930

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

November 1, 1918.

CONTRACTS OPEN FOR COAL AND COKE.

For Contracts Advertised in this issue received too late
for inclusion in this column, see Leader and Last
White pages.

Abstracts of Contracts Open.

Egypt, November 15.—Fuel (1919-1920) for the
Egyptian Postal Administration. Forms from the Central
Stores, Egyptian Postal Administration, Alexandria.
Forms may be inspected at the Enquiry Office, Department
of Overseas Trade (Development and Intelligence), 73,
Basinghall-street, London, E.C.

The date given is the latest upon which tenders can
be received.

CONTRACTS OPEN FOR ENGINEERING, IRON
AND STEEL WORK, Ac.

Aberdeen, November 21.—Stores.—Castings, fire clay,
signal wire, bar iron, belting, tubes, springs, tyres, etc.,
for the Great North of Scotland Railway Company. Forms
(Is. each) from the stores superintendent 80, Guild-street,
Aberdeen.

Dublin, November 7.—Stores, axles, tires, tubes, iron
plates, castings, forgings, electric cable, wire, springs, tin-
plates, creosote oil, etc., for the Great Northern Railway
Company, Ireland. Forms from the secretary, Amiens-
street Terminus, Dublin.

COAL, IRON AND ENGINEERING COMPANIES.

REPORTS AND DIVIDENDS.

Anderston Foundry Company Limited.—Interim divi-
dend of 4s. 6d. per share of £6, the same as last year.

Babcock and Wilcox Limited.—Twelve per cent, per
annum (Is. 2-4d. per share), free of tax, on ordinary
shares for half-year (interim), payable November 8. Last
year, dividend same.

Broomhill Collieries Company Limited.—Final dividend
10#per cent., making 15 per cent, for the past year. The
ordinary shares received 20 per cent, for 1916-17.

Horden Collieries Company Limited____Final dividend

10 per cent., making 14 per cent, for the year ended
September 30. The distribution was 12^ per cent, for
each of the two preceding years.

Lambert Brothers Limited.—The report of Lambert
Brothers for the year to June 30 last states that profit,
including the amount brought forward, is £262,994. After
providing for directors' fees, preference dividend and
interim dividend oh ordinary shares there remains
£202,744, out of which the directors have placed to reserve
account £90,000, and propose to pay in respect of the year
a further dividend at the rate of 5 per cent, on the ordi-
nary shares, together with a bonus of 12^ per cent, (both
less tax), carrying forward £25,244.

Lancashire Wagon Company Limited.—The report for
half-year ended September 30 shows a profit of £3,212;
£1,533 was brought forward, making £4,744. The direc-
tors recommend a dividend for the half-year at the rate
of 10 per cent, per annum, free of income tax, on the
ordinary shares, to add to reserve fund £2,000, and to
carry forward £1,447.

North Amman Collieries Company Limited.—Accounts
for the year ended June 30 show a loss of £8,290, in-
creasing the adverse balance brought forward to £8,552.

Trafford Park Estates.—The report of Trafford Paris
Estates shows a profit of £40,796, and £54,766 was brought
forward. It is proposed to pay a dividend of 6 per cent.,
less tax, carrying forward £58,227. The previous year
5 per cent, was paid.

United States Steel Corporation.—Extra dividend of
2 per cent, in addition to the usual quarterly dividend of
1^ per cent, on the common stock. The net earnings were
42,961,000 dols., and the surplus, after providing for prior
charges, was 3,840,000 dols.

NEW COMPANIES.

Brynygroes Colliery Company Limited.—Private com-
pany. Registered October 22. Capital £20,000 in £1
shares. To take over the business of a colliery proprietor
carried on by D. E. James at Ystradgynlais, Brecon, as the
Brynygroes Colliery Company. Directors : Sir John
Norton Griffiths, K.C.B., Sir Hy. D. R. Bayley and S. W.
Oakley.

