234

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

February 1, 1918.

matter has been taken up, and we are glad to see
upon this committee the name of so sound an
economist as Prof. Sir W. J. Ashley.

The Board of Trade Committee on the Coal Trade,
under the chairmanship of Mr. Adam Nimmo, has
presented its report upon the position of the coal
trade after the war, with special reference to inter-
national competition, and the measures necessary to
safeguard that position. But little has been heard
of this committee since its appointment in the early
days of the war, and it is satisfactory to know that
so much progress has been made. The coal trade
occupies so vital a place amongst our raw material
industries, and has been so acutely controlled in the
special interest of the conduct of the war, that its
future prospects are of the first importance to the
continued prosperity of the nation. A cognate and no
less essential subject, the future of the iron and steel
trades, has meanwhile been considered by another
Board of Trade committee, which has likewise
presented its report.

Passing over other committees, amongst which
mention may be made of those on the shipping and
shipbuilding industries, on financial facilities in con-
nection with the reconversion of works and factories
now engaged upon war work, and on various ques-
tions connected with the supply of war materials, we
come next to the Nitrogen Products Committee, an
exceptionally strong body, with a striking combina-
tion of scientific and technical talent. This committee
is considering many questions closely associated with
the coal trade, both directly and indirectly. Amongst
these are the consideration of the relative advantages
of the various methods for the fixation of atmospheric
nitrogen, the raw materials required for this purpose
and the utilisation of the by-products obtained.
Since some of these processes depend for their success
upon the provision of large supplies of cheap power,
this committee is also considering how this can best
be obtained, and the question of the use of coal can
scarcely fail to come under review. More particularly
is this the case in regard to the wastage of nitrogen
compounds involved in the ordinary methods of coal
consumption now in vogue, both in domestic use, in
power plants and in non-recovery coking.

These questions, however, will be still more
directly considered by the Coal Conservation Com-
mittee, under Lord Haldane’s chairmanship—also a
particularly strong and representative body, which is
instructed to advise—(1) what improvements can be
effected in the present methods of mining coal with
a view to prevent loss of coal in working and to
minimise the cost of production ; (2) what improve-
ments can be effected in the present methods of
using coal for production of power, light and heat,
and of recovering by-products; (3) whether it is
desirable to take any steps, in the near future, to
secure the development of new coalfields or extensions
of coal fields already being worked. The work of
this committee has been wisely broken up into four
sub-committees, viz.:—“ Mining,” under the chair-
manship of Mr. A. Nimmo ; “ Power Generation,”
under Mr. Charles Merz; “Carbonisation,” under
Sir G. Beilby; and “Geological,” under Dr. A.
Strahan. Mr. Merz’s sub-committee has already
presented an interim report upon Electric Power
Supply in Great Britain, but the other subjects
enumerated above are still under consideration.

The coal industry is also concerned in the delibera-
tions of the Imperial Mineral Eesources Bureau
Committee, which has presented its report, and it is
still more directly interested in the work of the Fuel
Research Board, working under the directorship of
Sir G. T. Beilby, with wide terms of reference
embracing the investigation of the nature, prepara-
tion and utilisation of fuel of all kinds, both in the
laboratory and on an industrial scale. Mention must
also be made of the Standing Committee on Mining
of which the section dealing with iron, coal and
hydrocarbons is under the chairmanship of Sir W.
Garforth. This is in the nature of an advisory
body, acting under the direction of the Advisory
Council. A small committee, called the Mine Rescue
Apparatus Research Committee, is charged with
an enquiry into types of breathing apparatus
used in coal mines, and whether it is advisable that
these should be standardised; while the Irish Peat
Inquiry Committee is considering the experience
already gained in Ireland in respect of the use of
peat for fuel, and is to report in due course to the
Fuel Research Board.

It is difficult to make a truly representative selec-
tion of these 87 committees, where so many have an
indirect bearing upon matters of importance to the
coal industry. Those mentioned above will, however,
suffice to show how wide a field the Ministry of
Reconstruction is attempting to cover. To some of
them we shall return when the reports are available
for publication. We will only say now that we trust
that much good will come out of their deliberations.

PRESERVATION OF TIMBER IN
COAL MINES.

The Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research has issued a memorandum* by Professor
Percy Groom dealing with methods of preservation of
pit timber. At the present time the shortage of timber
supplies has rendered the prevention of wastage in pit
timber a matter of national importance. A large
amount of timber in mines, and especially in shallow
coal pits, requires to be replaced prematurely, because
it undergoes decay and consequently collapses. Such
decay or disintegration is, at least, for the most part,
caused by various fungi which permeate and devour
the wood, and often clothe its furnace with a fluffy or
cottony material (“spawn”). This spawn, usually
white, but sometimes coloured, can rapidly grow over
the timber, walls or floor, and may even be broken off
and transferred elsewhere, and thus reach and infect
sound wood. These wood-destroying fungi also produce
fructifications, which emit countless microscopic germs
(“spores”), which, conveyed through the air, may
alight on, and attack, pitwood.

Two means of preventing loss through the decay of
wood are possible: preventive and remedial measures.
Thorough preventive measures are largely imprac-
ticable at present owing to difficulties as regards
machinery, materials and skilled labour. On the other
hand, remedial measures may be undertaken at once;
and it is the main object of this memorandum to point
out what they are, and how they should be employed.

Remedial measures are designed to decrease the
amount of infection, so that the life of pit timber will
be lengthened on the average, and a corresponding
saving be thereby accomplished. Growth of the spawn
over the surface of the timber, walls or floor to sound
wood is one means of rapid spread of infection, and is
aided by the transference of the spawn by other
agencies (wind currents, on men’s clothes, packing of
rejected pitwood close to sound wood, etc. The
checking of this superficial growth cannot do more
than diminish the rate of decay of the timber, because
the wood-attacking fungi grow also inside the timber;
but inasmuch as the fungus grows more rapidly out-
side than inside the wood, the rate of destruction of
pitwood will be decreased by killing spawn on the
surface. Infection will likewise be decreased by the
removal and destruction of the germ-producing fructi-
fications that emerge from the wood.

In order to accomplish these ends—

1.	Colliery timber men should be taught to recog-
nise the spawn and fructifications.

2.	Starting from the intake, and travelling with
the air currents to the return ways, the timber should
be periodically inspected for fungus material on the
timber. Where fungus occurs, the accessible pitwood
should be treated as follows: —

(a) The apparatus required would be a pail, some
cloths, a cloth or cotton wool swab, a strong
knife, and an antiseptic - solution properly
made up.

(5) The following antiseptic substances are suitable
and are arranged in order of preference: —

(i)	Creosote, and various derivatives, as

to which competent advice should be
sought.

(ii)	Zinc chloride.

(iii)	Copper sulphate (which should not be
used where the mine water is rich in
iron).

(c)	Every fructification (shaped like a cushion,

bracket or mushroom) should be removed by
cutting away the portion of wood to which it
is attached. These should be placed in the
pail, carried to the surface, and burnt in the
boiler fires. All waste timber lying in the
roadways and recesses should also be brought
to the surface and burnt at once. Instant
burning is important, as a good deal of infec-
tion of sound timber takes place during
storage above ground because decaying wood
is allowed to lie about amongst it, and so the
infection is spread to timber originally sound.

The result of this would be to stop much of
the infection that is caused by microscopic
germs (spores).

(d)	At the same time, or subsequently, the spawn

on the surface of the pit timber would be
dealt with as follows. Each man engaged
would carry a swab, the cloths and a pail
three-quarters full of the antiseptic solution
chosen. All the accessible wood, including
props, balks, crown trees, bars and collars,
would be washed with the solution, and the
spawn removed. The solution and cloths
would require to be renewed from time to
time. When possible, loose bark should be
removed and the bare wood washed over with
the solution.

This treatment would serve both to check
the growth of spawn over the surface and to
prevent its transference from one part of the
mine to another, and thus would hinder new
infections. But a certain amount of the anti-

* Bulletin No. 1.

septic solution would be absorbed by the
wood, and on drying would leave on or near
the surface a thin film of antiseptic substance
which would check the growth of any germs
that might alight on the wood.

A great deal will depend on the thoroughness with
which these operations are carried out. When once
begun the treatment should be systematically and
regularly pursued, as these wood-attacking fungi
grow rapidly and temporary neglect may undo the
work of months. The mine timber should therefore
be examined at least once a month. The consequence
of the treatment will be a steady improvement in the
condition of the mine timber from the very commence-
ment. It will, however, be evident that one limita-
tion to the beneficial effects will be due to the inaccessi-
bility of decaying wood packed under the roof above
the balks, crown trees, bars or collars.

