November 13, 1914. THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. 1027 Us. 5-6d. The mean value of the coke exported was 14s. 3*2d. per ton, and of the manufactured fuel 17s. 3-8d. per ton. The London coal trade continues depressed. Both household qualities and manufacturing coals are moving slowly, and the demand is lifeless. Supplies are coming forward in abundance, and the principal metropolitan centres are congested. Prices are maintained with increasing difficulty. High rates of freightage is the dominating feature in the coal trade of the past week, which generally is very dull. On the Tyne business is very restricted, and only most pressing orders are undertaken. The Lancashire coal market is still very moderate, and those in Yorkshire have also suffered a falling oh in business. Matters at Cardiff have taken a change for the worse, and prospects appear exceedingly dull. The position of the Scottish trade remains unchanged. Further regulations have now been issued relating to trade with the enemy, which require certificates of origin or declarations of destination to be presented of goods imported into or exported from the United Kingdom. The annual report issued by the Board of Trade relating to strikes and lock-outs in 1913 emphasises the remarkable unrest which prevailed during the year. The King’s Bench Division on Tuesday granted a rule directed to the independent chairman of the Joint District Minimum Wage Board for West Yorkshire, calling upon him to show cause why he should not consider an application of the Thin Seam Owners’ Association for a variation of his award. Wages of Durham miners for the next quarter have been reduced per cent, by the Conciliation Board for the county, thus bringing them to 53J per cent, above the basis of 1879. The question of the employment of Belgian refugees in the mines of this country was considered on Tuesday by the executive committee of the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain. The case in which the Glamorganshire County Council is being sued by the Glamorgan Coal Company and the Powell Duffryn Coal Company for cost of maintaining imported police during the coal strike of 1910 was commenced on Monday. Denmark has now prohibited the export of fuel. There has recently been circulated The among members of the Institution Education of Civil Engineers the report of a Of the committee appointed some years ago Engineer, to consider the question of the education and training of young men desirous of entering the engineering profession. This committee was the outcome of the conference on the education of engineers held in 1911 by the above-named institution. It was a strong committee, under the chairmanship of Prof. Unwin, and the report now issued is the result of a careful enquiry, both by verbal evidence and by correspondence. With regard to the latter 234 replies were received from various prominent engineers and engineering firms in the country. Of this number 75 per cent, make a practice of taking pupils, of whom seven- tenths are indentured, the period of training varying from two to five years, according to the attainments of the pupils. Occasionally trade apprentices showing special ability are allowed some of the privileges of pupilage. About one-half of the employers give facilities for attending day classes, many also insist upon attendance at evening classes, and a few accept only those pupils who have had college training. About one-half of the employers, also, are willing to concede some advantages to those pupils who possess a university degree in engineering. But the remainder appear to attach but little importance to such preliminary qualifications and are disposed to the view that such scientific knowledge as engineers require can be more profitably gained during, or even subsequent to, their practical training. Many employers still hold the view that purely technically educated students are of little use, except for very special jobs. Again, about half the employers are in favour of the “sandwich” system, under which part of each year is spent at college and part in the works. From the above analysis it is clear that those who employ engineers are not yet, as a whole, converted to the modern view of the advantages of college training as a preliminary to works experience. Even where they admit that college -training is useful, the majority are insistent upon the absolute necessity for a year’s experience in the works before going through the college course. This divergence of opinion seems to be all the more regrettable in view of the fact that great strides have been made in recent years in perfecting and elabo- rating college courses. The teaching staff and equip- ment of the engineering side of a modern university in this country are generally far superior to that of an average works, and it may seem strange that but so small a proportion of the profession has yet been . convinced of the efficiency of college training. One reason, however, may perhaps be found for this attitude. The greater part of the early years of a premium pupil’s training is spent in the drawing office. At college, drawing is only one of many things taught, and a college pupil often enters the works with but a small degree of proficiency in drawing, not because he has not been well taught, but because he has not had the requisite amount of practice. He is, therefore, in an employer's eyes, not of much immediate use—in fact, the advantages of his college training are not apparent. The fact, also, must not be overlooked that this report has been drawn up by a committee of the Institution of Civil Engineers. Its object was to crystallise the position taken by that body with reference to candidates for admission to its membership. Not all engineering societies will admit the right of the Institution to formulate any general rules for universal acceptance respecting the kind and degree of qualification that should be demanded by the profession as a whole. Nor do we think the institution has any desire to do more than set an example, such as in its judgment it is desirable to adopt in order to maintain the status of the