FEBRUARY 7, 1913. THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. 285 MINE MANAGERS’ EXAMINATIONS. List of Successful Candidates. The following is a list, communicated by the Home Office, of the successful candidates at the examination held by the Board for Mining Examinations on November 26,27, and 28, 1912, at Edinburgh, Newcastle, Sheffield, Wigan, Cardiff, and Birmingham, to whom certificates of competency as managers and under-managers of mines, and certificates of qualification as surveyors of mines, have been granted i under the Coal Mines Act, 1911;— First-class (Managers). | Harry Sargent Allen Cecil Henry Bailey John Barke Hugh Brady William Henry Brealey Alexander F. Campbell William Carr John Murray Clayton Thomas William Dobinson William Dunbar William Henry Draper Thomas Stanley Durham Richard Godber Eaton Henry Edward English Sydney Farr Leo Dorey Ford Leonard Gill Francis Donald Gurrey Second-class John Armstrong Richard Atkinson Joseph Edward Barker Abraham Bartie Harold Arthur Beard Joseph Herbert Bettison William Samuel Bey non William Herron Bower James Brailsford Robert Brettell Edward Broad William Burnett James Finch Clamp David Coates worth Frederick William Cooke Thomas Henry Cousin Edward S. Cunningham Roes Davies William Davies Frank Dawson Thomas William Dent Thomas Derbyshire Oscar Earnshaw Herbert Perby Fielding Thomas Gibson Frederick Griffiths Stephen Haddow James Hamilton William Harper John Henderson William Hoggings Sam Holland James Hunter Henry Jackson Sydney Lowe Jackson John Harrison James Horrocks Hesketh George Christopher Heslop Thomas Alan Hodgkiss Cedric Calverley Hogg Charles Frederick Hoyle Arnold Lowe Stanley McKensey David Maihwaring Geoffrey Dixon Mayhew William Pilkington Joseph Nelson O. Rogers John William West John Whimpenny Oliver Thomas Wintie Wilfred William Wooton Stuart John Young William Young. (Under-managers). Herbert Kilbourne Samuel Ernest King Francis Kyme Peter McGinn Roderick McKechnie, jun. William Henry May Daniel Herbert Meadows Samuel Millington George Mills John Molyneux John Parkinson Joseph Pashley Calley Pattinson Frederick Perkin Asher Perkins James Porter Alfred Richard Preston Thomas Preston • William Randle William Henry Roberts Charles Robinson Alexander Ross John Sephton Thomas Silcock Sims Evans Simms Alexander Simpson William Sloan Enoch Smith John Charles Todd John Henry Ward Joseph Webster Alfred Whittaker Timothy Whittingham Robert Boyes Whyte Surveyors. Valentine Place Ley son Duncan McLea William Nisbet Caleb Joseph Pamely Percival Laidler Robson Hubert Scholes Charles Worsley James Seton Young Thomas Nicholson Bramfitt Robert Brown Robert Currie Campbell Leo Dorey Ford Alfred Foster Ralph Hampson John James William Johnston James Keir and the OBITUARY. Dr. Gustaf de Laval, the well-known engineer inventor, died at Stockholm on Sunday evening, at age of 67. We regret to announce the death of the Earl of Crawford which took place on the 1st inst. at his town house in Cavendish-square. He had been in indifferent health for some time, and was accustomed to winter abroad. James Ludovic Lindsay, 26 th Earl of Crawford (premier earl of Scotland) and ninth Earl of Balcarres, Lord Lindsay of Balcarres, and Lord Balniel, all in the peerage of Scotland, and Lord Wigan in the peerage of the United Kingdom, was born on July 28, 1847, at St. Germain-en-Laye, France, and was the son of the 25th earl, whom he succeeded in 1880. His mother was Margaret, daughter of Lieut.-General James Lindsay of Balcarres. The late earl was one of the most accomplished members of the peerage, and had made a name for himself as a man of science, as an explorer, as a sportsman and as a collector. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he devoted himself to astronomy and soon won distinction. Lord Crawford was pre- sident of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1878 and 1879, and he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1878. With Wigan, which he represented in the House of Commons from 1874 to 1880, and where he owned valuable property, Lord Crawford had many links. For many years he was chairman of the Wigan Coal and Iron Company and was president of the Wigan and District Chamber of Commerce. He was a trustee of the Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Permanent Relief Society, and was president of the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, Wigan, He was a trustee of the British Museum, a Knight of the Thistle (having received the green ribbon in 1891), a Knight of Grace of St. John of Jerusalem, and a Commander of the Legion of Honour. The late peer married, in 1869, Emily Florence, daughter of the late Colonel the Hon. Edward Bootle-Wilbraham, and leaves five sons and one daughter. His eldest son, David Alexander Edward Lindsay, Lord Balcarres, who succeeds to the title, was born in 1871, and was educated at Eton and Magdalen. He has sat for the Chorley Division since 1895. Lord Crawford's only daughter, Lady Evelyn, is the wife of Mr. J. F. Mason, M.P. We regret to state that his Honour Judge Bradbury, county court judge for the Bolton