The methods detailed above constitute a direct attack
on the wood-destroying fungi, and are designed to
reduce the loss occasioned by decay in mines that are
already infected. An entirely different method of
dealing with the problem is a defensive one, and
involves the protection of the wood by rendering it
immune to infection by fungi. Wood can be protected
more or less perfectly from decay-inducing fungi by
coating or impregnating it with an antiseptic sub-
stance. The degree of protection thus afforded
depends upon the substance used and upon the depth
to which it penetrates the wood. Mere superficial
coating are less efficient than injections to some depth
within the surface ; w’hile perfect protection is ensured
sole by impregnating the wood throughout. Various
substances are very unequal in their power of con-
ferring upon wood resistance to fungal attack. In
some coal pits mere soaking with mine water lengthens
the life of the wood; at the opposite extreme of effi-
ciency is creosote, which confers indefinitely long-
durability upon wood. The exact treatment to be
adopted will depend therefore on the circumstances of
the case, and particularly upon the time during which
the wood is required to remain sufficiently sound to be-
of service. Superficial washes are applied by means of
a brush, and when this or any other method of appli-
cation of the antiseptic is adopted, bark must be
removed from the timber before treatment. Somewhat
deeper penetration is ensured by soaking the wood for
a longer or shorter time in the heated antiseptic
solution. For this purpose, timbers, before being
taken down into the pit, should be soaked for at least
15 minutes in a tank of 10 per cent, zinc chloride at a
temperature of 130 degs. F., or in creosote as hot as
it can conveniently be used. When the props are put
in position in the ways, their tops where bruised by the
hammer should be painted over with the preservative,
as infection often starts at these spots. For deeper
penetration, more prolonged soaking is essential, and
the deepest penetration is ultimately secured with
greatest economy by pneumatic pressure (and the use
of a creosoting plant) if large quantities of wood
require treatment. Creosote and its derivatives, or
zinc chloride, represent the most economic and effi-
cient antiseptics for use in mines. But a number of
salts confer feebler resistance, and may be used where
the wood has to last only a relatively short time before
being removed; among these are common salt, mag-
nesium sulphate, certain mine waters, copper sulphate
(not to be used where the mine water is rich in iron) :
iron sulphate, sometimes recommended, should not be
used.

This policy of replacing timber in mines by wood
rendered more or less antiseptic should be followed in
all cases. When carried out in the most thorough
manner, it gradually brings the pit into a completely
sanitary condition (for instance, thoroughly creosoted
pit props that when unprotected collapse from decay
in a few weeks will last for many years; discarded
creosoted railway sleepers similarly will serve for
indefinite periods as sound cross bars). The precise
method of dealing with mines in order to eradicate or
decrease decay of timber will vary somewhat in detail
in different cases. In regard to this, advice may be
obtained from the Department of Scientific and Indus-
trial Research.

Note.—The significance of wood-attacking fungi
(and possibly certain bacteria) is not confined to their
destruction of timber, for during their growth they
may produce “ black damp,” and the amount of this
gas that they produce is directly proportional to their
abundance and vigour.

PARLIAMENTARY INTELLIGENCE.

HOUSE OF COMMONS—January 28.
Basic Slag.

Capt. Wright asked whether permission had been
refused to the Staveley Coal and Iron Company to sell basic
slag to English farmers, on the ground that 25,000 tons of
basic slag must be sent to Ireland, and whether arrange-
ments would be made for English farmers to have a share
of the basic slag.

Mr. Prothero (President of the Board of Agriculture)
replied that basic slag ground in Derbyshire and neighbour-
ing counties had been reserved for Irish agriculture, but
English farmers were receiving basic slag in excess of pre-
war quantities. Irish farmers had not received more than
their proper share, having regard to the acreage of food
crops.

January 31.

Mr. Duke, replying to questions, said that his attention
had been directed to the proceedings of the Dublin
Corporation relative to Irish coal output, congestion at
Castlecomer collieries and transport facilities. The
question of improving these transport facilities was being
discussed. He was doing his best.

Freights.

Sir L. Chiozza Money, replying to Sir A. Williamson,
said it was not proposed to make any change in the coal
freight (120s. per ton) to Argentina. The rates on Govern-
ment cargoes was purely cost rate, and were discounted
by any receipts from voyages outwards.