September 6, 1918.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

505

TRADES- UNION CONGRESS.

The Trades Union Congress commenced its sittings
on Monday in the Central Hall, Derby.

There was some display of feeling on Tuesday in a
discussion which followed upon a passage in the report
dealing with craft unions and industrial unionism.
The report pointed out that quite recently the con-
troversy between the two sections had been revived
through the Colliery Enginemen’s Federation com-
plaining of the refusal of the Miners’ Federation to
discuss the subject with its representatives. Mr. H.
Parker (Colliery Enginemen’s Federation), Mr. R.
Shirkie, and Mr. R. Smillie took part in the discus-
sion. The meeting passed Mr. Parker’s motion that
the paragraph under notice be referred back to the
Parliamentary Committee, with definite instructions to
arrange a meeting between the Miners’ Federation of
Great Britain and societies representing other grades
of colliery workers.

Presenting a resolution from the Miners’ Federation
emphasising the utmost importance that the mines
and minerals of the country should be owned and con-
trolled by the State, Mr. Robson (Durham Miners)
said, whatever the members of other industries did at
the close of the war, it was not the intention of the
miners to revert to the old conditions.

The resolution was passed.

On Wednesday a motion for the universal resump-
tion of 48 hours of labour per week during demobili-
sation (without reduction of wages) was amended by
reducing the number of hours to 44. The motion was
passed.

SOUTH WALES MINING TIMBER TRADE.

While the pitwood trade is quiet, and under the influence
of a paternal Government the question of the future of
the trade is being discussed. It is generally known that
our home-grown supplies are being rapidly used up, and
that if the war continues much longer the quantity available
will be considerably small. The consumption of pitwood
in this country has been estimated to be between 3|
and 4| million tons per annum, of which in normal times
four-fifths came from overseas. Now the position is almost
arithmetically reversed, the bulk of the supplies being
home grown, less than three-quarters of a million tons
of foreign wood being received. This means that three
million tons or more of home-grown wood are utilised
annually in the mines of the country. At this rate absolute
exhaustion is within sight. Strange as it may appear,
French and other foreign wood can in normal times be
assembled at our collieries quicker and cheaper than home-
grown timber can be supplied. Unless railway rates are
altered this must continue. But there is also the nearness
of the point of exhaustion of our supplies, and there is
material evidence that for many years after the war it will
be necessary to rely upon foreign timber for the bulk of
our supplies. Furthermore, the industrial salvation of
this country will be affected by the coal output, and efforts
will be made to increase the production, which will mean
a greater supply of pitwood. It is estimated that the
quantity of pitwood used in this country is 1’7 per cent,
of the total weight of coal raised; but as fresh develop-
ments in old mines occur the tendency is for this percentage
to increase. The bulk of the foreign supplies will
undoubtedly be furnished by France, while Scandinavia,
Russia, Spain and Portugal will also be largely drawn upon,
inasmuch as freight rates will favour the trade. But
Canada and Newfoundland have been enquring how
far it is possible to satisfy this country’s requirements.
Before the war Newfoundland was gradually increasing
its pitwood trade with this country, and in 1915 supplied
86,000 tons. The trade was stopped in 1916, owing
to the necessity of conserving shipping tonnage. It is esti-
mated that Newfoundland could supply at least 300,000
tons of suitable mining timber annually. The distance
from that country to Great Britain is just a little more
than from Archangel. As regards the method of purchasing
after the war, it is not at all improbable that collieries may
seek to secure their supplies direct, and dispense with the
intermediary of merchants. A few colliery companies, as
exporters, have purchased their own ships, and may be
inclined Uo import their own timber, whilst it is not impro-
bable that colliery proprietors may combine to purchase
their requirements direct.

The Week’s Imports.

The imports of foreign mining timber were upon a good
scale. Supplies are reaching this country in small lots —
carried in the main by the smaller class of steamer and
sailing vessel which utilise the cargo as ballast. There is
no change in quotations- the maximum scheduled price
obtaining in all cases. The following shows the actual
quantity of pitwood imported during the week ended
August 30: —

Imports of Mining Timber to August 30.

