446

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

March 2, 1917.

ness; and thousands could be spared, as well as hundreds of
horses, for service in national directions.

Northumberland and Durham.

A New Appointment—Proposed Higher Dock Dues—Land
for Allotments—Gas Companies’ Reports—Concerning
House Coal—Compensation Cases.

Two charges brought by Mr. B. Bell, manager of Shildon
Lodge Colliery, against Albert Taylor, putter, were dis-
missed by the Bishop Auckland magistrates on the ground
of insufficient evidence. Taylor was charged with having
unlawfully and wilfully damaged an electrical coal cutter,
and with having attempted a token fraud, but in each
instance his solicitor successfully pleaded a lack of evidence
to justify a conviction.

Mr. John H. Allison, who for 'about seven years has
been assistant manager at the Dean and Chapter Colliery
of Messrs. Bolckow, Vaughan and Company Limited, has
been appointed manager of the Littleburn Colliery of the
North Brancepeth Coal Company Limited. Mr. Allison was
formerly at Messrs. Bolckow, Vaughan’s Shildon Lodge
Colliery.

At the half-yearly meeting of the Seaham Harbour Dock
Company, a Parliamentary Bill was approved authorising
the directors to raise their charging powers by 50 per cent,
on ships and 50 per cent, on the shipping of coal. The Bill
provided, also, for the substitution of one annual meeting
for the two half-yearly meetings of the company. It was
stated that it had been read a second time, and would
probably receive the Boyal Assent about May.

In order to encourage the local miners to cultivate allot-
ments, the Seaton Burn Coal Company Limited has offered
to provide land to be held for the period of the war without
payment, and to supply seed potatoes for, which the work-
men should pay by instalments or when they realised on the
crop. A very large number of miners have decided to take
advantage of the offer.

The Blyth Gas Company’s annual report states that coal
has cost more, but that coke has improved in value. The
extension to carbonising plant is in ia satisfactory state of
progress, and is likely to be completed before another light-
ing season.—The Alnwick Gas Company’s report comments
on the increased cost of materials and on the restrictions
imposed by the Ministry of Munitions in regard to the dis-
posal of tar and sulphate of ammonia.—In both instances,
statutory dividends are to be paid.—In view of the continued
high price of coal and the abnormal conditions due to the
war, the directors of the Newcastle and District Electric
Lighting Company are restricting the recommended divi-
dend to 2A- per cent., absorbing £5,674, and are carrying for-
ward £29,973.

According to the programme of the Northern section of the
Coke Oven Managers’ Association, Dr. Henry Louis is to
speak at Newcastle on “ Coal Washing ” on March 31, and
on April 28, Mr. T. B. Smith will address the members at
Darlington on “ The Standardisation of Benzol Works
Tests.” On the last Saturday of each month from May to
September inclusive the members will inspect by-product
coke oven plants in the district, including those at the Dean
and Chapter Colliery, Bearpark, Langley Park, Marley Hill,
and Bowden Close.

In his most recent circular to the members of the Durham
Miners’ Association, Mr. T. H. Cann, secretary, mentions
that the financial response to the recent appeals on behalf of
the Durham Aged Mine Workers’ Homes Association has
been such, on the part both of owners and workmen, that
the overdraft at the bank has been considerably reduced, and
asks for a special effort to get rid of it altogether. He
expresses surprise and regret to learn that a few of the
lodges (fortunately, a very small percentage) have not yet
assisted the movement. He appeals to the altruistic instincts
of the miners in this minority of lodges, and asks them to
come into line with their fellows.

Commenting on the shortage of house coal supplies in large
towns at present, Mr. Cann ascribes this to the large con-
sumers, “ whose needs are not so much a matter of life and
death as luxurious comfort,” being allowed to absorb the
available supply. “ One might have understood this state
of affairs being tolerated if coalthad been unobtainable, but,
in our county alone—'and I have yet to learn that it is con-
fined to this district—several of our collieries have been
working short time, with the result that the men who are
employed at them have found the problem of living seriously
intensified. Surely, it could not be <an insuperable task to
establish coal depots with power to commandeer coal to be
sold to the small consumer m relatively fair proportion to
the larger consumers. ... If some scheme of this kind had
been devised, I have no hesitation in saying that, not only
would much silent suffering have been avoided, but the work-
ing of short time at collieries w'ould also have been unneces-
sary.” Mr. Cann, we fear, has written thus without giving
the problem any earnest consideration. Indeed, such
remarks are inexcusable from him, although some townsman
who knew nothing of the coal trade or the mining industry
might have been forgiven for penning them. Mr. Cann,
surely, does not need to be told that the cause of the collieries •
being laid idle is the scarcity of shipping, and nothing other
than the scarcity of shipping. So far as the faulty distri-
bution of house coals in large towns is concerned, that is
due, mainly to (1) congestion of railway traffic consequent
upon military exigencies, and (2) the shortage of carters,
carts, and horses attributable to the same cause. In so far
as household coal collieries have been laid idle recently—
and the percentage of such collieries idle is far below that
of collieries producing for export—it has been principally
because of a shortage of railway wagons, due to these
vehicles being 'already filled 'and awaiting discharge into
collier tonnage which ha?s not yet materialised at the staiths.
If “ the available supply ” of coals were being absorbed by
large consumers or small, Mr. Gann might rest assured that
there would be no occasion for the collieries to be laid idle.