and Bury districts, died on Saturday evening in France, after a short illness, from pneumonia following influenza. Born in 1848, the son of the late Mr. G. T. Bradbury, of Liverpool, James Kinder Bradbury was educated at Liverpool College and Caiue College, Cambridge. .He was appointed in March 1900 county court judge of Circuit No. 5, which covers the courts | at Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, and Wigan. Judge Bradbury was unanimously chosen by the coalowners and the miners of the two counties last April, after the coal strike, as chairman of the District Board for Lancashire and Cheshire under the Coal Mines (Minimum Wage) Act; and the Board of Trade nominated him as chairman also of the corresponding board for North Staffordshire. He was greatly respected both by the masters and men’s represen- tatives. He married, in 1878, Grace, daughter of the late Rev. Edward Dowling, vicar of Timperley, Cheshire, and resided at Parkfield, Altrincham. Explosives in Coal Mines Order.—At an ordinary meeting of the North Staffordshire Branch of the National Associa-1 tion of Colliery Managers, held at the North Stafford Hotel, Stoke-on-Trent, on the 20th ult., under the presidency of Mr. A. M. Henshaw, a discussion took place on the subject of “Section 61 of the Coal Mines Act, 1911, and the Explosives in Coal Mines Order, 1912.” The discussion was introduced by Mr. F. E. Buckley, who summarised the principal provisions of the Order. He observed that Rule 6 had caused a good deal of controversy, for it stated that a shot should not be fired in a main haulage road, main intake airway, or any place immediately contiguous thereto, in any coalmine which was not naturally wet throughout, unless the workmen had been removed from that seam and from all seams communicating with the shaft at the same level, except the men engaged in firing the shot and, in addition, others, not exceeding 10, who might be attending to the machinery and horses. Owing to representations from the Mining Association, that had been altered by the addition of words providing for men engaged in ripping being also in the seams. He supposed they might assume that any number of men might be in the various seams communicating with the shaft at one level so long as they were only doing repair work. The president (Mr. A. M. Henshaw) said his own view was that this was one of the least objectionable of the obligations put upon colliery managers by recent legislation, and he found very little objection to the Explosives Order. Some of the points that he particularly regarded as necessary were, for instance, the taking out of the mine of surplus explosives and detonators. It had been a great puzzle to him to understand how it was possible for a charge to hang-fire when it was fired by electricity. He could not understand how it was that a charge, after the turning on of the current, should fail to explode and then explode some little time afterwards. It was very important, too, that the search for a miss-charge, after the failure of a shot to explode, should be properly done. One of the most important clauses in the new Order was the necessary examination of the floor and the neighbourhood of the shot for coaldust. The regulations with regard to shot-firing in main haulage roads were modified to a small extent, and he thought the modifications necessary and proper. The firing of shots on main roads where dust was present was always accompanied by risk and danger, and restrictions on that point could not be too strictly enforced. In the course of an informal discussion which followed, attention was especially called to Rule 6. A member pointed out that a horse haulage road did not come within the prohibition of the rule. The president said there certainly appeared to be an anomaly. A road in which the haulage was by horse power might be a very important and also a very dusty road, but under the Order it would not be classed as a main haulage road in which shot-firing might only take place as provided. Yet, just beyond that, they might have a small, unimportant road, which was not dusty, but because the haulage was mechanical a shot might not be fired in it without these restrictions. Views were next expressed on the subject of shots hanging fire when fired electrically, and members quoted cases of hanging fire for periods of half to two minutes.—Mr. W. G. Salt asked whether it was not possible that the flash compound hung fire perhaps on account of it being slightly damp.—Mr. G. A. Mitches n said there were one or two cases of hanging fire in Shropshire some years ago, and they made experiments, with the result that they came to the conclusion that some packing material had been left in the detonators, and so caused the hang-fire.—Mr. R. H. Cole promised to obtain for the next meeting the written opinion of an expert on this question.