194

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

January 24, 1913.

is said to have been raised 50 per cent. ; but the coal
strike prevented fulfilment of tin-plate orders, and gave
American makers an opening; the. Balkan war stopped
eastward shipments ; and it is manifest that the regular
increase of demand has now been overtaken by the
manufacturers, whilst at the same time the Americans
have to be met as serious and successful competitors in
Canada.

Mr. R. R. Davies, manager of the Cwmaman
Colliery, who is retiring from that position, was on
Saturday the recipient of a presentation from workmen
and officials; and a similar testimony of regard was
paid to Mrs. Davies by the women of Cwmaman. Mr.
Powell, “ High Constable ” of Aberdare (one of the
peculiar offices co-relative with that of Mayor), presided
at the meeting.

Mr. H. W. Morgan has been appointed a director
of the Gorse Galvanising Company, near Llanelly.
The new works now under construction at Dafen will
give employment to several hundreds of men.

IHDiAN AND COLONIAL NOTES.

India.

Mining and Geological Institute of India.—The seventh
annual general meeting of the institute will be held on
Friday, January 31, 1913, at 11 a.m., in the lecture room of
the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1, Park-street, Calcutta. The
annual dinner will be held at 8.15 p.m. at the headquarters
of the Calcutta Volunteer Rifles, Strand, Calcutta.

Coal Traffic Conference.—The committee of the Bengal
Chamber of Commerce have appointed a sub-committee
consisting of the president (the Hon. Mr. A. M. Monteath)
and the Hon. Mr. J. C. Shorrock, to examine the report of
the Coal Traffic Conference and to consult with representa-
tives of the Indian Mining Association in regard to it. The
commitee of the association appointed the chairman (Mr. A.
Topping), Mr. E. W. Bowrey, and Mr. W. A. Ironside as
their representatives for this purpose.

Rolling Stock Contracts.—During the year 1912-13, the
Bengal-Nagpur Railway arranged to increase their broad-
gauge wagon supply by 780 goods vehicles, but, owing to
pressure of work in all the English wagon shops, there was
delay in receiving deliveries. During the year 1913-14,
arrangements have been made to augment the 5 ft. 6 in.
wagon stock of the Bengal-Nagpur Railway by no fewer
than 1,837 vehicles. In this connection, Messrs. Stableford
and Co. Limited, of Coalville, have an order for the
early delivery of 275 broad-gauge open wagons, and
Messrs. R. J. Pickering and Co. Limited, of Wishaw, near
Glasgow, the order for a number of broad-gauge covered
goods wagons, whilst the Leeds Forge Company Limited
have a repeat order for the 2 ft. 6 in. gauge lines.
Messrs. Hurst, Nelson and Co. Limited, of Motherwell, and
Messrs. Stableford and Co. Limited, are each supplying
several cylindrical oil-tank wagons for the Bengal-Nagpur
Railway broad-gauge lines. For the East India Railway,
the Metropolitan Amalgamated Carriage, Wagon and
Finance Company Limited, of Birmingham, and Messrs.
P. and W. McLellan Limited, of Glasgow, are respectively
delivering 235 and 600 broad-gauge covered goods wagons.
To the order of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway
Company, the Brush Electrical Engineering Company, of
Loughborough, are to supply 53 four-wheeled open wagons,
and Messrs. Stableford and Co. Limited have a large order
for metre-gauge covered goods wagons required by the
Assam-Bengal Railway. A new section of broad-gauge
line, 50| miles in length, of the Bombay, Baroda and
Central Indian Railway, will shortly be ready for opening,
and also the new 2 ft. 6 in. gauge line from Broach to
Jambusar, and an initial order for a portion of the rolling-
stock equipment for this new feeder line, comprising 33
platform bogie wagons, 28 four-wheeled covered wagons and
seven carriages, is now being executed by the Leeds Forge
Company Limited. For the Eastern Bengal State Railway
the last-mentioned firm have the order for 25 flat-bottomed
bogie wagons for rail and timber traffic, and 100 similar
wagons for the Indian North-Western State Railway, for
which system the Metropolitan Amalgamated Carriage,
Wagon and Finance Company Limited are delivering 895
covered four-wheeled wagons, 50 horse-boxes, 30 special
fruit and vegetable vans, and a number of carriage trucks,
whilst the Bristol Carriage and Wagon Company are
supplying 72 brake vans.

Africa.

According to information received by H.M. Trade Com-
missioner for South Africa from the Commissioner for
Customs and Excise at Pretoria, the Natal collieries have
practically agreed to form a combine, and the step seems to
be generally approved in view of the low profits at which
most of the collieries have been working for some years
past. It is stated that a rise in the ruling price of Natal
coal may consequently be expected during the coming year.

