November 27, 1914. THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. 1133 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ district fell to 19’4 and 196 per cent, respectively; whereas in Silesia and Rhenish W estphalia the decline was only to 57’37 and 53’8 per cent, of the July figures. In the Siegerland and the coastal districts the congestion on the railways during mobilisation stopped the supply of coke, and in addition the importation of coking coals from England was arrested. The fact that the September figures do not show a recovery commensurate with that in the coal output is due to the fact that the military operations on the western frontier prevented resumption of work in the blast furnaces. A slight revival is stated to have occurred in October, but, on the other hand, a further decline is reported in Rhenish Westphalia compared with which the improvement in the Siegerland and Silesia is insignificant. District July Au°' Sept- inAw- uistnct. 1914 m4 1914 Tons. Tons. Tons. Percent. Rhenish-Westphalia ... Siegerland and Hesse- Nassau ............. Silesia .............. North Germany (coastal districts) ........... Central Germany..... South Germany and Thuringia ......... Saar ................ Lothringen ............. Luxemburg ......... 675,088.. .363,444.. .350,389... 46’67 65.843.. . 28,603... 31,329... 62’80 84.262.. . 48,269... 49,322... 42’92 36.691.. . 14,068... 13,356...)^.™ 41.398.. . 23,117... 25,820... ) 00 29.222.. . 16,201... 12,844... 45’27 115,153... 22,543... 24,752... 79’65 283,516 .. 25,249... 42,315...)™.™ 233,172 .. 45,167... 29,960... J 80 Total............. 1,564,345...586,661...580,087... 63’89 * As compared with same months of 1913. The output of the various kinds of crude iron in German and Luxemburg blast furnaces during September is given in the following table :— Rhenish Westphalia. Siegerland and Hesse-Nassau | Silesia. North Germany. Mid Germany. -P ro s a o 72 o o Saar. Lothringen. 1 Luxemburg. Total. | Decrease I compared with 1 Sept. 1913. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Foundry pL and castings... 56,164 11,361 8,543 13,176 3,236 3,514 4,560 — — 116,046 183,200 Bessemer pig 14,266 24 1,854 — — — — — — 16,144 12,374 Basic pig 212,736 — 11,700 — 15,155 9.330 20,192 — — 325,086 684,351 Steel ferro-manganese, &c. 66,668 16,319 18,329 180 7,339 — — — — 108,835 104,023 Puddling pig 555 3,625 8,896 — — — — — — 13,076 26,814 Total Sept. 1914 350,389 31,329 49,322 13,356 25,820 j 12,844 24,752 42,315 k 29,960 580,087 — Total Sept. 1913 673,909 79,149 83,653 82,641 26,205 114,154 531438 1,590,849 — Decrease Sept. 1914 323,520 47,820 34,331 43,165 13,361 89,402 458,863 1,010,762 — Reduced Profits of Ruhr Collieries through the War. The returns of a number of Ruhr collieries for the third quarter of 1914 show a considerable deficit in comparison with last year. Thus, the Happen Company, which made a profit of 7,222,000 mk. in July-September 1913, has only 1,702,800 mk. surplus ; the Ewald Colliery, 695,847 mk. in place of 2,215,956 ink.; the Graf Bismarck, 552,879 mk. (1,420,362 mk.) ; the Konig Ludwig, 141,528 mk. (1,328,936 mk.) ; the Konigsborn, 193,717 mk. (1,311,035 mk.); the Lothringen, 89,498 mk. (1,000,926 mk.) ; the Konigin Elizabeth, 163,861 mk. (860,297 mk.); the Ver Helene of Amalie, 202,371 mk. (831,886 mk.) ; the Friedrich der Grosse, 294,081 mk. (953,362 mk.); and others in similar proportion, some (e.g., Graf Schwerin) having even worked at a loss. ________________________ STATE RESERVATION OF MINING PROPERTIES IN SPAIN/' By Royal Decree, dated October 1, mineral lands open for prospecting and working have been reserved to the State. The preamble states that the situation created by the present war demonstates that nations which do not possess or cannot obtain supplies of the necessary minerals for the service of agriculture or national defence incur grave risk of losing their independence in time of war. The minerals in question include potash salts, nitrates, phosphates, mineral oils, sulphur, coal, &c.; and the fact that the production of these substances is now regulated by in any of the most highly civilised countries in the world, shows the advisability of administrating these treasures for the benefit of the nation. The principle of the reservation of certain mineral properties to the State has already been approved by the Congress and the Senate; and, on the other hand, the recent dis- coveries of minerals in various parts of the kingdom demonstrate the existence of hidden mineral resources, the working of which cannot, in all cases, be left to private enterprise, which has not always the requisite capital and knowledge, and is not io spired by considerations of national welfare. On the other hand, a good deal of intelligence capable of being utilised in beneficial investigation is now compulsorily idle, in the form of mining engineers, trained in the Madrid School of Mines, and for whom the State is at present unable to find employment, though it could offer them, as a stimulus to research, some participation in the mineral riches they might discover. Should the procedure embodied in the Bill recently laid before the Cortes dealing with this matter give satisfactory results, the provision of State funds for this special service would be justified, since it might lead to the establishment of important industries, and also largely increase the revenue. It is therefore decreed that the State shall reserve to itself the mineral rights of all free mineral lands which may be named by the Minister of Industry, on the * Revista Minera. advice of the Geological Institution, as necessary for producing materials for the national defence or the benefit of agriculture. The Geological Institution is empowered to appoint district committees of investiga- tion in the