Aid. Wm. House, compensation agent to the Durham
Miners’ Association, has just reported on negotiations con-
cerning claims for compensation for accident in reference to
12 fatal and 20 non-fat al cases. Compensation committee
awards in the former cases included the following :—£84 in
the case of Bobt. Wm. Telford, 19, assistant rolleywayman
at Esh, who died from a horse’s kick; £58 in the case of
Oswald Dixon, 14, driver at West Thornley', crushed between
a tub and the side; £48 in the case of Win. Sewell, 14,
driver at Pelton, jammed between tubs; £10 in the case of
Luke Woodhouse, 65, wasteman at Kibblesworth, who,
killed by a fall of stone, left no dependants ; £51 10s.' in the
case of Norman Erench, 16, datal boy ;at Eldon, who was
killed through being caught by the tail rope and thrust
against the coal face"; £58 in the case of Thos. Collingwood,
16, onsetter’s assistant at Oakenshaw, who died from septic.

absorption following a fall on a pick ; £10 in the case of John
Dunn, 60, screener, crushed by trucks at Usworth;
£42 16s. 8d. in the case of Geo. F. Clemitson, 14,' driver
at North Hetton, crushed between tubs; £84 in the case of
Fredk. W. Howden, 15, landing keeper at Whitburn, who
fell out of an ascending cage; and £62 6s. 8d. in the case
of Balph Dixon, 18, offhand lad at Craghead, whose spine
was dislocated by a fall of stone. In the case of M. Bannon,
61, wTasteman at Shotton, who was alleged to have died as
the result of a fall of stone, there being a difference of
medical opinion, the men decided to take the case to court.
The claim in respect of the fatality to Wilfred Bobinson, 17,
employed on the engine plane at Hetton, who was killed
through being caught by a set of tubs, was withdrawn, it
being discovered that the accident occurred half a mile from
deceased’s place of employment. Of the non-fatal cases,
only the following need be detailed :—G. Nelson, 55, hewer
at Shield Bow, had his leg broken in June 1904 by a fall
of ramble. After being off nearly a year with the accident,
he started at light work, as a packer, at 3s. 4d. per day
basis wage, and continued, with a few intervals, until
August of last year, when the effects of the accident com-
pelled him again to lie off. The official medical referee cer-
tified that Nelson was still Incapacitated by reason of the
accident 12 years before, and that he was fit for light work.
Nelson started on shift work on November 13, and claimed
compensation from August 16 last up to the later date,
because no other work had been offered him. Full compen-
sation up to November 6 was granted. Three claims by men
at Wheatley Hill for compensation for having slipped and
injured themselves whilst on the colliery premises were
adjourned for further enquiries. The claim of Henry
Gorman, 32, hewer at Hebburn, was allowed. Whilst
wedging some bottom coal up, he was caught on the leg by
the wedge. During the same shift his hand was injured by
a fall of ramble. He did not report the accidents until four
days later, following which he was off three weeks with
blood poisoning. Geo. Bayner, 49, horsekeeper at Beamish,
stated that he was bitten on the hand by a pony on
November 7 last. He did not report it, and worked up to
November 24, when blood poisoning compelled him to cease.
He sent in a claim on December 30 last. The claim was
disallowed. Albert Suggett, 24, hand putter at Urpeth
Busty, alleged that on November 16 last a. wmund was caused
in his foot by the nails of his shoes. Dirty water got in,
and caused blood poisoning. He lay idle on November 22,
reporting the accident on that day, and was off until
December 5. He was awarded 15 days’ compensation.
John Thos. Wells, 29, hewer at Cornsay, was injured in the
back and hip by a fall of stone in August 1915, and was
paid full compensation until November last, when he was
offered light work on the belts. He pleaded inability to
undertake it owing to nystagmus having developed as. a
result of the accident. The claim was resisted, because
Wells was out of the mine 12 months before he made his
claim on the ground of nystagmus. The case is to be sub-
mitted to the eye medical referee. A case not dealt with
by the committee, buc by negotiation with the owners’
agent, was that of Thos. Waistell, 15, driver at Bandolph
Colliery, who stated that he fell between a tub 'and the coal
face whilst running alongside some tubs which were in
motion. He stated that he had been riding on the tubs
before the accident occurred, but had got off, and was
running alongside when he stumbled and was caught. The
manager alleged that Waistell was riding on top of the tub,
contrary to regulations, and therefore refused to pay com-
pensation. There was three weeks’ money at stake, and it
was agreed to accept half as a settlement. A case settled
after negotiation with the insurance company was that of
T. Teasdale, hewer at Quarry pit, who alleged that he was
incapacitated by an inrush of gas. The owners denied
liability, and county court proceedings were contemplated,
but the claim was settled for £12 without litigation.

