February 14, 1913.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

349

MINING AND OTHER NOTES.

At the Priestman Memorial Hall, Ashington, on Saturday,
Mr. C. G. Henderson, under-manager of Ashington Collieries,
was presented with a purse of gold and a silver cigarette
case, the gifts of the officials, deputies and chargemen who
have been trained by him for their examinations under the
new Mines Act.

An interesting presentation took place at Wynnstay
Colliery, Ruabon, recently, on the occasion of the departure
of Mr. H. C. Newbold, colliery surveyor, who has left to take
up a post as surveyor to the Great Wyrley Colliery,
Cannock. The presentation took the form of a smoking
cabinet, subscribed for by the officials and staff.

At New Washington recently, Mr. Thomas Burt, the
under-manager of the Washington F Pit, was presented with
a secretaire, in recognition of the services rendered by him
to the officials, deputies, chargemen and coalhewers who
gained certificates to qualify them to act under the new
Mines Act, 1911.

Mr. T. Bates, manager at West Wylam Pit, and Mr. James
Moore, secretary to the deputies of West Wylam Pit, have
been presented with silver-mounted walking sticks and gold
medals, suitably inscribed, in recognition of their services
in coaching and assisting the deputies of the pit for their
recent examinations under the Mines Act.

desirability of steps being taken to decide upon and secure
the general adoption of a standard method for the measure-
ment of atmospheric pollution by smoke and other products
of combustion and dust. A committee was appointed “ to
draw up details of a standard soot and dust measurement
apparatus and methods of its use.*’ The committee is
presided over by Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S., director of the
Meteorological Office. The method of investigation which
has now been adopted by the committee as most likely to
give satisfactory results is that used in the enquiry con-
ducted in 1911-12 under the auspices of the Lancet, with
the object of ascertaining the degree of pollution of the
atmosphere in and around London. The standard apparatus

* recommended takes the form of an enlarged rain gauge
having a catchment area of 4 square feet, which receives
all rain, soot, and other matters falling thereon, and deposits
them in a large bottle, the contents of which can be regularly
analysed. The committee’s report and recommendation
have recently been submitted to all important cities in the
United Kingdom, with the result that Birmingham,
Bradford, Glasgow, Leicester, Malvern, and Newcastle-on-
Tyne have already agreed to set up the standard apparatus
in accordance with the committee’s advice. Dr. John
Owens, 47, Victoria-street, Westminster, is acting as hon.
secretary to the committee.

Messrs. Farebrother, Ellis and Co., the well-known

Mr. John Coates, who has been manager of the Ellen-
borough Colliery, near Maryport, for the past 12 months,
has been appointed manager of the St. Helen's Colliery and
by-product ovens, at Siddick, near Working ton, in succession
to Mr. J. T. Manderston, who has been appointed manager
at the North Seaton Colliery, Northumberland. Both Mr.
Manderston and Mr. Coates are Durham men, and previous
to their coming south were employed in connection with
the Birtley Iron and Coal Company, Durham. Mr. Coates
will commence his new duties about the end of March.

The Oughterside Colliery Company, near Maryport, have
commenced boring operations at Hayton, near to the castle.
The hole is the seventh which has been put down in the
vicinity of Oughterside and Prospect since the colliery
company was formed.

An important principle was involved in a test case heard
at the Llanelly County Court recently, before the deputy
judge (Mr. Milner Jones) in which Walter Evans, a collier,
living at Carway, sued the Gwendraeth Anthracite Colliery
Limited for a sum of 3s. l|d. in respect of an overcharge in
the supply of explosives. For the respondents it was
contended that the net cost included the expense to the
owner in providing the explosives to the workers, and not
the invoice price. There was the question of bringing the
powder to the colliery, and a man had to be engaged to
accept delivery. The storage was also part of the net cost.

Mr. Daniel Meredith, manager of the colliery, said the cost * auctioneers, of 29, Fleet-street, E.C., in conjunction with
of the magazine, built seven years ago, was estimated at j Messrs. Braund and Oram, held a very successful sale of
£50. He estimated the cost of distributing the explosives the Ridgeway Estate, Herne, Kent, on behalf of the
at 8s. a week. His Honour, in giving judgment, said the ®x®outors of the late G. E. Dering, Esq., at the Royal
owners were entitled to deduct the sum of 4s. 7d. in respect Fountain Hotel, Canterbury, recently. Mr. Ralph S. Ellis,
of the delivery. The person who attended at the magazine F.S.I., occupied the rostrum, and in the course of his
was a weigher who was paid a weekly wage. His time was i °Pening remarks expressed his confidence in the great
chiefly occupied in weighing coal and the company were not i ^u^ure there is for speculation in land in the coal area,
put to any extra expense. Therefore, he found that the 3s. j ^°tal realised was £7,595, and every lot was sold,
paid to the weigher should not be deducted. With regard i A proposal that the Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith
to the magazine, he did not think the company was entitled Railway should be sold to the London and North-Western
to any cost in regard to its provision. Judgment was Railway Company has been vetoed by the directors,
entered accordingly, costs to the plaintiff on Scale B, leave I The spontaneous combustion of coal was discussed at the
to appeal being granted.	; Institute of Marine Engineers recently as the outcome of

The examination in bankruptcy of William M‘Millan and a paper read by Mr. James E. Milton. The discussion was
James Henderson M‘Millan, partners of the firm of William adjourned.