—Mr. Buckley was then thanked for his paper introducing the discussion. COALDUST EXPLOSIONS AND STONEDUST. Lecture by Dr. Garforth at Nottingham. A lecture to colliery owners and mining officials was given on Saturday afternoon, February 1, at the University College, Nottingham, by Dr. W. E. Garforth (president of the Institution of Mining Engineers), who took as his subject, “ Coaldust Explosions and their Prevention.” The lecture had been arranged by the Midland Counties Institution of Engineers, and invitations to attend had been given to members of the Midland Branch of the National Association of Colliery Managers, and to colliery officials in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. There was a large attendance, including Mr. W. H. Hepplewhite, one of H.M. inspectors of mines for the Midland and Southern district, Mr. E. H. Fraser, of Nottingham (H.M.I.M.), Major Walker, Mr. J. Piggford, Mr. J. Mein, Mr. J. W. Fryar, and Mr. W. Hay. Mr. Hepplewhite, who presided, said Dr. Garforth needed but little introduction, as he was well known by the prominent position he had taken for many years on the coaldust question. He had, individually, at some cost and labour, done more, without a doubt, than any man in this country, to bring into prominence the danger that lurked in coaldust, and the precautions that might be adopted to guard against explosions. For the work, both scientific and practical, that Mr. Garforth had done in the interests of the coalmining industry, the University of Birmingham had conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Science, and he (Mr. Hepplewhite) hoped the day was not far distant when the Government of this country would confer upon him a recognition title, as he fittingly deserved. For the second year Dr. Garforth had been honoured by being elected president of the Institution of Engineers. Dr. Garforth, who had an enthusiastic reception, at the outset recalled the circumstances attending the initiation of the British coaldust experiments, and briefly described the equipment of the Altofts station and some typical experiments. Dealing next with the various remedies that have been proposed—liquid, gaseous, and solid—he strongly advocated the use of bind dust, such as has been systemati- cally employed at Altofts Colliery for the past four years. In regard to the diminution of oxygen, Dr. Garforth said that whilst academically the prospect of finding a remedy on these lines was full of interest, practically it was obviously impossible. Photographs were shown by the lecturer of sections of roadway treated with stonedust, and a descrip- tion was given of the method of utilising the intake current to distribute the dust through box tubes. The use of compressed air he regarded as less effective and more costly than spreading by hand. At Altofts, some 12 miles of mechanical haulage roads have now been treated with stonedust, the inclusive cost on a total of 1,810,678 tons over a period of three years having been approximately one- tenth of a penny per ton of coal output. The application of stonedust has not caused the slightest discomfort to work- men or inconvenience to the traffic, nor injury to ropes or other appliances. On this point Dr. Garforth briefly described Dr. Beattie's experiment as set forth in the First Report of the Explosions in Mines Committee, accompanying his description with numerous slides. He then passed on to the chemical and physical investigations begun at Altofts and continued at Eskmeals, and referred to Mr. Lomax's microscopical experiments. In conclusion he expressed the opinion that the time had arrived when the stonedust remedy should receive more practical application. It was necessary, however, that the principles of stonedusting should be carried out in a most complete and efficient manner; stonedust should be strewn wherever there was coaldust and the proportion should never fall below the proportion of from 10 to 14 to one. At the close of the lecture the chairman announced that the council of the Midland Counties Institution of Engineers had agreed to elect Dr. Garforth as an honorary member of the institution in recognition of his services on that occasion. Mr. Mein proposed a vote of thanks to Dr. Garforth. Mr. Binns seconded, and the vote was heartily accorded. Dr. Garforth, in replying, said he much appreciated the honour which the Midland Counties Institution of Engineers had done him in electing him an honorary member. On the proposition of Mr. Piggford a vote of thanks was given to the chairman. Questions regarding coal contracts were asked at the last meeting of the Warrington Town Council, the most impor- tant being as to whether or not the lowest tender was accepted. Aid. John Evans, in reply, said the names of the accepted firms were Pearson and Knowles Coal and Iron Company Limited and the Warrington Slate Company Limited. The committee concerned did not accept the lowest tender. Early in 1911 the water engineer was instructed to make tests for calorific value. Sixteen tests of a week each were made, and tenders were invited in August 1912, and two were accepted a month later. Seven firms competed collectively for fifteen different qualities, and the tenders were placed having regard to the results of the testsK The council's policy had been justified, because from April 1 to December 31 there had been a saving of about £100 in the amount of the fuel used.