It was stated at a recent meeting of the Durham Bural
District Council that, in the last 10 years, nearly £6,000 had
been spent upon the repair of Framwellgate Moor colliery
houses. The clerk (Mr. Jas. Chambers) averred that the
money had been absolutely thrown away. Mr. Lund asked
what the position of that colliery property would be now
that the Government had taken over the mines, but the
chairman (Mr. Jas. Fowler) said he could not say. Mr.
Wearmouth remarked that many houses in his particular
district were being affected by pitfalls.

Yorkshire.

A Clergyman Miner—A Question of Delivery—Compensation
Case—Electrical Experiences in Collieries.

Some interest has been aroused by a clergyman of the
Church of England having signed on as a filler. He is
now putting in his six shifts per week at the coal face. This
is held by colliery officials to be one of the most genuine
cases of volunteering for work of national importance that
has come to their notice since Mr. Neville Chamberlain
issued an appeal. The clergyman in question is the Bev.
E. E. Johnson, curate in charge of the Church of St. Luke,
Bossington new colliery village, near Doncaster, which
church has recently been erected by the South Yorkshire
Coal Fields Church Extension Committee. Having failed to
obtain the permission of the Bishop of Sheffield to enlist,
or to take up a chaplaincy at the front, the rev. gentleman
has had to wait until the call came for national service.

The members of the coal merchants’ section of the Brad-
ford Chamber of Trade are engaged in a controversy with
the Great Northern Bailway Company on the subject of the
company’s failure to deliver merchants’ supplies at the place
to which they are consigned, whilst insisting on charges
which the merchants consider they are under no obligation
to recognise. The railway company has been holding up
trucks at Dudley Hill goods sidings, where there is no coal
yard, and sent to the merchants intimation of the presence
of the trucks at Dudley Hill, and that demurrage is being
charged on them whilst waiting there. The merchants,
quite apart from the point of view of inconvenience caused
by this arrangement, contend that they have a right to have
the coal delivered at the yard to which it is consigned, and
that, if delay is caused by the congestion, they are paying
quite heavily enough by such delay, and should not be
charged demurrage. The latest development is that the
railway company is threatening legal action. There is also a
complaint amongst members of suspected appropriation by
railway companies of private wagons, on their return
journeys to the colliery areas, for the benefit of the railway
company for conveyance of other goods.

Mr. Justice Bailhache, in the King’s Bench, decided that
a workman who had received compensation for disablement
under one scheme which had been substituted for the Work-
men’s Compensation Act, was entitled to the more favourable

terms in another scheme subsequently introduced into the
colliery.- The applicant was John Beard, and the respon-
dents were Messrs. J. and J. Charles worth’s West York-
shire Collieries. The arbitrator had made an awurd in
favour of the applicant. The submission of the respondents
was that the rights of Beard were limited by the rules of
the scheme which was in existence at the time of the
accident.

Members of the Yorkshire branch of the Association of
Mining Electrical Engineers, at their meeting at Wakefield
on Saturday (when Mr. A. B. Chaytor presided), found many
points for criticism in an exhaustive paper on “ Electrical
Experience at Collieries ” by Mr. Chris. Jones.—The
chairman, in opening the discussion, emphasised the neces-
sity for standardising supplies, in view of the growing ten-
dency to connect up big generating stations. Among other
points brought out in the course of the discussion was the
relative merits of paper insulation and bitumen, the paper
insulated cable being better able to carry an overload. The
causes that lead to electric motors taking a less load on
Monday mornings after the week-end stop were explained, the
general opinion being that this pointed to no inherent defect
in the motor, but simply to the partial clogging of all the
journals in the machinery and on the tubs, due to the week-
end stoppage. One member said he had found a drop of
25 per cent, in the load. Mr. Elliott emphasised the neces-
sity of installing motors as nearly as possible to the actual
requirements made upon them, and showed that in one pit
he had effected a saving of 195 horse-power by substituting
smaller.power motors suited to the actual load. Motors, in
his opinion, should be run <at a slight overload to obtain the
maximum efficiency. Several interesting experiences were
quoted by other members, showing the efficiency and life of
electric motors when properly looked after. In one case a
machine put down the pit 20 years ago was. still running
perfectly.

