June 14, 1918.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

1201

or Sale, large Alluvial Bucket Dredger,
suitable for working alluvial gold, tin, etc. Machine built in 1913 ;
in first-class order. Price, one-third of pre-war cost.

JNO. F. WAKE, Darlington.

anted, Head Gear Winding Pulley,

6 feet diameter.—Apply, Box 7084, Colliery Guardian Office,

30 & 31, Furnival-street, Holborn, London, E.C. 4.

or Sale, 20 pairs of Railway Wheels
and AXLES, 4 ft. 8^ in. gauge, wheels 3 ft. diameter, axles 4 in.
diameter.

T. C. JONES & CO. LTD., 27, Sterne-street, Shepherd’s Bush, W. 12.

or Sale, Powerful Electric Hoist, two
winding drums, driven by 110 volt motor, automatic control.
Immediate delivery.

WILLIAMS & SONS, South Bermondsey Station, London, S.E. 16.

FOR SALE.

1.	ONE HORIZONTAL HAULING ENGINE, having two cylinders

22 in. dia., 3 ft. 6 in. stroke; Stephenson link motion reversing
gear and slide valves, complete with heavy flywheel, pinion and
spurwheel (in halves), but without second motion shaft.

2.	ONE SINGLE CYLINDER INGERSOLL-RAND COMPRESSOR,

steam cylinder 18 in. dia., air cylinder 18J in. dia., 2 ft. stroke;
compressor suitable for a speed of 60 revs, per minute and to
compress to 60 lb. per sq. inch gauge pressure.

3.	ONE HORIZONTAL ENGINE, having two cylinders 16 in. dia.

by 2 ft. 8 in. stroke, slide valves, shaft mounted with flywheel and
rope-driving pulley 9 ft. dia., suitable for seven 1% in. dia. cotton
ropes; a driven pulley 4 ft. dia. can also be supplied if required.

4.	ONE ROPE-DRIVEN AIR COMPRESSOR, having two cylinders

22 in. dia. by 3 ft. stroke; cylinders fitted two years ago by
Messrs. Walker Brothers Ltd., Wigan; water jacketted, valves of
latest steel plate type, shaft mounted with very heavy flywheel,
and rope pulley 13 ft. dia. for twelve in. dia. cotton-driving
ropes; a countershaft -with pedestals and rope and belt pulleys
suitable for belt-drive from a motor can also be supplied. Com-
pressor suitable for a speed of 60 revs, per minute and to compress
to 100 lb. per sq. inch gauge pressure.

For prints and authority to inspect, apply—

THE BOTHER VALE COLLIERIES LIMITED,
Treeton, near Rotherham.

Fifth Edition, Thoroughly Revised and Greatly Enlarged. Re-set through-
out. Large Crown 8vo. Handsome Cloth. Pp. i.-xi. + 778. With
755 Illustrations. 15s. Od. net.

PRACTICAL COAL-MINING:

A MANUAL FOR MANAGERS, UNDER-MANACERS, COLLIERY
ENGINEERS, AND OTHERS.

With Worlced-out Problems on Haulage, Pumping, Ventilation, &c.

By GEORGE L. KERB, M.E., M.Inst.M.E.

Contents.—Sources and Nature of Coal—Search for Coal—Sinking—
Explosives—Mechanical Wedges, Rock Drills, and Coal Cutting Machines—
Coal Cutting by Machinery—Transmission of Power—Modes of Working-
Timbering Roadways—Winding Coal—Haulage—Pumping—Ventilation—
Safety Lamps—Rescue Apparatus—Surface Arrangements, Coal Cleaning,
etc.—Surveying, Levelling, and Plans—Index.

“This is one of the best known treatises on the technical aspect of the
Coal-Mining Industry . . . the book is an admirable one, and may be
placed with confidence in the hands of all students of coal-mining.”—
The Mining Journal, 22 Jan., 1918.

LONDON : CHAS. GRIFFIN & CO. LTD., Exeter St., Strand, W.C. 2.

J. W. BAIRD AND COMPANY,

PITWOOD IMPORTERS,

WEST HARTLEPOOL.

______YEARLY CONTRACTS ENTERED INTO WITH COLLIERIES._

OSBECK & COMPANY LIMITED,

PIT-TIMBER MERCHANTS,

NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.

SUPPLY ALL KINDS OF COLLIERY TIMBER.

Telegrams—“ Osbecks, Newcastle-on-Tyne.”

TO OUR READERS.

The Government, by Order in Council, is issuing in-
structions prohibiting the return of all unsold papers and
periodicals. The effect of this will be that newsagents
will only stock the “ Colliery Guardian ” if actually
ordered by their customers, and to prevent disappoint-
ment our readers should either subscribe for the regular
supply of the journal direct, or place a definite order with
their newsagent.

AND

Journal of the Coal and Iron Trades.

Joint Editors—

J. V. ELSDEN, D.Sc. (Loud.), F.G.S.
HUBERT GREENWELL, F.S.S., Assoc.M.I.M.E.

{At present on Active Service).

