June 1, 1917. THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. 1037 An Invaluable THERE is no weldable part at an at tyy a oni n a nv rm rvi vi aid to work of National Importance of any machine or engine that cannot be absolutely re- stored to perfect condition by BARIMAR Scientific Welding Service The repair work of the Barimar Specialists has been tested times without number in the largest plant-using concerns in Great Britain— and always with complete success. I I I I I I -------------------------------------------j How to Send Goods: | Remove, all fittings. Label plainly with sender's | name and address. Specify in writing “to be « repaired under money-back guarantee.” Despatch carriage paid. I BARIMAR Ltd., 10, Poland Street, I Dept. L, ' London, W. | Telephone— Telegrams— i 8173 Gerrard. “ Bariquamar, Reg, London.” ’ In any case of breakdown of plant where the part cannot be sent to London, a wire will ensure instant despatch of a Bari- mar Mobile Section, equipped to complete repair on the spot. TENDERS FOR COAL. Tenders are invited for the supply of 800 tons of rough small STEAM CO AL, 60 tons of HOUSE COAL, 10 tons large STEAM COAL, etc. Forms of tender and further particulars may be obtained from the BOROUGH ENGINEER, Municipal Offices, Cheltenham, to whom sealed and endorsed tenders are to be delivered on or before the 8th June, 1917. TO COLLIERY PROPRIETORS AND OTHERS. The Stretford Gas Company are pre- pared to receive Tenders for the supply of SCREENED COAL, THROUGH-AND-THROUGH COAL, COAL NUTS and CANNEL, for , gas making purposes, for a period of four months ending 30ch September, 1917. Any further information may be obtained from the.undersigned. Tenders, stating price per ton delivered on the Bridgewater Canal alongside the Gas Works, or to Stret:ord Station, M.S. J. & A. Railway, as the Con- troller of Coal Mines may direct, to be sent sealed and endorsed ‘‘Tender for Gas Coal,” addressed to “ The Chairman of the Board,” not later than 9 a m. on Tuesday, the 12th June, 1917. The Directors do not bind themselves to accept the lowest or any tender. Gasworks, Stretford, (By order) H, KENDRICK, near Manchester, 24 bh May, 1917. Engineer and Manager. CONTRACTS. rT,he Guardians of the Poor of the Parish JL of St. Mary, Islington, invite Tenders for the supply of STEAM COAL, HOUSE COAL, and COKE, to the several Institutions and Offices of the Guardians in the Parish for a period of Six or Twelve Months from the 1st July, 1917. Printed forms of tender containing full particulars, and which alone will be received, must be obtained from the Clerk personally, or a stamped addressed brief-size envelope may be sent. Sealed Tenders must be delivered at the undermentioned offices on or before Tuesday, the 12th June, 1917, addressed to the Guardians, and they will be opened at a Meeting of the Guardians to be held on Thursday, the 14th June, 1917, at the under- mentioned offices. The Guardians do not bind themselves to accept the lowest or any tender. Guardians’ Offices, (By Order) St. John’s-road, Upper Holloway, N. 19. EDWIN DAVEY, 26th May, 1917. Clerk. NEATH CORPORATION GAS WORKS. TENDERS FOR GAS COAL. rphe Gas Committee invite Tenders for _JL the GAS COAL required at the above Works during the year com- mencing 1st July next. Estimated quantity, 8,000 tons, but subject to the requirements from time to time of the Committee. The Coal to be “ 60 per cent, through ” coal, and to be delivered into the Gas Works siding situate at the Millands, Neath, in sheeted wagons, in such weekly or monthly quantities as mav be appointed by the Manager. Payments to be made monthly, subject to 2J per cent discount. Fuller particulars on application direct to the Gas Manager (W. Clark Jackson. Esq.), Gas Works, Neath. No forms of Tender are issued. Seded Tenders, endorsed “Gas Coal Tender,” specifying the description of coal offered and the pits and veins from which raised, to be in my hands not later than 10 o’clock on Tuesday morning, 19th June. No Tender necessarily accepted. The Company or person whose Tender is accepted must enter into the Contract usually required by the Neath Corporation in such cases. Neath. EDWIN C. CURTIS, 21st May, 1917. Town Clerk. BLANCHLAND ESTATE. For Sale.—About 20 Acres of Scotch FIR, SPRUCE and other TREES. The Timber is situated in two blocks near Blanchland Village, which is 9 miles from Stanhope and 10 miles from Hexham. Mr. John Hutchinson, Penny Pie House, Blanchland, Riding Mill-on Tyne, will point out the boundaries (any day except Tuesday) upon receiving one day’s notice, and Offers, will be received by Major 8. M. ROWLANDSON, Estate Office, The College, Durham, up to 16th June, 1917. Wanted.—One good second-hand 20 ton WEIGHING MACHINE; state maker’s name and number. For Sale, 500 good secondhand Relayable RAILWAY SLEEPERS 9 by 10 by 5. 1,000 ditto, suitable for cartroads or flooring purposes. 