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THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

March 28, 1913.

down a further 20 mills, whilst in another works in the
same neighbourhood they were said to be adding 20
mills; in short, there were at the present moment almost
100 mills, either in course of erection or projected, in
one European country alone. Needless to say, these
works were to take care, firstly, of their own home con-
sumption, now mostly supplied by England, but owing
to the tariff wall, many thinkers anticipated an
additional competition was being created for the neutral
markets of the world, and instanced the strides made
by the United States of America which had now out-
stripped English production and whose competition in
the tin-plate market of the world had largely contri-
buted to the present bad state in the English tin-plate
trade.

In the discussion, Mr. F. W. Gilbertson, of
Pontardawe, said the history of the tin-plate trade up
to now had been one rather of individual effort, and
had been characterised by a considerable amount of
want of confidence and even suspicion among the various
manufacturers. After what they had heard from the
author of the paper, however, of the really extraordinary
and serious competition of America and Germany, he
thought they would do well to believe that the old
system had gone, and that where opportunity offered of
helping each other they should take advantage of it.
They ought to be particularly thankful to Mr. Thomas
for making the first move towards securing some
co-operation among manufacturers. It was a great
disappointment to many of them that the proposal of
Messrs. Richard Thomas and Co., for an organised
restriction of output did not find acceptance—not so
much, perhaps, for the immediate benefit of the trade
as that it might lead to a better understanding and
greater co-operation than had obtained in the past.
As a manager of works, he must say he was rather
suspicious of engineers—a feeling that he believed was
more or less shared by other tin-plate managers. The
economy of |d. or the fraction of a penny per box by
the adoption of some new device was not, in their opinion,
very often worth so much trouble as a careful buying
and selling, a careful watching of the manufacture, the
prevention of waste, &c.; but, of course, now that
competition was becoming more and more keen, it
behoved them to look to every possible means of
economising.

He next dealt with one or two points in the paper,
and incidentally mentioned that some years ago he
proposed to roll a certain size of sheet by a method
employed in America, which meant that more men
would be employed in a mill than was customary in this
country ; and it was suggested to the workmen that the
wages of the extra helpers that were necessary should
be partly borne by them and partly by the firm. The
men, however, would not hear of it, although the
adoption of the method would have meant an increased
output—and therefore their wages—by from 30 to 40
per cent. The time must come, if the tin-plate industry
was to be preserved in this country, when the workmen
must follow the example of their more enterprising
brothers and cousins in America. Dealing with gas
engines, Mr. Thomas spoke of their being handicapped
by the use of coal containing very large quantities of
tarry matters, which clogged the valves of the engine.
But in that district they could make much cleaner
gas than could be got in any other part of South Wales.
At the works with which he was connected at Pontardawe
they had a converted slag grinding plant driven by a
steam engine using between 40 and 50 tons of coal per
week. This steam engine was replaced by a Crossley
gas engine. Anthracite was used costing about Ils. per
ton, and only about seven tons per week was burned;
and that plant was run day and night for six months on
end without a stoppage. In late years they had been
threatened by the Home Office with a regulation pro-
hibiting the employment at night of boys under 18—
this he believed was the proposal originally made. If
these fads were carried out they would be unable to
employ boys at all for a good many processes, with the
result that they would not get properly-trained workmen
later on. There were many expenses associated with
the industry that were capable of considerable reduc-
tions if only properly-trained gentlemen would give
their minds to the problems furnished by tin-plate
manufacture. Hitherto there had not been the same
necessity for such investigation as now existed and as
there would be in the future.

Mr. J. R. Davies (Cwmfelin) agreed with Mr.
Gilbertson that the tin-plate trade had been too
conservative in the past, only recent years having seen
any considerable development in methods, and this had
been largely on the engineering side. The main
principles of the manufacture were very largely what
they were 50 years ago; and he did not think there
would be much change in these principles until the

