1074

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

December 1, 1916.

Northumberland and Durham.

Coals for Distribution—Lamp Cabin Ablaze—Red Cross
Fund—H or den Collieries.

Mr. Wm. Russell, who for the past 10 years has been
assistant electrician at the Dean and Chapter Colliery, has
been appointed chief electrician at Bearpark Colliery.

In accordance with his usual custom at this season of the
year, the Duke of Northumberland has given £200 to be
expended on coals for distribution to the deserving poor of
Alnwick.

At a recent meeting of the Northumberland Coal Trade
Joint Committee, the West Wylam colliery owners wanted
a price fixed for taking up the bottom coal in Brockwell
seam. This was sent to arbitration, but the owners and
workmen were recommended to agree.

The lamp cabin of Algernon pit, near Shiremoor, was
burned to the ground on Friday of last week, and the whole
of the lamps—between 300 and 400—together with the light-
ing and opening apparatus, were totally destroyed. The
damage is estimated at between £300 and £400.

Mr. John Wardle, under-manager at North Wylam
Colliery, has been appointed manager of a new colliery which
has been commenced at Haydon Bridge. He has been pre-
sented with a purse of gold, subscribed for by the North
Wylam miners and by a few friends resident in the neigh-
bourhood of that colliery.

In 10 months the workers at the Vale pit, Springwell, have
subscribed over £65 to the Red Cross Fund. In addition,
the Vale pit officials and workmen have co-operated with
those at Springwell Colliery in raising, by monthly sub-
scriptions of Is. per man and 6d. per boy, £328 towards the
relief of the dependants of men who, joining the Colours from
the collieries, have been killed in action. From this latter
fund, 25 persons have received grants of £10 each.

In a contribution to the discussion on a paper on “ Works
Organisation,” recently read to the members of the North-
East Coast Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders, Mr.
W. C. Mountain stated it was not sufficient to have good
sellers, but that good buyers also were necessary. He
remembered once being very much disgusted when endeavour-
ing to sell electrical machinery to a colliery firm. He lost
the order, the price being the only consideration, and he
ventured to tell the buyer that it seemed as though the same
man who bought the candles for the colliery also bought the
electrical plant. He found that that actually was the case.

Whilst R. A. Duncan, 14, was working in the Ouston E
pit, Birtley, attending to the endless rope which draws the
sets of tubs, he was caught by the rope, and jammed between
it and the angle iron of a “ knock-off,” sustained injuries
wherefrom he died, having been, it is stated, practically cut-
in two. At the inquest, it was alleged he had got on the
rope to press it into the tub catches, and the jury recom-
mended that the hauling rope should be forced in the tub
catches by some mechanical means, instead of by the boys
pressing their weight on it, as it is alleged is done at present.
The management, however, contended that the lads need not
do as they do, and that the reason this is done is that too
many tubs are secured to the rope at the same time, seven
being the proper number, while 14 are usually made into
one set.

Sir Hugh Bell, presiding at the annual meeting of the
shareholders in the Horden Collieries Limited, stated that
1,969 of their employees had enlisted, of whom 182 had
been returned from the front, 29 of whom had left their
employment, whilst 14 were seriously wounded. Ex-em-
ployees who had been killed numbered 149, of whom 61 were
married. What was to be done with the dependants of those
who had been killed or wounded was under the consideration
of the Government, but it would be a satisfaction to those
present to know that the company was, meanwhile, making
some provision for the wounded and for the widows and
children. Passing on to comment on the industry itself, he
regretted that he could not speak favourably of the way
in which the men had been working. For men to lie off
when they could work in these times was not patriotic, as
the country was in dire need of coal. Seventy per cent., and,
in some cases, more, of the collieries’ earnings went to. the
men in wages, so that, in not working regularly, they were
depriving themselves of benefits.

Cumberland.