Cardiff (including Barry and Penarth) :—

Date. . Consignee.	Loads.

Aug. 24 Budd and Co................. 62

„	24	Lysberg Limited ....... 1,440

„	26	Lysberg Limited ......... 720

„	26	Lysberg Limited ....... 2,160

„	29	Morgan and Cadogan .... 2,140

„	29	Morgan and Cadogan ...... 300

„	29	Morgan and Cadogan ...... 600

„	29	E. Marcesche and Co...... 299

„	29	Lysberg Limited .......... 56

„	29	Lysberg Limited .......... 96

„	29	Lysberg Limited ....... 1,440

„	29	Lysberg Limited ......... 168

„	29	Lysberg Limited ......... 180

„	30	Lysberg Limited ......... 480

„ 30 E. Marcesche and Co......... 360

Total .............. 10,501

Home Grown Supplies.

Preparations are now being made for the winter, and the
experience of the past war years is not to be forgotten.
The roads in this country adjacent to our woods and forests
were not made for heavy traffic, with the consequence that
in wet weather transport difficulties were heavy, and led to
irregular deliveries to collieries. Besides, adequate trans-
port facilities are imperative, and special lorries with wide
wheels are needed if deliveries are to be maintained in wet
weather. There is a large amount of waste going on in the

woods, but this was expected in view of the lost art of
forestry and the inadequate and unskilled labour available.
Deliveries to collieries, however, are being well maintained,
and there is a very large amount of home grown wood
available. Collieries in most cases are well stocked.

THE BY-PRODUCTS TRADE.

Tar Products.—Pitch at London works is still quoted
57s. 6d. to 62s. 6d., and the market is firm. Practically all
the provincial prices are unchanged since last week, but in
each instance the tendency is an upward one. The export
enquiries give some indication of the magnitude of the
trade which could be effected if transport difficulties were
lessened. The London tar price is inclined to be stronger,
as the latest quotation—34s. to 35s —shows. In the Mid-
lands the figure is 27s. to 30s., and in the North 30s. ex
works. Benzole has been a shade easier on the following
basis: —London, 90 p.c. ls.O|d. naked; North, 10|d.to 1 l|d.;
50 p.c, Is. 4d. to Is. 4|d. naked. Solvent naphtha is still a
weak sort of commodity in some areas, whereas the crude
variety is well sought after. Refined naphthalene is in
rather moderate demand at the lower rate of <£28 to <£3010s.
Salts are realising <£4 to <£5. Business in other by-products
is steady. Average quotations:—Toluol: Naked, London,
2s. 4d.; North, 2s. 3d. Carbolic acid : Crude, 60 p.c., East
Coast and West Coast, 2s. 6d ; crystals, 39-40, Is. 2d.:
cresylic, casks, 95 p.c., 3s.; 97-99, 3s. 3d to 3s. 6d. ex works
London and f.o b. other ports. Anthracene: 40-45 A, 4|d.;
48-56 A, 6d.; B, lfd. to 2|d. .Aniline oil, Is. 2d., casks free.

Sulphate of Ammonia.—Th - supply of sulphate is
readily absorbed at schedule prices.

BENZINE SUBSTITUTES FOR SAFETY LAMPS.*

By E. Hauser.

Owing to the scarcity of benzine for safety lamps in
Spain, a committee was appointed to find suitable
substitutes, and as a result of experiments made by
the Fire Damp Committee, the following mixture was
tried with success: Ethyl alcohol, 96 degs., 62-50 per
100 vols.; benzole, 22-50; benzine, 15-0.

The quantity of alcohol may vary between 60 and 65
per cent., and that of benzole between 25 and 20 per
cent.

The alcohol used in these tests came from the Union
Alcoholera Espanola, and the benzole used in some
tests was supplied by the Sociedad Minera y
Metalurgica de Penarroya, and in others by the
Sociedad Metalurgica Duro Felguera.

