November 8, 1918. THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. 979 NEW WAY OF SOCKETING WIRE ROPES. The difficulty in making a satisfactory joint when placing a forged socket on the end of a wire cable is overcome by a new method developed by John T. Willison, of Ambridge, Penn., in which the cable is secured in the socket with iron cement in the way shown in the illustration. The cable end was first passed into the socket, as shown in figs. 1 and 2. One of the outside wires was untwisted, and wrapped tightly around the others. Above this wrap the remaining wires were untwisted FIG. 1 riG a Figs. 1 and 2.—Method of Passing Cable End into Sockets. and belled out, as shown, and the ends turned down. Iron cement was mixed with water to a smooth putty- like consistency, and the socket packed closely with this material. The cable was then pulled firmly into place, and the cement allowed to metallise. In metallising, the iron cement expanded to such a degree that it completely filled the spaces between the wires, and between the cable and the socket shell, and thus wedged the joint securely. A firm union resulted, which on test proved to be stronger than the cable itself. — Coal Age. LABOUR AND WAGES. South Wales and Monmouthshire. The Federation executive met on Saturday. It was decided that the Coal Controller should be asked to appoint negotiators in the revision of the price list of Tower Colliery.—A deputation from the Lady Windsor Colliery, Ynysybwl, submitted a complaint as to the second exit from the colliery, and also as to ambulance provision ; and it was resolved to bring counsel's opinion before the Home Secretary with regard to the second exit. The Home Office will also be desired to give attention to the practice of filling trams above the level, and to the desirability of having closed trams in use. The presence of police at trade union meetings being strongly objected to, and complaints having been received from the Lewis Merthyr Colliery that the police attended such meetings, Mr. T. Richards, M.P. (the general secre- tary), was requested to communicate with Capt. Lindsay (Chief Constable of Glamorgan) on the subject. The Coal Controller will be invited to give attention to a complaint that in the case of one of the western collieries the royalty owner was interfering with the output. Another subject referred to the Controller is an inter- union dispute at Bedwas, where the enginemen and stokers desire to form a local lodge of their association, but the Miners’ Federation object. A veiled threat accompanies the intimation to the Controller that the executive consider the matter to come within the terms of the non- unionist agreement, and that if this be not adhered to the colliers at Bedwas may be given permission to tender notices. Masons’ labourers in the employ of Guest, Keen and Co. sought an advance to Is. per hour, to date from the beginning of this year, but upon the matter coming before the Committee on Production, it was held that the demand could not be acceded to. Nearly 6,000 men were idle for one day in the Ebbw Vale area owing to a dispute between sections of the men. In the course of a speech at the men’s mass meeting, Councillor George Davies, one of their leaders, said that at least 1,000 tons more of coal per month could be got out of the Ebbw Vale pits at the present time if continual disputes were not raised, and, in his opinion, the matter should be taken up by the Government. After a very long discussion the men decided to resume work, and to bring the facts of their difficulty before Mr. F. Mills, the managing director. The trouble as to the hauliers was that on account of their action the colliers could not get“ clearance,” wages being thus reduced to the minimum, and in the course of his address to the meeting Mr. Davies pointed out that in one of the pits there was a very unsatisfactory condition of affairs. Somebody was continually circulating rumours that a meeting was to be held at the top of the pit, and the men congregated there, occasioning considerable incon- venience. His advice and the advice of the committee men was ignored, and there seemed to be an influence determined not to allow his advice to come into operation. The Brynmawr and Blaina district miners at their meeting dealt with the dispute at Coalbrook Vale colliery concerning dirty coal. It was reported that arrangements had been made under which a payment of 6d. per ton extra would be made for clean coal, and this had been accepted. The majority of clerks in the employ of the Swansea Harbour Trust had a one-day strike last week, the question at issue being as to the recent award and recognition of their association with the Labourers’ Union. They are already receiving