Mr. J. Thornborrow, of Messrs. Thornborrow and Com-
pany, Penrith, offered for sale by auction, at Whitehaven,
the freehold mineral and agricultural property known as
Montreal and Crossfield, situated in Cleator, Egremont, and
St. Bees. The estate comprises the mansion called Keekle
Grove, Montreal Farm (containing about 124 acres), Cross-
field Farm (53 acres, including mine land), and deposits
and seams of coal (estimated at 2,000,000 tons), iron ore,
fireclay, and sand. There are six seams of coal, namely—
the Four-feet, Five-feet, Bannock band, Main band, Yard
band, and Lickbank seam. Bids were made of £300 for the
residence and £1,000 for Montreal Farm. When the property
was offered in one lot, it was purchased for £9,000 by Mr.
H. J. Walker, of the firm of Messrs. Kellett, Ellis, Walker
and Rogers, mining engineers, Wigan, who were acting for
Mr. Hugh Parkin, Borough Green, Kent.

Lancashire and Cheshire.

A census of attendances of miners and other workers
employed at collieries in the Manchester and Bolton dis-
tricts has been taken during the last few days. This is
preparatory to another weeding out operation.

A trade correspondent understands that Sir John Brown
and Company, the well-known Sheffield engineering con-
cern, propose erecting works on the Ship Canal, at Irlam,
not far from the Partington Steel and Iron Company’s new
works, which are being enlarged.

A correspondent understands that the developments,
alluded to in last week’s issue of the Colliery Guardian, by
the Hulton Colliery Company Limited, which comprise the
erection of electricity generating stations, the putting down
of gas making plant, and plant for the production of by-pro-
ducts, such as oils, dyes, etc., are to be commenced forth-
with .

Notts and Derbyshire.

Four miners employed by the Digby Colliery Company
were prosecuted at the Shire Hall, Nottingham, on Saturday,
for breach of contract, the colliery company claiming £5 from

each for absenting themselves from work without notice.
Mr. F. Berryman, who represented the company, explained
that there were joint local committees of owners and men to
deal with absentees, and that when a man persistently
absented himself from work, a notice was put up at the pit-
head requiring him to attend before the committee. That
was done in the case of defendants, but they ignored the
committee, and the county committee, to which the matter
was referred, requested the company to bring these proceed-
ings. One man had been absent 21 times out of 58 shifts,
another 17 out of 76, another 32 out of 76, and the fourth
39 out of 76. The Bench, having found that the men were
guilty, Mr. Berryman said the company would be content to
reduce their claim to £2 against each man, although they had
lost scores of pounds, but their object was to let it be
known that this sort of thing must be stopped. The pre-
siding magistrate remarked that, but for the leniency of the
company, the Bench would have ordered the defendants to
pay £5 each instead of £2. “ If this sort of thing goes on,”
he added, “ the Government will undoubtedly withdraw the
exemption of men like you. Men of your age are in the
trenches, working more hours than you are doing. You know
how vital it is that all coal possible should be produced during
the war. Let this be a lesson to you.”

The Midlands.

Coal masters in the Staffordshire and Warwickshire coal
fields are experiencing little relief in the scarcity which
attaches to timber supplies for roof prop purposes, nor with
respect either to the high prices which continue to be
demanded for this description of colliery material. The
difficulty of obtaining timber from the Baltic has been
relieved to only a small extent by the new sources of supply,
which in a few directions have opened up of home-grown
timber. It is a remarkable circumstance that prior to. the
war probably 95 per cent, of the timber used in Staffordshire
and Warwickshire collieries was obtained from outside
sources, and even at the present time, scarcely more than
10 per cent, of the timber used in these mines can be in
any sense regarded as “ home-grown.” Under these circum-
stances, local coal masters are greatly interesting themselves
in the scheme for re-afforestation in the Black Country,
and -its advocates are meeting with warmer support from
district coal owners at date than at any time previous to the
war. Unfortunately, disused pit bank soil in South Staf-
fordshire, even when it has been levelled, is pronounced by
the local afforestation authorities as a very unsatisfactory
mould for re-planting purposes. The district blast furnace
slag mounds, however, from which the pig iron has been
run, is found to furnish a very rich and strong, and there-
fore acceptable, mould for the purpose. Lacking adequate
timber supplies, some of the Warwickshire collieries in
particular are still turning their attention to steel props as a
substitute. Some of the latest experiments are proving
remarkably successful. At the Arley Colliery Company’s
pits at Stockingford, a new prop, consisting of a steel tube
3 in. in diameter, and filled with concrete, is now being used
along the face. The conditions to be found in the Arley
Company’s pits are, it is admitted, exceptionally favourable
to the substitution which is being attempted. Still, it is
altogether in favour of the metal prop that at the pits indi-
cated it has just completed a seven months’ test very
successfully.

