February 22, 1918.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

389

THE LONDON COAL TRADE.

Thursday, February 21.

The demand for house coal shows a falling-off. The
prevalence of so much stock on the ground and the milder
weather tended to lessen the volume of trade, coupled, of
course, with the well-stocked cellars of the larger houses.
The East End depot trade is still very busy, and smaller
consumers are able to secure all their requirements. Hard
steam coals are very scarce, and the quantities arriving are
only moderate. Bakers’ nuts are also difficult to obtain.
The bulk of the demand now is for kitchen cobbles and
Derby brights. An increased quantity of seaborne coals
arrived in the Thames—37 contract cargoes for Monday’s
market and 21 for Wednesday. None of the cargoes
(chiefly gas coals) were offered on the open market. In
the shipping market, the reports from the Tyne show a
continued shortage of vessels, and trade extremely quiet;
but in the Humber ports a better supply has been forth-
coming, and the demand for coal is good. In the London
area there is no question now of a sufficiency of house coal
to meet all the requirements, as many of the depots are
comparatively full of loaded’ wagons, and merchants are
“ easing off ” orders. Many of the outlying districts are
still pressing for better supplies, but now that the Con-
troller can lessen the pressure for additional supplies for
London, the collieries will be able to deal with these out-
lying stations. The time is rapidly approaching when the
actual consumption will considerably diminish. Hard
steam coal for factory use is still urgently wanted, but
happily a good quantity of Welsh coal has been available,
and this has been used very freely. The wagon difficulty
has to be grappled with yet. Loaded wagons are brought
forward with great regularity, but the empties are often
subjected to very serious delay. The use of private
owners’ wagons for pressing munition works has consider-
ably modified, and it is reported that some of the wagon
owners are open to treat with both railway companies and
collieries for the hire or sale of many of the wagons on
hand.

From Messrs. Dinham, Fawcus and Company’s Report.

Friday, February 15.—There was no alteration in the
seaborne house coal market, but there was a fair enquiry
for supplies. No cargoes on offer. Cargoes, 11.

Monday, February 18.—The change to colder weather
caused a good demand for seaborne house coal, and the
small supply available was readily disposed of, but no
quotations were made known. Cargoes, 37.

Wednesday, February 20.—The attendance on ’Change
was exceedingly small, although the weather was some-
what milder, and the supply fair. The demand for sea-
borne house coal remains good. Cargoes, 21.

LETTERS TO THE EDITORS.

The Editors are not responsible either for the statements
made, or the opinions expressed by correspondents.

All communications must be authenticated by the name
and address of the sender, whether for publication
or not. No notice can be taken of anonymous
communications.

• As replies to questions are only given by way of published
answers to correspondents, and not by letter, stamped
addressed envelopes are not required to be sent.

THE YORKSHIRE COLLIERY DEPUTIES.

Sirs,—Will you allow me small space in your valu-
able paper to ventilate 11 Harmony’s ” letter, which
I have read with interest?

It is regrettable to find in this great crisis men
have to take such extreme measures as strikes to
obtain their due. I do hope that this strike will be
avoided. It can be if the coal owners will only recog-
nise this association of deputies. The whole matter
rests upon this vital point. The owners’ alternative
scheme to abolish the Deputies’ Association would have
to be registered under the Trades Union Act, and there
would therefore be a distinction without a difference.
The owners all have their mutual aid protection asso-
ciations; surely, then, all their employees have an
equal right to associate. Within the last year South
Wales, Lancashire and Cheshire, and Scotland under-
ground officials have all been recognised by the coal
owners; then why cannot all others fall into line ?

There seems to be a strong point against the asso-
ciation named by “ Harmony,” and that is because they
are a trade union, and have a strike policy, and also
they would amalgamate with other organisations; but
if they had been met without going to all these extreme
measures, it is quite possible this would have been
avoided.

I know another case where a similar association has
been trying, for over five years, to get a hearing with
the coal owners; yet up to the present all efforts have
failed. This association has taken the strike policy
out of its rules, and the registered rules now state:
“ All disputes, whether disputes are local or general,
shall be settled by mutual agreement between the local
management, or by the owners; failing this, by arbi-
tration.” Even this, however, has not induced the
owners to acknowledge this association. Everything
has been done on peaceable lines. However, the day
is not far distant when a law may be instituted for
preventing strikes.