a bonus of 30s. on pre-war rates. The Confederation of trade unions engaged in the iron and steel trades has been successful in its operations in South Wales, and the British Steel Smelters’ Association decided to amalgamate with the Confederation. The clerks who are in the iron and steel section of the National Union of Clerks, will also become connected with the Confederation. The Committee on Production has dealt with claims from bricklayers, masons, labourers and others, both at Dowlais and Ebbw Vale; and whilst certain demands have been rejected, they have accorded a penny per hour extra to men at Dowlais working on the stack when at a height between 50 and 100 ft. above ground, and 2d. per hour extra when working at a height of over 100 ft. Labourers at Ebbw Vale receive .Id. per hour increase. Clerks at the Roger- stone iron works are to receive 3s. 6d. per week extra. North of England. The Hobson lodge of the Durham Miners’ Association is placing the following motion on the agenda of next council meeting :—“ That we at once demand from the coalowners an eight-hour day for all men and boys working at bank and for all onsetters, without any reduction of wage. If not granted within four weeks from the rising of the council, we at once cease work,” A meeting has been arranged between representatives of the Northumberland Miners’ Association and the county coal owners with reference to a proposal by the Association that there should be a scale of wages for boys of varying ages employed at the pits. During last month, according to returns received by the Northumberland Miners’ Association, 41 steam coal collieries in the county worked an average of 5'48 days per week, as compared with an average of 5’41 days per week worked by 38 collieries in September, and 18 household coal pits an average of 5 49 days, as compared with an average of 5’47 days worked by 20 pits during the preceding month. The general average was 5*49 days, as against a general average of 5’43 days for September. Recent decisions of the executive committee of the Northumberland Miners’ Association include the follow- ing :—To inform Shankhouse branch that, in the executive’s opinion, as the custom has been for stonemen at that colliery to work on the evening of the Bank Holiday, they cannot enforce payment of the war wage for the Sunday shift on which they were laid idle ; to allow the workmen at Thirlwall to re-establish a branch of the association ; to inform North Walbottle members, who wrote with refe- rence to a putting dispute, that they were quite in order in allowing the cavils to be put in, under protest, so that the dispute might be settled before next quarterly cavilling day; to inform the manager of Plenmeller Colliery, in answer to his complaint as to stonemen losing so many shifts, that the men stated that that was due to no train being run on Sundays from Alston where so many of them lived ; to decline to pay “ sacrificed ” benefit to a man dis- missed at Bedlington, lie having been discharged for using obscene language to an official, and that, as he had secured employment outside the mining industry, he could not be allowed to retain his membership of the association ; to send to No*biggin branch a copy of the Coal Controller’s letter stating that his northern representative could not advise changing from a three-shift to a two-shift system at that col- liery, and to ask the branch for its observations on the letter ; to express the opinion to Scremerston branch that Class W men would not be recalled to the Colours during a colliery dispute ; to inform Tynedale that the stonemen who had only sufficient work for ten shifts in the fortnight could not be deprived of twelve shifts’ war wage for that reason ; to inform Preston that, in the executive’s opinion, under the war wage regulations, men returning from the Army and commencing work at the pit after the first day in the week the pit was at work, on the pay week were not entitled to the war wage for the pay Saturday unless they worked that day ; and that, as many of the men out of work at Walker Colliery had refused offers of work, and others had not made a bona-fide attempt to secure work, no further out-of-work benefit should be allowed until the executive was convinced by the men’s action that they were desirous of work. Forty-one motions are on the agenda of the half-yearly council meeting of the Northumberland Miners’ Associa- tion, to be held at the Burt Hall, Newcastle, commencing on Saturday, November 16. Nos. 1 to 7 deal with the minimum wage question and are, substantially, covered by No. 7, by the executive committee, reading:—“That we instruct our Minimum Wage Board members to take the necessary steps to have the minimum rates and