June 13, 1913. THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. 1279 not having been fully instructed by the Federation as to how they shall insist upon it being done. “We must recognise that there is money in this Act.” Mr. Watts Morgan, addressing the Rhondda miners on Monday, contradicted Mr. Hartshorn. He said that whilst it might be true there were cases where the men did not claim what they were entitled to under the Act, he could not subscribe to the view that there were thousands of such cases. That the owners were resisting the legitimate demands of the men would be seen in the long list of cases that the Minimum Wage Committee had to deal with, but this was evidence, too, that the men were claiming their rights, and that the Act conferred great benefits on them. Combatting some statements by an “ Industrial Democracy League,” which seems to have been publishing criticisms of the miners’ leaders, Mr. Watts Morgan told the Rhondda miners that, as workmen’s chairman of the Minimum Wage Committee, he had not agreed to anything unauthorised by Lord St. Aldwyn, and alleged to have occasioned loss to the workmen. The committee had dealt on an average with eight or nine cases at each meeting, at a cost of less than £3 per sitting, whereas if those matters had gone to arbitration it would have meant an expenditure of £24 to £30. In his answer to Mr. T. Richards, M.P., Mr. Masterman (Secretary to the Treasury) gave a very interesting return concerning the profits from South Wales mines, showing an increase of about 40 per cent, in four years. It was stated that the amount of profits assessable to income tax in the financial year 1908-9 was £2,834,503; in 1909-10, £3,566,126; in 1910-11, £3,596,822; and in 1911-12, £3,931,558. It will be observed that the return did not include the latest, which has been the most profitable, year. Certain cases which have come before the Courts have raised again the question of classification of work- men in respect of their rates of pay under the Minimum Wage Act, and one of the miners’ leaders, in the course of a speech this week, suggested that the independent chairman should be called in to complete the classifica- tion. Difficulty appears to have arisen from the fact that umpires failed to settle wage rates because they had no jurisdiction to classify the men concerned, and it has been proposed that the Act should be so amended as to give them a measure of discretion in this matter. One of the features of local operations has been the very heavy importation of pitwood during 1913, although, singular to state, the month of May was lowest in quantity. For the five months no less than 573,000 tons have been imported, which is the highest ever recorded> no similar period having reached the half-million total. This record is significant of the general development of work in the coalfield. A singular decision under the Compensation Act was given this week by Judge Bryn Roberts, at Aberdare. The Cardiff Colliery Company, Llanbradach, were sued by a young woman in respect of a fatal accident to a single man to whom she alleged she had been engaged to be married. After his death a child was born, of which he was the father, and the judge, holding that it had been proved that deceased intended to marry the applicant, awarded £60 as compensation for the benefit of the child. The Great Western Colliery workmen decided on Monday that they would not act upon the notices which were tendered a fortnight ago upon the non-unionist question, there being only four men remaining outside the Federation. About 1,700 men have been idle at Llanhilleth Collieries for several days owing to a dispute, but work was resumed on Monday, their grievance having been dealt with. It has been determined that during the first week of July there shall be another “ show cards’’all over the coalfield, and the determination of the leaders is that action shall be just as drastic as it was on the last occasion. The endeavour to bring all colliery workmen into one organisation is responsible for the announcement which has been made this week, that members of the Gasworkers’ Union who are working at the collieries will be regarded as non-unionists on the occasion of “ show cards ” next month. It is significant of the progress of trade unions towards that “ solidarity,” which is the declared aim of so many leaders, that the executive council of the Soiith Wales Miners’ Federation has come to an arrangement with the Navvies, Builders, and General Labourers’ Union, so that no entrance fee shall be charged in transferring members from one organisation to the other. The new senior lecturer for the South Wales and Monmouthshire School of Mines, which the coalowners have established at Treforest, near Pontypridd, is Mr. R. James, of the Battersea Polytechnic. His subject will be “ Mechanical Engineering.” The Pontypool district is developing so rapidly that the Education Committee of Monmouthshire have been called upon to provide extra school accommodation. For 100 houses erected at the Tranch there had been 300 applications, and it was stated that the opening out of the new sinkings would shortly result in the employ- ment of 1,000 men. In the Forest of Dean district, also, the housing question is acute. The East Dean Rural Council have MINE RESCUE VAN FOR SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE. A new mine rescue van has just been constructed to the order of the Cannock Chase Coalowners’ Association, which is to be stationed at Hednesford and serve the Cannock Chase district, comprising about twenty coal- mines. The car consists of a Lacre 38-horse power chassis, on which is built a box van body capable of accommodating a crew of six men and driver. The bottom part of each side of the body is divided into six separate compart- ments opening on the outside, for the purpose of containing twelve complete sets of the well-known “ Proto ” (Fleuss-Davis patent) breathing apparatus and twelve spare oxygen cylinders. The car also con- tains three oxygen cylinders with 100 cubic feet capacity each, and hand pump for the purpose of replenishing the smaller cylinders of the breathing apparatus; also, fire extinguisher, smoke helmets, telephone apparatus, bird cage, medicine and first aid cabinets, and accommodation for carrying three injured men, including two on stretchers. It is fitted with electric Fig. 1.—Rescue Van for the Cannock Chase Collieries. undertaken to draw up a comprehensive statement of the requirements of colliery workmen, owing to the extension of mining, at least 100 houses being put up, and on the West Dean side of the Forest, owing to the rapid opening up of the steam coal area, 100 more houses are required at Cannop and 50 at Bream. The new sinkings of the Crumlin Valley at Hafodyrynys have reached a depth of 300 yards, and the two main seams, viz., the Meadow and the Black Vein, have been reached. The other shaft has been sunk to a depth of 150 yards. As soon as coal-winding commences, employment will be found for a large number of men, and when the colliery is in full swing an output of at least 1,500 tons per day is anticipated. American Trade Unions and the Anti-Trust Law.— The Federated Grand Jury at Charleston, West Virginia, has indicted President John White and the officials of the United Mine Workers, charging them with being a combi- nation in restraint of trade in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Law. It is alleged that the miners’ organisa- tion seeks to establish a monopoly of ^mining labour, to fix wages, and to restrict competition ; also that the organisa- tion has conspired with coal operators in Ohio, Penn- sylvania, Indiana and Illinois to monopolise various coal markets. Mining Institute of Scotland.—A general meeting of the Mining Institute of Scotland will be held in the Heriot- Watt College, Chambers-street, Edinburgh, on Saturday, June 14, 1913, at three o’clock. The papers by Mr. Henry Briggs on “ Testing for Firedamp and Blackdamp by means of a Safety Lamp,” by Mr. C. J. Wilson on “ An Investi- gation into the Effect of Atmospheric Pressure on the Height of the Gas Cap,” by Mr. Henry Rowan on “ Under- ground Fires,” and by Mr. John Watson on “ The Testing of Fans : a Plea for Standardised Test Conditions,” will be discussed ; and a paper will be read by Mr. Willoughby M. Dunn on “ The Electric Winding Plant at South Ken- muir Colliery.” s * ------- Fig. 2.—Rescue Van for the Cannock Cha se Collieries. light inside for night work, and is finished in vermilion with black beading and gold lettering, thus giving a very fine appearance. The body has been built to the design of Mr. Ormand> of the Birmingham University, and the order was placed with Messrs. Henry Garner Limited, of the Moseley Motor Works, Birmingham, the sole Midland I representatives for the Lacre Company.