The mixtures richest in benzole .give a smoky flame,
whilst if the quantity of alcohol be increased above
that indicated, the consumption of substitute com-
pared with that of benzine increases appreciably.

Continuing the search for a benzine substitute, the
committee returned to a binary mixture of alcohol and
benzole, which had already been tried in practice with
divergent results, being accepted by some miners, but
disapproved of by others. The continued investigation
of these mixtures showed that they give a smoky flame
if they contain more of the above benzole than 22-5
per cent, in association with 77-50 per cent, of
96 degs. alcohol. The illuminating value of a safety
mining lamp burning this substitute is 0’77 of that
of a lamp burning benzine. The ternary substitute
referred to above gives an illuminating power of 0-98
of that of benzine.

In order to improve the lighting power of the binary
mixture without benzine, mixtures of the following

composition were tried : —		
	Volume	Volume
	per cent.	per cent.
Ethyl alcohol 96 degs				62'50	.	..62
Benzole (Duro Felguera) ....			22’50	16
Oil of turpentine 		5	7’50
Fusel oil 				10	14-50
	100-00	.	.. 100’00

These mixtures, however, possess the inconvenience
of fouling the lamp wick and giving a disagreeable
smell. The lighting power of the non-smoking flame,
compared with benzine, as the unit is 1-42.

These three substitutes appear to be well adaptable
for detecting low percentages of firedamp in mine
air, the flame cap showing more distinctly than with
the benzine flame.

* Revista Minera.

Fuel Wood.—The Coal Controller and Timber Controller
have decided that supplies of fuel wood left over from
timber-cutting operations shall be distributed by the Coal
Control Department by means of the national organisation
set up for coal rationing in all local authority districts.
The stocks will be placed on the market, and a draft
order will be issued shortly fixing prices and supple-
mentary allowances of wood fuel.

Bar Iron Conference.—On the invitation of the South
Yorkshire Bar Iron Association, a conference of bar iron
associations was held on Tuesday at the Grand Hotel,
Sheffield. Mr. A. B. Baylis, of the Midland Iron Com-
pany Limited, presided over an attendance of upwards of
sixty gentlemen representing the South Yorkshire Asso-
ciation, the North-East Coast Barmakers’ Association, the
South Staffordshire Ironmasters’ Association, the Lan-
cashire Bar Manufacturers’ Association, and the Scottish
Bar Iron Manufacturers’ Association. Various matters
of interest to the trade were discussed.

Allies’ Coal Supplies.—At a meeting of the Central
Executive for the supply of coal to France and Italy
yesterday (Thursday), it was announced that the Order of
Chevalier of the Legion of Honour had been conferred
by the French Government on Sir Daniel M. Stevenson,
of Glasgow, chairman of the executive, and Mr. George
Renwick, of Newcastle, who received the congratulations
of their colleagues. The new rules for the allocation of
French orders for the supply of coal were finally approved,
and it was intimated that they will come into operation
forthwith. The question of business with groupements
in France was also considered. Certain questions in con-
nection with loading hours at the ports were under dis-
cussion, and were remitted to a committee to deal with.
Various clauses were introduced and ordered to be included
in charter parties, and a suggestion to dispense with
charter parties and use a short fixture note was considered,
but not agreed to.

FUEL RESEARCH IN 1917-18.

. The Report of the Committee of the Privy Council
for Scientific and Industrial Research for the Year
1917-18 (Cd. 9144) states that the Committee have
approved the comprehensive scheme of research and
the proposals for the erection of a national Fuel
Research Station submitted by the Fuel Research
Board. The station is in course of erection at East
^Greenwich, and will, it is hoped, begin work by the
close of this year. The Director of Fuel Research, Sir
George Beilby, is responsible for the lay-out and equip-
ment of the site and works. The buildings and equip-
ment to be first erected are estimated to cost about
£120,000, while the land, which has been leased to
the Government at a nominal rent by the South
Metropolitan Gas Company, is amply sufficient for any
likely development. The Director has also placed his
knowledge and' experience at the disposal of the
Government in connection with many aspects of the
fuel problem.