chemist came more to the assistance of the trade than
he had done in the past. Much, however, could be
done on the mechanical side, but here they were
handicapped by the disinclination of the workmen as a
whole to co-operate. A larger number of men must be
employed on the machinery in the mills; and to effect
this and other improvements, it would be well for the
Masters’ Association to do all in their power to bring
the men’s leaders to a round-table conference in order
to discuss this important aspect of the question. Their
foreign competitors dealt with the question of output in
a different way from that adopted in this country.
They took a larger unit per piece. This opened
up a rather difficult question with the steelmakers.
It was a much more difficult thing to supply
the tin-plate trade with matching bars than to
supply it with the single-piece bars ; but, of course,
it had a great bearing upon the question of the
output. With regard to the consumption of tin per
box of tin-plates, they would have to ask the steel-
makers to help them in that direction. Mr. Spence
Thomas raised the question of the comparative values
of acid Bessemer steel, basic Bessemer steel, acid open-
hearth steel and basic open-hearth steel. He thought
it was the experience of manufacturers that each was
good when made in the right way, and it was possible to
make good or bad steel by each process.

The discussion was continued by Mr. J. Hilditch,
H.M. inspector of factories (Swansea), Mr. T.

j Wakeham (London), Capt. T. O. Edwards, H.M.
inspector of factories (Cardiff District), and Mr. Fred.
W. Taylor (Briton Ferry).

On the proposition of Mr. G. Rowe (Morriston),
seconded by Mr. Henry Clement (Swansea), a cordial
vote of thanks was extended to the author of the paper,
the further discussion of which was fixed to take place
at a special meeting of the institute to be held at
Swansea.

Institution of Mechanical Engineers.—An extra meeting
will be held on Thursday, April 3, 1913, at 8 p.m., when
the discussion will be resumed on the paper on “ Some
Effects of Superheating and Feed-water Heating on Loco-
motive Working,” by F. H. Trevithick and P. J. Cowan,
member.

Haulage in Mines .* Test Case for Fife Coal Company.
—For the purpose of obtaining a judgment as to what
mechanical haulage and gravitation haulage in a mine are
to be regarded legally, a test case was heard in the Sheriff
Court, Dunfermline, before Sheriff Umpherston. It is
understood the case is being fought by the Scottish Coal-
owners’ Association. The proceedings were taken part in
by three Government officials, including Mr. Wm. Walker,
H.M. divisional inspector of mines for Scotland. The
respondents in the case were Charles Augustus Carlow
colliery manager of the Fife Coal Company, Leven; Charles
Carlow Reid, colliery manager, Cowdenbeath ; and Joseph
Provan, colliery manager, Hill of Beath; and they were
charged respectively as the general manager of the Fife
Coal Company, the district agent, and the certificated
manager, with having, on November 30, in No. 1 Dalbeath
pit, permitted to be used on a haulage road in a mine
between the Lochgelly splint seam and another seam on
which road mechanical haulage (not being endless rope or
endless chain haulage) was used, and the gradient exceeded
1 in 12, tubs to which, while ascending the road, there were
not attached backstays or other suitable contrivances for
preventing the tubs running away, contrary to the Coal
Mines Regulation Act. The prosecution was conducted on
behalf of the Crown by Mr. J. L. Wark, Advocate Depute .
and Mr. R. C. Horne, K.C.; and the Hon. Wm. Watson,
advocate, appeared for the respondents. The evidence
turned latterly upon the interpretation of the statutes as
to the working of wheel braes. The Sheriff, in delivering
judgment, said that in order to obtain a conviction it must
be proved that Mr. Carlow did take upon himself the duty
which would naturally fall to any appointed agent in respect
of the matters which were referred to in the complaint. As
to the meaning of the words " agent ” and “ mechanical
haulage,” he thought ithe real meaning intended by the
statute as to the latter was haulage which was effected by
any machinery worked by mechanical power, and the words
had the same meaning as in the earlier sections. They
meant some form of mechanism by which power was
developed and transmitted, and that it was something
different from the power of gravity, which was always
referred to in the Act, not as a power at all, but simply as
gravity. For this reason he thought that the defence to the
complaint was justified, and that the sections founded upon
did not apply to the breach to which the complaint referred.
As to the interpretation of the word " agent,” it was proved
jn the present case that Mr. Carlow was consulted, but it
was not proved that he did decide whether the backstays
were to be used in the pit, or that he imposed his desire
upon any person. Therefore, he found Mr. Carlow not
guilty. Mr. Reid also was found not guilty. In the case
of Provan, the charge was deserted simpliciter, but the
Sheriff assented to the request for stating a case.