Kent.

The big cofferdam at the 150 ft. inset at Snowdown
Colliery has now been completed.

Coal raising continues satisfactorily both from the Tilman-
stone and Snowdown collieries, the amount brought to bank
being between 5,000 and 6,000 tons a week.

The deep sinking in No. 2 pit at Snowdown Colliery was
taken down only 9-| ft. last week, from 2,726 ft. to 2,735J ft.,
when it was suspended for bricking, and the shaft was lined
from 2,606| ft. to 2,616 ft. by Saturday. The sinking, as
far as it went, was still in dunch and bind, and at 2,729 ft.
a thin seam of coal, 5 in. thick, was passed through. This
coal is very hard, and to all appearance a good bright house
coal. Should the 6 ft. 6 in. seam turn out according to bore-
hole results, and be of the same texture as this thin seam,
it looks like proving an excellent thing for the coal field.

Scotland.

Pit Accidents—Laurieston Coal Field—Proposed Maximum
—Army and Miners—Absenteeism.

Mr. Jos. Brown, under-manager at Dundonald, has been
appointed to a similar position at Prestwick.

In view of the serious condition of Palziel High School as
the result of underground workings, Motherwell School
Board have decided to shore up the affected parts, and close
certain of the class-rooms.

Several serious accidents are reported in Fifeshire during
the week. Two deaths occurred, one at Glencraig and one
at Kelty, due to falls of roof. At Lumphinnans, a miner was
severely burnt by an ignition of gas at a coal face. Safety
lamps are used as a precautionary measure in the section
where the ignition took place.

The opening up of the coal field at Laurieston has not
resulted in such development as was at first anticipated. A
large amount of work has been carried out, but unfortu-
nately it was discovered that much of the field had been
worked previously, and consequently much waste was met
with. It was found, however, that clay of a quality much
in demand for brick making was fairly plentiful.

For the year to date, the shipments of Scotch coal aggre-
gate 9,170,256 tons, a decrease of 1,241,375 tons, as com-
pared with the corresponding period of 1915. The ship-
ments from the three Scottish districts are :—Clyde,
5,276,600 tons; Fife, 2,386,639; Forth, 1,507,017. The
decrease, compared with last year, is equally distributed over
the three districts.

The Board of Trade proposal to fix a maximum price for
coal merchants and middlemen was considered at a meeting
of the Glasgow Corporation Special Committee on Prices of
Coal to Small Consumers. It was pointed out that the
view of the Corporation was that such an agreement, in order
to be effective, should be enforced by compulsory powers
granted to the local authority. It was agreed to request
the Coal and Coke Supplies Committee of Scotland to allow
two representatives of the Corporation to attend the next

conference, in order to state the Corporation point of view.
The chairman and Coun. Paxton were appointed to attend.

Coal business at the different Fife docks last week fell off
considerably, owing chiefly to vessels that were due being
delayed at oversea or home discharging ports. The com-
bined shipments from Methil and Burntisland for the week
were 33,695 tons, as against 38,827 tons the previous week,
and 59,398 tons for the corresponding -week last year. Several
Navigation pits were idle during the week, while other pits
had to resort to binging. In Dunfermline district, trade is
very bad just now. Considerable idle time is experienced.
Burntisland shipments were 9,100 tons, as against 17,550
tons the previous week. A large export of Fife coal is still
conducted for ports in the West of Scotland.

Sheriff Lee, Airdrie, has given his decision in a claim for
compensation by Wm. King, hutchboy, Shotts, against the
Baton Collieries Company Limited. The boy was seriously
crushed between two hutches in the pit, and it was pleaded
by the defenders that on account of his serious and wilful
misconduct, there was no compensation due, as he had been
“ larking ” at the time of the accident with other boys, his
injuries being sustained as the result of his “ larking,” and
not in the course of his employment. The Sheriff repels
defenders’ pleas, and finds that the propensity to “ larking ”
and thoughtless mischief on the part of boys was well known
to defenders, and constituted a special risk incident to the
employment of the pursuer, whose injuries were caused by
accident arising out of and in the course of his employment.
The Sheriff awards pursuer compensation at the rate of 10s.
per week, with expenss against the defenders.

