May 16, 1913 THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. 1027 BOOK NOTICES. La Fabrication du Coke et les Sous-Produits de la Distillation de la Houille. By Adrien Say. Paris : H. Dunod and E. Pinat. Price 15 fr. M. Say’s book is a reproduction, considerably augmented, of a paper read before the Societe de 1’Industrie Minerale, about four years ago. As may be supposed, the most interesting portions of the work are those dealing with regeneration, the use of coke-oven gas for town lighting, and the purification of by- products. In regard to the first of these, the author considers that regeneration is really advantageous when the coals used are poor in gas, but in such cases the treatment for by-products is less advantageous. In this connection, an interesting description is given of the Still regenerative ovens erected at the author’s collieries at Esaarpelle. We may here observe that the book is not written with any great regard to method, short sections on compression, charging, coke-oven linings and coke-oven doors following one another in the first chapter. The next chapter preserves a better sequence, being devoted to the control of the coking process. Much of the information has been obtained from the practical working of coke ovens at Felguera in Spain. Chapter iii. deals with coke-quenching and Chapter iv. with steam raising, some useful details being given both in regard to appliances and costs. Properly speaking, the greater portion of the book is devoted to by-products, including gas, sulphate, benzol and tar, to each of which a separate chapter is given. Some of the latest processes are described and illustrated, and the reader will find M. Say’s work to be of an essentially practical nature. The Year-Book of the Scientific and Learned Societies of Great Britain and Ireland. 873 pp. 5 in. by 8| in. London: Charles Griffin and Co. Price 7s. 6d. Messrs. Griffin’s year-book is not only a current book of reference, but a book to keep for purposes of record. For, in addition to the particulars which it gives as to the officers, habitat and dates of meeting of the various societies, a list of papers read in most instances is included, the 29 volumes thus forming an invaluable record of transactions in brief. Some year-books may be thrown away at the end of the year without any qualms, but this one should find a permanent abode on the bookshelf. Electrical Engineering for Mechanical and Mining Engineers. By H. J. S. Heather, iv. + 332 pp. 184 figs. 5 in. by 8J in. London: “ The Electrician ” Printing and Publishing Company. Price 9s. net. This book embodies 20 lectures delivered by Mr. Heather to the resident mechanical engineers of the Witwatersrand mines at the time the Rand Power scheme was first projected. The scheme entailed a sudden and wholesale application of electricity in quarters where it formerly had been employed to but a small extent, and the author’s lectures were intended to give the existing mechanical engineers “ sufficient electrical knowledge to retain their posts satisfactorily.” It will be readily appreciated, therefore, that the scope of the book is most suitable for intelligent men who, like a great proportion of the British colliery managers, have been compelled to gain a working knowledge of electrical matters when some years have intervened since their university and college days. Indeed, a work such as this has been badly wanted, and, perhaps, no one was so fitted to supply the need as Mr. Heather, whose work has always betrayed the happy combination of knowledge and original thought. The author deals in turn with continuous currents, resistance, alternating currents, measurements, dynamos and motors, transformers, polyphase systems, induction motors; whilst a useful chapter at the end deals with the effects of running under abnormal conditions. The book is eminently practical, and the illustrations merit Jhe same description, being of a nature designed to illuminate the test. Comment on Cree Une Mine. By M. Lecomte-Denis. v. + 224 pp., 5J in. by 7jin. Paris: Dunod and Pinat. Twelfth edition. The purpose of this little book, so far as we can discern, is to impart, without the use of technical language, information to the investing public that may save them money. Whether it will succeed in this we very much doubt, but the reader will derive much edifica- tion, if not from the author’s matter, at least from his racy Gallic style. Typical of the whole is his first sentence:— “ Une Mine! Quatre lettres mais combienprestigieuses ? Que de pensees il evoque ce petit, mot qui na Tair de rien 1 Que reves il contient, que d'esperances, que de chimeres, que de mirifiques projets ?” It will be understood from this quotation that the author’s style is somewhat hyperbolic, and interlarded liberally with marks of interrogation and interjectives. Yet, as we have said, the book is very readable, as the fact that it has reached its twelfth edition would seem to prove. Potts’ Mining Register and Directory, 1912 xii. + 403 pp.; 9 maps. Price 10s. 6d., post free. North Shields: W. J. Potts. The nineteenth edition of this well-known annual. It contains a list of managers, mining engineers, and resident engineers, with full postal addresses, in addition to the directory of mines, the text of the Electrical Rules, the Coal Mines Act, the Explosives and other Orders, &c. The information in regard to examination boards should have been revised in accordance with recent events. Gob Fires, &c., Met with in Coal Mines. By Arthur Brealey. Doncaster: Chronicle Printing and Publishing Company. 