Mineral Output.—The total value of the mineral output
for the month of October, says our correspondent, is given

by the Mines Department of the Union of South Africa as
£3,566,182. As far as the South African coal trade is
concerned, the recent reduction in the railway rates for the
carriage of coal seems to have been of most benefit to the
Transvaal Province, where the volume of business transacted
continues to increase, but, at the same time, it must be
noted that the average pit top selling price is decreasing.
In October, 32 Transvaal collieries sold 426,277 tons for a
total of <£92,266, giving an average pit top price of 4s. 3 95d
per ton. In August, a similar month taken for comparison,
31 collieries sold 430,549 tons at an average of 4s. 4*56d. per
ton at the pit. There is not much difference to notice,
perhaps, except in the selling price, which seems to indicate
that, even should one month show an improvement, the next
month more than wipes it out and displays a tendency
for pit top prices in the Transvaal to continue in a
downward direction. In Natal there is not much
change to notice between the tonnage of coal sold
in August and October, 19 collieries in the latter
month selling 238,283 tons for £66,241, or an average pit
top selling price of 5s. 6d. per ton. Considering the higher
working costs for coal in Natal as compared with the Trans-
vaal Province, the average selling price obtained at the pit-
mouth is not perhaps as good as it looks; whilst Natal
collieries, on the whole, have reaped but little benefit for
their export coal trade owing to the recent reduction in
railway rates, the October average pit top price, like the
Transvaal, showing a slight reduction when compared with
those ruling in July, before the lower rates came into force.
The five collieries in the Orange Free State show an all-
round improvement in October as compared with August,
but on the whole the coal is too inferior to compete with
Natal and Transvaal, except in markets close at home. The
Cape coal trade continues to shrink, although in October
eight collieries only succeeded in selling 6,563 tons. The
following statement shows concisely the coal trade position
throughout the Union of South Africa:—

Average

Collieries. Tons sold. Value, price at pit.

			£	8.	d.
Transvaal 		32 .	.. 426,277 .	... 92,269 .	.. 4	3*98
Natal 		19 .	.. 238,283 .	... 66,241 .	.. 5	672
Orange Free State	5 .	... 47,451 .	... 12,777 .	.. 5	462
Cape Province ...	8 .	..	6,563 .	... 3,691 .	..11	297
	64 .	.. 718,574	...174.978 .	.. 4 10	

Australia.

Eight Hours in Coalmines. — The New South Wales
Legislative Council has rejected, by 23 votes to 4, the State
Eight Hours Coal Mines Bill. In support of the measure
it was asserted that more work was done in Australia in
eight hours than on the European Continent in 14 hours.
On the other side, it was contended that if the hours were
reduced the men would require higher pay so as not to be
losers by the change. The rates of wages and hours of
labour can always be fixed under the State Arbitration Act.
“ It was true,” said one member, “ that there was a law of
this sort in Great Britain, but there was no Arbitration Court
machinery there. The English Act, too, did not apply to any
members excepting those engaged underground, whereas
the measure now before the House included all hands
employed in and about a coalmine. In Great Britain the
mines worked two or three shifts, while in this State there
was only one shift. As a result of a number of shifts the
work of exploiting the mine could be carried on without a
break. As the mine had to be got ready for the hewers, it
would be necessary to employ a staff to prepare for them,
and to finish up the day, both above and below ground. He
doubted if the miner in this country would long agree to a
reduction in his earnings.”

Unrest in the Southern Collieries.—At a mass meeting of
men employed in the collieries south of Sydney, it was
decided to give the union's executive ample power to act
in case of any emergency without calling a meeting; but in
view of a Royal Commission being now engaged in investi-
gating a case of alleged victimisation, it is doubtful whether
a strike will take place. Meanwhile, southern coal stocks
are being considerably increased.

Canada.

According to figures just compiled, between 1852 and
1912 397,696,722 dols. (£79,539,344) were realised from the
minerals of British Columbia. Last year there was a
decrease of 3,000,000 dols. in the total output, owing chiefly
to labour disputes in the collieries.

The Provincial Inspector of Mines reports that 44 new
coalmines have been opened in Alberta during 1912. These
are principally in the country between the Red Deer and
Athabasca rivers. The same official estimates that the
output of Alberta mines for 1912 will exceed that of 1911 by
at least 4,000,000 tons. Production, particularly in the
Edmonton fields, is still far below the requirements of t he
available markets.

