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THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

November 24, 1916.

COAL, IRON AND ENGINEERING COMPANIES.
REPORTS AND DIVIDENDS.

Bengal Coal Company Limited. — For half-year to
October 31 there is a profit of Rs. 12,61,010. After setting
aside Rb. 3,67,050 for depreciation and mines development
account, and paying a dividend at rate of 50 per cent, per
annum, about Rs. 1,30,000 is carried forward.

Millom and Askam Iron Company Limited.—The report
shows a credit balance of £80,389. After writing off
£30,000 for depreciation, and placing £25,000 to reserve,
the directors recommend a dividend of 6 per cent, on the
ordinary shares, making 10 per cent, for the year, carrying
forward £11,139. The report states that the Duke of Devon-
shire’s interest in the Barrow Steel Company has been pur-
chased by the Miltom Company. The directors consider
this a wise development.

Power Gas Corporation Limited.—The board announce a
dividend of 6 per cent., less tax, on the ordinary shares.

Shotts Iron Company Limited.—The report states that the
sum at credit of profit and loss for the year, after providing
for depreciation, general reserve, interim dividends, etc., is
£32,292, added to which is £35,363 brought forward, making
£67,655. The directors recommend a dividend on the pre-
ference shares for the second half of the year at the rate of
2| per cent., less tax, making 5 per cent, for the year,
absorbing £2,168, and after paying a dividend on the ordi-
nary shares at the rate of 6s. per share, free of tax, there
remains £42,987 to be carried forward.

Stanton Iron Works Company Limited. — The directors
have declared an interim dividend of 71 per cent, (actual),
less tax, on the ordinary shares.

NEW COMPANIES.

Accuratact Magnetos Limited.—Private company. Regis-
tered office, Suffolk House, Lawrence Pountney-hill, E.C.
Registered November 13. To carry on business of manu-
facturers of patent contact breakers and magnetos, electrical
engineers, etc. Nominal capital, £5,000 in £1 shares.
Directors (25 shares each) : A. P. Ham and H. D. Grant.
Qualification, 100 ordinary shares.

Bowling (John) and Company Limited.—Private company.
Registered office, Union Foundry, Armley-road, Leeds.
Registered November 17. To acquire business of an iron
founder carried on at above address by Mrs. F. Bowling
under style of John Bowling and Company. Nominal
capital, £10,000 in 5,000 £1 preference shares and 5,000 £1
ordinary shares. Directors : Fanny, F., H., J. H., and W.
Bowling. Qualification, £350.

Co-operative Engineers Limited.—Private company. Regis-
tered office, Newhall-chambers, Newfiiall-street, Birmingham.
Registered November 14. To carry on business of general
engineers and manufacturers of machinery. Nominal
capital, £1,000 in 500 £1 ordinary shares and 500 £1
deferred shares. Directors : W. N. Wright and H. Brom-
field. Qualification, 10 ordinary shares.

Fry’s (London) Limited.—Private company. Registered
November 15. To carry on the business of mechanical and
electrical engineers, founders, etc. Nominal capital, £5,000
in £1 shares. Dire’ctors : A. P. Schove and C. Howell.
Qualification, 250 shares.

High Explosives Limited.—Private company. Registered
office, 42, Spring-gardens, Manchester. Registered Nov. 17.
To carry on business of general chemical manufacturers.
Nominal capital, £20,000 in £1 ordinary shares. Directors
to be appointed by the subscribers. Qualification, 500 shares.
Subscribers (one share each) : W. H. Bedingfield and A. E.
Bruce.

Kenilworth Manufacturing Company Limited. — Private
company. Registered November 16. To carry on business
of manufacturers of and dealers in machinery, machine tools,
small tools, and implements. Nominal capital, £2,000 in
2,000 £1 ordinary shares. Directors : A. Le Vay Lawrence,
J. H. Rowland, and J. Hansen.

Selson Engineering Company (France) Limited.—Private
company. Registered November 16. To carry on business
of mechanical, electrical, and general engineers, and manu-
facturers of machine and hand tools, etc. Nominal capital,
£3,000 in £1 shares. Subscribers (one share each) : H. F.
Henshaw and F. M. Selson.

Templeborough Rolling Mills Limited.—Private company.
Registered November 16. To carry on business of steel
makers, steel converters and refiners, rollers, forgers,
smelters, iron masters and founders, and engineers, quarry-
men, miners, etc. Nominal capital, £100 in £1 shares.
Directors : H. Steel, H. C. Else, and H. Smith.

This list of new companies is taken from the Daily
Register specially compiled by Messrs. Jordan and Sons
Limited, company registration agents, Chancery-lane, E.C.

