1124

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

December 8, 1916.

A special meeting of the Tin-Plate Conciliation Board has
been called for to-day (December 8), the circumstances of the
trade being very unsatisfactory. At least half the mills are
idle, and even those that are at work are compelled to be
irregular in operation. One estimate is that in the new year
not one-third of the South Wales mills will be in operation.

The tin-platers held a meeting in Swansea, and discussed
the position of the trade—especially the idea of fixing a
minimum selling price round about 27s. per box. There is
some difficulty in fixing a price, because of the varied grades
of tin-plate, and also the conditions as to payment. Only
about 286 mills are working, as compared with 315 at the
end of September, and 407 in the corresponding period of
last year—this reduction of operations being very largely due
to the restricted supply of steel bars. It is estimated that
not more than one-third of the mills are now running.

Northumberland and Durham.

Electrocuted by Accident—Question of Non-Unionists—Gas
Prices in Newcastle—Problem of Contracts.

“ Accidentally electrocuted while attempting to open the
electric controller before cutting the main switch,” was the
verdict returned at an inquest into the death of Geo.
Soulsby, 20, who was found dying in the engine house at
Hazlerigg Colliery on Sunday last. The engineman said he
could not surmise why Soulsby had been tampering with the
controller. Asked by the inspector of mines whether witness
had intended deceased to clean the contacts of the controller,
witness replied in the negative, but stated that he believed
deceased was quite competent to have done that work. He
thought deceased must have stumbled.

The Us worth miners’ lodge has decided that its members
shall be levied 6d. per full, and 3d. per half-member for one
pay to assist in reducing the bank overdraft of the Durham
Aged Mine Workers’ Homes Association. The Teams and
Dunston cokeyard workmen have decided to contribute Is.
per man per year. There is reason to hope that, by the end
of this month the debit will be turned into a credit balance.

The council of the Northumberland Miners’ Association, at
the half-yearly meeting on Saturday, discussed the question
of the assessment of incomes of the inmates of aged miners’
homes, and a resolution of protest against the assessment of
the homes being made when old-age pensions were being
calculated was unanimously carried. The council accepted
the draft constitution of the new federation of Northumber-
land colliery unions, and commended it to the branches.

Owing to failing health, Mr. R. W. Berkley has retired
from the position of agent for the Marley Hill group of
collieries of Messrs. John Bowes and Partners Limited, a
position he has held for 17 years, prior to which he was
manager for 20 years. The colliery officials and workmen
and the general public of Marley Hill district have presented
Mr. Berkley and Miss Berkley with a 12 horse-power five-
seater Overland motor-car, and have also subscribed for a
canteen of silver, which will shortly be presented.

Mr. William Straker, corresponding secretary of the
Northumberland Miners’ Association, devotes his December
circular to the miners to a review of the year. He says,
incidentally : “ There are in and about our mines a number
of non-unionists, and they are a difficult quantity to deal
with, as, even after they are forced into the union, they have
to be constantly watched to keep them in. While they are
the least worthy of our mining community, yet, for their own
sakes and for the sake of their wives and children, we must
do something to get them in. The executive committee is
now getting a return from our secretaries of the number of
such men at each of our branches, after which steps will
be taken to have them enrolled as-members.” On the point
of absenteeism, he says : “ Our own difficulty at the present
time to convince our men of the urgent need of coal arises
from the fact that a number of our largest pits have been
losing a considerable number of working days. We know
that this is owing in some way to the exigencies of the war,
and only makes greater the need for all available shifts to
be worked when the pits are working. I am convinced, how-
ever, that our difficulty in this respect could be substanti-
ally helped by colliery owners and the Government trusting
men more than they do, and frankly telling them the reason
why the pits are idle.”

Newcastle and Gateshead Gas Company announces that,
owing to the increased cost of coal and other materials, and
also to advances in wages, the directors regret that it is
necessary to raise the price of gas by 2d. per 1,000 cu. ft.
from this month’s meter readings. Naturally, the announce-
ment has evoked a good deal of hostile comment. It is
regarded as extraordinary if, in view of the Price of Coal
(Limitation) Act, the company is now paying any more for
its coal than it was 12 months ago. It is recalled that when,
last year, the price of gas was similarly advanced, the com-
pany pleaded a falling-off in the sales of residuals, but that
the last annual report, issued at the beginning of the year,
showed that residuals had yielded £131,566, an increase of
£24,121. The amount received for gas then reported sold
was a record, £360,391 being derived from this source—an
increase of £58,666. In spite of the restricted lighting of the
streets and premises, the falling-off was more than com-
pensated for by the increased use of gas for industrial pur-
poses and in the homes of the munition workers. More than
that, it was distinctly stated that, as the result of the re-con-
struction of the carbonising plant at Elswick, there would
be a considerable saving on the manufacture of the gas at
these works, coupled with an increased yield of residuals.
Under these circumstances, it is not to be wondered at that
consumers are somewhat sceptical with reference to the com-
pany’s most recent plea.

