February 16, 1917.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

347

Navigation Collieries -as well as to those of D. Davis and
Sons.

At a meeting in Cardiff Exchange Buildings on Tuesday,
reference was made to the distribution of colliery dividends
and their relation to War Loan subscriptions. The Lord
Mayor stated that he had been informed by the president of
the Chamber of Commerce that if colliery companies were
given permission to release dividends, the taking up of the
Loan would be more liberal; and he had therefore communi-
cated with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the subject.
That gentleman had given the matter his attention; and,
out of 19 applications, 16 had been granted in full.

The firm of Louis G-ueret, and its associated firm, with
Messrs. Callaghan and W. S. Jones, directors, have -applied
for ^121,300 new War Loan—making a total of £300,000.

It was decided at a meeting of colliers in the Workmen’s
Hall at Cwmfelinfach, that the colliers in the district should
invest £50,000 in the War Loan—the employers being asked
to make deductions from the wages weekly, the minimum
to be Is.

Among local contributions to the War Loan are the
Cardiff Collieries Limited, £200,000; Mr. J. W. Beynon
and family, £75,000; Mr. L. F. Beynon and Miss Beynon,
.£30,000.- A number of offices at the docks have organised
schemes for assisting members of their staffs to invest.
At the private meeting held on Tuesday, when most of the
leading business men were present, amongst other state-
ments was that of Mr. John Cory, ship owner, who said he
would double or treble his previous contribution. Mr. Cory’s
firm had already subscribed over three-fourts of a million.
Other subscriptions by persons and firms in the coal trade
are: Insoles, £100,000; Harrison, Sons and Company,
£20,000; Windsor Company, £20,000; Mrs. B. Cory and
family, £122,000. A War Loan “ sweep ” on Cardiff
Exchange, with 10s. tickets, for prizes of £300, £200, and
lower amounts, has been very successful. North’s Naviga-
tion Company subscribe for £190,000, of which £20,000 will
be allocated to workmen, whose subscription may extend
over two years.

The executive council of the South Wales Miners’ Federa-
tion has decide to invest £50,000 ; and the Tredegar Iron
and Coal Company also took up £10,000 for the purpose of
the scheme of subscription by employees.

Cardiff’s total amounts to more than seven millions ster-
ling; and Swansea’s has exceeded four millions, which
includes £20,000 from the Gwaun-cae-Gurwen Colliery Com-
pany, and £32,000 from Sir John Llewellyn.

The total trade at the Bute Dock during 1916 was
11,084,296 tons, as' compared with 11,433,506 tons in the
preceding year. The exports of coal during last year were
8,634,234 tons, as against 8,934,275 tons in 1915, a decrease
of 300,041 tons. Patent fuel totalled 454,099 tons, against
484,180 tons, showing a decrease of 30,081 tons. The
imports of pitwood totalled 449,650 tons, as against 413,399
tons, an increase of 36,251 tons. The imports of iron ore
were 616,668 tons, as against 628,636 tons, a decrease of
11,968 tons. There were 6,579 steamers “ cleared,” of
5,362,819 tons register, and 1,424 sailing vessels, of 161,975
tons register; the total was therefore 8,003 vessels, of
5,524,794 tons in 1916, compared with 8,207 vessels, of
5,709,253 tons in 1915, a decrease of 184,459 tonnage. In
view of this return, the question suggests itself why was
there so much difficulty in obtaining shipment of coal when
the difference in tonnage was not so great; and the answer
is that such a very large proportion of the tonnage was not
available for the ordinary shipper because it was engaged in
Government and Allied work.

The Swansea Education Committee is fortunate in having
an income derived from coal royalties. At its meeting on
Monday, Aiderman Colwill mentioned the half-yearly report
of the minerals surveyor, and said he did not see any hope
of the expectation entertained from the new lease being
realised, nor did he think that an income exceeding £7,000,
which they had anticipated, would ever be reached; indeed,
he questioned whether they would receive as much as they
did under the old lease. A revenue of £1,114 was the net
result of raising 40,240 tons of coal, and the statement of
the surveyor also showed them that 84,824 tons were con-
veyed under the estate and lifted at other pits in accordance
with the right of instroke. The royalties and wayleaves for
the half-year did not amount to anything like what they
did under the old lease. He suggested that the mineral
surveyor should be asked to attend at the next meeting,
and explain the position. Other speakers pointed out that
in consequence of the shortage of labour, it is impossible
for the lessees to fully develop the property under the new
lease until after the war. Finally, it was decided that the
committee should interview the surveyor.