A Liquidation Case.—On Tuesday, Mr. Justice Neville had
before him a summons by the liquidator of Walker, Maynard
and Company Limited, of Middlesbrough, for a declaration
that the Coal Distillation Company, of Middlesbrough, were
not entitled to prove as creditors in the liquidation, and for
a similar declaration with regard to Dorman, Long and
Company Limited, of Middlesbrough. It was stated that the
latter had made an offer to buy the plant of the Coal Distil-
lation Company, which was a branch of a German concern,
and his lordship directed the liquidator to retain £2,375 in
respect of the claim, and that the summons should stand
over generally.

French Government and Coal.—The French Chamber
unanimously voted a Bill giving the Government authority
to fix the minimum price of domestic coal. This is a sub-
ject which at the moment is gravely agitating and disturbing
the French public, and particularly the people of Paris. Coal
for household consumption cannot be got at all in the metro-
polis, or only with difficulty, and in small quantities, at
about 6s. 6d. a cwt. The unanimous vote in the Chamber,
and the reassuring statement of M. Marcel Sembat, the
Minister of Public Works, has tended somewhat to calm the
public feeling. M. Sembat assured the Chamber that,
thanks to the measures taken, the Paris Gas Company was
well supplied with coal, and that there was no fear of its
failing to light the city. Writing in the Matin, M. Pierre
Laval, deputy of the Seine, asserts that the Government
should without delay recall from the Army all Territorials
who are expert miners. If that is done, he declares, the
production of coal from French mines will, according to
expert opinion, go up 25 per cent.

ABSTRACTS OF PATENT SPECIFICATIONS
RECENTLY ACCEPTED.

4055 (1915). Improvements in Gravity Feed Devices for
Boiler Feed Water. W. Fowler, of 62a, Highbury-grove,
Highbury, London, N.—Consists of improvements in gravity
feed devices for boiler feed water of the known duplex type,
a reciprocatory steam valve of the sliding piston type and
suitable passage being used to effect equilibration and exhaust
from the upper side of each of the floats in turn. The draw-
ing is a diagrammatic representation of a complete gravity
feed installation, but with the gravity feed device in a higher
position than it should be for automatic working. A is a
tank from which feed water is supplied to a boiler B. The
device by which this is effected comprises two float chambers
C C1, containing floats D D1 respectively. The floats are
connected by rods E E1 to a rocking beam F mounted on
bearings in the middle of its length, so that it can oscillate
as the floats rise and fall alternately. The beam F is con-
nected to a piston valve G so as to reciprocate it when the
beam is rocked, and this valve G is contained in a casing G1
which is connected at H H1 to the steam space of the boiler
B and at J to atmosphere for exhaust. The chamber G1
is further provided with passages K K1, which communicate
with the two ends of a valve chamber L1 containing a reci-
procating piston valve L; this chamber L1 also has connec-
tions L2 L3 with the steam space of the boiler B, L4 with
atmosphere for exhaust, and L5 L6 to the upper ends of the
float chambers C C1 respectively. The tank A is connected
by a pipe A1, having in it a stop valve A2, wfith a casing A3;
this casing A3 contains two non-return valves, through which
water can be supplied from A1 to either of the flcat chambers
C C1, and a further pair of non-return valves by which water
can be delivered from either of the •

chambers C C1 through a pipe A4 to
the boiler. A stop valve A5 is pro-
vided on the pipe A4 near the boiler.
In the position shown, the float
chamber C1 is full of water, and the
valve L is at the left-hand end of its
travel, thereby admitting steam from
the boiler through the pipe L6 to the
upper part of the chamber C1 above
the float D1. The upper part of the
chamber C is open through -the pipe
L5 to the exhaust L4. The water in
the chamber C1 and pipe A4 is in
equilibrium as regards the steam
pressure in the boiler, and it can
therefore flow freely into the boiler

under the influence of gravity.	The upper part of

the other chamber C is open to atmosphere, and
water therefore flows in from the tank A, through A1, A2, A3,
to the bottom of the chamber C, so that this chamber fills,
lifting its float, and rocking the beam F. The movement of
the beam F carries the valve G towards the right. As it
travels in this direction it first opens the steam inlet H,
and finally opens the passage K so that steam can pass
from the boiler into the left-hand end of the cylinder Ll
containing the valve L. At the same time, the passage K1
has been shut off from the steam pipe H1, and later opened
to the exhaust J by the movement of the valve G, so that
the right-hand end of the valve chamber L1 is now open to
exhaust. The valve L is therefore forced rapidly across to
the right-hand end of its travel. This movement puts the
passage L6 in communication with atmosphere through L4,
and provides a direct communication for steam from L2
through L5 to the upper end of the float chamber C. The
parts are therefore now in a position in which the chamber
C is filled with water, which is now subjected at its upper
side to the steam pressure of the boiler, and the chamber C1
is emptied with the upper part of it open to atmosphere.
This was the condition obtaining at the commencement of
the operation, and the water in the chamber C flows down
into the boiler, thus emptying the chamber C, and allowing
the filling of the 'chamber Cl. A preferred form of construc-
tion is illustrated and described. (Two claims.)