Presiding over the annual meeting of the South Durham
Steel and Iron Company Limited, Lord Furness explained
that it would be necessary to adjourn that meeting until a
date, to be fixed, when the annual report and accounts were
ready. All he needed to say at present was that the directors
had spent considerable sums of money in making the changes
necessary to enable them to produce those materials which
were most urgently needed for national purposes in connec-
tion with the war, and, notwithstanding the many difficulties
they had to contend with in the way of procuring the neces-
sary raw material, shortage of labour, etc., their output of
steel had been maintained at the highest possible level under
the conditions prevailing. Their production of finished
material for the year ended September 30 last was 25,000 tons
in excess of the output of the previous 12 months. In view
of the shortage of steel, and the urgent necessity for an
increased output wherever possible, the directors had made
arrangements to take over, under lease, the blast furnaces of
the Weardale Steel, Coal and Coke Company, and it was
expected that one furnace would be ready to blow in soon
after the turn of the year. The position of old undelivered

contracts would have to be further considered, especially in
view of the depletion of stocks of raw material which were
in hand to cover these; and due allowance would also have
to be made for depreciation, which, under existing condi-
tions, was on an exceptional scale. The directors had
decided to pay a further dividend of 5 per cent., less tax.

When the death of John George Hughes, 58, overman at
Byers Green Colliery, was enquired into by a coroner’s jury
this week, it was stated that, in certain parts of the mine,
shot-firing has to be done electrically, and for this purpose
shot-firers are appointed, and have a written authority; but
in this instance Hughes was working with a “ marra,”
named Wilkinson, and apparently had been allowing
Wilkinson to do the firing after he (Hughes) had prepared
the place. On November 5 these two men were engaged
firing, and had fired five places. When the accident
occurred, Hughes was engaged preparing the place, and the
regulations provided that, when the preparations were com-
plete, he should go back a distance of 50 yds. or so, where
the battery was kept, and himself fire the battery. The
regulations further provide that the authorised shot-firer shall
carry, at all times, the removable handle belonging to the
battery, and without which the battery cannot be fired, but
this regulation was also broken, inasmuch as Wilkinson was
in possession of the handle. The accident occurred because,
during the preparations, a man came out of the place, and
Wilkinson mistook him for Hughes, and thought all was
clear. When the battery was fined, Hughes received the full
force of the shot in his face. Coroner Proud remarked that
there had been a total disregard of the rules, and a life was
thus thrown away. The jury returned a verdict that “ Death
was due to injuries accidentally received whilst Hughes was
following his employment, and in consequence of the rules as
to shot-firing not having been observed.”

Addressing the shareholders in the Weardale Steel, Coal
and Coke Company Limited, at the annual meeting held in
Newcastle last week, Lord Furness stated that, whilst some
industries had been adversely affected by the war, the coal
trade had been more fortunate. Prices had been advanced,
although, in some cases, figures had been limited by Govern-
ment action. Wages had gone up to an unprecedented
extent, and costs had increased beyond all previous limits.
The cost per ton of putting coal into wagons was 50 per
cent, higher than it was seven years ago. The average sell-
ing price was 47 per cent, higher than the average for the
past seven years, and the percentage addition on workmen’s
wages was almost exactly double the average percentage
over the same period. The company’s output of coal for the
year ended September 1914, which was regarded as the last
pre-war year, was 1,409,039 tons. For the year under review
it was 1,079,003 tons. The falling-off was explained by the
reduction by 807 in the number of hewers-. No less than
1,814 of the company’s workmen had voluntarily joined the
Forces, and it behoved those who remained at the mines to
help their comrades and country by increasing to the maxi-
mum the output, for the duration of the war might be
shortened or lengthened according to the output available.
The great majority of miners were helping towards that
maximum. It was deplorable that their efforts should be
handicapped by the absenteeism of a disloyal few. He
believed that, if the great majority once realised how neces-
sary it was to increase the output, they would bring pressure
to bear which would make it impossible for the “ black
sheep ” to continue in their midst—the latter would either
have to get on or get out. In view of the limitation of coal
prices, he did not anticipate that the results of the current
year’s working would be equal to those of the year ended
September last, but, whether the- profits were more or less,
he hoped that the output would be greater, and that the
war would be over.

