August 14, 1914.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

371

gas caused by a stoppage and restarting of the fan,
with a defective coal-cutting machine as the cause of
ignition. They expressed the opinion that the
management had been negligent, though not
criminally so.

The men engaged in the South Wales pits which
supply coal to the Admiralty have agreed to work on
Sunday next, and also an extra hour per day, in
order to meet the extra demand. With this exception
the production throughout the country has been
greatly restricted. In view of this it is a matter
for congratulation that both owners and men in
the various coalfields have agreed to sink local
differences.

The London coal trade for the past week has been
irregular. Large quantities of Yorkshire coal are
coming forward by rail, which hitherto has been
exclusively confined to the export trade. Factory
qualities, hards and nutty slacks are in strong
demand. House coals are plentiful, and the extra
supply is weakening the price. Public orders are
toning down. London merchants are pressing for
cash with all new orders.

The trade in the provinces remains in a very
chaotic condition. The Tyne and Wear markets have
not yet improved, though the reported removal of
the Government embargo on the exportation to
neutral countries of all coal except best Welsh steam
coal has considerably brightened the outlook. In
the Midlands the demand for household fuel is rather
strong, but for other sorts little business is transacted.
At Cardiff the business on Admiralty account is in
full swing, but there is still no general business, and
all quotations have been suspended. The coal trade
in the East of Scotland is still at a standstill, but the
West has not yet been seriously affected by the war.

It was just as well, perhaps, that
The Miners Sir Arthur Markham should have
and been allowed to voice in the House
the War. of Commons the popular indignation
that was aroused by the action of
the South Wales miners’ leaders, urging the men to
refuse to break their holidays in order to hew coal
for the Admiralty. We say so because ventilation
may remove an irritation that is not wanted at
such a time; in all fairness—although their action
was foolish and reprehensible to a degree—it would
be exaggeration to describe it as treasonable. When
the ukase was issued there were many excellent
people besides who firmly hoped and believed that
this country would yet be spared the horrors of war;
.at any rate, they did not regard the situation as
urgent. So soon as war was declared, even the most
advanced leaders proceeded to make the amende
honorable, and. it is pleasing to find, under the
supreme conditions of test, that Messrs. Stanton
and Hartshorn are really patriots at heart. For
we refuse to accept the contemptuous view that these
second thoughts were prompted by motives of
.expediency alone.

We have characterised the action of the leaders as
foolish, in the first place, because of its arrogance.
The Miners’ Federation of Great Britain are slaves,
as we know, to a notion that the coal-getters of the
world have the power to prevent war by concerted
action, ol? rather inaction. The resolutions that are
passed regularly each year at some British or foreign
watering place are generally regarded as merely
egotistical and harmless; no one for a moment
dreamt that they would ever be called upon to
undergo a practical test.

By cutting off our fuel supplies—so much more
vital to us than to other nations—at a time when the
miners of the Ruhr and Silesia were trooping to
the colours, Mr. Brace and his executive would be
benefiting none but our enemies: certainly not the
-class which they profess to represent, for to cripple
the Navy in this limb would be to invite a shortage
of all the necessities of life—with the consequential
miseries of poverty, famine and sickness. Those who
espouse the cause of the working-man may sometimes
feel with bitterness that he has to bear an inordinate
share of the burdens that come from war, that he is
called upon to make the greatest sacrifices for his
..country ; that his reward may be niggardly. Why,

then, ask him to do something that will make his lot
immeasurably worse ?

The South Wales miners are prepared to make
these sacrifices, and here again the union has shown
itself to be foolish. The British miner may not be
“rational,” but he is no poltroon, and our army
has many colliers in its ranks. Further, we can
be quite confident that our ships will get all the coal
that they require, despite the “advice” of the
leaders, who once more have shown how flimsy is
their control over the thousands of workmen who
goodnaturedly support them.

So far the British Navy has admirably
The Export fulfilled its main purpose — i.e., to
Trade. guard our sea-going commerce from
molestation. Certain facts have
conspired to delay shipments of steam coal, but
these will no doubt prove capable of adjustment.

According to proclamations published in the
London Gazette towards the end of last week, fuel
and lubricants were declared conditional contra-
band, and, in addition, the exportation of large
steam coal and manufactured fuel was prohibited to
all foreign ports in Europe and on the Mediterranean
and Black Sea, with the exception of those of
France, Russia (except the Baltic ports), Spain and
Portugal. Subsequently Italy and Norway were
added to the exceptions, and on Wednesday the
collectors of Customs were authorised to allow
shipment and exportation to neutral countries of all
coal except best Welsh steam coal.