M'Millan and Co., colliery agents and merchants, Cook-1 Mr. J. B. Kitchin, who has retired from the post of
street Mineral Dep6t, Glasgow, was fixed to take place last manager of Woodend mines, has been the recipient of a
week before Sheriff Boyd in Glasgow Bankruptcy Court, clock and ornaments and easy chairs, subscribed for by the
On behalf of William M‘Millan, senior partner of the firm, men employed at the mines.

a medical certificate was submitted stating his inability to | In the course of an inquest on the body of a collier who
attend, owing to illness. James Henderson M‘Millan said ; had shown nystagmic symptoms, employed at the Ellistown
he managed the business for his father. The state of | Colliery, it was stated that, as the result of a post-mortem,
affairs showed a deficiency of £1,487 19s. 3d., which he 1 a tumour was found on the brain. Dr. Jamie, of Coalville,
partly accounted for by being obliged to buy at exorbitant! gave it as his opinion that the nystagmus did not produce
prices during the coal strike, in order to fulfil certain ! the tumour, but the tumour caused the nystagmus,
contracts.

The Heriot-Watt College, Edinburgh, having been
approved by the Home Office to issue firemen’s and shot-
firers’ certificates in the East of Scotland under the Coal
Mines Act, examinations have been held frequently, 109 in
all taking place since June last. These were held at the
college and institutions in Fife, Clackmannan, and East and
West Lothian. Up to the present time the total number
who have received certificates in the district is 2,270.

Presiding at the half-yearly meeting of the Great Central
Railway, Sir Alexander Henderson said that at the Imming-
ham Dock they had dealt with 790,755 tons in six months. He
was glad to say the new dock had not robbed Grimsby of its
coal bill, the shipment figures there being virtually the
same as those of a year ago. Locomotive power showed a
large increase (£56,157), the principal increase being
£32,125 in the coal bill. Mr. Barningham suggested that
expenses might be reduced by a combination of wagon-

owners—railway companies and private owners—so that
there might be a common user of wagons.

The annual dinner of the Institution of Electrical
Engineers was held in the Hotel Cecil on the 9th inst.
Mr. W. Duddell, F.R.S., the president, was in the chair.

The bodies of two more victims of the disastrous explosion
which occurred at the May pole Colliery, Abram, in August
1908, have been recovered. They were found in the Wigan
Four-feet, lying close together. The two men were repairing
the road at the time of the disaster.

At a complimentary smoker held on Saturday night at
Close House, promoted by the officials, deputies, and shot-
firers of the Eldon, Auckland Park, and Shildon Lodge
collieries, Mr. John W. Wilkinson, under-manager of the
Eldon, Brockwell, and Busty seams, was presented with a
handsome gold watch, suitably inscribed.

The amount of water raised from the submerged coal
measures in Tipton district amounted during January to
11,892,000 gallons per 24 hours. In the Old Hill district
the pumps have dealt satisfactorily with increased amounts
of water. During five weeks there has been an average
rainfall over the entire district of 4’91 inches.

Mr. Charles David Phillips, of the Emlyn Engineering

Works at Newport and Gloucester, left estate valued at
£78,188 gross, with net personalty £69,319.

At a meeting of the Royal Statistical Society to be held
at 5 p.m., on Tuesday, February 18, 1913, at the rooms of
the Royal Society of Arts, John-street, Adelphi, W.C., a

The Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland
and the Institution of Naval Architects have arranged a
joint summer meeting, which is to be held in Glasgow on
June 24, 25, 26, and 27.

The North-Eastern Railway Company have decided to
electrify their mineral line between Shildon and Newport
(Middlesbrough), known as the Simpasture branch, a

distance of 18 miles of route, equalling in single track and
sidings about 50 miles. The electrical energy will be
purchased from the Newcastle-on-Tyne Electric Supply
Company, in connection with the Cleveland and Durham
County Electric Power Company and the Cleveland and
Durham Electric Power Limited. Current at 1,500 volts
will be supplied to the locomotive by means of overhead
wires. The ordinary track rails will be bonded for the
return circuit. For the present the company has decided
to build 10 electric freight locomotives, and these will be
put together in the locomotive works at Darlington. Each
locomotive will be capable of starting and hauling a train
weighing 1,400 tons on the level at a normal speed of not
less than 25 miles per hour.