rules so altered as to provide that the minimum wage rate for all classes be equal to the ordinary wage or earnings paid at present, and to be paid for every shift worked when the earnings are less than that amount, independent of conditions or qualifications other than what are obligatory under the Minimum Wage Act, such as age limit, irregularity and inefficiency. The age limit to be 75 years for coal hewers and 80 years for all other classes ; no work- man to forfeit his right to minimum wages if he works one day during each six months dating from January 1 in each year; employment to be sufficient evidence of efficiency.” The other motions on this matter are from the Pegswood, Maria, Algernon, Prudhoe, Eltringham, West Wylam, West Sleekburn, West Cramlington and Plenmellor lodges. In No. 8, Rising Sun lodge seeks that in future all minimum wage additions should be excluded when calculating the colliery average. Nos. 9 to 11 deal with basis [wages, No. 9, from Montagu, “That a conference be arranged at once with the Durham representatives with the object of taking united action to establish new basis wages at least 50 per cent, above the present basis wages, and that we act unitedly to establish the principle that wages shall rise at the same rate as the price of coal, a new basis price to be recognised for the increased basis wages, such new price to be not more than 8s. per ton,” being the most inclusive. In No. 23, Dudley proposes to seek, through the Miners’ Federation, to have section 61 of the Coal Mines Act so amended that there shall be no increase in the cost of explosives to the workmen on the cost prevailing at the time hewing tonnage rates were fixed. Sleekburn, in No. 26, proposes to seek through the Federation an advance of 25 per cent, in compensation payments, owing to the high cost of living. Hartford proposes, in No. 29, to seek, through the Miners’ Federation, to deprive non-union men of the war wage. Scotland, In Fifeshire a movement has been initiated by the surface workers, acting apart from the Miners’ Federation, to secure double pay for Sunday labour, and time and a-half for overtime. Mr. John Sloan, checkweighman, Rankinston, Ayrshire, has been appointed by the Burnfoothill miners full time local agent, in room of the late Mr. Cassidy. In the machine section of the Drumley Pit, Annbank, Ayrshire, changes were made which culminated in the intro- duction of a uniform tonnage rate of 2s. 3d. A number of the miners were willing to experiment with the new rate, but the general impression appeared to be that a certain portion of the section could not be worked under the new conditions. The management, in the circumstances, have decided to find employment for the men elsewhere. Serious trouble is threatened in the Auchinleck and Cumnock districts of Ayrshire over the non-union question. A ballot of the men is being arranged to decide whether a general strike should be resorted to, in order to enforce the recognition of union principles upon the delinquents. The Clyde Iron Company are reported to be desirous of closing down Hallside, Newton and Easterhill collieries in Lanarkshire, on the ground that they are unable to produce the coal with any profit. It is represented by the firm that even before the war a considerable loss was incurred in working these collieries. An investigation into the firm’s statement has been authorised, and representatives of the Lanarkshire Miners’ Union have been appointed to attend with the Deputy Coal Controller during the course of the enquiry. Work is proceeding very steadily at all the collieries in Mid and East Lothian. A large number of men, graded Bl and lower categories, have been returned from the Army for work in the mines in the neighbourhood. The question of the payment of the war wage to men who were recently idle at Boghead Colliery, West Lothian, through a breakdown of the pumping plant is still unsettled. At No. 2 Hopetoun Collieries, West Lothian, a difference has arisen over payment for special conditions, particularly in regard to the development of outplaces. It is the general expectation that an amicable settlement will be effected. Certain points in regard to the employment—hours and wages —of the female surface workers at Bardykes Colliery, Lanarkshire, have been referred to the Controller of Coal Mines by a deputation representing the National Union of Scottish Mine Workers. The colliery under managers in Scotland have now been conceded the recent war bonus of 9s. per week. The executive committee of the Scottish Under Managers’ Association recommended the acceptance of the offer, and that recommendation has now been unanimously endorsed by all the branches of the association. The miners employed at the Wilsons