In the annual report of Cardiff Coal and Shipping
Exchange, the directors state that there is a profit on the
year of £780, and they recommend that after appropriating
£100 reserve and a certain amount for depreciation of fur-
niture, a dividend of 5 per cent, per annum, less income-
tax, shall be paid. It was stated that Lord Rhondda
(having accepted the office of President of the Local Govern-
ment Board) had resigned his directorship, and it is suggested
that Mr. V. D. Hailey should be appointed to fill the
vacancy.

Northumberland and Durham.

Memorial to Soldier Miners — A Patriotic List. — Tyne
Shipments—Local Gas Profits.

. Northern contributions towards the new War Loan
include:—Horden Collieries Limited, £75,000; North
Brancepeth Coal Company Limited, £52,900; North Bitch-
burn Coal Company Limited, £50,000, and from the miners
and officials at Eldon Colliery, £4,000.

Mr. M. W. Parrington, who has been appointed honorary
secretary of the North of England Institute of Mining and
Mechanical Engineers, in succession to the late Mr. J. H.
Merivale, is agent of the Wearmouth Coal Company Limited,
and was president of the institute a few years ago. In his
new office he will continue to receive the assistance of Mr.
Allan Cordner, who has been assistant secretary to the insti-
tute for some considerable time.

Sunderland magistrates fined T. Gill, hewer, £5 for having
hewed off the wall at Byhope Colliery; and G-. Feetham,
driver, 20 s., for having allowed his pony to stray in the same
pit.

With the co-operation of many of the miners’ lodges in
the parish of Pelton, it is proposed to erect a Celtic granite
cross, about 18ft. high., costing about £300, in memory of
all local men who have fallen in the war. Pelton village
green is the favoured spot for the memorial, and the con-
sent of the lord of the manor (Earl Durham) is to be sought.

A pony, turning round in. the main coal seam of the
Dorothea pit, Philadelphia, apparently caught a prop and

knocked it out, causing a fall of stone, under which its
driver, David Annan, 16, and itself were buried, death
resulting. The coroner’s jury found that Annan’s death
was due to accident.

Mr. R. Walton, who, at the age of 72 years, is now retir-
ing from an active business, connection with Newcastle
Quayside which has lasted for 58 years, commenced his
commercial carrer there as a boy in the office of. the late
Mr. Douglas Cooper, ship broker and coal merchant, and,
later, became fitter for the Washington Coal Company, a
position he held for 31 years, and from which he retired 22
years ago on the company changing owners. Since that
time he has been in business on his own account.

The “ Patriotic list ” which has been issued by the Wall-
send and Hebburn Coal Company Limited as a two-page
advertisement in a local newspaper—adopting the innova-
tion to which we referred a fortnight ago — is an amazing
record of the readiness of north country miners to help the
Empire in the field. From Hebburn Colliery there have
enlisted 583 men and boys, of whom 33 have given their
lives; from “G” pit, Wallsend, 356, of whom 30 have
been killed; from the Rising Sun Colliery, 426, of whom 59
have been killed ; from the Edward pit, 143, of whom five
have been killed; and from the clerical staff, 20.

George Smith was fined 20s. at Durham for having with-
held £19 18s. 6d., the moneys of the West Stanley lodge
of the Durham Miners’ Association, while acting . as
treasurer, and was ordered to repay the money at the rate
of 10s. per month. Mr. Heath, who prosecuted on behalf
of the association, stated that it was not a case in which
either drink or gambling was involved. Part of the money
was of a war charity, and it was deplorable that money
voluntarily contributed should have been misapplied.
Defendant was in ill-health, and had a large family, in the
support of whom the money had been used.

The fifth annual report of the Horden Colliery Cottage
Hospital shows that, last year, 38 patients were admitted,
204 colliery accidents treated, and six out-patients dealt
with. In addition, 253 cases of tuberculosis received
medical attention and treatment. Thanks are accorded to
the Horden Collieries Limited for a donation of £50 to cover
the cost of fuel, lighting, water, etc., and for bearing the
cost of a thorough overhaul of the X-ray apparatus, and to
the colliery workmen for subscriptions totalling £95.

Despite the great scarcity of collier tonnage, with which
the coal market has been afflicted ever since the year com-
menced, the shipments of coal from the Tyne during January
showed an increase of 26,697 tons when compared with those
for January 1916, the figures being : Coal -as cargo, 861,197
tons, an increase of 36,441 tons when compared with the
corresponding period of last year, and a decrease of 622,423
tons when compared with the figures for January 1913 (the
last full pre-war year); and 108,430 tons of bunkers,
decreases of 9,744 and 72,162 tons respectively. The coke
clearances amounted to 56,531 tons, increases of 4,922 and
29,536 tons respectively.