At the conference of delegates of local authorities and
learned societies convened by the Coal Smoke Abatement
Society in connection with the International Smoke Abate-
ment Exhibition in March last, attention was drawn to the

paper on “ The Panama Canal and Competition for Trade
in Latin America, the Orient and Australasia,” will be read
by Prof. Lincoln Hutchinson.

The gross profits of James Dunlop and Company Limited,
for 1912 were £73,131, while the net profits amounted to
.£68,062, making, with the balance brought forward,
.£77,220. The directors propose to appropriate £24,000 for

depreciation, to pay a dividend on the ordinary shares at
the rate of 10 per cent, per annum, and to carry forward
£10,220.

A meeting of the Castleford and District Mining Students*
Association was held recently, when a lecture was given by
Mr. W. A. Machin on “ The Sinking and Tubbing of Shafts.”
The lecturer described in detail the German method of
tubbing, taking as example the sinking at Ledstone Luck
Colliery, where the first shaft was tubbed with English,
in the second the tubbing is being put in whilst the
sinking proceeds according to the German method.
A brief discussion followed, after which a resolution
was passed unanimcusly that the secretary write to
the Home Secretary and the M.P’s for Normanton
Pontefract and Osgoldcross, drawing their attention to the
clause in the regulations for mine managers* examinations
where the candidate is required to produce a survey
made and drawn by himself. This, it was insisted,

practically means that the articled pupil can get a first-
class manager's certificate when he is 23 years of age, and
that the working man who has had to get his education at
evening and technical classes has to wait until he has been
an under-manager for a year or two. This means, a person is
very fortunate if he be 30 years of age before he is able to
sit for his certificate. This association maintains that it is
not a just clause, and one which will discourage the workers
from trying to improve themselves, seeing that it is
impossible for them to reach the top rung of the ladder.

The Doncaster Rural Council, at its meeting last week,
adopted the recommendations of the Town Planning Com-
mittee for the immediate town planning of Askern Spa and
the neighbourhood, where a new colliery has been sunk. It
was decided to apply to the Local Government Board for an
order dispensing with the town planning regulations for
service of notices on occupiers of premises with less than
three months* tenancy. The surveyor was also instructed
to proceed with a town planning scheme for the Barnborough
area as soon as possible. Included in the Askern district
are the parishes of Norton and Sutton. New sewerage
schemes for these places, to cost £5,500 and £3,000 respec-
tively, were agreed to.

Mr. Ralph Clark, a clerk in the employ of Messrs. Pease
and Partners Limited, giving evidence at Doncaster West
Riding Sessions last week, in respect to a licensing
application by a local publican, made some interesting
statements with reference to the future of Thorne colliery.
He said the freezing process which had now been adopted at
the pit, was expected to take between three and four years.
When the water difficulty was surmounted there was still 300
yards further to go. From now, if the sinkings went on in
a proper and fortunate manner, it was expected that coal
would be reached in six years. Coal was expected to be
reached at Thorne at 910 yards.

The monthly meeting of the Scottish branch of the
National Association of Colliery Managers was held on
Saturday, January 25, in the Heriot-Watt College, Edin-
burgh, Mr. Charles C. Reid, branch president, in the chair.
In the course of the discussion which took place on the
paper read by Mr. Sam Mavor, Glasgow, on The Training
of the Electrical Engineer,*’ some criticism was passed on
the author for the manner in which he had unduly appeared
to emphasise the amount of “ wastage, muddle and dis-
order ** which went on at collieries because the work was
not departmentalised under trained technical experts.
Those contributing to the discussion were Messrs. C. A.
Carlow (Leven), George Gibb (Rutherglen), Robert Wilson
(Alloa), W. Wilson (Giffnock), and the branch president.

The Wheatley Urban District Council, Doncaster, have
had before them the plans of the miners* aid and rescue
station which is to be erected for the Doncaster district at
the junction of Went worth-road and Wheatley-lane. The
station, which will be for the new collieries around the
Doncaster district, will consist of a large observation hall
55 ft. by 26 ft., surrounded by various other rooms, including
sitting rooms, bath rooms, and offices. On the first floor there
will be a fume gallery. The structure will be a substantial
brick one, and will include a caretaker’s house. The plans
were passed.

It is reported that another colliery is to be sunk in the
vicinity of Mansfield, Notts, and that a prominent colliery
company is negotiating with a number of owners of mineral
rights in Farnsfield and district for the purchase of coal.
It is understood that coal over an area of something like
6,000 acres have been leased, and the site of the pit is said
to be near Farnsfield station, which is served by the Midland
branch line running between Mansfield and Southwell. The
owners of the mineral rights acquired include
and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

Lord Saville

Shipments of Bunker Coals. — During January the
quantity of coal, &c., shipped for the use of steamers
engaged in the foreign trade was 1,757,679 tons, as com-
pared with 1,516,659 tons and 1,564,738 tons in the
corresponding periods of 1912 and 1911 respectively.