14919 (1915). Improvements in Percussive Engines, such
as Rock Drills, Channelling Machines, and Coal Cutters.
W. Mauss, of Commercial Exchange-buildings, Johannes-
burg, Transvaal, South Africa.—Relates to fluid actuated
rock drills, channelling machines, and coal cutters which are
designed for rapid and continuous reciprocation of a free
piston, which is propelled without material retardation
throughout its full normal stroke, and in which the distri-
bution of working fluid is effected by a valve which is con-
trolled solely by the working piston, and so as to be thrown
according to the position of the latter relatively to the
cylinder. Fig. 1 shows an engine having continuous pressure
on its rear piston face, and embodying one arrangement of
the invention; and fig. 2 shows the parts in a different posi-
tion. The cylinder comprises a large front chamber 1 and
a smaller rear chamber 2. The piston correspondingly has a
relatively large front member 3 and a smaller rear member
4, providing respectively the forward pressure area 5 and the
rear pressure area 6. The distributing valve 7 works in
the valve chamber 8, and governs admission to and exhaust
from .the front cylinder chamber 1; 9 is an inlet port and 10
an exhaust port; 11 is a port from the valve chamber 8 to
the front cylinder 1. In reciprocating, the valve alternately
connects the cylinder port 11 to one or other of the ports
9 or 10. For actuating the valve 7, a passage 12 is carried
from the front end of the valve chamber to the forward

piston chamber 1, and a passage 13 from the rear of the
valve chamber to the rear piston chamber 2. During the
rearward movement of the piston, the rear end of the valve
chamber is exhausted through the passage 13, the annular
recess 14 around the piston, and the hole 15 in the cylinder
wall. Air is admitted to the front
end of the valve chamber from the
front cylinder chamber through the
passage 12, and the valve is conse- , jwiikiiirii.^j^o,
quently thrown backward, as shown	f .	ffi'ri

in fig. 2. Before the blow is

struck, the passage 12 is connected	/a I

to atmosphere by the recess 14 and	~~

the hole 15; whilst air passes into ?

the passage 13, and the valve i-si
thrown forward again, as in fig. 1.
Air is supplied to the rear
cylinder chamber by the port 16, which opens into said
chamber some distance from the rear end of the cylinder.
From said port a branch 17 extends to the extreme end of
the cylinder. In said branch is fitted the non-return valve
18, which opens towards the cylinder. In fig. 1 the piston
has just struck its blow. Live air is now acting on both
piston faces 6 and 5, and, the latter being of greater area

the piston is forced back. During the first part of such
backward movement air displaced from the cylinder 2 assists
in feeding the front cylinder 1 rapidly and completely. "The
piston area 5 is considerably larger than the area 6, and
the admission of full pressure air to the former is continued
through the greater part of the rearward stroke, so that the
piston accelerates at a high rate during the greater part of
said stroke. When the piston has moved back a certain
distance, as indicated by the full lines of fig. 2, the valve 7
is thrown over and the front cylinder 1 ia exhausted. At
about) the same moment the piston head 4 closes the port 16.
The piston, having acquired considerable rearward
momentum, continues to move backward to about the posi-
tion indicated by the dotted lines, fig. 2, thereby compressing
the air enclosed in the cylinder chamber 2. Said air, being
initially at working pressure, is rapidly compressed to a
high degree, with the result that the piston is quickly stopped
and re-started on the forward stroke with considerable
momentum. When, during the re-expansion of the air, the
pressure in the chamber 2 drops to that of the air supply,
the valve 18 opens and maintains full working pressure
behind the piston, and the port 16 does the same when it is
again uncovered by the piston. (Four claims.)

14866 (1915). Improvements in Explosives. Perchlorate
Safety Explosives Limited, of Winchester House, Old Broad-
street, and F. G. L. Johnson, of 28, Elm Park-road, Chelsea,
London. — Relates to explosives containing perchlorate of
ammonia and resin, suitable for use for purposes in which a
high explosive is required. The explosive consists essen-
tially of ammonium perchlorate or a mixture of ammonium
and potassium perchlorates and of approximately from 4 to
8 per cent, of resin, preferably with some mineral oil,
vaseline, or paraffin wax associated -with the resin. An
efficient explosive of variable grade containing substantially
similar proportions of resin can also be made by partially
replacing ammonium perchlorate by potassium perchlorate,
up to about 54 per cent, of the potassium salt to 30 per cent,
of the ammonium salt. An addition of oil or w7ax (1 to 7
per cent.) to the resin renders the whole composition more
plastic under pressure, where the explosive has to be
“ stemmed.” (Five claims.)