principal mineral regions, the membership to include Spanish mining engineers of approved capacity. These committees shall follow the instructions of the Geological Institution, without prejudice to the personal initiative of the engineer members. The results of the /investigation of suspected mineral deposits shall be submitted to the Geological Institution, which will communicate them, with its own recom- mendations, to the Mining .Board, which may, at its discretion, lay them before the Board of Agriculture and Mining. Grants may be made from State funds to engineer members of district committees, whose reports on mineral investigations are considered meritorious. The reservation of mineral lands may be provisional (for examination), temporary (for prospecting), or final (for working), by Government notification to the local mining board and publication in the provincial Govern- ment gazette, without prejudice, however, to existing rights; and the period of reservation may be extended from time to time, if found necessary, until the existence of workable mineral deposits has been established. On the basis of the reports presented by the investigating committee, &c., the Ministry of Industry shall decide whether to reserve said lands for the State, or to reopen them to private prospecting. The State shall be empowered to expropriate or work such properties, under conditions to be established, if necessary, by special legislation. The engineers engaged in the aforesaid investigations (except those on the staff of the Geological Institution) shall be entitled to a percentage of the industrial valuation of the mineral properties discovered by them and expropriated or worked by the State, such percentage being 1 per cent, in the case of valuations below 1 million pesetas; 0’75 per cent, where the valuation is between 1 million and 5 million pesetas; and 0’5 per cent, where the valuation exceeds the last named figure. The right to such percentage shall be decided by the Ministry of Industry on the advice of the Geological Institution. For the time being certain lands in the districts of Isona, Balaguer, Tarrega, Igualada, Manresa, Vich, and Berg a, in the provinces of Barcelona and Lerida, shall be temporarily reserved for investigation with regard to deposits of potash salts. ___________________________ LABOUR AND WAGES. South Wales and Monmouthshire. The joint sub-committee of the Conciliation Board has already dealt with the banksmen’s question as to duties, hours, and rates of wages, and a basis of settlement has been reached. Another meeting of the sub-committee took place on Tuesday to consider the circumstances of those men who undertake banksmen’s duty for only a portion of their time. Proposals were submitted by the owners’ repre- sentatives, and these will be brought by the workmen before the Federation executive. Surfacemen’s wages formed a subject of discussion also at this meeting, Mr. Watts Morgan, the agent, declaring the need for an advance of the present rate. It was, he said, next door to starvation for a man working in a colliery dis- trict where rents were so high to bring up a family on 28s. a week. But for the war the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain would have taken up the matter. After discussion a resolution was passed desiring the South Wales executive to ask the national body to deal with this matter as soon as possible. The East Glamorgan miners, at their monthly meeting at Caerphilly, had before them a report that terms had now been arranged in the Bedwas Colliery for working the con- veyor in the Black Vein seam, and that negotiations were on foot for arranging a price list in the Rock Vein, and the working of the conveyor there. At the Rhondda men’s meeting a report upon the work of the Federation executive stated that careful considera- tion had been given to the Prince of Wales’s Fund, and that arrangements had been made whereby the South Wales Federation became the distributing body, so far as regards out-of-work payments. It was stated that between 2,000 and 3,000 men had been idle since the beginning of the war, and that at the present time there were many collieries working less than half-time. The executive would take into consideration this matter of the irregularity of employment, but thus far only cases of total cessation of work had been dealt with. Some question having arisen at the collieries of Messrs. D. Davis and Sons, the stoppage of between 5,000 and 6,000 men took place, their allegations being that existing customs were being interfered with, and that payment in respect of abnormal places was unsatisfactory. This matter came up on Monday at a meeting of the Rhondda district of miners, and, although a resolution was passed condemning the action of the management, it was further resolved to recommend withdrawal of the notices, so that the grievances might be dealt with by the Conciliation Board. North of England. On Saturday the whole of the hewers in the Rattler Band seam at the Oughterside Colliery, near Maryport, brought their tools to bank. A fortnight ago, the management posted a notice stating that they regretted that they could not work the seam any longer. In addition to the day wage men and boys, between 50 and 60 hewers have been affected. In his November circular to the members of the North- umberland Miners’ Association, Mr. Wm. Straker call.'