The Committee have sanctioned the undertaking of
a number of other important investigations, amongst
them a series of tests of home-grown timber, which
will, it is hoped, afford useful guidance in the re-
afforestation of the country after the war.

Satisfactory progress has been made with the nego-
tiations between the Department of Scientific and
Industrial Research and the industries of the country
for the establishment of industrial research associa-
tions. Experience has shown that in all essential
points the model memorandum and the conditions of
grant have been suitable to the circumstances of widely
different industries. The negotiations have led to
certain changes of detail in the memorandum and to
the preparation of a body of common form articles
which will save time and expense in the formation of
future associations. Each industry will need to formu-
late a certain number of articles to meet the special
circumstances of its own case, but the vast majority
of the articles can and should be identical for all asso-
ciations. As regards the conditions of grant, it has
been found convenient to deal with these in an official
letter which is addressed to each association after the
receipt of its licence by the Board of Trade, in cases
where the industry desires financial aid from the
Government. But it is open to an industry to establish
an approved association without seeking assistance
from Parliamentary funds, and associations of this
kind will have exactly the same privileges and will
receive the same assistance in the way of advice and
information as associations in receipt of grant. The
Department has found in the course of its conversa-
tions with leading manufacturers that there is some-
times a certain hesitancy to establish relationship with
the Government for the purposes of research, because
they fear that the Department will interfere in the
work of the new associations, and will use its powers
in such a way as to prevent the results of research
from reaching the firms which have subscribed to its
cost, or to give the results to competing firms which
have not joined or have left the association. In general
they seem inclined to believe that they are being
invited to submit to a departmental yoke, which,
especially if it is embellished with gold, will grow
heavier and fit closer as time goes on, until at last
the too complacent trade will find itself harnessed to
the Government car and led, if not driven, at the
will of the paymaster. Such an issue would be fatal
to the success of the scheme, and entirely opposed to
the policy the Advisory Council have formulated and
the Committee have approved. The intention is that
the associations shall manage their own affairs and
benefit by their own discoveries. It is believed that
the Department can help each by keeping it in touch
with the work of the rest; that the limitation of
Government grants in all ordinary cases to a short,
period of years, and the provision under which an
association can either forego grants altogether or
abandon them at any time, are evidences of the Com-
mittee’s intention. But if the firms in an industry
will undertake research either for themselves or in
combination on any other plan which they think better
suited to their needs, they will as certainly receive
the sympathetic consideration of the Department and
such assistance as is in its power to render.

Association for Mining Research.

In dealing with what has been accomplished in the
formation of industrial research associations, the
report states that the Mining Association of Great
Britain have under consideration the establishment
of a single research association for the whole
kingdom, which will include local sections or branches
dealing with the problems peculiar to particular
localities; and it is hoped that the engineers and ship-
builders of Scotland with the same trades on the north-
east coast of England who are negotiating for the
foundation of a national research association will find
the departmental machinery elastic enough to com-
prise the interests of these trades throughout the
United Kingdom. The same remark applies to the
iron manufacturers and the non-ferrous metals trades.
There are many reasons why purely local associations
would be probably less effective than those which in-
clude the whole of an industry or group of closely
allied industries, but one argument appears to be con-
clusive in itself. If a number of local associations were
established within a single trade, the question of
making the results achieved by each available to the
others, and the conditions to be attached to their
availability, would of necessity fall upon the Depart-
ment—a difficult and invidious task since the firms
in the different groups might be in mutual competition.
On the other hand, a single association could solve such
questions, should they arise between its constituent
sections or branches, without difficulty and without
the intervention of Government, which would deal
under the scheme with the much more manageable
task of arranging for the communication of knowledge
between industry and industry. It has been found
that the establishment of district committees in the
early stages of the movement for founding a research