15827 (1915). Improvements in Apparatus for Washing
Coal or the like, and for Separating it from its Impurities.
The Grange Iron Company Limited and H. P. Hoyle, both
of the Grange Iron Works, Durham.—Relates to improve-
ments in apparatus for washing coal or the like and for
separating it from its impurities. A reciprocating paddle or
piston provided with valves operating as aforesaid is com-
bined with a fixed inclined mesh plate, so that progressively
reduced agitation is produced only during the forward stroke
of the paddle or piston, whereby the material, whilst being
progressively agitated or separated, is also clarried steadily
down the mesh plate. Fig. 1 is a plan view of one form of
-the apparatus; and fig. 2 is a section on line A—A of fig. 1.
A tank 1 of suitable capacity is fitted at a given distance from
the top with a fixed inclined mesh plate 2 of suitable length.
The material to be washed is fed on
highest end from a hopper or shoot
3, provided wfith means for regu-
lating the feed or supply. The
tank is filled with water to a cer-
tain level above the material on
the mesh plate. The impurities
are separated from the coal by
agitating or forcing the w-ater
through the mesh plate, and the
material lying on it, causing the
impurities which are of greater
specific gravity than the coal to fall
and form a layer below the coal.
A downwardly inclined paddle or
flap 4 is arranged in the tank below
the high end of the mesh plate,
and ia hinged at -the top at 5, and
works in a frame 6, the said paddle

closing the end of a channel or chamber 7 below the mesh
plate 2, and kept clear of the bottom of the tank. A vertical
lever 8 fixed to the paddle 4 ia connected by a rod 9 to a
crank 10 on a driving shaft 11, wfiiereby an oscillating motion
is given to the paddle. Means are provided for adjusting the
length of the connecting rod, such as the nut 9a and sleeve
9b, and for varying the distance from the pivot 5 of the point
of connection of the rod 9 to the vertical lever 8, such as
head 8b adjustable in a slot 8* so that the length of stroke
of the paddle and its position in the frame can be regulated
to suit requirements. The paddle is fitted with valves 12,
which open during the dowm or back stroke of the paddle.
During the up or forward stroke of the paddle, the intensity
of the impulsions will be greater at the feed end than at the
delivery end of the grid, and that in proportion as the separa-
tion progresses the agitation of the material will decrease.
Through the effect of the pulsation of the water, and the differ-
ence of specific gravities, the impurities will form the lower
layer on the mesh plate, and the coal the upper layer. Both
layers travel to the bottom end of the mesh plate, where the
impurities fall into a pocket 13, and the coal is delivered over
an adjustable w*eir 14 into a drainage elevator or conveyor 15,
thence into a convenient receptacle or into a drainage screen,
and then into a receptacle. At the base of the pocket 13 is
a door 16 hinged at i!7 and balanced by weights 20, so that
a certain weight of impurities on the door causes it to open
and to discharge -the contents of the pocket 13 on an elevator
18, which raises and delivers them into a conveyor or other
receptacle; 19 is an overflow pipe from tank 1. (Six claims.)

101730. Improvements in the Treatment of Spent Tan *
Bark, Peat, etc., for Use as Fuel. J. Mackenzie, of 312,
Grosvenor-terrace, Linthorpe-road, Middlesbrough, York-
shire.—The chief object is to utilise the spent bark resulting
from the tanning process as fuel in a better manner than
hitherto. The waste or spent bark, as it leaves the tan
pits, or as it is obtained from the heaps in which it has
been allowed to accumulate, is subjected to pressure, to
remove as much of the moisture as possible, and is then
mixed wfith about 10 to 15 per cent, by weight of ground coal
tar pitch in a mixing machine, to which heat can be applied,
or the material can be heated after the mixing has been
effected, the object of the heating being to soften the pitch
sufficiently to bind the fibres together, so that when the
material is subjected to pressure in suitable moulds,
briquettes, blocks, or the like will be formed. In some cases
other combustible materials, such as peat or peal dust, saw-
dust, coal or coke dust, or other combustible substances,
can be added. (Four claims.)

101609. Improvements in Artificial Fuel. G. B. Winter,
of 39, Conduit-street, London, W.—Redates to artificial fuel,
and it has for its object to provide an artificial fuel which shall

the mesh plate at its