56 pp. 5 figs. 5J in. by 8Jin. Price Is. With the gob-fire question so much to the front, this little book, recording the practical experience of a manager with fires in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire should be welcomed. At the same time the author has developed certain theories, which may or may not be acceptable to the general. One of these is that compressive ventilation is to be preferred to exhaust ventilation, owing to the latter reducing the air pressure on the goaves, and thereby facilitating the outflow of the gases. Another theory, to account for the humid condition of some return airways, seems to us to be rather far-fetched. He says : “ This vapour in the warm return air of some mines may be in a measure due to the coal absorbing oxygen from the air which combines with the hydrogen of the coal, liberated by heat, producing moisture.” We should have thought that there were readier means of accounting for the presence of this moisture than a recondite reaction of this nature. On the practical side, however, there is much to interest the reader. CATALOGUES AND PRICE LISTS RECEIVED, “ Ironite ” is a, patent waterproofing process for cement concrete, &c., and is supplied by Messrs S. Thornely Mott and Vines limited (1, Victoria-street, S.W.). We have received a catalogue from the Scott Drill Com- pany (St. Louis, Mo., U.S.A.) describing the gasoline rock drills made by them. One of these drills was illustrated in the Colliery Guardian (February 21). “A Historic Motor Run” is the title of a handsome brochure issued by Messrs. Clement Talbot Limited (Barlby-road, Ladbroke-grove, W.), commemorating a record-breaking trial at Brooklands on February 15, 1913, when 103 miles 1,470 yards were covered in an hour with a 25-h.p. Invincible Talbot car. A further booklet records numerous testimonials as to the efficiency of these famous cars. A catalogue of Dikkers’ patent valves has been sent to us by Messrs. J. Blakeborough and Sons (Woodhouse Works, Brighouse), who are the sole makers of these fittings for the United Kingdom and colonies. The seat of the Dikkers* valve may be removed without disconnecting the valve body from the pipes, and, in use, the seat is kept firmly in position by the valve cover. The internal construction of the valve is such that the steam is distributed evenly around the stopper, and the materials used are cast steel with “ super- alloy” working parts for superheated steam, cast iron and bronze for saturated steam and water, solid bronze for saturated or superheated steam, &c. We have received from Messrs. Bonecourt Surface Combustion Limited (Victoria-stre2t, S.W.) an interesting catalogue of the Bonecourt boilers for gas or oil firing and the utilisation of waste heat, to which so much attention has recently been directed. The catalogue gives illustra- tions of a 110-tube boiler and a 10-tube boiler, the former being similar to that installed at Skinningrove, and gives an interesting description of the principles underlying the invention. One of the chief advantages of the system is that complete burning of the combustible is secured with only 1 per cent, or 2 per cent, excess air, whilst about a quarter of the floorspace is covered in comparison with land type water-tube boilers. Further, tests of the tubes at Skinningrove showed no deterioration after six months continuous running. It may be mentioned that four teste carried out by the Berlin-Anhaltische Maschinenbau-a-g on a 10-tube boiler in February last showed an equivalent evaporation from and at 212 degs. Fahr, in pounds per square foot of heating surface per hour of 33’9, 35*2, 35’8, and 36 0, the efficiency being respectively 93 3, 93 8, 92 5, and 87*8 per cent. In the last test no feed water-heater was used. The annual ambulance competition for members of the Fife and Kinross Miners’ Association was held at Cowden- beath on the 3rd inst. Eleven teams competed, and the result was that the cup and gold badges were won by Cardenden No. 2, the silver badges by Cardenden No. 1, and the bronze badges by Kelty No. 1. I THE FREIGHT MARKET. The Whitsuntide holidays have told against anything in the way of activity in the outward freight markets. On the north-east coast transactions have been very limited, at rates which are barely steady. The Mediterranean alone shows any marked degree of firmness. At South Wales business has been a shade more brisk than on the north- east coast, and rates are generally unaltered. The Clyde and Humber have been quiet and featureless. There has been a fair volume of homeward chartering. Eastern markets are firm. The Black Sea, Azof and Danube are quiet and easy. The Mediterranean and ore trades are steady. The Baltic is unchanged. America is slow. The River Plate is dull and weak. Tyne to Archangel, 2,000, 4s. 6d.; Barcelona, 9s. 3d. ; 4.500, 9s. 9d., 700 ; Cronstadt, 3,300, 5s. 3d. ; Genoa, 5,400, 9a. 6d. ; 4,100, 9s. 9d. ; 5,400, 10s., river loading ; 4,500, 9s. 9d. ; 3,500, 9a. 9d. ; Guernsey, 800, 5s. l|d. ; Harburg, 2.500, 3s. 6d. ; Havre, 1,500, 4s. l|d. ; 1,250, 4s. 6d., from Elswick ; Holtenau, 1,200, 4s. 9dy from Dunston ; London, 1,700, 3s. l|d. ; Lisbon, 3,200, 6s. 9d, 350; Memel, 2 000, 4s. 6d. ; Spezzia, 3,000, 10s. 3d., option Dunston loading, 10s. 4|d., on d.w.; 4,000, 10s. 3d., on d.w.; Tunis, 1,500, Ils. 9d. Cardiff to Algiers, 4,800, 101 fr*, May 21; Bahia, 4,500« 17s. 3d., May ; B