LONDON, FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 1918.

The London coal market is still pressing for better
supplies, Hard steam coals are particularly short.

High quotations are easily maintained in North-
umberland and Durham—best Bly ths being offered
at 60s. to the Swedish State Railways. Very little
“free” coal is obtainable in Lancashire and York-
shire to meet the constant demand. Supplies of
steam coal are short, and merchants are propor-
tioning the deliveries of house coal. The demand in
the Midlands continues strong. All descriptions are
pressed for in Cardiff, but practically nothing is
released except for Admiralty and Allied Government
account, and until these requirements are satisfied
there is no chance of outside business being enter-
tained. All large coals are in good request. House
coal is active in Scotland.

Scandinavian freights have advanced on the north-
east coast. Other quotations are nominal. Coast-
wise, London is still quoted at 17s. Practically no
neutral tonnage is offered in South Wales A
charter there for Huelva is at the rate of £20 per
ton.

According to present arrangements the rationing
of coal and light will begin on July 1. The official
Order has not yet been published.

The question of exporters’ brokerage has been
settled by compromise.

An application for a 25 per cent, increase in wages
for all surface workers and certain enginemen below
the ground has been made to the Coal Controller,
who promised to consider the matter.

The sixty-ninth general meeting of the Institution
of Mining Engineers was held yesterday (Thursday)
and to-day. A report appears in our present issue.

A table has been issued by Mr. Finlay A. Gibson,
secretary of the Monmouthshire and South Wales
Coal Owners’ Association, showing the increase in
the wage of underground day wagemen in June
1918 compared with the figures for July 1914. The
table will appear in our next issue.

The Engineering Trades Committee and the
Electrical Trades Committee—two of the Depart-
mental Committees appointed by the Board of Trade
in 1916—recommend that the importation of enemy
goods in the respective trades should be prohibited
after the war except under licence. Anti-dumping
legislation is recommended, and the Electrical
Trades Committee is in favour of protective import
duties.

The Whitley Committee, in a report published by
the Minister of Reconstruction, has pronounced de-
finitely against compulsory arbitration.

The Coal Controller met the executive of the
Miners’ Federation of Great Britain regarding the
application for a further advance in wages. The
application will be submitted to the President of the
Board of Trade.

The new Household Fuel and
The Hew Lighting Order about to be issued
Fuel Order, is more comprehensive in its scope
than its title implies, for it is not
confined to household coal, but covers also supplies
for certain home industries, including bakeries,
laundries and other businesses. It does not apply
at present to industrial coal properly so called,
although it may ultimately be deemed advisable to
ration all industries not directly concerned with the
conduct of the war. In explaining the scheme, at a
meeting on Friday last at the Institute of Journalists,
Sir Guy Calthrop said that it was essential to save
not less than 25 per cent, of the domestic fuel
previously available. This saving must include not
only coal itself, but also gas and electricity, which
are dependent upon coal for their production. In
the previous Order, calling for a reduction by one-
sixth of the gas and electricity used for heating and
lighting, the Board of Trade appears to have
overlooked the fact that in many households this
economy could only be effected at the expense of a
larger consumption of coal. Thus, the immediate
object of whatever saving has been effected has
probably been to a large extent nullified. This
result, however, will be avoided in the new Order
by the simple expedient of placing gas and electricity
upon an equivalent coal basis. Thus, a consumer
will be able to use his rationed quantity of coal
either as coal, gas or electricity. For this purpose
one ton of coal is to be considered as the equivalent
of 15,000 cu. ft. of gas or 800 Board of Trade units
of electricity. To simplify the conversion, not less
than quarters of a ton of coal may be converted.

In considering, first of all, the gas equivalent of coal
as here laid down, a letter has recently been published
in The Times, over the signature “ Calorimeter,”
in which it is pointed out that a ton of good house-
hold coal is capable of developing on combustion
about 30 million British thermal units, whereas
15,000 cu. ft. of gas will only develop about
7,500,000 units. Upon this basis the potential heat
development of a ton of coal would be equivalent to
60,000 cu. ft. of gas, instead of the 15,000 cu. ft.
allowed in the Order. Even if, as “Calorimeter”
says, it is allowed that the thermal efficiency of gas
fires is twice as great as that of coal fires, it would
still appear that the proper gas equivalent of a ton
of coal should be 30,000 cu. ft. But the question is
not so simple as this, for as Sir Guy Calthrop
explained, there are two factors to be considered.
In the first place, account has to be taken of the
amount of gas required to give the same effective
service as would be obtained by burning a ton of
raw coal; and, in the second place, it is necessary to
consider the amount of gas produced by the con-
sumption of a ton of raw coal at the gas works.
This latter amount varies greatly, of course, with the
kind of coal employed; but it may be assumed that
for the production of 15,000 cu. ft. of gas about
1J tons of coal would be used on an average. Thus,
although 15,000 cu. ft. of gas may be considered a
fair equivalent of a ton of coal from the point of view
of quantity alone, and taking into consideration the
fact that about 12 cwt. of coke would be left after
extracting the gas, yet, on a heat unit basis, there is
no correspondence between these amounts. In fact,
as Sir Guy Calthrop pointed out, there can be no
actual relationship between effective service and the
gas yield of coal, and it is only possible to effect a
reasonable compromise.