Sir Richard Redmayne, of the Home Office, has forwarded
the following statement to Mr. J. Robertson, miners’ agent,
Hamilton, explaining the course which is followed in per-
mitting miners to return from the firing line to the pits :—
“ The only miners who are being released from the Army
and returned to work in the coal mines are those serving in
the home units who are unfit for military service abroad.
The War Office has agreed to return all such, and has
already returned over 11,000. The procedure adopted is as
follows : The War Office having obtained the names of those
serving in the home units who, before they were enlisted,
were working as miners, and the names of the collieries at
which they were employed, communicate with the manager
at the colliery at which the man was last employed and
asks if the man was in fact employed at the colliery in ques-
tion, and if he wants him returned. If the manager replies
in the affirmative, the man is returned; if in the negative,
or if he vouchsafes no reply, the name of the man, the unit
in which he is serving, and the address of the commanding
officer are forwarded to Sir Richard Redmayne, H.M. Chief
Inspector of Mines, who then takes the matter up, if the
man’s statement is correct, with a view to getting him
employed at a colliery.”

Mr. Andrew Clarke presided at a special meeting of the
Mid and East Lothian Miners’ Board in the offices at
Dalkeith. The principal business was the consideration of
the question of absenteeism on the part of workmen, and
two communications were submitted from the Home Office
and from the Chief Inspector of Mines on the subject. It
was unanimously agreed to recommend that, along with the
managers of the various collieries, a branch committee in
each locality deal with a list of names of workmen absent
from their duties without a reasonable excuse, these lists to
be supplied by the colliery company to the workmen’s repre-
sentatives, who would make full enquiry. The miners’
representatives were, on the other hand, to submit to the
colliery managers such cases as are brought to their notice
where workmen on assembling for the purpose of beginning
their duties ware unable to get started through some alleged
fault on the part of the colliery company. Joint meetings
between the colliery company and the miners’ representatives
will take up consideration of the reports after investigations
had shown where the responsibility lay. It was stated that
so far as Mid and East Lothian were concerned, these dis-
tricts were in a happy position of having very much less
absenteeism than prevailed in many other districts in Great
Britain. Mr. Robert Brown, the miners’ secretary, was
instructed to communicate with the various colliery managers
with a view to having the arrangements carried into effect.

OBITUARY.

Mr. John Shotton Charlton, of Leadgate, who died very
suddenly last Sunday, was under-manager at the Consett
Iron Company’s Eden Colliery, and was formerly overman
at the same firm’s Blackhill Tinmill Drift.

Sir Hiram Maxim, the inventor of the first automatic gun
and many other ordnance inventions, died at Streatham on
November 24, at the age of 77. He was given the credit of
being the original inventor of smokeless powder containing
both nitroglycerine and guncotton. Between 1878 and 1885
Sir Hiram took out a great number of patents relating to
electricity, and these are constantly cited in patent cases.

His many friends have learnt with regret of the death in
Canada of Mr. J. B. Keith, the second son of Mr. J. Keith,
of the James Keith and Blackman Company Limited. The
deceased was associated with this business for a time, and
gained esteem for his business capacity and personal
character.

The death took place at Southport of Mr. John Hunter,
president of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers
and Firemen. In his capacity as president, Mr. Hunter
had been one of the negotiators with the general managers
on the question of war bonuses, and the agreements in con-
nection with that bear his signature. He was aged 45 years.

Mr. Isaiah Jones, aged 50, colliery manager, Graig Felyn,
Clydach, was knocked down and killed by some runaway coal
wagons at the Clydach railway sidings last week.

Mr. Herbert Pilkington, works manager for the Sheep-
bridge Coal and Iron Company Limited, died somewhat
suddenly on November 24, at the age of 55. He was a past-
president of the British Foundrymen’s Association, and a
member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Iron and
Steel Institute. He was chairman of the Whittington and
Newbold Urban Council, and a prominent Freemason.

The death is announced of Sir George White, Bart., of
Bristol, a pioneer of electric street traction in this country,
who was chairman of the Bristol Tramways and Carriage
Company, the Western Wagon and Property Company
Limited, the Imperial Tramways Company, the Corris Rail-
way Company, and the Main Colliery Company Limited, and
founder of the company which produces the “ Bristol ”
biplane.