Lieut.-Col. Ritson, of the coal owning firm of Messrs.
U. A. Ritson and Sons Limited, received a hearty welcome
back to civilian occupations at the annual meeting of share-
holders of the Newcastle and Gateshead Gas Company on
Tuesday. Sir Wm. Stephenson, presiding, said Mr. Ritson
had served his king and country faithfully and well, and
after his hard and strenuous military career, they wished
him every happiness in his future leisure hours.

Mr. Stephenson H. Kent, who has had conferred upon
him the K.C.B., in recognition of services rendered during
the war, is a partner in the firm of Messrs. Clarke, Stephen-
son and Company, coal exporters, etc., of Newcastle.

Sir Wm. Stephenson informed the annual meeting of
shareholders in the Newcastle and Gateshead Gas Company
that the gross profits of the concern amounted to £123.279
last year, a decrease of £1,265 on the year. Gas had
yielded £385,840, an increase of .£18,462, and residuals
£216.000, an increase of £65,043. Coke had produced
£51.000 more than in 1915, but, owing to shipping diffi-
culties, its disposal had caused great anxiety. The finan-
cial results from tar were still short, owing to the very
restricted outlet for pitch. The contract for the sale and
purchase of tar which the company had had in recent years
had expired, and the directors contemplated ‘the erection of
distillation plant at St. Anthony’s, which, it was believed,
would produce better financial results. The increase in the
price of coals, as compared with 1915, was over £75,000,
but there had been a reduction in the cost of gas purifica-
tion of £3.100. In June 1915 the price of coal was 11s. 7d.
per ton: in June 1916, 12s. lid. fmostlv purchased before
the passing of the Price of Coal (Limitation) Act, 1915; and
for the 12 months ending June this vear the price would
be 15s. 7d.

Cumberland.

Mr. Alexander Kilpatrick, who for some years has filled
the position of manager at the Devon Colliery, belonging
to the Alloa Coal Company, Fifeshire, has been appointed
manager of the Wellington Pit, Whitehaven.

Yorkshire.

The Doncaster Corporation has some rich seams of coal
underlving its property. At last week’s meeting of the
Council, it was reported that the Estates Committee of the
Corporation had had an interview with its mining engi-
neer with regard to the suggested leasing of certain seams
underlying the municipal estates. After discussing the
same, the town clerk was empowered to see the engineer,
with a view to entering into certain negotiations, and to
report thereon in due course. It was recommended that
details be prepared of all Corporation land under which the
coal seams had not been already leased.

Kent.

The system of checking whether miners are missing, by
means of checks or lamps returned, and counting the men
as each shift comes to the surface, failed in a fatality which
occurred at Tilmanstone Colliery, with the result that two
men imprisoned by a fall of roof were undiscovered for over
six hours. At the adjourned inquest concerning the death
of one of these men, Henry Davis. 34. miner, Mr. P. T.
Lea, H.M. inspector of mines, and Mr. W. Craddock, Kent
Miners’ Association, wTere present, and asked a number of
questions. Davis’ brother, who was working with him at
the time of the accident, was able to give evidence. He said
they were “ ripping ” at the time, in order to make a
passage higher. About noon his brother knocked a prop
away, and the roof fell in, imprisoning them both under it.
They were there about six or seven hours before help arrived.
—A banksman said 105 men went down the pit that morn-
ing, and he signed for 105 as coming un between 2 and 2.30.
He did not personally count the men, but relied upon some-

body else.—Replying to the inspector, the lampman who
issued the lamps to the shift, said they did not always issue
a check with every lamp, although checks were provided
for every lamp. On the day of the accident, checks were
not issued for lamps 59 and 85 (which were taken down by
deceased and his brother).—Another lampman, who received
the lamps from the men on coming up the pit, said he
noticed there were lamps short, but he did not report it to
anyone, as it was no uncommon occurrence. In reply to a
question, he said it never occurred to him previously to the
inquest that the checking of the lamps was also the check-
ing of men’s lives.—The colliery manager, Mr. Wroe, said
he did not think it necessary in this case to use pit drawing
appliances. About 30 cwt. of bind fell from the roof. Mr.
Wroe >sa’id his attention had never been drawn, to any diffi-
culty in counting the men as they came up.the pit, and he
did not know the lamp checks were not in use-. He would
see that the system of lamp checks was properly worked in
future.—In returning a verdict of “ Death from misadven-
ture,” the jury added a rider that a proper system of check-
ing the number of lamps should be most rigidly enforced in
future.