But another complication arises from the fact that
gas manufacture in some districts is less than the
demand, while in other cases it exceeds requirements.
For this reason, it is desirable to retard or stimulate
the consumption of gas according to local conditions.
In places where gas production is deficient, the
gas equivalent of a ton of coal will be reduced,
the minimum figure being 12,000 cu. ft., while in
places where the use of gas is to be encouraged, the
equivalent may be raised as high as 18,000 cu. ft.
This latter contingency will apply more particularly
to the North, where the climate is colder, and in such
cases the coal ration will be made to go farther by
taking its value in gas instead of raw coal.

As to the actual coal ration, it is proposed to estab-
lish the uniform basis of one ton per room per annum
up to 20 tons, with a minimum of three to five tons,
according to climatic and other conditions. This
provision is a wise and equitable one, for otherwise
occupiers of a single room would be inadequately
supplied, especially in the case of a severe winter in
the North. It follows from this that the saving
in fuel will be greater in the case of the larger
houses.

The administration of the order will be undertaken
by the local authority—another sound arrangement—
for it would be eminently undesirable to organise
new machinery for the purpose. It will, however,
be necessary to set up local committees, in order to
ensure the equitable treatment of all consumers, and
local fuel overseers will have to be appointed to give
effect to the provisions of the Order. But this
machinery is already in existence in the area to
which last winter’s rationing scheme applied, and
little or no difficulty appears to have arisen upon this
score. Upon the whole, the scheme seems to have
been well considered, and cases of hardship should be
comparatively few. Where they arise, the local com-
mittees will be available to consider their merits, and
deal with them accordingly. The necessity for coal
rationing scarcely needs discussion. It may possibly
entail some sacrifice of comfort and convenience, of
which nobody will complain if only the national
object is attained. The success of the scheme, how-
ever, will depend upon the maximum output of coal
being forthcoming, without which no limitation of
consumption would be an adequate compensation.
There are, unfortunately, signs that some few of the
miners do not even yet realise either the responsibilities
of the “ home ” front, or the need for united effort to
win the war. Perhaps the rationing scheme may
serve to bring home to these the realities of the
situation, and the importance of the part they are
called upon to play in the great drama of the
world’s war.

The progress of the Committee stage
Compulsory of the Education Bill has so far been
Continuation smooth and, until Clause 10 was
Schools. reached, has followed its expected
course. When the question of com-
pulsory attendance at continuation schools came up
for consideration, however, Sir Henry Hibbert
invited the Committee to consider an important
amendment—the so-called Lancashire amendment—
standing in his name, the effect of which would be
to allow an alternative to the requirements laid
down in the Bill, which prescribes compulsory
quarter time continued education up to the age of
18. He suggested that in the place of this
arrangement local education authorities might have
the option of substituting half-time education up to
the age of 16. His objection to Clause 10 as
drafted in the Bill was threefold. He held that in
the first place it would disorganise every trade in
the country. In the second place it would lower
wages, and thirdly it would provide less rather than
greater educational benefit. He was speaking
mainly of the position of Lancashire, whose industries
in cotton, coal, machinery, paper and glass he justly
claimed to be the greatest in the United Kingdom,
if not in the world. The question, however, does
not affect Lancashire alone. If we are to put the
prosperity of the country in the first place, as we are
bound to do, the requirements of industry must be
considered before the claims of scholastic education.
For, after all, book learning is not so much an end in
itself, as a means to an end. There are, of course,
many who claim that education should take prece-
dence of every other consideration. That proposition
might be well founded if we were all agreed as to
what education really is. Up to the present time,
however, we do not seem to have succeeded in the
most elementary essential of a good educational
system, viz., in securing the interest, except in a
comparatively few cases, either of parents or children
in extended school training. We have, it is true,
made a certain amount of progress in this direction ;
but, on the whole, we have as yet failed to provide
a really sound and practical educational scheme,
such as will fulfil the primary object of making our
working classes better men and better citizens.
Probably Mr. Fisher would be among the first to
acknowledge this defect, and he must know that his
real difficulty will arise, not with the passage of this
Bill through Parliament, but with its effective
administration after it becomes an Act.

That this is his conviction seems to be proved by
the concessions he has offered. Of these, by far the
most important is that' which postpones the adoption
of compulsory continuation schools, in the case of
young persons between the ages of 16 and 18,
for seven years after the appointed day. With
regard to young persons between 14 and 16, the
the position will be that the educational demands
upon their time during the interval will be limited
to 320 hours per year, which may be further reduced
to 280 hours if the local education authorities so
determine. This will actually mean that an interval
of five years will elapse between the completion of
the first stage of the scheme, two years after the
appointed day, and its further extension. This
interval, he considers, will be absolutely necessary
to make proper provision for carrying out the full