October 2, 1914.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

729

MIDLAND COUNTIES INSTITUTION OF
ENGINEERS.

Annual Meeting at Nottingham.

The annual meeting of the Midland Counties Institu-
tion of Engineers was held at the .University College,
Nottingham, on Saturday last, Mr. G. J. Binns, one
of the vice-presidents, being in the chair.

The Chairman said that his first duty was the reverse
of a pleasant one. He had to announce with deep
regret the death—very suddenly—of the wife of their
revered president, Mr. W. H. Hepplewhite. Under
those sad circumstances Mr. Hepplewhite could not
attend the meeting, and he had written conveying his
thanks to the members for the assistance they had given
him during his term of office. He had also enclosed a
draft of the paper he had intended to read at the meet-
ing on “ Substitutes for Wood Supports of the Roof in
Longwall Work,” and suggested that it should be read
in his absence. The council, however, thought, and he
believed the members would agree, that it would be
better to postpone the reading of the paper to a future
meeting. He would like the meeting to join with him
in a vote of condolence to Mr. Hepplewhite. It was
impossible for him to exaggerate the esteem in which
that gentleman was held, and there was no one to
whom more heartfelt sympathy would go out. He
moved that the secretary be instructed to convey to
Mr. Hepplewhite and his family an expression of their
sincere condolence with them in the grievous loss which
they had sustained.

Mr. W. E. Walker (Clifton Colliery) briefly seconded
the proposition, the members showing their assent by
rising.

New Members.

Mr. Percy W. Lewis (acting secretary) announced the
election of the following :—

Members.—George Creswell Bond,- civil and mining
engineer, Mann’s-chambers, Nottingham; Charles Fredk.
Hoyle, colliery manager, Old Brinsley, Eastwood, near
Nottingham; Michael Cleeves Martyn, colliery manager,
Cromer House, Mansfield; Raynor Hugh Piggford, col-
liery manager, Teversal Grange, Mansfield; Jacob Wm.
Spensley, consulting engineer, 29, Barton-arcade, Man-
chester; Norman D. Todd, Bouchier House, Old
Blackwell-, Alfreton, Derbyshire.

Students.—Henry Bailey, student, The Villas, Hall
End, Tamworth; Edward Barber, mining pupil, Lyon’s
Croft, Ansley; Mark Strelley Fryar, student, Eastwood
Collieries, Notts; Arthur Ashley Wilkins, surveyor, The
Manor, Ansley, Atherstone.

Election of Officers.

Messrs. R. Laverick and N. D. Todd were appointed
scrutineers of the ballot papers for the election of officers
for the year 1914-15. They reported that the following
had been duly elected :—

President.—Mr. G. S. Bragge.

Vice-Presidents.—Messrs. R. H. F. Hepplewhite,
Major R. P. Leach, H. E. Mitton, D. N. Turner, H. O.
Bishop, and B. McLaren.

Councillors.—Messrs. P. Beaumont, J. Bingley, E. E.
Bramall, F. Chambers, R. W. Cuthbertson, R. H.
Ferens, T. G. Lees, J. Mein, G. Spencer, W. E. Walker,
T. P. Barber, and H. Dennis Bayley.

Annual Report.

The report of the council showed a slight decrease in
membership on the year, the number of members being
367, as compared with 375 last year, and 370 in the year
before. The financial position showed further improve-
ment, the bank balance being .£591 3s. 7d., as against
£443 14s. 2d. last year, and £268 5s. 2d. in 1912. The
report concluded :—“ The council wish to thank very
heartily the members and firms who have so generously
contributed towards the endowment fund of the Insti-
tution of Mining Engineers. This institution was
requested to obtain, if possible, £1,500 as its share of
the fund, but the.council are pleased to report that the
sum actually received amounts to £1,700, which has
been handed over to the fund. The council have pleasure
in recording the fact that the Greenwell medal was
awarded to the president (Mr. W. H. Hepplewhite) for
his paper on ‘ The Action and Control of Differently
Constituted Coal Roofs.’

On the motion of Mr. Bragge, seconded by Mr. R.
H. F. Hepplewhite, the report and balance-sheet were
unanimously adopted.

The Chairman said that he wished to mention that
Mr. J. A. Longden had presented to the library of the
institution a handsome set of the volumes of the
Colliery Guardian from 1873 to 1904. They had been
housed by the kindness of the secretary in his office at
Derby, where they could be consulted by the members.
The Chairman also expressed his gratification that this
year the Greenwell medal had come their way. He
believed that it was the first occasion on which it had
been away from the North of England Institute, and
he was sure that they would all agree that it had been
most worthily bestowed on their retiring president.

The Chairman then moved the cordial thanks of the
members to Mr. W. H. Hepplewhite for the courtesy and
kindness he had manifested during his tenure of office
as president.