Cleveland.

At a meeting of the Tees Conservancy Commissioners at
Middlesbrough, the annual statement of accounts showed that
during the 12 months ended October 31 the total value of
the goods, exclusive of coal and coke, exported from the Tees
was £13,888,000, as compared with the following totals from
other local ports :—Newcastle, £5,958,000: North Shields,
£951,000; South Shields, £97,000; Bly th, £26,000; Stockton,
£227,000; Sunderland, £55,000; and West Hartlepool,
£80,000.

According to the certificate of the accountant to the Board
of Conciliation and Arbitration for the Manufactured Iron
and Steel Trade of the North of England, the average net
selling price of iron rails, plates, bars, and angles for the
two months ending October 31 last was £12 17s. l-91d., as
compared with £12 7s. 0*14d. for the previous two months,
and under sliding scale arrangements wages for the ensuing
two months are advanced by 6d. per ton on puddling, and
5 per cent, on all other forge and mill wages.

Shipments of iron and steel from the port of Middles-
brough last month, though not heavy, fulfilled expectation,
totalling 57,168 tons, of which 31,656 tons were pig iron,
2,557 tons manufactured iron, and 22,955 tons steel. The
previous month’s clearances of pig iron amounted to 53,610
tons, and the loadings of pig for the month of November
last year reached 48,036 tons. Of last month’s despatches,
30,571 tons of pig iron went to foreign ports, and 1,085 tons
coastwise; 646 tons of manufactured iron went to foreign
ports, and 1,911 tons coastwise; and 22,801 tons of steel
went to foreign ports, and 154 tons coastwise. Once more
France was by far the largest receiver of pig iron and steel,
taking 25,548 tons of the former and 20,324 tons of the latter.
Italy was the second best customer.

Cumberland.

Mr. Robert Steele, manager of Wellington Pit, has been
appointed works manager and agent for the Whitehaven
Colliery Company, and will have charge of the various pits
and works belonging to the company.

Lancashire and Cheshire.

New Seams—How Pot Holes are Formed—New Extensions.

New seams are being tapped, and improvements carried
out on the surface, at the Bradford Collieries, Manchester,
belonging to the Fine Cotton Spinners’ Association.

Messrs. Fletcher, Burrows and Company Limited, colliery
proprietors, Atherton, are distributing from £100 to £150
worth of coal through the local Guild of Help to the poor of
Bolton.

Mr. Siddall, H.M. inspector of mines, described ‘‘pot
holes ” as found in coal mines at an inquest held last week
in the Wigan Borough Courts relative to the death of E. T.
Ogden, a colliery drawer, who died in the Wigan Infirmary
after being fatally injured whilst following his employment
in the Earthy mine, Glenburn Colliery, Upholland. It was
stated thab the top coal fell upon the deceased, there being a

pot hole at the place. It was suggested that the weight was
too much for the sprag that was holding the top coal. The
pot hole was round like a tree trunk. Mr. Siddall explained
to the jury that pot holes, which were quite loose, were
really the butts of trees that in the formation of the coal
measures had turned into stone, just as the butts of trees
were to be seen sticking out of peat bogs to-day. The jury
returned a verdict of ‘‘Accidental death.”

One of our Lancashire representatives says, despite an
acknowledged shortage of labour, great activity prevails in
the development of the coal mining industry in various parts
of southern Lancashire. The New Moss Colliery Company
are opening out the Roger mine at their Audenshaw
Collieries, near Manchester; the Earl of Ellesmere is open-
ing a new mine, by sinking, and additional seams, by
tunnelling, at the Bridge water Collieries, Walkden, near
Manchester; Messrs. J. Roscoe and Sons are also develop-
ing new seams at the Peel Hall and New Lester Collieries,
near Bolton; the Clifton and Kersley Coal Company (who are
affiliated with the Pilkington Colliery Company) are opening
out new measures and effecting further surf ace improvements
at their new Astley Green Collieries; close by, the Tyldesley
Coal Company Limited, Messrs. J. Speakman and Sons, and
the Astley and Tyldesley Collieries Limited, are opening out
and developing new mines at their Cleworth, Woodend, and
Kermishaw Nook pits respectively; the Wigan Coal and Iron
Company Limited have sunk to lower measures at the Par-
sonage pits, West Leigh; and further on to the south-west,
the Abram Coal Company Limited are also opening out new
mines; and the Pemberton Colliery Company are develop-
ing additional seams and making surface improvements at
their Pemberton Collieries.