The coal owners throughout Great Britain have far
more to gain than to lose by recognising the associa-
tions of their officers and representatives. Where is
the future official coming from? Is there any induce-
ment for the rising generation to seek knowledge in
attaining these positions? I am afraid there is none
at all. No young man will leave a protected trade
and join one which is unprotected. Let us, then,
follow out the good suggestions laid down by the
Unrest Commissioners, and come together and discuss
the constitution of these associations. Do not con-
demn them before you have heard what they have got
to say. Let us do the same as those who are over
the seas: unite in one strong band, and banish the
enemy from our midst for ever. We have quite plenty
with this “ job 11 without any home fighting. I trust
that this threatened strike will not take place, and
that a happy settlement will be made for all concerned.

Harmony No. 2.

THE AMERICAN COAL TRADE.

The withdrawal of the Order regarding 11 heatless
Mondays” is described as provisional. The Coal Age
(January 26) states that the congestion on some of the
lines in the mining region is something tremendous.
Divisions that ought not to have to move more than
2,000 loaded coal cars per day, have 10,000 on their
tracks, and the average daily haul is down to 12 and
14 miles. So large a proportion of what is loaded on
the “ New England order ” is for railroad fuel, that
only the most pressing cases of shortage among power
companies, water systems, etc., can be dealt with. So
far, not much coal has been commandeered by State
administrators under the powers granted.

While several weeks ago opinion seemed to be fixed
on a 3 dols. price for bituminous, quite a number
claim that the increase to be worth while should not
be less than 3-25 dols.

The present occasion has presented an opportunity
to the manufacturers of briquettes to make their pro-
duct known, and quite a good tonnage is being mar-
keted. One plant engaged in the manufacture of this
grade of fuel is doubling its capacity, in addition to
building another plant in the anthracite region. Just
now any dealer who can secure briquettes has no diffi-
culty whatever in selling them.

The anthracite steam coal trade is even more active
than ever, with the independents getting 4-15 dols.
for all the buckwheat they can produce, and there
seems to be a general understanding atnong them not
to ask more than this figure. Barley and rice are
sold around 3'50 dols., while culm is being sold in
large tonnages at 2 dols. The prices per gross ton
f.o.b. cars at mines for line shipment are as follow: —
Broken, 5-90 dols. ; egg, 4*80 dols. ; stove, 5'05 dols. ;
nut, 5-15 dols.; pea, 375 dols.; buck, 3-15 dols.; rice,
2-65 dols. ; boiler, 2-45 dols. ; barley, 2-15 dols.

The bunkering of ships has gone on steadily, and
many of the steamers lying at New York and other
harbours awaiting coal supplies have been furnished
with their necessary fuel requirements. The despatch
of these vessels will do much to relieve freight terminal
congestion, which is quite as marked as the congestion
in railway yards and on side tracks. This relief, of
course, will not be immediate.

The production, movement, and consumption of
Connellsville coke has gone on throughout the five-
day period ordered by the Fuel Administration, as
these operations are not covered by the Order. The
blast furnaces come under the seven-day operation
clause, as do the by-product coke works, while the
beehive operations cannot be regarded as coal shippers.
The coke movement has been poor. The Carnegie
Steel Company is now operating 36 of its 59 blast fur-
naces, the remainder being entirely out of blast or
banked awaiting supplies of coke, and this is almost
the poorest operation thus far shown, the minimum
having been 33 furnaces, a few weeks ago. The other
steel interests are operating almost as poorly, while
the merchant furnaces are not getting out more than
75 per cent, of their normal product, at the outside.

SOME RECENT DECISIONS UNDER THE
WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION ACT.

Accidents “ Arising out of and in the course of ”
Employment.