Mr. G. Spencer (West Hallam), in seconding, said
that Mr. Hepplewhite had shown both enthusiasm and
ability in the discharge of his duties, and had set them
an example which be believed they would all try to
emulate.

The resolution having been carried unanimously, the
Chairman welcomed Mr. G. S. Bragge to the presidential
chair, on taking which the new president was warmly
applauded.

Presidential Address.

The President said that he had in the first place to
thank them very heartily for the honour they had con-
ferred upon him by electing him as the president of
this institution. When he looked upon the names of
those who had preceded him in this chair, and considered
the exceptional state of affairs in the country generally,
owing to the war in which they were engaged, he felt
his task might be somewhat difficult, but they might
rely on his doing his best, in the same way that he
confidently counted on their assistance and co-operation
in the efficient carrying out of the work of the institution.

They were aware of what that work had chiefly consisted
in the past—the reading and discussion of papers connected
with their profession—but with the increased powers that
would accrue to the institution as a whole, by the obtaining
of a charter, and the basing of the position of its members
on a more scientific plan, they anticipated an increase in
its usefulness, in more ways than one. For instance, the
name “ Mining Engineer ” did not, he was afraid, always
mean the same thing, and -was somewhat difficult to define.
He did not object to the old meaning put upon it, that it
meant a person who had served an apprenticeship to a man
who had previously done the same, but there was, he
believed, no legal authority for this cumbersome definition,
and, moreover, the insistence on it might exclude men of
the highest attainments and position in the mining wTorld.
He need only mention such a man as George Stephenson
to illustrate what he meant. He therefore looked forward
to the time when to be able to put the letters “ M.I.M.E.”
(or whatever might be decided upon) after their name would
be a definite hall-mark of their status. At the same time,
he was an advocate of the old system of apprenticeship,
either for masters or men. For one who was to he a mining
engineer or colliery manager, the first year of apprentice-
ship, when he mixed on terms of almost equality, or at any
rate, without an official position, amongst the workmen and
minor officials of the colliery, gave him an insight into the
ways and feelings of those men, which'should be invaluable
to him later, when he had to deal with them as a master.
In those early days he also got many hints and opportunities
of learning the practical work, by taking a pick and
“ holing ” for an hour, or setting a prop, bar, etc., which
was probably all the manual skill he might require.

There seemed a tendency at the present to require that
those presenting themselves for examination should have
actually worked as colliers and deputies. It seemed to him
undesirable that this should be carried too far. It was not
essential to the success of a mining engineer or colliery
manager that he should be a skilful coal getter, any more
than that the editor of a newspaper should be able to set
up type as well as a compositor. At the same time, there
was also a disposition to ignore, as counting for “ service,”
the time a candidate might have served as a “ surveyor,”
and in that direction he also advocated moderation, on the
ground that accurate surveying and plotting were a most
essential part of a mining engineer’s qualification.

He was not going to lengthen these remarks by statistics
showing the magnitude of the interests of the mining
industry in -which they were engaged. They could read all
that in the reports of the inspectors and the technical
journals; but there was another point to which he might be
allowed to allude (although more connected with the com-
mercial than the technical side of the industry), and in
which he thought he should carry them with him. He
alluded to the generous gifts made by their coal and iron
firms towards the alleviation of the distress which would be
caused by the war, not only by donations to the public funds,
but by looking after the dependants of those workmen who
had gone to the front, and keeping their places open for
them when they returned. And in this recognition he would
also include the weekly collections made by the workmen.

As mentioned before, they wTere meeting at a time of
exceptional stress and difficulty, and their best efforts would
be necessary to deal with the altered conditions under which
the collieries and works in their charge would have to be
carried on for wTho knows howT long. Amongst these condi-
tions would be shortage of staff and workmen, a failing of
the supply of their usual pit timber, and generally a higher
cost of materials. In this district they would also probably
have to face a reduced output. Most of these difficulties
they could only meet by extra care. As regards the timber
question, they would in a few minutes have an opportunity
of discussing this most important point.

It was most dangerous, he knew, to prophesv, but remem-
bering as he did the conditions after the Franco-German
war, his advice would be, keep their roads in order, and be
prepared for the better times which would come wThen the
political tangles were straightened out.

Mr. E. E. Bramall (Leicester), moving a vote of
thanks to Mr. Bragge for his address, said that .that
gentleman would prove a worthy successor in the line
of presidents who had gone before him.

Air. W. Maurice, who seconded, said that Air. Bragge
was not only one of the oldest, but one of the most
popular, members of the institution. He had touched
in his address on a great number of interesting points,
and given them plenty of food for thought. Some of
those points would no doubt be developed in subsequent
discussions.

The resolution, having been adopted, was briefly
acknowledged by Air. Bragge, -who remarked that he
had been a member of the institution since 1874.

Substitutes for Wooden Props.