5,000 Contractors’ SLEEPERS, suitable for 3 ft. gauge road. 20 sets of 12 in. STEEL WHEELS and AXLES, with pedestals 24 in. gauge. 20 sets 9 in. ditto, 18 in. gauge, for colliery work. 100 tons 40 lb. FLAN GE RAILS, with fishplates tj match. Apply—M. J. DEVILLE & CO., MILLHOUSES, SHEFFIELD. For Disposal.—About 30 tons good second-hand Flanged Hutch WHEELS and AXLES, wheels 8£m. dia.; axles 1J in. to suit 24 in. gauge. Also quantity old FLAT HEMP ROPE. Reply—BARNES & BELL, 79, St. George’s-place, Glasgow. For Sale.—-Two High Pressure Cylinders, 40 ft. by 6ft. 6 in., for 100 and 1301b. steam pressure, each with one bolted end plate.—GEOP.GE COHEN, SONS & CO., 600, Commercial- road, London, E. 14. For Sale.—25-h.p. Gas Engine, by Wm. Grice & Sons, Birmingham; Suction Gas Plant by Crossley Bros., Newport; Dynamo, G.E.C.; all complete in good working order, £150 cash down, can be seen any day.—For further particulars, write S. JONES, Sec. Ynyshir Workmen’s Hall, Ynvshir, Rhondda, South Wales. Wanted. — Engine and Dynamo, to develop from 75 to 120 kilowatts, d.c., 5C0 volts; or engine and dynamo separate. Offers to— RAINTON COLLIERY CO., Leamside, co. Durham. TAT anted.—-One totally-enclosed High- VI SPEED SET, engine suitable for 120 lb. pressure, coupled to 500 volt generator d.c., 70 h.p., with condenser. Reply— PENSFOBD & BROMLEY COLLIERIES, Bristol. fThe Colliery Ready Reckoner and Wages JL CALCULATOR. By JAMES IRELAND. “ Will be the means of preventing many disputes oetween pay clerks and colliers.”—Mining Journal, Oollisi'y Guardian Office, 30 & 31, Furnival-street, Holbom, London, E.C. 4. Cloth limp, price Is. 6d. ; poet free, le. Id. J. W. BAIRD AND COMPANY, PITWOOD IMPORTERS, WEST HARTLEPOOL, YEARLY CONTRACTS ENTERED INTO WITH COLLIERIES. OSBECK & COMPANY LIMITED, PIT-TIMBER MERCHANTS, NEWCASTLE-ON-T YNE. SUPPLY ALL KINDS OF COLLIERY TIMBER. Telegrams—“ Ossecks, Newcastle-on-Tyne.” *** For other Miscellaneous Advertisements see Last White Page. Me (Mimj tarto AND Journal of the Coal and Iron Trades. Joint Editors— J. V. ELSDEN, D.Sc. (Load.), F.G.S. HUBERT GREENWELL, F.S.S., Assoc.M.I.M.E. {At present on Active Service). LONDON, FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 1917. The London coal trade continues brisk. Better supplies of house coals are coming forward both by rail and sea. Steam coals and small nuts are exceedingly scarce. The Whitsuntide holiday made market operations almost negligible, and most of the quotations are merely nominal. A better supply of boats improved the outlook on the Tyne and Wear, and prompt coal is very firm. No change of note. is reported in Lancashire, Yorkshire, or the Midlands. Higher figures for loading in early June are demanded in South Wales. Anthracite is dull and patent fuel unaltered. Values in Scotland have a downward tendency. Outward freights are very firm. Business at present is confined to comparatively small vessels for France. Fresh instructions have been issued regarding coal rationing in London. Householders are permitted to order considerable quantities of coal for periodic delivery. The sixty-sixth general meeting of the Institution of Mining Engineers will be held in Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, on Friday, June 15, commencing at 11 a.m. Papers on “The Spontaneous Firing of Coal,” by Dr. J. S. Haldane, “The By- Product Coking Process, its History, Development and Application/’ by Mr. E. Bury; and “Acetylene Mine Lamps,” by Mr. W. Maurice, are included in the agenda. At the annual conference of the Central Associa- tion of Miners’ Permanent Belief Societies it was decided to approach the coal owners with the view of furthering the aims of relief societies in those districts where such organisations do not already exist. The Government has arranged for a further series of visits to the front by South Wales miners’ leaders. Messrs. Vernon Hartshorn, Frank Hodges and Hubert Jenkins left on Thursday for France. x From time to time enquiries reach us Colliery which point to the dearth of available Assessments, information respecting the principles governing the rating of collieries. The subject is, undoubtedly, one of considerable interest and no little importance to those who are contemplating an appeal against their assessment. The method originally advocated in the Poor Belief Act, 1601, of Queen Elizabeth’s time, has about it all the charm of simplicity, since the overseers are there directed to demand from every occupier of coal mines in the parish such competent sum or sums of moneys as they shall think fit, Later Acts, have sought to establish a better principle than the arbitrary judgment of the overseer, and such basesas net annual value and gross estimated rental have from time to time been laid down. Mines, however, have always been the subject of particular consideration. In the first place, they are not ratable before they are worked and have become