Cook and Company, Manchester, Limited.—Private com-
pany. Registered office, 18, Exchange-street, Manchester.
Registered October 18, to carry on the business of iron-
founders, mechanical engineers, tool makers, etc. Nominal
capital, £100,000 in 100,000 shares of £1 each. Directors :
J. W. Cook, J. Jowett, T. E. Leigh and N. Cook. Quali-
fication of directors, 10,000 shares governing director,
others 5,000 shares. Remuneration of directors to be voted
by company.

Don Forge and Engineering Company Limited.—Private
company. Registered office, Don Forge, Sheffield-road,
Rotherham. Registered October 17, to carry on the busi-
ness of metal founders, engineers, etc. Nominal capital,
£10,000 in 10,000 shares of £1 each. Director: M. H.
Allott. Qualification of directors to be determined by
governing director. Remuneration of directors to be voted
by company.

Edward and Alexander Limited. — Private company.
Registered office, 5, Budge Row, London, E.C.—Regis-
tered October 23, to carry on the business of engi-
neers, engineers’ merchants, contractors, machine and tool
makers, etc. Nominal capital, £2,000 in 2,000 ordinary
shares of £1 each. Directors : E. V. Horsham,
“Beaulieu,” Carter-road, Hornchurch, Essex; and A. F.
Silcock, 9, Torrington-terrace, Green-lane, Seven Kings.
Qualification of directors, 1 share. Remuneration of direc-
tors to be determined by directors.

Gilman (J. H.) and Company Limited.—Private com-
pany. Registered office: 53 to 55, Coal Exchange,
London. Registered October 23, to acquire the business
of coal merchant and coal factor, etc. Nominal capital,
£10,000 in 10,000 shares of £1 each. Directors, E. W.
Gibbs. Qualification of directors, £1. Remuneration of
directors to be determined by governing director.

Oto Limited.—Private company. Registered office:
9, River-street, Hammerton-street, Burnley. Registered
October 23, to manufacture the Oto patent firegrate coal-
saver and carry on the business of iron founders, etc.
Nominal capital, £2,000 in 2,000 shares of £1 each.
Directors : W. Medcalf, E. Haworth and H. Harling.
Qualification of directors, 100 shares. Remuneration of
directors to be voted by company.

Park Hall Colliery Company Limited.—Private company.
Registered October 24, to acquire the business of colliery

and mine owners, miners, coke manufacturers, etc., now
carried on at Cheadle, Staffordshire. Nominal capital,
£50,000 in 50,000 shares of £1 each. Directors, Vera A.
Bowers and A. Leighton. Qualification of directors: Life
directors £5,000, ordinary directors £250. Remuneration
of directors to be voted by company.

Pendare Navigation Coal Company Limited.—Private
company. Registered office: 16, Eastcheap, London.
Registered October 24, to acquire the business of coal
masters, colliery agents, exporters and general shippers.
Nominal capital, £25,000 in 25,000 shares of £1 each.
Directors : J. C. Jeffree, J. A. Baker and A. W. Jeffree.
Qualification of directors, £100. Remuneration of direc-
tors to be voted by company.

Severn Engineering Company Limited.—Private com-
pany. Registered October 23, to acquire the business of
engineers, munition manufacturers, founders and smiths,
etc., now carried on at Ty bridge-street, Worcester.
Nominal capital, £7,000 in 5,000 preference shares of £1
each and 2,000 ordinary shares of £1 each. Directors:
A. Bodenham, G. F. Pitt and W. H„ Purser. Qualification
of directors, 1 share. Remuneration of directors to be
voted by company.

Thomlinson-Walker (Wm.) Limited.—Private company.
Registered October 15, to acquire the business of iron,
steel and brass founders, etc., now carried on at Victoria
Ironworks, York. Nominal capital, £5,000 in 5,000 ordi-
nary shares of £1 each. Directors to be appointed by
subscribers. Qualification of directors, £100. Remunera-
tion of directors to be voted by company.