As a further exemplification of the meaning to be
attached to the expression “ arising out of and in the
course of the employment,” the case of Wales v. Lambton
and Hetton Colliery Company Limited (117 L.T. Rep. 454)
deserves to be noted. A shift in which the applicant was
working finished at 5.30 a.m., at which time it was quite
dark, the morning was frosty, and there was ice about
everywhere. To reach the road in which his house was
situated, the man, on leaving the pit, had to pass two
sidings, and in crossing one of them he slipped and fell
with his right arm on the rails, injuring his arm and
shoulder. The spot at which the accident occurred was
within the colliery premises. In the county court it was
held that, as the accident occurred through the ground
being covered with ice caused by the frost, it did not arise
“ out of ” the employment, the judge being of opinion that
the risk of slipping and falling on a frosty morning, when
the ground was covered with ice, was one to which all
persons in the locality were exposed, and was not increased
by the employment. In the Court of Appeal, however, it
was held that it was owing to the man’s employment that
he was in that particular place, and therefore that his duty
brought him there ; that the way he went was the ordinary
way of leaving the colliery premises to go to his home ;
and therefore that the accident arose not only “ in the
course of ” but “ out of ” the employment. In resisting
the claim, it was not contended that the workman had
introduced an added peril, but counsel submitted that the
case was governed by certain well-known decisions under
which compensation was refused on the ground that the
accidents did not arise out of the employment, but had
been caused by such general risks as frostbite, lightning,
and sunstroke. The court, however, considered that the
case which more appropriately applied was that of Thom
(or Simpson) r. Sinclair ([1917] A.C. 127 ; 116 L.T. Rep.
609), and two extracts from the judgment of Lord Shaw
were cited as being specially apposite. One was as
follows : “ My view of the statute is that the expression
‘ arising out of the employment ’ is not confined to the
mere ‘nature of the employment.’ The expression, in my
opinion, applies to the employment as such—to its nature,
its conditions, its obligations, and its incidents. If, by
reason of any of these, the workman is brought within the
zone of special danger and so injured or killed, it appears
to me that the broad words of the statute, ‘ arising out of
the employment,’ apply. If the peril which he encoun-
tered was not an added peril produced by the workman
himself . . . then a case for compensation under the
statute appears to arise.” The second extract was as
follows : “ It is quite plain that it was part of the condi-
tions of the appellant’s labour and part of the obligations
which she undertook as a servant of the respondent that
she should at the time of the accident occupy this parti-
cular place of work which turned out to be a place of
special danger. Her service there and not anywhere else
brought her into the position of being subjected to this
peril. It was not a peril which might fall upon the public

at large, such as the severity of the weather . . . but it
was a peril attached to the particular location in which
by the obligations of service the appellant was placed.”

Risks Incidental to Employment.

An interesting and important addition to the already
fairly long list of decisions, turning on the question
whether a particular risk is one incidental to employment
or is outside its scope, was forthcoming in the case, of
Senior v. Brodsworth Main Colliery Company Limited,
heard in the Court of Appeal in July last, and now fully
reported (117 L.T. Rep. 496). Briefly stated, the material
facts were that the workman was employed in the fitting
shop on the surface of the colliery. In crossing a railway
line he was run over by a train, and had his right foot
so injured that it had to be amputated. From the evidence
it appeared that on the day the accident happened the man
was suffering from diarrhoea, had been compelled to
evacuate his bowels several times in the course of the day,
and again desired to do so at half-past four o’clock in the
afternoon. A set of privies provided specially for the use
of the fitters was placed conveniently near the fitting shop,
in which the man habitually worked, but instead of going
to one of those, the man went to a place in the open, a
place to which the men were forbidden to go, which was
200 or 300 yds. distant from the fitting shop, and which
could only be reached by crossing many dangerous sidings
and lines of railways. The place in question was a tip,
and was no doubt selected because trees and bushes grow-
ing on the slopes would screen the man from observation.
At Doncaster County Court the application was dismissed
on the ground that the accident had not arisen out of the
man’s employment, and the judgment was affirmed in the
Court of Appeal, the court being of opinion that there was
evidence to justify it, and holding that the man had need-
lessly exposed himself to an added peril that was not
incidental to his employment nor due to its nature ; that
he was consequently acting outside the sphere of his
employment; and that he was not entitled, and therefore
was not employed, to do things that were unreasonable or
were expressly forbidden. In this case, the arguments in
support of the claim were weakened not only by the man’s
disregard of his employers’ instructions, but by the fact
that his action was directly contrary to one of the Regu-
lations under the Coal Mines Act, 1911, Regulation 111
providing that “ no person shall relieve his bowels on the
surface except in one of the conveniences provided in
accordance with the foregoing Regulations.” The case
chiefly relied upon by the Court of Appeal in arriving at
their decision was that of Baker v. Earl of Bradford
(114 L.T. Rep. 1144), in which Lord Haldane referred to a
distinction which Lord Dunedin, in the earlier case of
Plumb v. Cobden Flour Mills Company ([1914] A.C. 68 ;
109 L.T. Rep. 759), had drawn between prohibitions which
only deal with conduct within the sphere of the employ-
ment and those which limit the sphere of employment
itself. Various contentions put forward, with a view to
showing that the findings of the county court judge were
not in accordance with the evidence, were disposed of so
conclusively that it seems unnecessary to refer to them
in detail.