The Midlands.

Coal Stealing—Drainage Commissioners' Report.

Important prosecutions for coal stealing were taken at the
Brierley Hill (Staffordshire) Police Court on Monday against
four men, who, it was stated, were employed either directly
or indirectly by the Earl of Dudley on his lordship’s private
trading railway. One man was a contractor earning between
£9 and £11 a week. He employed two of the other defen-
dants, and the fourth was a brakesman. A tremendous
quantity of coal was being continually stolen from the trucks
on the railway. The man who was the contractor admitted
he had not bought any coal for 12 months. He was fined
£20, and the others were each fined £5.

The monthly reports of the engineers to the South Stafford-
shire Mines Drainage Commission were issued on Saturday.
The general manager and engineer to the Tipton district
(Mr. E. Howl) imports a rainfall of 3-56 in. for the past five
weekc. The pumping had been 11,564,700 gals, per 24 hours,
as compared with 11,917,800 gals, for the previous month,
and 10,226,000 gals, in the corresponding period last year.
The Gospel Oak Mond gas-driven plant had been worked full
time to assist the Moat new engine. The Moat old engine
had worked a few turns only, while there was no change in
the level of the water at Tibbington by-pit of the Empire
Colliery. The Bradley engine had averaged 3| million gals,
a day. Ab Deepfields, the water was a little less than during
October, and had been kept down to bottom coal by the new
engine alone, working at three-quarter speed. The under-
ground level men had been engaged in re-opening thick coal
head at Park-lane engine, and had also done cleansing at
the Moat bottom level.—The surface drainage engineer (Mr.
S. B. Priest) reports that the Parkfield Brook, Coseley, was
being cleansed jointly with the Coseley Council. Further
raising of the Boggy Arm course had been necessary on
downstream side of Gospel Oak-road, where swagged by
mining. Cleansing and repairs had also been carried out at
other water courses.—The engineer for the Old Hill district
(Mr. W. B. Collis) reports that owing to the heavy rains
during the month, the underground water in the northern
portion of that district had somewhat increased, but had
been well kept down by the Windmill End pumping engine.
The underground levels still remained in good order.

Kent.

Mr. L. M. Hurrell, secretary of eight of the Kent Coal
Concessions Group of companies, has this week joined the
Artists’ Rifles (O.T.C.).

The exemptions granted to 50 miners at the Tilmanstone
and Snowdown collieries are to be revised, the military
representative for the district having taken steps for this
purpose. There is a special tribunal for dealing with the
cases of the colliery employees.

Last week was devoted to bricking the deep sinking in
No. 2 pit at Snowdown Colliery, and 97| ft. of the shaft
were lined, from 2,616 ft. to 2,713| ft. The sinking had
been suspended at 2,735^ ft., but has since been resumed.

The amount of coal raised at the Tilmanstone and Snow-
down collieries remains at between 5,000 and 6,000 tons
weekly, but a position causing some anxiety has arisen in
connection with the railway truck question. The South-
Eastern and Chatham Railway Company have for some weeks
past placed an embargo on goods for Dover, except food
stuffs and perishables, owing to the great delay in unloading
trucks of goods sent to the town. The railway company
state that unless there is an improvement in this unloading,
they will have to stop the loading of coal at the collieries.

Scotland.

Bandrum estate, near Dunfermline, which belonged to the
late Mr. Henry Ness, coal master, was disposed of by public
roup for a sum of £10,000. Bores on this estate have proved
the existence of several good seams of coal. The Dunferm-
line Splint coal lies at a depth of about 130 fms. Pits were
sunk by the late Mr. Ness, but the coal at that particular
part was poor, and the pits worked very little coal.

Fire broke out last week at No. 3 pithead, Cadzow
Colliery, Hamilton. The county brigade from Larkhall were
summoned, and while awaiting their arrival the colliery
company’s own hose was brought into play very successfully.
As a precautionary measure, the Hamilton fire brigade were
also called out, but their services were not required. The
management deemed it prudent to bring all the workmen to
the surface till the danger was over.

The activity in the Fife coal trade which set in last week,
formed a marked contrast to the quietness of the previous
week. Vessels that had been belated arrived in sufficient
numbers to cause them to wait their turn. Over 40 steamers
were dealt with between Methil and Burntisland, and the
combined shipments from the two ports amounted to 55,738
tons, as compared with 33,695 tons for the previous week.
Burntisland made a great recovery in shipping 20,800 tons,
against 9,100 tons the previous week. The shipments at
Burntisland for last week only represented about 30 per cent,
of pre-war figures.