and Clyde Coal Company’s Milnwood Colliery, Bellshill, were picketed by the officials of the miners’ county union, and the colliery was stopped. The system of Sunday working at this colliery is the cause of the dispute. The Fife Miners’ Board have agreed that owing to the exceptional adverse conditions of Kinglassie Colliery, the pits should be open for work 12 days each fortnight, on condition that 13 bonuses be paid for 12 days work. The executive council of the Scottish Colliery Engine- men’s Association, on Saturday, endorsed the action of the National Council in refusing to accept the offer made by the Coal Controller—a pledge from the Government that colliery surface workers would receive an 8£ hours shift six months after the declaration of peace without any reduction in wages if they would work meantime on the present basis. The colliery under-managers in Scotland have been granted the recent 9s. war bonus granted to miners. OBITUARY. Mr. John Edward Sharrock, aged 40, the principal partner in Messrs. J. E. Sharrock and Company, wagon conrtactors and coal factors, of Wigan, died on Thursday, last week, after a short illness. Mr. Edward Bennis, founder and managing director of Ed. Bennis and Company Limited, manufacturers of many widely known types of stokers, furnaces, conveyors, etc., passed away at his residence. Beech Hill, Astley Bridge, Bolton, on October 29, in his 81st year. He was born in Limerick. Early in his business career he actively interested himself in the mechanical firing of boilers, and came to the conclusion that the system which provided only for throwing the fuel on the fire was incomplete, and that better results were possible if an efficient furnace could be devised by which the fire bars would be auto- matically freed from clinkers whilst the machine dis- tributed the fuel over the fire. He invented a self-cleaning furnace which answered the requirements he had set him- self to meet. These efforts were now rewarded with well- deserved success. A new principle of machine firing was successfully introduced, followed by a method of com- bining the advantages of forced draught, machine firing, induced draught, and self-cleaning furnace in one inven- tion. The distinctions he gained included a medal in a competition of mechanical stoker makers at the Manchester Sanitary Exhibition, 1882, and a gold medal for the best system of machine firing at the Yorkshire Jubilee Exhibition. Of late years Mr. Bennis and his son devoted much attention to the mechanical firing of boilers on board ship. Some early experiments in this direction met with considerable success, but development in that direc- tion is suspended during the war. Area No. 13 (Devon and Cornwall District) sent up a special deputation last week to meet the Controller in London with reference to the coal supply. United States Coal Output in 1917.—A statement issued by the United States Geological Survey relating to coal production in 1917 shows a considerable increase over the output in the previous year. The production of bitu- minous coal was 551,790,563 net tons, an increase over 1916 of 49,270,881 tons, or nearly 10 per cent. The pro- duction of Pennsylvania anthracite in 1917 established a new high record of 99,611,811 net tons (88,939,117 gross tons), exceeding that in 1916 by 12,033,318 net tons, or nearly 14 per cent., and surpassing the previous record of 91,524,922 net tons in 1913. With the exception of West Virginia, all the large coal-producing states re- corded increases, the only decreases having been in West Virginia (0-02 per cent.), Oregon, South Dakota, and Georgia. The production of coke in 1917 was aa,ou6,828 tons, an increase compared with 1916 of 1,073,243 tons, or 2 per cent. The output of by-product coke increased from 19,069,361 tons in 1916 to 22,439,280 tons in 1917, and represented 40-4 per cent, of the total in 1917, against 35 per cent, of the total in 1916. The production of bee- hive coke decreased from 35,464,224 tons in 1916 to 33,067,548 tons in 1917. The number of men engaged in producing bituminous coal increased from 561,102 in 1916 to 603,143 in 1917, and the number producing anthracite decreased from 159,869 in 1916 to 154,174 in 1917. How- ever, the number of men employed underground in the production of bituminous coal increased from 474,244 in 1916 to 498,185 in 1917, a gain of but 5 per cent, com- pared with a gain of 20-8 per cent, in surface employees. In the anthracite regions the number of underground employees decreased 5-8 per cent., but the surface em- ployees increased 2-4 per cent. The average number of days worked in both bituminous coal fields and anthra- cite mines was the highest recorded—243 in the bituminous, field and 285 in the anthracite.