Scotland.

War Loan Subscriptions — Idle Collieries — Premature
Explosion—Afforestation Problems.

In the new subscriptions to the War Loan from Scotland,
the name of Sir John Wilson, Bart., of Airdrie, appears for
£120,000, of which £94,000 is new money; and his company,
the Wilsons and Clyde Coal Company, for £142,000, of
which £50,000 is new money.

The Manor-Powis Coal Company, Stirling, held the annual
meeting in Glasgow, when it was resolved to pay 10 per
cent, on the ordinary shares, less tax.

Mr. William Montgomerie, secretary of the Broxburn Oil
Mines Company, has been appointed assistant manager of
the company. He will continue to act as secretary.

A considerable number of collieries in Fife were idle during
the week. .Navigation pits, which have hitherto been well
employed, are included in the number. The ground avail-
able for binging at other collieries is filled up.

At a meeting of Midlothian and Haddingtonshire Miners’
Association, reports showed that a considerable loss of output
had been occasioned at several collieries.

A premature explosion of a shot-hole charged with gelig-
nite was responsible for the serious injuries inflicted on two
roddsmen at West Dunyston coal mine of the Burnside
colliery, Chapelhall.

Owing to illness, Prof. W. Bone was unable, to deliver a
lecture on “ Fuel Economy ” at a meeting of the West of
Scotland Iron and Steel Institute in Glasgow. In express-
ing his regret at Prof. Bone’s illness, Mr. Beard, the presi-
dent, observed that the large attendance indicated the
interest that was being taken in fuel economy. Iron and
steel manufacturers were considering the problem, with a
view of really effective action being taken to prevent waste
of fuel.

At a meeting of the Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society
held in Edinburgh, Dr. A. W. Borthwick, in opening a dis-
cussion on “ Our Afforestation Problems,” stated that “ our
soil and climate were capable of growfing timber equal in
grain and fibre to the very best that could be imparted.
The present quality of pitwood should not be taken as a
criterion of what our soil, climate, and foresters could pro-
duce. The timber had to be cut and rushed into the mines
before it had any chance of seasoning, or even before it was
peeled. If our foresters knew that there would be a con-
tinued demand, they would be able to produce pit wood of
a quality and standard to that imported.”—Mr. H. M.
Gadell, of Grange, suggested that the tops of pit banks
should be utilised for growing timber.

At a meeting of Gartshore district miners, a resolution
was unanimously passed condemning the coal masters and
the miners’ leaders for their action in connection with the
miners’ recent claim for an increase of wages. It was
decided to forward the resolution to the Lanarkshire Miners’
Union.

CONTRACTS OPEN FOR COAL AND COKE.

For Contracts Advertised in this issue received too late
for inclusion in this column, see Leader and Last
White pages.

Abstracts of Contracts Open.

Bermondsey, February 22. — Coke for the Guardians.

Forms from E. P. Fenton, 283, Tooley-street, S.E.

Bethnal Green, February 19.—House coal and coke (six
or 12 months) for the Council. Forms from the borough
engineer, Town Hall.

Clitheroe, March 3.—Coal (12 months) for the Police
Department. Forms from the Chief Constable.

Dundee, February 21.—Coal (six or 12 months) for the
Dundee Harbour Trustees. Forms from the general
manager.

Gainsborough, March 3. — Coal (12 months) for the
Urban District Council. Forms from the engineer.

Hendon, February 19.—Coal and coke (12 months) for
the Urban District Council. Forms from the surveyor,
Council Offices.

Ilford, February 24.—Coal and coke (12 months) for the
Urban District Council. Forms from the surveyor, Town
Hall, Ilford.

Keighley, February 24. — Coal for the Joint Hospital
Board. Forms from J. N. Clarkson, 40, North-street,
Keighley.

Lambeth, February 27.—Coal for the Guardians. Forms
from the Offices, Brook-street, Kennington.

Mansfield, February 28.—Goal (12 months) for the Cor-
poration. Forms from the borough engineer, Market-street,
Mansfield.

Marylebone, February 19. — Coal and coke (six or 12
months) for the Borough Council. Forms from the town
clerk, Town Hall, Marylebone-lane.

Slough, February 20. — Furnace coal and coke (six
months) for the Boyal British Orphan Schools, Slough.
Forms, from the offices, 27, Clement’s Inn, E.C.

South Shields, March 3.—Coal and coke (12 months)
for the Corporation. Forms from the borough engineer,
Municipal Buildings, South Shields.

Strood, March 7.— Best Nottingham hand steam coal (12