This list of new companies is taken from the Daily
Register, specially compiled by Messrs. Jordan and Sons
Limited, company registration agents, Chancery-lane, E.C.

THE FREIGHT MARKET.

On the north-east coast the outward chartering market
has been upset by a variety of circumstances, some of
long standing and others of recent origin. The inadequate
arrivals of official tonnage are giving neutrals an oppor-
tunity of securing coal cargoes, but the shortage of neutral
shipping negatives that opportunity to a very large extent.
That shortage is aggravated by the downward tendency
of Scandinavian rates, for this week Swedish prices are
following in the wake of lower figures officially decided
upon by the Norwegian authorities with reference to
vessels for Norwegian ports. Then, again, the new
schedule of minimum prices of coal and coke for neutrals
has given the market pause. Under the circumstances
fixtures arranged have been very few. Gothenburg has
been done several times at 125 kr for Tyne loading, but
the latest fixture arranged at Newcastle, for Methil load-
ing to Gothenburg, is at the rate of 75 kr. only, and it
is probable that that rate will rule for some time to come.
Excepting for the engagement of small vessels for the
conveyance of pitch to North France, nothing has been
dune for directions other than Swedish. For Spain, the
coaling stations, Western Mediterranean, etc., a good
deal of business is on offer, but no tonnage is
forthcoming. At South Wales a good deal of
neutral tonnage has been taken up for French Atlantic
ports at scheduled rates. The only fixture elsewhere is
for Martinique at 150s. for a 6,000 ton Allied steamer.
For other directions coal is offering in fairly large quan-
tities, and there is an active demand for tonnage, but
neutral ship owners evidently prefer the nearer trades,
and, besides, licence difficulties are somewhat considerable.
As on the north-east coast, the minimum price schedule
is responsible for some hesitation on the part of customers.
It is noteworthy that another vessel, this time of 2,900
tons, has been taken up for Liverpool or Cardiff loading
to Lisbon at 100s., a fixture made on Tyneside.

Homewards, Plate rates are unaltered, and the bulk of
business is for requisitioned steamers. There is no change
in American freights. Far Eastern business, excepting
for controlled vessels, is at a very low ebb. The Mediter-
ranean and Bay ore ports are taking up a fair quantity
of tonnage, and vessels are offering in adequate supply.
The time charter market is dull, very few ships offering.

Tyne to Gothenburg, 2,000, 2,400 and 2,600, 125 kr. ;
North French port, 200, 85s., pitch; and 600, 80s., pitch;
and Warberg, 1,450, 135 kr.

Cardiff to Bordeaux, 1,600, 1,950 and 2,600, 69s.,
neutral; Caen, 600, 700 and 900, 48s., neutral; 1,100,
46s. 6d., neutral; Port de France (Martinique), 6,000,
150s., Allied; Havre, 1,300, 1,600 and 1,700, 45s. 9d.,
neutral; Nantes, 2,200, 61s. 6d., neutral; Rouen, 900,
50s. 3d., neutral; 1,100, 1,200, 1,400, 1,800 and 2,050,
48s. 9d., neutral; and St. Brieux, 195, 75s., sail, neutral.

Swansea to Caen, 500, 48s., neutral; 1,100 and 1,200,
46s. 6d., neutral; Fecamp, 400, 48s. 9d., neutral; Havre,
1 100 and 1,300, 45s. 9d., neutral; Marans, 600, 67s. 6d.,
neutral; Rouen, 700, 900, 950-960, 50s. 3d., neutral; 3,000,
47s. 9d., neutral; 1050-1,100, 1,400, 1,700, 1,800 and 1,850,
48s. 9d., neutral; St. Malo, 700-720, 45s., neutral; and
Trouville, 700-750, 48s., neutral.

Liverpool or Cardiff to Lisbon, 2,900, 100s.

