November 13, 1914.

THE COLLIERY QUART)! AN.

1035

operations, about 500 men being employed; but, later on,
when the lower measures are fully developed, the employees
are expected to be increased by at least 800, and the total
output to exceed 1,500 tons per day. Messrs. J. Davies and
Sons, Port Talbot, are in charge of the sinking operations.

The Glamorgan Education Committee had before it on
Tuesday the question of an agreement as to the managing
body of <thc School of Mines which has been established by
the coal owners at Treforest; and this was referred to a
sub-committee, with power to carry on negotiations with the
Coal Owners’ Association.

The Monmouthshire Council Education Committee is pro-
ceeding steadily with its scheme of mining instruction, and
at a meeting on Tuesday it considered the recommendation
of the sub-committee that an organiser and instructor for the
proposed preparatory local schools should be appointed at a
salary of £300 per annum, previous experience to be an
essential qualification. The committee also had before it a
report from Prof. Galloway, who recommended a scheme of
study upon the general question of mining education, this to
be a continuation of what already existed in the county, and
to be augmented by establishment of a central mining
school. The committee already had intimated their inten-
tion to establish such a school at Crumlin. Prof. Galloway
recommended that this central school should be provided for
those who have passed a preliminary training in certain of
the local schools specially set apart for the purpose, or had
otherwise acquired the necessary elementary knowledge.
The,local schools, he suggested, ought to be sufficient for all
the requirements of firemen and overmen, whilst in the
central school they should meet the requirements of those
in training as under-managers, mechanical engineers, and
candidates for a diploma. The local schools could be
carried on exclusively with night classes, but if men of
equal education with those trained in other mining schools
were to be produced in the central school, the concentration
of work rendered it absolutely necessary that these attending
th? central school should give their whole time either for
one-half or for the greater part of each year, according as
the complete course was made longer or shorter. There
should be six local schools, and those attending should be
encouraged to seek employment in collieries near by; the
course of instruction to be for two hours on five consecutive
days per wTeek, and for a period of 10 months per year; the
necessity being for continuous and intensive study if rapid
and permanent progress is to be made.

The claim against the Glamorgan County Council in
respect of police maintenance during the coal strike of 1910
came before the High Court on Monday, and continued
during subsequent days, counsel’s opening speech lasting
between four and five hours. In all, the claims—which are
by the Glamorgan Coal Company and the Powell Duffryn
Company—total £23,346; and, owing to the great import-
ance of the issue raised, many eminent counsel have been
briefed. In addition to the plaintiffs and the County
Council, the Chief Constable is represented, and the Standing
Joint Committee (the authority which controls the police).
The sole point contested was as to liabilitv, the detail of th^
claim not being gone into. It was alleged on behalf of
plaintiffs that at the request of the Chief Constable, they
undertook the housing and catering for the extra police
brought into the district. Application had been made for
200 cavalry and 100 infantry, but after a conference at the
Home Office a telegram was sent to Capt. Lindsay (the
Chief Constable), stating that infantry should not be used
until all other means had failed, and that 70 mounted police,
with 200 foot, from the Metropolitan force were being sent
by special train. The telegram from London notifying th-
desnatch of these police informed Capt. Lindsay : “ They
xffill carry out your directions under their own officers, and
the county will bear the cost.” Counsel argued that it was
the duty of the local police to protect plaintiffs’ property
without extra charge other than their ordinary share of the
rates, and that the imported police were to be provided for
by the police authority of the county. He contended that
the payments made in respect of these imported police were
at the request, express or implied, of the Chief Constable;
but, on the other side, counsel for the Standing Joint Com-
mittee said that his clients did not agree to pay, and were
not by law liable. Mr. Leonard Llewellyn, general manager
of the Cambrian Combine, with which the Glamorgan under-
taking is associated, stated in the course of his evidence that
his company paid about £26,000 a year in rates.

Northumberland and Durham.

Board of Trade Report on a Coke Oven Explosion — A
Timbering Problem—Durham Miners and Ambulance
Work at the Front.

The Miners’ Hall, Easington, was the scene of a very
interesting gathering on Monday evening, when Mr. J.
Barker (back-overman), Mr. H. McGorrigan, Mr. E. Moody,
and Mr. J. McManners were presented with Royal Humane
Society bronze medals and certificates, in recognition of
their brave efforts to save a fellow workman who was suffo-
cated by a gas blower in the Hutton seam of Easington
Colliery on April 3 last. Additional interest was lent to
the proceedings by the fact that Mr. Barker, who is a
member of the R.A.M.C., appeared in uniform, ready,
indeed, to proceed to the front a few days after the presen-
tation was made.

