it was improbable that successful meetings could be held during the year. In these circumstances, it would hardly have been fair to have asked a new president to take office, and he (Mr. Gregory) had been unanimously asked by the council to “ carry on.” Under the special conditions, he consented. It was probable that during the year meetings would only be held to transact formal business, for all of them were so busily engaged in the business of coal production, that they had little time for the discussion of scientific subjects outside those dealing with the urgent need for fuel. He hoped NATION’S COAL SUPPLIES. Miners' Federation and Absenteeism. The executive of the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain met at the Waldorf Hotel, London, on Monday evening, to consider the questions of avoidable absen- teeism and other matters in connection with the National Conference on Wednesday. Mr. Robt. Smillie (president) was in the chair. The principal business of the meeting, apart from completing the arrangements for the National Con- ference on Wednesday, was the receiving of the reports from the various coal mining districts of the returns of avoidable absenteeism by the workmen. For some months a system of supervision of all cases of absenteeism has been exercised by pit committees, formed of representatives of the employers and the workmen, with central county committees. It is an open secret that the returns of these committees for the three months of July, August, and September have been unsatisfactory, showing a considerable increase in the percentage of avoidable absenteeism. At some collieries the number of workmen absent from work without cause has been from 10 to 20 per cent. The percentage of absenteeism on Mondays in all the dis- tricts has been exceptionally high. The men’s representatives state that the unfavourable result, and the failure of the pit committees to impress upon workmen the duty of regular daily work, is chiefly attributable to the holiday season, and that the attend- ance at work is now likely to show a considerable improvement. In some of the districts allegations are made that the management at certain collieries do not facilitate regular work on the part of the men. COAL SHIPPING AT SOUTHERN PORTS OF THE U.S.A. -a ■ 4; n I? f ■ s'. ..-f' ■ li" . » • • __ h jh >■ , .h, I t ''1 . ■ , ■: .. ; ■ . ■ J! .4 WO ... " X < X . jBu. k / k* ’ ’ * . ■ - 1,'A- :a- (’Jo Hi ■ : PM I J ~ ’ — i. ■ / Coal Shipping Pier and Lifts at Newport News. The above illustration gives a better view of the installation than was afforded by that reproduced in Mr. Warden-Stevens’ article on page 599 of our issue of September 29 last. the year was £92 4s., as against £94 Is. Id. last year. The balance to the credit of the building fund account was £650 17s. 2d., and of the capital fund account £19 13s. Id. During the year there had been four general meetings and one excursion. The papers read, in addition to Mr. J. Gregory’s presidential address, were : “ The Organisation of the British Coal Industry,” by Mr. T. C. Futers; “High-Speed Air Compressors for Mining Work,” by Mr. J. M. Walshe; and “ Notes on the Specification of Iron and Steel Suitable for Colliery Use,” by Mr. W. Simons. New By-Laws. Mr. Gregory moved the adoption of the new by-laws which had been submitted to the last general meeting. The alterations related chiefly to qualifications for mem- bership, so as to comply with the new by-laws of the Institution of Mining Engineers. The title of the insti- tute had now become “ The North Staffordshire Institute of Mining Engineers.” A new rule had also been added, whereby “ owners of collieries and engi- neering works and other allied industries may subscribe annually to the funds of the institute, and each sub- scriber of 2 gs. annually shall be entitled to a ticket to admit two persons to the rooms, library, meetings, lectures, and public proceedings of the institute; and for every additional 2 gs. subscribed annually, two other persons shall be admissible; and each subscriber shall also be entitled, for each 2 gs. subscription, to have a copy of the Transactions sent to him.” by the time his third year of office terminated, or before, we should be in a happier position nationally, and that meetings of the accustomed character could be resumed. Mr. Gregory added that their secretary, Mr. Atkinson, was joining the Forces, and during his absence Mr. T. ' Yates had kindly consented to act as hon. secretary. They were much indebted to Mr. Yates for undertaking the duties, which entailed a great deal of routine work. Mr. Allott proposed, and Mr. T. T. Mawson seconded, a cordial vote of thanks to the president for his services during the past year. The vote was heartily accorded, and acknowledged by Mr. Gregory, who thanked the members for their loyal support. A vote of thanks was also accorded to Mr. A. Hassam for his services as treasurer. In reply, Mr. Hassam commented on their satisfac- tory financial position. In spite of adverse circum- stances, they were only £2 worse off than last year. Karkoff Coal and Iron Exchange Opened.—In the presence of a large concourse, the opening of the public Coal and Iron Exchange took place in Karkoff on September 17 (o.s.). The president of the Bourse Committee, Von Ditmar, member of the Imperial Council, said that the Bourse would do its duty to the country. The object of the Bourse was to organise a healthy means of communication between the con- sumer and the producer, and to destroy speculation. The first business meeting of the Bourse was arranged to take place on September 19 (October 2). All the districts have issued circulars to the pit com- mittees for returns to date of the percentage of avoid- able absentees among coal hewers and the other classes of workmen employees in the pits, and whether all the men presenting themselves for work have been found work. On Tuesday a joint conference of representatives of the coal owners and miners of Great Britain was held at the Hotel Cecil, to consider the position of the nation’s coal supplies. The meeting was called by the Mining Association of Great Britain, as representing the coal owners, and by the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain, on behalf of the men, and there were present representatives from every coal field in the kingdom. Mr. Adam Nimmo (Scotland), chairman of the Mining Association, presided, with Mr. Robt. Smillie (Miners’ Federation) in the vice-chair, with the joint secretaries, Sir Thos. Ratcliffe-Ellis and Mr. Thomas Ashton. The proceedings of the conference were entirely devoted to the consideration of reports from the coal owners of the various districts as to the percentage of avoidable absenteeism by workmen employed in the mines during the three months of July, August, and September. The reports generally showed a consider- able increase in the percentage, a fact which has already been disclosed. For instance, the South Wales return given by Mr. Finlay Gibson, showed a loss of 911,257 working shifts on a total of 10,414,387, or 8-72 per cent., due to avoidable absenteeism. The returns from the other mining districts in England and Scot- land were on similar lines. Mr. Smillie, for the workmen, again urged that the returns during the past three months had been adversely affected by the holiday period. In the discussion, Mr. F. J. Jones, chairman of the