It was agreed that instead of discussing the two
papers by the ex-president, the general question of sub-
stitutes for wooden props should be considered.

The President said that hitherto they had all’ been
relying upon timber because, taking everything into
consideration, it was best for their purpose. It was true
that a good many trials had been made with other
materials, but that had only been done to a limited
extent, and in particular cases, so that it was true that
timber had held the pre-eminence. Even if they could
not get at present a good substitute for timber, there
was no doubt that the higher price and the difficulty in
obtaining supplies would lead to greater economy in its
use. Anything which could be got easily and cheaply
was apt to be used rather lavishly.

Air. G. Spencer thought they would each agree that
the question was an all-important one. If the war
lasted sufficiently long both native timber and the
stocks of foreign timber already in this country would
be exhausted, so that if their collieries were to be
worked at all some substitute would have to be found.
Obviously the first question which presented itself was :

What is a suitable substitute?” and they were bound
to come to the conclusion that a metal substitute, as
far as they could see at present, was the best, either
alone or in combination with something else. One
advantage accruing from the use of metal was that it
would make us, as a country, what he might describe
as more self-contained. There was first the labour
employed in getting the ore, then the labour and fuel
for smelting it, and a certain amount of labour in manu-
facturing it. To employ all that labour would be far
better than keeping our own people in idleness, for it
w’ould help them to maintain themselves in these bad
times. He thought that there was still a great deal to
be learnt about the work a prop had to do in a mine.
Timber had been so cheap that they had bothered them-
selves very little with a consideration of the subject.
What a prop had to do was to support the roof. It was
impossible for it to hold up the whole country — the
whole of the surface—and it had to support what he
had described before as the “ local weight,” and, if
possible, to prevent stones or the larger pieces of rock
from falling on the men. A perfect prop should be
capable, therefore, of supporting the local weight, and
of giving way sufficiently to allow for the subsidence
of the strata behind the coal face. An ideal prop would
seem to be one with a spring so powerful as to support
any ordinary weight, and yet capable of being com-
pressed as much as the roof bent in that particular part.
He had lately been making an experiment with a novel
kind of prop. When the war broke out he foresaw that
there was likely to be a scarcity of timber, and he
bought a great number of second-hand tubes. Fourteen
or 15 years ago they had a good number of steel props
at the Afapperley Colliery—in the Kilburn seam especi-
ally—and they answered very well within certain limits.
It was found, unfortunately, that they were too rigid,
no allowance being made for the sinking of the roof,
with the result that between the supports the roof
began to “ grind,” sometimes causing slight falls, which
werG always inconvenient and occasionally dangerous.
To overcome that they used the rolled joist, which was
bent over at both ends. The bending over was all right
for the top, but at the bottom, with a hard floor, it was
a disadvantage. He had therefore some made with the
top only bent over, and that was certainly better: but
they improved the prop still further by cutting off the
flanges, and leaving a sharp edge to rest on the floor.
This enabled the prop to enter the floor to the extent of
6 in. or even a little more. Very few of them broke,
and during the time they were in use their “ timber
cost ” was better than at any other time, affording a
direct proof that there was economy in their use. But
the men did not like them because of the grinding of
the roof. The prop with which he had just been experi-
menting was a tube 3| in. in diameter, and he had a
tapered plug at the bottom and’ an ordinary plug at the
top, each fitting easilv into the tube. He filled the tube
with sawdust—though it might seem rather laughable
to make a pit prop of sawdust—and at intervals of 6 in.
or 9 in. he put discs of wood to prevent the prop from
buckling and to allow for the more gradual and more
even compression of the sawdust. The length of the
prop was 4 ft. 10 in., and when subjected to the pres-
sure of a 6-ton jack the top plug was driven in II in.
and the bottom one 2 in. It was put in on the 10th of
the present month, and was doing splendidly. The
plugs in this case were turned on a lathe, but that was
not necessary, and both they and the discs could be
supplied at very small cost. They could also be used
in various combinations—either both of soft wood or
both of hard wood, or one of each. This was an advan-
tage, as no one prop in itself could meet all the con-
ditions. He was satisfied that the time would come
when a useful and suitable prop could be made from
material which they could produce in this country,
without having to go abroad for it.

Air. H. O. Bishop (Ilkeston) said that other things
being equal there was the question of £ s. d. He did
not think that the timber question was going to be such
an urgent matter as had been suggested. Some of the
big timber people were making an effort to get over
Canadian or .Newfoundland timber. That would cost
more than Norwegian or Russian timber, but how
would it compare with the cost of a prop like that
described by Air. Spencer?

Air. Binns pointed out that there was a difference
between the cost per prop and the cost per ton.

Air. Spencer replied that the first cost was everything,
because metal props lasted an indefinite time. The
tubes he bought were second-hand at so much per ton,
but he thought there was no doubt that metal props
cost less per ton of output than wooden ones.