When a miner applied for an administration order at
Gateshead County Court on Tuesday of this week. Judge
Greenwell told the debtor, who was employed at Us worth
Colliery, and was ordered to pay 10s. a month, that unless
he enlisted or the pit stopped, he would have to pay. More
men were needed, and he advised him to enlist, and to
recommend his friends also to enlist. The man, therefore,
gave his name to Lieut. Frank Lambert, who was present
in the court. We cannot say, however, that we like this
proceeding. The miners of Northumberland and Durham
have come forward in such splendidly large numbers to aid
their country that economic pressure, of the sort exercised
by his Honour Judge Greenwell, seems to be unnecessary,
and ill-advised.

Mr. Paul Schwartz, manager of Messrs. Pease and
Partners’ coke and by-product department at Bankfoot Col-
liery, has been re-arrested at his new residence at Crook.
This is the third time Mr. Schwartz has been arrested under
the Aliens Order. On the previous occasion he was one of
13 arrested. Twelve were interned in a military camp, but
he was liberated, a circumstance which has evoked protests
from the Crook Urban District Council and the local Rate-
payers’ Association.

Messrs. J. G. Sinclair and Company Limited, of Middles-
brough and Newcastle, have been appointed selling agents
for the Bearpark Coal Company.

The Board of Trade, reporting on an explosion from a
wash-oil heater at Templetown Coke Ovens, Consett, which
occurred on July 20, states that the accident was caused by
the failure of a joint between the flanges of a coil. The
sudden rush of steam to the heated benzolised wash-oil caused
a greater evolution of benzol and oil vapour than could
escape by the outlet provided, and the pressure rose to an
extent at which the casing could not withstand it. No
decision has yet been come to with reference to re-building
the heater, but the Board of Trade inspector is informed by
Mr. Middleton, manager of the coke oven and by-product
department of the Consett Iron Company Limited, that if it
should be re-built, a suitable safety valve will be fitted. No
one was injured by the explosion.

Charged at Castle Eden with having insufficiently tim-
bered their working place in Easington Colliery, Wm. Wood
and H. Carter Wood were stated to have had the props on
the left 6 ft. 6 in. apart, and on the right 7 ft. apart. They
pleaded that owing to the nature of the work in which they
were engaged at the time, they could not put more timber
in until they got the top coal down. If they had put more
props in there would have been no road out of the place if
anything had happened. The chairman (Col. Burdon)
observed that it did seem to him that there was a slight
loophole for the defendants. Was there no way of adapt-
ing the rule to suit such cases? Mr. E. Bell, prosecuting,
said the rules were the same as were in force in other col-
lieries in the county. No doubt the manager might meet
the men and confer on the matter. The chairman expressed
the hope that that would be done. Each defendant was
fined 5s. and costs.

In recognition of his 25 years’ official connection with the
Durham County Colliery Enginemen’s, Boilerminders’ and
Firemen’s Association, Mr. W. B. Charlton, the agent and
secretary, was on Saturday afternoon last presented with
an illuminated address and a cheque for £100 from members
of the association and friends. Mrs. Charlton was the
recipient of a silver tea service.

When the death of Jos. Ridley Wells, fireman, who was
electrocuted at bank at the Willy Pit, Annfield Plain, was
investigated by Deputy-Coroner Stephen; it appeared that
the fatality was the result of a “ lark ” in which deceased
and a man named Toole had taken part. They had con-
nected a wire from the switch to the latch of the door at
the donkey engine house, so that the donkeyman, named
Westgarth, should receive a shock. Wells, however, touched
the sneck first, receiving a charge of from 220 to 240 volts
in his body. The jury returned a verdict of “ Death from
electric shock,” and the coroner expressed his amazement
that grown men should play such foolish and dangerous
tricks.

The 20th group of cottages—making 198 in all—erected by
the Northumberland Aged Mine Workers’ Homes Associa-
tion, was declared open on Saturday last at Longhirst. The
Hon. Mrs. C. W. Joicey, of Longhirst Hall, performed the
opening ceremony. Mr. John Cairns, president of the Homes
Association, occupied the bhair.