productive, nor after they have ceased to be so. But in such cases, although the mine buildings, machinery and plant are not ratable, the occupier might still be assessed in respect of surface lands. The Parochial Assessment Act, 1836, enabled colliery owners to make certain deductions from the estimated annual rental. These include the expenses necessary to maintain the mines in a condition to command the hypothetical rent, such as insurance, repairs, land tax, etc. The difficulty, however, still remained that collieries are rarely let on a yearly tenancy, and also that the value of a coal mine depends entirely upon circumstances. An instructive example was afforded in the well-known appeal by the Denaby and Cadeby Colliery Company. This appeal was discussed at considerable length in a paper on “ The Bating of Coal Mines,” by Mr. E. Boyle, Q.C., read before the Surveyors’ Institution in January, 1899. The author then advocated the principle that in arriving at the true gross and ratable value of a colliery, the rating authorities should take into consideration all the circumstances, including the cost or value of the shaft and ratable machinery, the age of the mine, the quality and quantity of the coal, the rent paid under the lease, the rents recently obtained for similar coal under similar circumstances, the output, realised prices and cost of working. The essence of this contention is that the assessment committee should place them- selves in the same position as an intending tenant, and should take into account all the facts that such a tenant would make it his business to ascertain. An interesting sidelight upon the principles of colliery rating is afforded by the appeal, in 1905, by the Fitz william Hemsworth Collieries Limited. It appears that it had been the established custom in the Hemsworth Union, by agreement with the colliery companies, to assess the collieries upon the basis of their output for the preceding year. In the year 1904 the colliery company’s output had been .429,280 tons, whilst the receipts from the sale of the coal were £161,775. The ratable value charged was estimated at 5 per cent, of these gross receipts. As a matter of fact, however, there had been a loss of £5,250 on the year’s working, owing to the fact that the working expenses, including also interest on capital, repairs and renewals, exceeded the receipts by the above-named sum. The appeal in this case was lost owing to the fact that the colliery company had previously accepted the basis of assessment adopted. The question has frequently been argued whether coals, being a vanishing asset, should not be regarded as. real property; but this view has not been supported in the courts. Thus, in the case of Bex v. Attwood, the learned judge remarked that the Legislature has expressly made coal mines ratable, and they must be rated for what they produce—i.e., the coals. Neither did he show any sympathy with the contention that no rate should be imposed upon a colliery until the expenses of bringing it to a productive state had been recouped. He referred to the analogy of money spent in improvement of a farm or house, in which case the tenant is ratable on the improved value. The question of improvement of mines by the tenant, owing to the introduction of machinery or construction . of railways, appears,' in the eyes of the law, to be upon the same footing. If the owner were the occupier of the mine he would be rated upon the improved value of the property consequent upon any expenditure of capital upon plant or machinery. Consequently, it has been held that if the tenant carries out similar improvements, he will be equally liable for an increased assessment corresponding to the improved value. It is unfortunate for colliery owners that collieries have been expressly held to be included in the category of property other than land. This kind of property, which, of course, includes houses and buildings of every sort, has to pay, in certain cases, a higher rate than is charged upon land. It is note- worthy that in the case of Thursby v. Briercliffe- with-Entwistle the coal mines were 500 ft. below the surface, and there was no shaft or other connection with the surface within the rating area concerned. The judgment in this case was subtle. It was held that the term “ land ” was used in the same sense in which it was used in the statute 43 Eliz. c. 2; that it did not therefore include coal mines; and that accordingly coal mines were ' ‘‘ property other than land.” The above remarks refer rather to the law as it stands than to the equity of the principles involved. The most unsatisfactory condition now prevailing is perhaps the inequality of treatment in different parts of the country. Some years ago this subject was discussed at some length before the North Stafford- shire Institute by Mr. A. Hassam*, who concluded, * See Colliery Guardian, March 17, 1905, p. 4'61.