BOREHOLES AS A MEANS OF SAVING LIFE.

[From a Correspondent.-!

The time has arisen when all mining engineers will
have to consider the ad visibility of retaining all bore-
holes that are being or will be put down for prospecting
and other purposes. Hitherto most boreholes have been
lost through the mining companies or others not being
prepared to purchase the contractor’s tubing put into
the boreholes; the tubes have been withdrawn by the
contractor on completion of boring operations, when
the boreholes collapse and are lost; in many cases a
probable valuable asset being thrown away for the paltry
cost of the tubes, an item of, say, anything from £10 to
£100 according to the diameter and depth of the
borehole.

A remarkable instance of a preserved borehole being
the means of saving life has just been experienced at
Egremont, Cumberland, where the Townhead Mining
Company Limited had two men imprisoned in the
workings of one of their mines through an inrush of
water completely cutting off exit by the shaft. These
two men knew of a borehole to the rise of the shaft;
they made their way to it and soon got into communi-
cation with the employers at the surface, who had also
gone to the borehole, some 150 yards from the shaft
The company’s officials were able to converse with the
imprisoned men, and they immediately made arrange-
ments to send down through the borehole Thermos
flasks containing hot drinks, food, &c., to say nothing of
other comforts in the shape of candles, a watch, and
such woollen clothes and wraps as could be safely put
down a borehole 5 in. in diameter. The borehole was
also used for pumping air down to the men. The
men were imprisoned 5| days before the shaft was
unwatered and they could be brought to the surface
and the borehole was the means of considerably
allaying the fears of the management, to say nothing
of the anxious relatives and friends of the entombed
men.

No doubt in future mining companies and others will
seriously consider the desirability of preserving all
boreholes, even if at the time of boring their use as a
means of life-saving, &c., may appear remote. Cases
have been known where boreholes only partially tubed
have stood good for 20 years or more.

Apart from being used as a means of saving life
boreholes can be and are being used for water supplies
and ventilating purposes ; and as holes can be bored of
a diameter large enough for a man to be lowered up and
down, mining companies may consider making such
provision where a second exit by shaft or other means
does not exist.

A borehole of such large diameter might have other
uses: it could be utilised for the lowering down of all
timber required in the workings, a work of magnitude
in some metalliferous mines which takes up much time
at the drawing shaft—time which might be more
profitably occupied in drawing metal. Such a borehole
could also be used for conducting electric cables to the
workings, thus removing the danger of having them in
the shaft, with the possibility of reducing the length of
cable required.

The whole question bristles with opportunities, and
will no doubt be seriously considered in the future.

Scotch Railways Coal Consumption,—It is notjpossible
this spring to make our customary comparison of the cost
of the coal consumed in the locomotive departments of the
five principal Scotch railways, as the returns which have
been compiled relate to five months only. Coming events
cast their shadows before, and the new system of railway
book-keeping which has been introduced by Act of Parlia-
ment is responsible for the change which has taken place.
In 1914 we shall be able to go more fully into the matter,
but the precise form which the comparison will assume
cannot be stated at present. In the five months ending
December 31 the locomotive coal consumed upon the
Caledonian system cost £160,058 ; upon the Glasgow and
South-Western, £67,640 ;upon the Great North of Scotland,
£19,718 ; upon the Highland, £27,148 ; and upon the North
British, £152,774, making an aggregate of £327,338. The
distances run by trains upon the five systems were :—
Caledonian, 7,146,846 miles ; Glasgow and South-Western,
3,306,223 miles ; Great North of Scotland, 939,795 miles ;
Highland, 1,235,758 miles ; and North British, 8,020,378
miles—making an aggregate of 20,649,000 miles. The
average cost of the coal consumed per train-mile run was,
accordingly, 4’48d. There is one feature in connection with
Scotch railway working to which we believe we previously
called attention, and that is the little progress which
electric traction has made upon Scotch railways. While
English lines have been coming more and more under
electric influences, Scotch railways appear to have
experienced little change during the last 20 years in their
daily working.