Northumberland and Durham miners have been conspicu-
ously honoured in connection with the establishment of a
hospital at Boulogne by the joint committee of the Order of
St. John of Jerusalem and the British Red Cross Society.
The committee has asked the St. John Ambulance Brigade
to supply the whole of the hospital orderlies, and has
requested Deputy-Commissioner C. B. Palmer to take the
hospital out and see it established. In his capacity as
manager of Felling Colliery, Mr. Palmer has for many
years made ambulance work—both above ground and below
—his special care, and few men in the kingdom are better
qualified to undertake such work as he has been requested
to do. The orderlies, numbering 100, have been drawn
from the two counties, and are mainly miners. During Mr.
Palmer’s absence abroad, Mr. H. G. Stobart, of Witton
Tower, will “ deputise ” for him in the work of organisa-
tion at the Cambridge Hall, Newcastle.

.Cumberland.

Appeal in the Clifton Case — Instructor for the Brigham
Rescue Station.

Mr. St. George Curzon stated to the Workington magis-
trates on the 5th inst. that the Treasury intended appeal-
ing against the decision of the Bench recently in the
Clifton Colliery case, when officials of the Allerdale Coal
Company were ordered to pay the costs for various contra-
ventions of the Coal Mines Act. He stated that applica-
tion would be made in writing in due course for the Bench
to state a case.

Mr. Alexander McMellon, of Whitehaven, has been
aopointed instructor at the Cumberland Coal Owners’ Rescue
Station at Brigham. Since the Wellington Pit disaster
Mr. McMellon, who was employed in that mine, has been
engaged in training men for rescue work at the Whitehaven
substation, and the appointment which has just been made
serves to show how much his services have been appreciated.

The Rev. Canon Sutton, vicar of Bridekirk, was on
Wednesday elected chairman of the Cumberland County
Council, in succession to the late Mr. Howard, of Grey-
stoke. For a period of 10 years Canon Sutton has acted as
neutral chairman of the Cumberland Coal Trade Conciliation
Board, and the fact that during his term of office no serious
breach between masters and men has occurred is a tribute
to his tact and judgment in dealing with the questions that
come before that tribunal. In 1913 the Board unanimously
voted him a testimonial of 100 guineas as a proof of the
esteem in which he was held by the members of the Joint
Board.

Soon after 10 o’clock on Wednesday of last week the people
of Lowca and Parton and surrounding districts, as well as
the workmen engaged at the Lowca Colliery close by. were
startled by two loud reports, which followed each other in
quick succession. A huge column of dense black smoke was
seen to come from the locality of the tanks at the western
end of the Lowca coke ovens, where the benzol plant is
situated, and great arms of fire were observed mingling
with the smoke. The officials and workmen quickly went to
give what assistance they could, when it was found that the
fire was due to an explosion of benzol vapour. On the sug-
gestion of the management, ammoniacal liquor was used to
extinguish the flames, and in about 20 minutes or so the' fire
was subdued. At 12 o’clock, two hours after the outbreak,
the fire was completely under, and all danger was averted.
The damage, which is estimated at about £250, is covered
bv insurance.

On Thursday, the 5th inst.. at Great Broughton. Mr. John
Wilson, manager of the Buckhill Colliery, received a hand-

some onyx timepiece, with ornaments to match, and a case
of cutlery, on the occasion of his marriage.

At the meeting of the Whitehaven Town Council, the town
clerk read the following letter from Mr. V. Halliwell, clerk
to the trustees of the Whitehaven Colliery Disaster Fund :—
“ Dear Sir,—In reply to your letter of the 20th inst., I am
directed to inform you that the payments to widows of
7s. 6d. per week during widowhood, and 2s. per week for
each child of the age of 16 years, with sundry payments to
other dependants, all of which were fixed prior to the
appointment of trustees, continue to be paid by the trustees,
and the capital bears practically the same relation to the
yearly outlay as it did at the formation of the trust. It
will be within your recollection that these payments were
based on an actuarial valuation of the total assets of the
fund, and are set out in the trust deed. As you know, the
war has caused serious depreciation in the value of all
trustee securities, and if this continues the trustees may find
it desirable to have another actuarial valuation.” Mr. J.
Hanlon said he understood that it had cost something like
£7,000 to pay the widows and orphans’ money out, and
there was £39,000 or £40,000 still intact. His point was
that they had some old men who were thrown out of work
by the disaster, still almost starving, and in a deplorable
position, and he thought they might apply to these people
(the trustees) to assist them, because they considered they
were entitled to receive something from the fund.

Yorkshire.

Doncaster Extensions — The Coal Owners' Battalion — The
Trade of Hull : The East Coast Charter.