# attention to the critical condition of the association’s finances, and states : “ We cannot, for any length of time, continue to pay our funds away in the way we have been doing without coming to the end of our means. So far as out-of-work relief is concerned, it will scarcely make any difference to our members when the end of our funds is reached, as, up to now, distress relief committees have not given anything to our members who were getting our union relief, unless that union relief was less than what the dis- tress committees were giving; in that case, they gave the balance. It therefore follows that when our funds are exhausted, our members will draw the full allowance from the distress committees according to their scale, which in some cases will be slightly less than what we have paid as out-of-work benefit, but in either cases slightly more. What will be felt most severely will be the fact that we will then have no funds for any other purpose, and, moreover, we will be struggling to pay off a huge overdraft.” Mr. Straker then deals with the effect of the war upon mining, and says : “ Our own district, which exports about 80 per cent, of our coal sold, has suffered worse than any other, but just a little more so than Fife, in Scotland. The colliery owners of Northumberland have generally done their best to retain their workmen, and where a colliery company has more than one pit, all the pits have been kept open, or where a pit has been closed, the men have been given a share of work in the other pit or pits of the company. . . . While for this patriotic response of many of our colliery owners of Northumberland to the appeal to employers of labour not to discharge workmen we are indeed grateful, yet we have to regret that we have at least prima facie evidence that there are some conspicuous exceptions.” Mr. Straker proceeds to give instances of what he regards as harsh treatment of miners by coal owners, but his illustra- tions are not convincing, and his complaint that certain owners have closed certain pits is best answered in his own remark that “ We do not know whether or not the financial position of these colliery companies was such to prevent the pits being kept open; therefore we must not judge too harshly. . . . The sacrifice these companies would have to make to keep their pits going might be too great when com- pared with the sacrifices which others are making.” Later in the circular he adds : “ When the war is over, and trade resumes its normal state, there will probably be a shortage of men. It would have been a huge mistake to have increased that shortage by placing men under the necessity of finding work in other districts. I hope this considera- tion will weigh with other colliery owners who are tempted to discharge workmen.” The Elswick firm of Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth and Company Limited are endeavouring to secure the ser- vices of from 3,000 to 4,000 unemployed miners. For a full week’s work the firm is prepared to pay 24s. 6d. per week, plus 33| per cent., and there are exceptional oppor- tunities for the earning of overtime and Sunday pay. In addition, the Northumberland Miners’ Association has further information that 200 men are wanted at Whitehaven Colliery, and 14 fillers and six drivers at the Grinkle Park ironstone mines in Cleveland. Moreover, Mr. Finlay, managing owner of Bloxwich Colliery, near Walsall, has been in the district endeavouring to engage 70 men. A number of miners have already departed for Walsall, and, for the time being, their wives and families will be allowed to remain in their present colliery houses on payment of 3s. per week rent per house. Blackhall Colliery has been laid idle, but the men and boys employed, between 300 and 400 in all, are stated to be likely to find work at Horden. It is gratifying to note that, owing to an accession of orders, the Ben well Coal Company has been able to offer work to 30 additional hewers, and that Swalwell Pit is to be re-opened after a period of inactivity commencing with the war. Hopes are expressed by the management that the Norwood Pit also of the latter company will be re-opened at an early date. At Swalwell, at the time of writing, work and cottages are offering for 30 men. At Consett the ranks of the Consett Iron Co.’s workmen—nearly 2,000 having joined the Colours in that district—have been considerably depleted, and the company announces that employment is open to a considerable variety of workmen, including miners. As, however, the firm has undertaken to keep the houses for all their employees who have joined the Colours, those migrating to Consett district will have to live in lodgings. Federated Area. A full time general secretary for the Yorkshire Colliery Deputies’ Association has just been elected, the successful candidate being Mr. Frank Keen-Smith, of Wombwell. He will take up his duties on January 1 next, and will hold the post at the pleasure of the members of the association. There were three other candidates — Messrs. G. Upton (Barnsley), S. Lindley (Chapeltown), and A. Draper (Rotherham). Mr. T. Greenall presided at the monthly conference of the Lancashire and Cheshire Miners’ Federation at Bolton on Saturday. Reports were given in connection with attempts made in fixing the price list at several new collieries in Lancashire. It was decided that the officials should be instructed to inspect some of the mines, and it was further decided to arrange deputations to meet employers to discuss the matter. A report was given as to the contributions which are being paid by the members of the branches to the local relief funds. It was decided to refer the whole matter to the branches for further consideration, and at the next con- ference a suggestion will be made as to what shall be done in the future. A meeting was subsequently held of delegates associated with the political fund. A balance-sheet covering a period of four years was submitted, and it was decided to close the fund. ______________________________ Messrs. James Keith and Blackman Company Limited ask us to mention that they are always pleased to loan lantern slides relating to their mine fans and applications to any responsible person for lecturing purposes.