THE BY-PRODUCTS TRADE.

Tar Products.—With the exception of a rather stronger
tone on the East Coast, the position regarding pitch has
not undergone any particular change this week. In a
number of individual cases, the present average prices
realised for crude tar are certainly higher than they were
recently. A great quantity must now be applied to ordi-
nary needs. The requirements of local authorities, if not
satisfied in full, must be met to a substantial extent, and
the better weather is encouraging them to press forward
with their routine work, in which tar is an important
feature. The Ministry of Munitions Order relative to tar
oils (reported in our last issue) indicates the official view
as to the particular quality of tar for road binding, sur-
facing, and spraying. The creosote and pitch blends are
open to criticism on account of the discrepancy in value,
due to the high price of creosote. It is argued that the
new price does not represent the mean value of a creosote-
pitch mixture. Pitch itself is almost stationary in price,
nominally, but negotiation and local circumstances are
factors in many transactions, and holders are not keen on
unloading below their own terms. Quotations on the East
Coast have advanced this week. Something is due, of
course, to weather improvement and the coming of spring,
which means a lessened output at a time when contract
supplies are being put into shape. Creosote in the North
is now 4d. to 4^d.—an advance that was not unexpected;
and liquid oil is dearer in London this week, at 4|d.
Aniline oil has improved of late, and salts are now Is. 4d.
Movements in the other by-products are not of a salient
character. Solvent naphtha is steady, and unchanged, but
refined naphthalene is easier to negotiate. Cresylic
acid is in request. Current quotations are appended:—
Crude tar : London, 32s. 6d. to 35s. ; Midlands, 26s. to 28s. ;
North. 28s. to 29s. per ton ex gas works. Pitch: London,
50s.; East Coast, 27s. 6d. to 30s. f.o.b.; Liverpool, 22s.;
West Coast, 23s. to 24s. f.a.s. Solvent naphtha: Naked,
London. 90-190 per cent., 3s. to 3s. 3d.; North, 2s. 9d. to
3s. ; 90-160 per cent, naked, London, 4s. 3d. to 4s. 6d.;
North, 4s. to 4s. 3d. Crude naphtha: Naked, 30 per cent.,
8Id. to 8|d.; North. 7-^d. to 8|-d. Refined naphthalene,
£32 10s. to £35; salts, 80s. Toluol: Naked, London,
2s. 4d. ; North, 2s. 3d. Creosote: Naked, London,
4£d. ; North. 4d. to 4£d. (Government price equal to 4|d.
per gal. f.o.r.). Heavy oil, 44d. ; liquid, 44d. Carbolic acid :
Crude. 60 per cent. East Coast and West Coast, 3s. 4d. ;
crystals, 39-40, Is. 3d. Cresylic : Casks, 95 per cent.,
2s. lOd. : 97-99 per cent., 3s. ex works London, and f.o.b.
other ports. Anthracene. 40-45 A. 4-^-d.; 48-50. 6d.; B, 2d.
to 24d. Aniline oil. Is. 4d.. casks free; salts, Is. 4d.,
drums free.

Sulphate of Ammonia. — The remarkable change in
exports, owing to the restrictions, is illustrated in the
Board of Trade returns, showing that only 1,105 tons of
sulphate were exported in January, compared with 19,422
tons a year ago. and 31,518 tons in January 1916. Basic
slag dropped to 90 tons, compared with 727 tons a year
ago. and 2.316 tons in January 1916. The market posi-
tion, governed as it is by scheduled prices, presents very
little for comment. Business is steady, on the home trade
basis of £16 7s. 6d. delivered net cash, or 10s. less at
works.

The Italian Government has assumed State control of
petroleum. The available quantities, deducting the
amount set aside for Government requirements, are, until
further notice, exclusively reserved for the needs of agri-
culture and industry and for lighting purposes. The use
of petroleum for any other purpose is prohibited.