The old borough of Doncaster, which claims to have ousted
Barnsley from its title as the seat and centre of the South
Yorkshire coal trade, this week, at a leap, became a 50,000
borough, instead of one of nearly 30,000 inhabitants. In
other words, the extension of the borough by the inclusion
of outlying districts became an accomplished fact. For its
great expansion Doncaster has to thank the coal trade, and
the coal trade alone. In normal times much would have
been made of this new chapter of local history, in the way
of street decoration, joy bell ringing, a civic parade of the
town’s new boundaries, and a round of banquetting and
feasting. But the war has overshadowed everything, and
beyond the congratulations extended at the mayor-making
ceremonial last Monday, the event has passed almost
unnoticed. The extension brings with it new responsibilities
and new opportunities. The next step will no doubt be the
blossoming out into the full honour of a county borough.

An immense amount of interest continues to centre in the
splendid battalion of miners raised by the Yorkshire Coal
Owners’ Association. A large number of the men are
already in their training quarters in Farnley Park, near
Otley. They have been provided with smart dark blue
uniforms. Some 16 of the huts in which the men are to be
housed have already been built. They are lighted by elec-
tricity generated at the camp itself, are most comfortably
furnished, and are heated by stoves. The men who have so
far arrived, and who constitute about a third of the batta-
lion, which at full strength will number 1,200, are princi-
pally from the districts of Pontefract and Featherstone.
From the Featherstone Main and Ackton Hall collieries
alone 320 men have joined the battalion, independent of
several hundred men in the employ of the first-named pit
who belonged to the Featherstone company of the Doncaster
battalion of Territorials, and who were called up at the
commencement of the war. All the men of the miners’
battalion are in fine fettle, and are reported to be as hard
as nails. Meanwhile arrangements have practically been
completed for a suitable encampment for the Barnsley batta-
lion, a site on the estate of Mr. J. S. H. Fullerton, of
Noblethorpe Silkstone, having been chosen. It is about 60
acres in extent.

A very interesting point was raised at Rotherham last
week, when the West Riding County Council sued a Raw-
marsh miner to recover the cost of meals supplied to his
children during the coal strike in March and April of this
year. The action was brought as a test case. The magis-
trates dismissed the claim on legal points, and awarded
costs against the County Council, but agreed to state a case.
A number of other summonses were adjourned pending the
result of the appeal.

The county court judge at Doncaster last week dismissed
a claim for compensation brought by a Goldthorpe pony
driver, whose spine was injured in the pit. He was walk-
ing underneath the cage at the time, and as he had no
right to do this, the judge held that the accident did not
arise in the course of employment. Whilst sympathising
with the youth, his Honour declined to award compensation.

The first meeting was held on the 4th inst. of the creditors
of Sir John Pepys Lister-Kaye, Bart., against whose estate
a receiving order was made on, October 23. Mr. F. T.
Garton, assistant official receiver, who presided, said that a
statement of the debtor’s affairs showed fully secured
creditors £79,190, many of whom held charges in the Denby
Grange Collieries, Wakefield, Yorkshire. The unsecured
liabilities were £56,027, and the assets consisted of an
estimated surplus of £7,841, expected to be received from
securities held by fully secured creditors, and book debts
of the face value of £70,210 treated as bad. A deficiency in
assets of £48,185 was disclosed. The debtor had stated that
for the past 14 years he had been a director of limited com-
panies. The amount now due to him by companies was
£70,067, of which he raised about £28,000 on his colliery at
Wakefield, and borrowed £5,450 from moneylenders. The
companies were unable to repay him. Mr. Percy Braby,
solicitor, said that Sir John bad made a hard struggle in the
last year or two, and his bankruptcy was really no fault of
his own. He was not now able to make an offer of a com-
position, and would consent to be adjudged a bankrupt. The
creditors appointed Mr. F. S. Salaman, chartered accountant,
trustee of the estate, with a committee of inspection.

Mr. Erik Olaf Ohlson, head of the firm of Mess/s. Ohlson
and Company, coal exporters. Hull, has been re-elected
Sheriff of Hull for the ensuing year. Councillor J. H.
Hargreaves, a coal trader, has been re-elected Lord Mayor
of Hull.

The annual report of the Humber Coal Exporters’ and
Shippers’ Association just issued shows that during the past
year the association has successfully passed through the most
strenuously active period of its existence, and in dealing
with the very numerous and altogether unprecedented diffi-
culties, in addition to the ordinary routine work of the asso-
ciation, has proved of the utmost value not only to the
members themselves, but also to the trade of the Humber
ports generally. The most hopeful and gratifying event of