Southampton to St. Malo, 57s. 6d., pitch, two sailing
vessels of 130 tons each.

Methil to Gothenburg, 2,500, 75 kr.

Later.—The following additional fixtures have been
reported :—

Tyne to North French port, 475, 80s., pitch; and Stock-
holm, 1,500, 130 kr.

Cardiff to Bordeaux, 5,600, 34s., Allied.

Swansea to Rouen, 1,020 and 1,900, 48s. 9d., neutral.

The drastic reduction in Swedish rates has brought
about a total hold-off on the part of ship owners,
merchants only offering from 70 kr. to 75 kr. for Gothen-
burg, against 125 kr. asked.

The French Coal Fields.—The French Senate has adopted
a proposal for appointing a committee of 27 members to
enquire on the spot into the damage caused by the
Germans in the coal mines of the Department du Nord
and the Pas-de-Calais, and to initiate measures to restore
them to working order as quickly as possible.

The Institution off Civil Engineers—The 100 th
session of the Institution of Civil Engineers will be
opened on Tuesday, November 5, at 5.30 p.m. Sir
John A. F. Aspinall (president) will deliver an address,
and will present awards made by the council for papers
read and discussed or otherwise dealt with during the
past session.

New Fuel Inspectors.—The coal and lighting arrange-
ments of hotels, hospitals, Poor Law institutions,
laundries, public baths and wash-houses are to receive
the special attention of the economy officers of the Coal
Controller’s Department. Engineers of the Technical
Department of the Coal Control will be appointed in-
spectors and will act for the local fuel overseers.

ABSTRACTS OF PATENT SPECIFICATIONS
RECENTLY ACCEPTED.

118116. Silica Bricks. Societe Anonyme des Produits
Refractaires de 1’Ouest, 37, Rue de Surene, Paris.—The
present invention relates to the manufacture of silica
bricks. Quartz and quartzite which has been crushed
once is mixed with quartz and quartzite which has been
crushed twice. In the ordinary manufacture of silica
bricks, quartz of a selected quality is used, and particu-
larly quartzites which are subjected to one crushing process
only, and which are mixed with binding materials—for
instance, lime—whereafter they are moulded to form
bricks and burnt. The process according to the present
invention consists in (1) using any crystalline form of
quartz—that is to say, quartz found in veins as well as
any quartzite of an average proportion of 95 per cent, cf
silica; (2) subjecting the quartz after disintegration or
after cooling to a first crushing, which gives a first quality
of initial material which may be called “first yield”;

(3)	taking a part of the said “ first yield ” and subjecting
it to a second crushing in order to obtain a considerably
finer state of disintegration, and thereby producing a
second quality of material which may be called “ flour ” ;

(4)	Mixing the “first yield” and the “flour” in given
proportions according to the quality and the dimensions
of the bricks to be obtained ; (5) adding to the mixture
obtained binding materials — for instance, lime — and
moulding the whole to form bricks and burning them in
the usual manner. The process enables any quartz or
quartzite to be used, provided it contains an average of
95 per cent, of silica. The material obtained by this
process agglomerates more readily and is more resistant.

119108. Signalling Apparatus for Use in Coal Mines.
H. Love, Arbuthnot-road, Loanhead, Midlothian.-—This
invention relates to a signalling apparatus designed to
comply with the Coal Mines Regulation Act with regard
to signalling in mines, said device being intended to be
fitted in the winding engine house in full view of the
engineman. More particularly the invention relates to
that type of apparatus including a dial and two pointers,
each rotatable together with a ratchet wheel, the novel
characteristic consisting in the provision of a third ratchet
wheel carrying a plate marked “ men ” to show behind an
opening in the dial.

