1298

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

December 20, 1918.

erected. A temporary branch line has been completed
between the colliery site and the South Yorkshire
Railway, close by, and will be of great value in bring-
ing material to the site for sinking, and in dealing
with the minerals when they come to be drawn. It
is this colliery which will work the coal underlying
the Race Common and the contiguous land belonging
to the Corporation of Doncaster, the total value of
which, in the royalties it will yield to the ratepayers,
has been estimated at something like £450,000. This
coal was leased by the Corporation to Earl Fitz-
william, who in turn sub-leased it to the late Sir
Arthur Markham, M.P., the acreage under his lord-
ship’s own estate and the adjoining Corporation lands
being some 7,000 acres. The result of the boring
disclosed, according to the Government report, a fault
of considerable downthrow south between Armthorpe
and Bentley, but no positive evidence of the extent
of the throw, and consequently of the depth of the
Barnsley seam, was obtained. The boring entered
the coal measures at 971 ft. from the surface, and
was continued to a depth of 2,163 ft. without reach-
ing the Barnsley coal. The idea of the bore was not
so much to reach the Main seam as to continue until
sufficient information had been obtained. The bore-
hole, however, sunk on Earl Fitzwilliam’s estate
reached the Barnsley bed, and the coal was stated to
be satisfactory in thickness and quality. The site
of the colliery is just off the main road leading from
Doncaster to Armthorpe, and adjoining Sandall
Beat. Only a week ago the Doncaster Corporation
agreed to lease to the Markham Main Company, in
addition to the Barnsley seam, all other mines, beds
or seams of coal lying under the same land as that
comprised in the lease of the Barnsley seam, for
a term of 105 years from June 1, 1908.

Markham Main.

The laying out of a garden village for miners is
contemplated in connection with this pit, and will
probably form part of a town planning scheme. The
Markham Main Colliery will, it is understood, be the
largest in the Doncaster area. It is also proposed to
provide a garden village to the north of the colliery,
and that it shall be called the Markham Garden
Village. The intention is to build a thousand houses
on the site, and the lay-out has been approved by
the owners, the Town Planning Committee, and the
Rural District Council of Doncaster. The streets are
to be on the radial plan, and the Armthorpe Lane,
which is to run through the village, is to be 60 ft.
wide from fence to fence, with a building line of 20 ft.
behind, making an open area of 100 ft. The present
population of Armthorpe is about 450, but it is esti-
mated the colliery will ultimately employ from 3,000
'to 4,000 men and boys, and that these, with their
families, workers in other industries, tradespeople,
etc., will easily make up a population of about
15,000.

H ar worth.

The Harworth Colliery, which was to have been a
German concern, was some few months ago purchased
by Messrs. Barber, Walker and Company Limited, of
Eastwood, Notts, and Bentley Colliery, Doncaster,
and will now be an all-British enterprise. When war
broke out, a large number of foreigners were engaged
in connection with the freezing plant preparatory to
sinking. The area of coal royalties included in the
sale to Messrs. Barber Walker is about 15,000 to
20,000 acres. These royalties had previously come
into the hands of a syndicate, whose most prominent
member was Herr Hugo Stinnes. The work of sink-
ing is to go forward as soon as ever possible. Whether
the method introduced by the Germans will be con-
tinued, or the cementation process be adopted, remains
to be seen, Mr. C. W. Phillips, general manager of
Messrs. Barber, Walker and Company Limited, having
stated some time ago that all depended upon the
nature of the ground, and that nothing could be
arranged until the upper strata had been proved.
The Germans had placed their contract for freezing,
sinking, tubbing, erecting winding engines, headgear,
etc., with the Rheinisch Westfalische Schachtbau
Aktiengesellschaft, of Essen, for a sum which was
understood to be approximately £200,000; the whole
of the equipment was to come from Germany, and the
work was to have been carried out on thoroughly
German lines. Instead of the usual English system
of one large winding engine and one drum to each
shaft, it was intended to have two separate winding
engines to each pit, one on each side, working inde-
pendently, and each raising two cages at the same
time, the idea being to get a daily output of 4,000
tons from each shaft. Central baths at the pit head,
on the German system, were spoken of, a great colliery
village on German lines, for German pit men, and
even a beer garden was projected. Before the armis-
tice it was reported that German prisoners of war
were likely to be employed for the sinking. This,
however, is now improbable, and a start with British
labour is anticipated.

Finningley-Blaxton.

The Finningley-Blaxton Colliery is the project of
the Sheepbridge Coal and Iron Company, who have
acquired the Barnsley seam of coal underlying a large
area of land at Finningley, Blaxton and Wroot, on
the eastern boundary of the Rossington coal field.
The Sheepbridge Company already control two import-
ant enterprises in the Doncaster district, Maltby and
Rossington Main, and have also the mineral rights
over the area around Firbeck, where they are pre-
paring likewise to sink a colliery. It is understood
that a site for the Finningley-Blaxton Colliery has
been provisionally chosen, close to a convenient line
of railway. The Hatfield Chase Corporation has
leased about 10,000 acres of coal to the company.