pro- fession. But, unfortunately perhaps in this case, engineering is a many-sided business, and ^already its ramifications have led to the creation of many separate institutions, because qo single institution could adequately cover all branches of the science. The result of the work of the committee may be summed up as follows:—For the future (1) candidates for associate membership must present to the council a schedule duly marked and certified by the engineer under whom they have been trained, indicating the subjects in which they have gained experience ; (2) engineers who are prepared to accept as pupils or apprentices, or their equivalent, persons recommended for admission as students by the institution, should either enter into articles or indentures or sign an agreement with the person to be trained at the beginning of the term; (3) members should give special preference to young men holding degrees which exempt from the examination for associate membership; and (4) engineers who are willing to take pupils or apprentices, and have vacancies, should inform the Appointments Board or some similar body, so that it might be in a position to direct young men seeking training where to apply for it. Perhaps the last of these recommendations, which in some quarters has been severely criticised, possesses the greatest practical importance, but in this the institution is only following the example of many of the universities. The Appointments Board Shipments of Coal from Great Britain to North Sea Ports. Country. Month of August 1914. Month of September 1914. Month of October 1914. Average quantity per 1 month in Aug., Sept., and Oct., 1914. Average quantity per month in May, June, July, 1914. Monthly average in 1913. 1 Average i monthly increase in Aug.-Uct. over May- July, 1914 Average monthly increase in Any.-Oct. 1914 over 1913. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. '1 ons. Tons. i Tons. Tons. Sweden ... 198,347 633,5 6 525,357 452,417 398,477 38",256 i 53,949 72,161 Norway ... 253,457 233,754 197,813 228,314 179,775 19; ,529 ' 48,569 36,815 Denmark.. 243,019 405,842 313,873 320,911 234,943 ’ 252,853 85.968 68,058 Holland ... 165,296 276,031 103,851 183,392 154,356 151,533 29,0 6 [ 31,859 of Cambridge University has done excellent work in this direction, and it. is certainly the best way to remove one of the dreariest prospects of a college pupil, who, having obtained perhaps an honours degree in engineering, finds himself suddenly stranded amongst the ranks of the unemployed. Taking the external trade of the October country as a whole, the October Exports. returns carry on the improvement shown in September, although the progress is less marked when a comparison is made with last year’s figures, as the shipments in October 1913 were also considerably in advance of those for the month preceding it. The same observation may be applied to fuel . exports. These amounted to 4,151,381 tons, as against 4,096,453 tons in September; in October 1913, 7,059,928 tons were put on board for foreign destinations, and in September 1913, 6,501,578 tons. It should be borne in mind that the large quantities of Welsh coal requisitioned by the Admiralty find no expression in the returns. We fear that no radical recovery in the export trade can be looked for for many months to come, even should the tide of war set strongly in our favour. Solutions are gradually being found to many of the financial problems that beset exporters, but the dislocation of industry and credit, which is the logical consequence of this world-wide conflagra- tion, forbids anything in the nature of normal trading. The formal entry of Turkey amongst the belligerents is one more dis- turbing factor, and the rapid rise in freights does nothing to modify the situation. It is possible that customers may be found to pay the difference in values due to this latter cause, but the movement itself points to a shortage of tonnage and a dis- inclination on the part of shipowners to risk their vessels in the conveyance of unremunerative cargoes. The shortage of tonnage has been in part due to the heavy requirements for homeward bound voyages from South America, and in part to the extraordinary requisitions of the British Admiralty. Unless these factors are mitigated the result must be to assist our potential competitors in the United States in their endeavours to invade our markets, endeavours which hitherto have met with but little success. Examining in detail the returns for last month, a distinct improvement is manifest in some quarters. To France we sent 1,006,066 tons of coal, or only a few thousand tons less than in October 1913; the French Government is now in a position to handle large quantities of fuel, which is badly needed by our Allies, since the Nord and Pas-de-Calais coalfields have become the scenes of furious fighting. To Italy we sent 705,346 tons, as compared with 697,693 tons in September, and 910,513 tons in October 1913; whilst our shipments to Egypt also were some 35,000 tons higher than in the previous month. Turkey did not succeed in getting more than 12,069 tons in October, and must be short of supplies, notwithstanding the stocks laid in during August. On the other hand, the exports to Spain, Portugal, Greece and Algeria, in each case showed a slight decline. Only 19,107 tons went to Russia. The returns in regard to the Scandinavian countries and Holland, it is interesting to note, were almost normal last month, thus bearing out our depreca- tion of the ill-considered animadversions that have been levelled at the heads of these neutrals. In a communication to The Times, Mr. Maurice Deacon, the managing director of the Sheepbridge Coal and Iron Company, sets forth the figures which we gave in our issue of October 23 in a slightly different form. If we add the returns for October the con- clusions are still more obvious. For the sake of comparison, it may be stated that the following shipments were made in October 1913:—Sweden, 503,863 tons; Norway, 200,079 tons . Denmark, 281,369 tors ; Netherlands, 167,299 tons. No doubt the conclusion will be drawn—by those anxious to draw it—that the reduction in exports to