119112. Tunnelling Machines. D. Whitaker, 1, Union
street, Leicester, and H. C. Baxter, 39, West-street,
Leicester.—This invention relates to tunnelling machines,
and more especially, though not necessarily exclusively,
shield tunnelling machines, and has for its object the pro-
vion of improved means for the removal of the excavated
material. The invention consists of a tunnelling machine
having in combination a rotating drum or centre piece
provided on its front face with an inner series of cutters
and buckets, and on its circumference with an outer series
of cutters and buckets, a semi-circular hopper situated
immediately behind the rotating drum or centre piece, and
being open at the front to the same to receive the ex-
cavated material from the inner series of buckets through
openings in the drum, the buckets of the outer series pro-
jecting rearwardly from the drum over the hopper, and
being open on the side adjacent said hopper, the bottom
of the hopper forming a closure for the said open sides of
the buckets during the time the latter are travelling round
past the hopper, a trough extending rearwardly from the
hopper, and a rotary worm conveyor to move the material
along the trough, the front end of said conveyor extend-
ing into the hopper. (Two claims.)

119131. Pneumatic Rock Drilling Machines. Aktiebo-
laget Atlas Diesel, and G. Andersson, both of Torsgatan,
5, Stockholm, Sweden.—In rock drilling machines in which
the scavenging water is fed to the bore hole through the
hollow bit, the water is generally introduced into a
channel extending in the longitudinal direction of the bit
from a lateral passage made in the rear portion of the
same and communicating with a device placed in the bit-
holder and supplying the scavenging water. In one
arrangement the water supply device comprised a nozzle
with a packing between the nozzle and the side of the
bit. This arrangement is advantageous with regard to
the scavenging operation, since the water is prevented
from leaking into the cylinder and the bit-holder. In
this case, however, the bit-head or the portion of the bit
inserted in the bit-holder has to be treated. Thus, for
instance, said end has to be forged, and the lateral passage
has to be bored. The boring of said passage reduced, how-
ever, the strength of the bit, and on account thereof the
bit-head is liable to be broken at the lateral passage.
Therefore a bit-head not requiring treatment is to be
desired, it only being necessary in such case to cut off
the steel blank to suitable length and to harden the impact
end. In this case the question about the scavenging
operation has been solved in various manners, as, for
instance, by the aid of a pipe passing centrally through
the machine and opening into the anvil block which serves
to transmit the blows from the piston to the bit, a central
channel in said anvil block communicating with a central
channel in the bit. Another known method consists in
disposing in the anvil block a channel passing from the
fore end thereof to one side of the block. In this case
the scavenging water is generally introduced through a
concentric recess made inside the part surrounding the
anvil block, and of such a width that the connection with
the lateral passage is maintained during the forward
motion of the anvil block, an annular packing ring with
grooves and apertures for the passage of water being
placed within the recess or two annular packing rings
being provided and arranged one on each side of the
recess. An inconvenience connected with this arrangement
consists in that the anvil block, in order to be capable of
transmitting the blows without reducing the effect of the
same, must be easily movable, and on account thereof there
must be a certain play between the anvil block and the
surfaces surrounding the same. Besides, owing to the
recoil, a considerable wear and tear will arise. There-
fore, when the scavenging water is introduced under pres-
sure at the periphery of the concentric recess, a great
quantity of the scavenging water does not enter the
channel in the anvil block, but instead thereof the cylinder
and the bit-holder and as a result thereof the scavenging
operation will be badly effected and the efficiency of the
machine reduced. This invention has for an object to
prevent said inconvenience. For this purpose a packing is
disposed at the side of the anvil block at which the lateral
passage opens, thus securing a reliable tightness inde-
pendent of said play. (Two claims.)

119145. Pumps. Chance and Hunt Limited, Oldbury,
and O. E. Mott, Royal Arsenal, Woolwich.—This inven-
tion relates to improvements in pumps of the plunger
type suitable for pumping corrosive liquids. The inven-
tion has for its object to eliminate the use of the glands
usually employed in such pumps. The plunger and the
cylinder of the pump are made from passive iron of acid-