. A restriction, however, that has done more to
prevent the exportation of coal was the bond with
sureties of triple value of the coal shipped which the
Customs have required. The authorities in this way
hoped to secure that coal shipped would be conveyed
to its proper destination, and not diverted for the
uses of the enemy by fraudulent consignees.
During the Russo-Japanese war large quantities of
coal left the port of Cardiff in German bottoms,
concerning whose destination the seller professed
complete ignorance, pointing out that it was his
duty to sell his coal, not to see what the buyer did
with it. That is a perfectly feasible attitude to take
up, but it is one that the Government under present
circumstances could scarcely permit. On the other
hand, the shipper is placed in a position of great
difficulty. As Mr. Benn pointed out in the House
of Commons on Monday, the shipper has no control
over a cargo once it is put on board ship, its
destination being entirely in the hands of the
shipowner and captain. Persistent efforts have been
made during the present week to induce the Govern-
ment to abate this requirement, at least in the case
of shipments about which there can be little
suspicion, but so far without success, although it was
stated earlier in the week that a modified form of
bond would be issued. It may be added that small
coals are free from this restriction, and there is little
doubt that, in cases where coal has been diverted
improperly, a well-supported plea of force majeure
would acquit the consignor of any complicity.

There have been other minor difficulties, mainly
in connection with the war risks scheme. The
Government charge a flat rate, irrespective of the
voyage or the character of the cargo insured. The
consequence has been that lower rates than those
charged by the State office have been obtainable at
Lloyds, the margin being especially marked in the
cases of coastwise and short sea shipments. Coal-
shippers have suggested that the scheme should be
extended to cargoes carried in vessels flying allied or
neutral flags, if not to such vessels themselves ; and
that, in certain cases, the cargoes should be insurable
alone. So much coal is carried in foreign bottoms
that it seems desirable to encourage their employment
as far as possible.

When we consider all the difficulties with which
coal exporters have .had to contend, we cannot but
marvel at their enterprise. Coal is now being
despatched without undue ceremony to every country
in the world expect those situated in the vortex.
One difficulty has been the large sums of money due
for shipments of coal to such places as Genoa, which
cannot be discharged owing to the absence of

any rate of exchange. Now, we understand, the
moratorium has been extended to foreign bills of
exchange, and the Government has undertaken to
guarantee the Bank of England against loss on the
discounting of foreign bills. Mr. Benn referred to
another anomaly. The moratorium does not cover
the payment of freights, therefore the exporter must
pay his freight, but the shipowner is not called
upon to pay for any bunker coal, shipped at the
same time.

The main thing, however, is that confidence is
being rapidly restored, and there is no doubt that
most of these early difficulties will vanish as time
goes on.

Although we must wait for the
The Seventh detailed account of the work carried
Lievin out at Lievin during the year 1913,
Report. pending its publication in due course
in the Annates des Mines, M. Tafeanel
has indicated the general scope of his researches in
a report presented to the ordinary general meeting
of the Comite Central des Houilleres de France.
The publication of the full account has been delayed
somewhat by the necessity of corroborating some of
the results, and for this reason detailed comment
would be premature; but there are, nevertheless,
certain points of exceptional interest to which
attention may properly be drawn at this time,
especially as these are questions closely concerning
the great work of discovery of adequate means for
avoiding the dangers of colliery explosions now
occupying so prominent a place in every coalmining
country in the world. Researches of this kind are
truly international in their importance, and so long
as they help in any degree to throw light upon
obscure problems—whether they originate at Lievin,
Frameries, Eskmeals or elsewhere—they become the
common property alike of every serious investigator.
This cosmopolitan attitude towards research in
general becomes still more correct when work of this
kind is carried out with the object of testing the
results already achieved by others; and it is when
M. Tafeanel, in the true scientific spirit, is investi-
gating facts obtained at Eskmeals and other testing
stations, that interest is especially stimulated in the
progress of his work. True scientific discovery
thrives on criticism and battens on mistrust. These
are weapons powerless to destroy truth, but quick to
discover errors and to detect latent fallacies.

It is in this spirit that we have been glad to draw
attention from time to time to points of divergence
which have arisen between M. Tafeanel’s conclusions
and those deduced from the Eskmeals researches. It
is not that we are convinced that either exponent is
necessarily right or wrong, but the mere fact of
discordant results indicates the presence of some
factor or factors not common to both.

At least two important questions of this kind are
discussed in M. Taffanel’s report. Of these, perhaps
the most vital is the nature of the mixed gases used
in laboratory tests of explosives. Experiments were
carried out at Lievin with the object of finding some
substitute for firedamp for the purpose of ascertaining
the charge limite of explosives. The results showed
that the use of coal gas for this purpose stands
condemned. Benzine and toluene gave capricious
results, and even a small variation in the com-
position of products having the same commercial
designation produced great differences in the charges
llmites. Thus at both Lievin and Frameries it has
been decided that natural firedamp should be used
for these tests. The result is in direct conflict with
the Home Office practice at Rotherham, where a
mixture of coal gas and air is used for this purpose.
It is true that M. Tafeanel found that in such
mixtures the charge limite is invariably lowered, and
it may, therefore, be urged that there can be little
harm in using a hyper-sensitive gas mixture when
safety is the prime consideration. While admitting
the truth of this contention, however, we must not
lose sight of the fact that the result must be to lower
the practical efficiency of permitted explosives.
Already there are loud complaints that these
explosives are not capable of performing the work
required of them; while other objections arise from
the fumes given off, and the increased danger of