Thorne Moorends.

The future of the colliery of Messrs. Pease and
Partners, at Thorne Moorends, will be watched with
great interest. This pit has been in course of con-
struction since the latter part of 1910. Water diffi-
culties, the war, and other factors have hindered its

progress, although at one time it looked as if, with
ordinary luck and good fortune, it would have been
the fourth pit to reach the Barnsley bed in the new
virgin coal field after Brodsworth, Bentley and Bull-
croft. A large sum of money has already been sunk
in it. Prior to the war a German company had
become associated with the Shaft Freezing Company
to freeze both shafts to the coal measures, but the
arrangement fell through owing to the war, and the
Colliery Company decided to carry out the sinking
operations themselves. It having been found practi-
cally impossible to continue during the war, it was
decided, after putting in the necessary tubes for the
freezing process, to suspend operations until peace
time.

Regarding the other new collieries mentioned in
this article, syndicates are at present being formed,
or have already been formed, to proceed with them.
It is expected that, notwithstanding the higher rates
that will have to be paid for labour in sinking, this
will be largely counteracted by using the cementa-
tion process so satisfactorily carried out at Hatfield
Main, which may result in sinking being but little
more costly than heretofore.

Ship Canal Scheme.

Side by side with the extensive colliery development
briefly foreshadowed above, it is hoped the contem-
plated ship canal scheme will soon become a reality,
when there would, of course, be scope for almost un-
limited building enterprise for the provision of
dwellings for the thousands of new workers and their
families who in due course will make their homes
in the district.

Turning to the final Royal Commission Report,
Part V., 1905, the course of the Askern fault still gives
food for thought to mining engineers, and now proof is
established of its easterly direction, it is not difficult
to understand why the boreholes on the plan supplied
in the final report of the Commission, “ District D,
Part V.,” remain unexplored, especially when, on
the other hand, the series of coal seams to the South
Yorkshire field all prove thicker and continue to be
of excellent quality both for steam and house pur-
poses, as also for by-products and coke manufacture,
etc. This report also gives a further 500,000,000 tons
of coal in seams lying below 4,000 ft.

Southcar, Belton and Everton areas have the geo-
graphical advantage of the newly constructed Isle of
Axholme Railway, of the North Eastern and Lan-
cashire and Yorkshire railway companies to the
shipping ports of the Humber and to the extensive
ironworks of Lincolnshire, besides the unique advan-
tages afforded by the free navigable waterways.

EXPLOSIVES IN COAL MINES.

New Order.

The Home Secretary has issued, under date Novem-
ber 28, 1918, an Order including the explosives known
as Seamex and Stomonal No. 3 in the First Schedule of

the Permitted List.

Seamex consists of the following mixture :—

Parts by weight.

Ingredients.	Not more Not less

than than

Nitro-glycerine.................... 11	...	9

Nitrate of ammonium ............... 59	...	56

Chloride of sodium ................ 13	...	11

.Wheat flour (dried at 1(0degs. C.)	19	...	16

Moisture .... .....,................ 4	...	2

Tl.e explosive shall be used only when contained in
a case of paper thoroughly waterproofed with paraffin
wax ; with a detonator or electric detonator of not less
strength than that known as No. 6; and the greatest
weight of the explosive which may be used in any one
shot-hole shall not exceed 36 oz.; the explosive must
have been made at the works of the Explosives and
Chemical Products Limited, at Bramble Island, in the
county of Essex.

Four ounces of Seamex gave a swing of 2’54 in. to the
ballastic pendulum, compared with a swing of 3 27 in.
given by 4 oz. of gelignite containing 60 per cent, of
nitro-glycerine.

Stomonal No. 3 consists of the following mixture :—

Parts by weight.

Ingredients.	Not more Not less

than than

Nitro-glycerine................... 11	...	9

Nitrate of ammonium .............. 62	. ...	59

Chloride of sodium................ 20	...	17

Ox ala tn of ammonium ........... 5	...	3

Wheat flour (dried at 100 dcgs. C.)	7	...	5

Moisture......................... 2	...	—

The explosive shall be used only when contained in a
stout case of paper thoroughly waterproofed with
paraffin wax; with a detonator or electric detonator of
not less strength than that known as No. 6; and the
greatest weight of the explosive which may be used in
any one shot-hole shall not exceed 22 oz.; tbe explosive
must have been made at the works of the New Explosives
Company Limited, at S towmarket, in the county of
Suffolk.

Four ounces of Stomonal No. 3 gave a swing of
256 in. to the ballistic pendulum, compared with a
swing of 3 27 in. given by 4 oz. of gelignite containing
60 per cent, of nitro-glycerine.

The British Engineers’ Association.—The council of the
British Engineers’ Association, in order to cope with the
vast amount of important work which will devolve upon
it in the immediate future, has appointed a director
(Mr. D. A. Bremner), who will be the chief organising and
executive officer of the association.

Nationalisation of French Mines.—On Friday the French
Chamber concluded the debate on the Bill amending the
Mines Law of T810. In the form in which the Bill will
go to the Senate, it provides for the limitation of the
period of concessions, the participation of the State in the
profits, the buying out of the concessionnaires by the
State, and the establishment of a consultative mines com-
mittee, which will include senators and deputies.