The production of the coalmines of Nova {Scotia, says our
Cape Breton correspondont, will reach 6,750,000 tons for the
year 1912, exceeding the tonnage of 1911 by 750,000 tons,
and establishing a new record. The major portion of the
increase comes from the mines of the Dominion Coal
Company. This company's collieries in the Glace Bay
district will have a production for the year of 4,540,000 tons,
an increase on 1911 of 550,000 tons; and the Springhill

collieries of the same company will produce this year
440,000 tons, comparing with 270,000 tons last year, making
a total increase in production for the Dominion Coal Com-
pany of 720,000 tons, or 96 per cent, of the entire increase
for Nova Scotia. The output of the Nova Scotia Steel and
Coal Company for the year will be 842,000 tons, exceeding
1911 by 62,000 tons. The mines of the Acadia Coal
Company, the Intercolonial Coal Company, and the
Inverness Coal and Railway Company will show slight
decreases. During the year large capital expenditures
have been made by the Acadia Coal Company, and
their output is now commencing to increase. During the
coming year it is expected that new mines will be
opened by the Inverness Coal and Railway Company, and
also by the Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Company. In 1912
the Dominion Coal Company have built two large modern
bankheads at No. 15 and No. 21 collieries; and during 1913
they will erect bankheads and complete equipment at
No. 16 and No 22 collieries. Preparations are now being
made to unwater the old Victoria Mine, closed down in
1897. It is hoped to obtain an output from here in 1913.
The colliery will be known as No. 17, and will, like all the
new mines in this district, be operated electrically. In
addition to opening up No. 17, it is quite probable that the
Dominion Coal Company will commence operations on three
other new collieries in 1913. This will give the Dominion
Company 15 collieries in full operation, two in course of
development, and three in the initial stages. The Bettington
boilers recently installed in the Lingan district by the
Dominion Company are now raising steam, and are
supplying a new power-station designed to generate current
for all the Lingan collieries. In starting up the boilers
some initial difficulties were met; but they are now
apparently in successful operation.

The coal trade has been brisk in Eastern Canada during
the past summer. The opening up of the new trans-
continental lines and the growth of manufacturing
industries around Montreal is creating a sharpened demand
for coal, that has been accentuated by the anthracite strike
in the United States and the reflex of the coal strike in
England during the spring. The prospects for the coming
year are for a continuance of the demand, and it is reason-
able to expect larger outputs from the province than ever
before.

The Canadian-Pacific Railway is generally understood to
be financially interested in the opening up of the Grand
Lake coalfield in New Brunswick, now proceeding under the
direction of Sir Thos. Tait. There is only one coalseam in
this field, a seam of fairly good quality, lying perfectly flat,
or with only a gentle undulation under shallow cover,
extending over a fairly large area. The seam
does not anywhere exceed 2 ft. in thickness, and
is being worked either by stripping the cover by “open-
cast ” method or by mining a specified area to a shallow
shaft, abandoning the shaft when the area is exhausted and
extracting the contiguous area by a new shaft, after the
style of the “ bell-pits ” used for the extraction of ironstone
in South Yorkshire many years ago. The usual output of
one of these shafts will be about 75 tons per day. From the
nature of the coalfield, it can never be expected to produce
a large tonnage, but it will prove a valuable auxiliary to
the railways passing through a sparsely-settled district
situated a long distance from any other coal supply. The
opening up of this new coal district will have no effect on
the Nova Scotian collieries, because, as stated, the produc-
tion can never become very great, and it will be absorbed
locally by the requirements of new lines of railway.

Canadian Mining Institute.—The fifteenth annual general
meeting of the institute will be held in Ottowaon Wednes-
day, Thursday and Friday, March 5, 6 and 7,1913. Among
the papers already promised for the meeting are the
following: “ Recent Metallurgical Developments,” by Dr.
Alfred Stansfield, McGill University, Montreal; “The
Steel Industry of Nova Scotia,” by Thos. Cantley, New
Glasgow, N.S. ; “ The Iron Resources of Quebec,” by
Prof. E. Dulieux, Ecole Poly technique, Montreal; “ The
Utilisation of Exhaust Steam,” by J. M. Gordon, Montreal;
“ State Aid to Mining in Australasia,” by H. Mortimer-
Lamb, Montreal ; “ The Use of Rescue Apparatus in Metal
Mines,” by H. E. Bertling, Toronto; “The Best Methods
of Mining Coal under Various Conditions,” by Alex. Sharp,
Vancouver; and “ Core Drilling,”by P. H. Moore, Toronto.

The abolition of all examinations in practical science of a
standard below that of the London Intermediate B.Sc. was
made by Mr. Douglas P. Berridge, of Malvern, at the
conference in London of the Association of Public School
Science Masters. He suggested that in place of such
examinations the examining body should refuse to admit to
any paper in science those candidates who could not furnish
a certificate showing that they had spent a certain number
of hours working in a well-arranged laboratory. For some
psychological reason which he did not understand, Mr.
Berridge said, an examiner seemed to take far less care
in the preparation of a paper at the working of which he
would not be present, than in that cf one on which he would
see the candidate at work. Practical examinations on
science were, he declared, absolutely unsatisfactory if
conducted in the absence of the actual examiner.