Lancashire and Cheshire.

The life of a collier is always an important asset to the
State, but to-day it is more important than ever,” said Mr.
H. Milligan, the Wigan borough coroner, at a colliery
inquest on Monday at Wigan. “ We can ill afford to lose
any man at the present time, or for some years to come.”
The inquest had reference to the death of Charles Abbott
(55), who, while following his employment at the Swan
Lane Collieries, Hindley Green, Wigan, was fatally injured,
and died later the same day in the Wigan Infirmary. He
was caught at the back of the head by a jack sprag which
he was drawing from underneath top coal, being rendered
unconscious.—Mr. S. Walsh, M.P., said that one way to
draw sprags in such circumstances was to ease the sprag
first with a hammer, and then get a long prop and knock it
out, the man knocking it out being then some distance away.
This work, looked upon by the collier as his own, was left
to the collier’s own judgment, and, of course, the collier
might.err in judgment like everybody else. He had no doubt
that, the colliery company would be willing to have this
particular work of drawing sprags done by datallers if
necessary, but no collier looked upon it as anything but his
own job.—Mr. Pendlebury, the certificated colliery manager,
pointed out that the deceased was, in fact, in the nature of
a dataller, seeing that he was paid by the day wage, but
the colliers knew that if there was any doubt about the
work, the management were always willing for datallers to
draw the sprags.—The jury returned a verdict of “Acci-
dental death,” adding that, in their opinion, no one was
to blame.

North Wales.

Mr. H. S. Higginbottom, of Liverpool, the purchaser of
the important coal mining enterprise until recently owned
by the Coed Talon Collieries Limited, is establishing a
pumping station at Coed Talon, which, it is contemplated,
will drain the coal fields of Coed Talon, Tryddyn, Lees-
wood, and Llanfynydd.

The Midlands.

Manager Fined £20—Questions at Under-Managers’
Meeting. .

Arising out of the recent accident at the Hamstead
Colliery, the manager, Mr. Lawrence Holland, appeared at
the Perry Barr Police Court on Wednesday, in answer to
five summonses, issued at the instance of Mr. J. B. Felton,
H.M. inspector of mines, for breaches of the Coal Mines
Regulation Act. — Mr. J. A. Shephard, who appeared to
prosecute on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions,
said it seemed that about 10 o’clock on the night of
November 30, the drum shaft of the engine broke, rendering
the engine useless, and preventing the downcast shaft being
available for the raising of the men. Mr. Felton informed
Mr. Holland on December 2 that he could not use the single
shaft without an exemption from the Secretary of State.
An application' for exemption was made, and refused.
Notwithstanding the refusal,, men were in the mine. On
December 12 an accident occurred in the upcast shaft. The
result was that seven men were imprisoned in the cage from
1 a.m. till 10 p.m., and 21 men were confined in the mine
for four days. He was instructed to state they appreciated
the difficulties, and they asked for a penalty for one day
only. In reply to Mr. Graham Milward, who 'appeared for
the colliery company, F^fr. J. Walker, under-manager, said
it was an awkward mine to work, and liable to outbreaks of
fire. It was necessary to have the whole of the men down
the pit on those days to keep the roadways in working order.

In reply to Mr. Milward, Mr. Felton said the pit required
daily visits by the roadmen. It was subject to severe
crushings, which were more or less liable to block up the
roads. He thought defendant might have had nine men
down the pit.--Mr. William Walker, Deputy Chief Inspector
of Mines, said the mine was very liable to spontaneous
combustion and fire, and he did not think it advisable to
grant an exemption. It was more desirable that the pit
should be closed than the lives of men endangered.___Mr.

Graham Milward said there had only been a technical
offence. Defendant was fined £20 and costs on one sum-
mons, and the costs in the others.

A meeting of the South Staffordshire and East Worcester-
shire Colliery Under-Managers’ Association was held at
Dudley on Saturday, when several letters were read from
similar organisations in the country asking for views on
(1) The Government control of mines; (2) the nationalisation
of mines; and (3) the proposed amalgamation of colliery
under-managers’ associations of Great Britain. With regard
ifc was urged that more consideration
should be given to colliery managements by those in higher
authority, especially by the proposed new Advisory Com-
mittee. The secretary was instructed to write Sir Guy
Calthrop, Sir B. Bedmayne, and Mr. Hodge on the question
of representation on this committee. The members favoured
the nationalisation of mines, principally on the ground that