SCOTTISH MINE MANAGERS’
ASSOCIATION.

A meeting of the Scottish Mine Managers’ Associa-
tion was held in the Christian Institute, Glasgow, on
Saturday, December 7, Mr. Wm. Stevenson (Cleland)
presiding.

Sinking Shafts Through Thick Beds of Mud and Sand.

Discussion was resumed on the paper by Mr. Thomas
Borland (West Calder) on “Sinking Shafts Through
Thick Beds of Mud and Sand {Colliery Guardian,
November 15, 1918, p. 1019).

The Chairman (Mr. William Stevenson, Cleland)
said that the paper was one that ought to appeal to
them all as practical mine managers. It fell only
to the lot of a few of them to sink pits through beds
of thick mud and sand as described in the paper, but
no manager knew the day when he might be called
upon to face such an experience. He appealed to
the younger members of the association not to be
afraid to put questions to the author. In that way
they would elicit much useful knowledge as to the
methods which had been adopted.

Mr. James Black, Shettleston (Secretary), said that
Mr. Borland had been particularly fortunate in his
selection of a subject, which was one that would
strongly appeal to all the members of the association.
As regarded the shaft, Mr. Borland had an undoubted
preference for the circular form, and he (Mr. Black)
himself thought that was a point which was beyond
all argument, that form of shaft being strongest and
lending itself readily to the damming back of water
which was frequently encountered when sinking
through a surface of the kind described. With a
circular shaft it was much easier to maintain the
proper shape and vertically of the shaft, and these
were important matters. Attention should be directed
to one point, namely, that Mr. Borland explained
that it was the eighth experiment which was success-
ful. Now that was sufficient evidence to convince
even the most sceptical—despite all the experience
one might possess in work of this description—that it
was very often a question of trial and error before
the successful method was eventually hit upon. At
the same time it would be recognised that the more
experience one had in connection with work of this
nature fewer trial efforts became necessary, and earlier
success was more likely to be achieved. It simply
corroborated what the author had pointed out, viz.,
that this was a class of work which bristled with
potential difficulties; and, despite all the knowledge
and experience one might possess, it often became
necessary to try one thing and another until ulti-
mately a successful method was found. There was
one important point on which he would like Mr.
Borland to give an opinion. In the successful eighth
experiment, when Mr. Borland had reached the clay,
it was impossible, even had it been necessary, after
the cementation process had been completed, to sink
the crib any further. Now this raised an interesting
point. Supposing, for example, that the crib had not
been through the soft mud, would the author still
have advised the application of cement ? In the case
the author was writing about, his plans were such
as almost to ensure success; they had got through
the softest of the material, and the clay acted as a
sort of base for the cement to rest upon. The con-
sequence was that it was not necessary for them to
sink their crib any further. As explained in the
paper, from that point downwards they brought the
brickwork up in segments. Then, in connection with
the first experiment tried, a valuable lesson could
be learned. Mr. Borland believed that the use of
bales of compressed straw would have proved success-
ful had it not been that the straw began to rot and
give way. That was rather an interesting point, and
one that ought to be kept in mind when it was pro-
posed to introduce the use of straw for a purpose
such as that described. It was also of interest to
learn of the gas that was given off—it had a very
pungent odour — and quite likely it was, as was
suggested in the paper, ammonia or some of its com-
pounds.

Mr. John Whiteside (Holytown) said that every
movement Mr. Borland had made had been on lines
that he (Mr. Whiteside) could appreciate, but there
was one matter on which he would like further infor-
mation. He quite thought that the experiment the
author had tried with the bales of compressed straw
a reasonable thing to attempt; but with regard to
the attempt to stop the gap by means of wood piles,
supposing the author had been successful in getting
a suitable foundation to rest upon, how was he to
remove these piles and keep back the sand so as to
get the job finished?

Mr. John Gibson (Kilmarnock) said the point that,
had been raised by Mr. Black was one that had im-
pressed him as a very acute criticism. At first he;
did not quite appreciate the point raised by Mr.
Whiteside because he expected the piles were driven
down further than the crib. He understood that
would be the case, and that advantage would be taken
of the V shape of the crib for that purpose. (Mr.
Borland assented.) Mr. Gibson, continuing, said
that pits were not sunk for philanthropic purposes,
but to make money. It might be, and in certain
cases he was confident it did pay to put down a
rectangular shaft, but to say that a circular shaft
was better than a rectangular shaft, even within
the limitations laid down by the author, was a state-
ment he could hardly accept. It came largely to be
a question of cost whether a rectangular shaft or a
circular shaft was to be sunk. It was quite possible
that the author, as a result of his later experiences,
found himself veering round in favour of a circular
shaft, but Mr. Borland could hardly question the
statement that the first cost of a circular shaft was
greater than a rectangular wooden-lined shaft. Of
course he (Mr. Gibson) put aside the exceptional
circumstances in which we stood at present, when
9 by 3 barring cost something like lOd. per foot,