82

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

July 9, 1915.

At the Cwm Capel Colliery, Burry Port, an important
electrical plant is being installed to cope with the increasing
output. There are now four workable seams, a valuable new
seam, 4 ft. thick, having been struck during the last few
days.

Notwithstanding the criticism as to enlistment of miners,
the Swansea delegates of the western district were addressed
on Saturday by a recruiting officer, and a special appeal was
made that miners should enlist, as they made most useful
soldiers.

One of the notable incidents of the day is that Lady
Mackworth, daughter of Mr. D. A. Thomas, head of the
Cambrian Combine, is dealing with her father’s private
affairs during his absence in America on war munitions busi-
ness. Mr. D. A. Thomas arrived at New York, and but for
the attempted assassination of Mr. J. P. Morgan, would have
been in consultation with that gentleman upon arrival.
Lady Mack worth does not in any way interfere with the
general business; but only with private affairs; -and for this
purpose is in attendance at the Cambrian Buildings, Cardiff,
taking over Mr. Thomas’s correspondence. The wide rami-
fications of Mr. Thomas’s business—which include ship-
owning, pit wood importing, as well as colliery owning and
coal exporting—are well known. The Combine alone has an
output of over 3 million tons per annum, no fewer than 19
pits being worked; and in shipping, Mr. Thomas has an
interest in upwards of 70,000 tons. He is also largely
interested in firms abroad.

Northumberland and Durham.

Work at the Northumberland Pits—Responsibilities of Shot-
firers—Northumberland Coal Owner's Offer to Zeppelin-
destroyers—Miners'. Leader on the Duty of the Men—
Steel Export Licences.

The Seaton Delaval Coal Company is pushing forward its
arrangements to provide the village of North Moor with an
adequate water supply.

Owing to the war, the North Wylam Colliery Company’s
project for an aerial railway over the road between the
colliery and the North-Eastern Railway has not materialised.
The company has, however, succeeded in making a suitable
arrangement with the Hexham Rural District Council for
permission to cart their coals over the Council’s road to the
railway.

Good progress is being made with the new siding which
the West Beechburn Colliery Company is making to the
colliery, and already a commencement with the laying of
the railway track has been made.

According to returns received by the Northumberland
Miners’ Association, the steam coal pits of the county
worked 5'26 days per week last month and the household
coal collieries 5’36 days, making an average of 5’29 days,
as compared with 5’36 days in May. The decrease is
accounted for by the race week holidays. Under the circum-
stances, the pits may be regarded as having worked practi-
cally full time, quite a good result in view of the disorganisa-
tion caused to trade by the restriction of the exportation of
fuel to neutral countries. Of course, with fewer pits worked
than before the war, and with a shortage of hewers, etc.,
owing to the number of young men who have joined the
Colours, there must have been some considerable falling-off
in production as compared with, say, June of last year.

A town-planning ©cjieme, prepared by the West Hartlepool
Corporation, was enquired into by a Local Government
Board inspector, Mr. Raymond Unwin, on Thursday, the 1st
inst. The .areas proposed to be dealt with are to the north
and south of the town, including particularly Seaton Snook,
and their combined extent is 5,332 acres. Special reference
was made to the industrial developments in the district to
the south, lying between West Hartlepool and the Tees.
The borough engineer (Mr. Nelson E. Dennis) spoke of the
developments that had taken place, during the past 10 years
at the South Durham Steel and Iron Works, the Seaton
Carew Ironworks, and the Expanded Metal Works, and
mentioned that recently a commencement was made in the
Longhill district with a tin-smelting industry. The firm
interested were, he said, -spending £15,000 on the works,
and were shortly expected to be employing between 200 and
300 men. Mr. J. H. Amos, representing the Tees Con-
servancy Commissioners and H.M. Commissioners of Works,
also spoke of the industrial developments on the north bank
of the Tees, and stated that 83 acres of land had been sold
to Messrs. Gray and Company for a shipbuilding and
repairing yard. There was some opposition to the scheme
from land and estate owners, including Lord Eldon, and also
by county and rural authorities.

For what was admitted by the prosecution to be a very
small infraction of the law, Geo. Nunn, shot-firer, employed
at Lambton D Pit, was fined Is. at Houghton-le-Spring last
week. A charge against Frank Allen, hewer, was dismissed.
The rule stated to have been infringed is that which provides
that any person firing a shot should, before doing so, see
that all persons in the vicinity had taken proper shelter.
Nunn, having prepared to fire a shot, directed two fillers to
warn the workers in the vicinity that he intended to do so.
He thrice called out, “ Is all clear? ” and, receiving no
reply, fired the shot, with the result that Allen, who had
failed to avail himself of the warning, was hit in the leg
by a lump of coal. Mr. E. Bell, who prosecuted, stated
that Nunn did everything that was possible- He complied
with 99 parts of the rule, but did not personally see, though
he sent men in different directions to give warning, that the
place was absolutely clear. The rule said he must do that
himself. For Allen, it was contended that he was putting
his shirt on at the time the warning was given, and that he
did his best to take shelter.

Mr. Joseph Cowen, of Stella Hall, Blaydon, who has large
colliery interests in the county of Durham, is offering £500
to the crew of the first aircraft to bring down & German
Zeppelin in the British Isles or in British territorial waters.
Mr. Cowen has already received the title of Honorary Colonel
for his munificent gift of £10,000 for the equipment and
maintenance of the Tyneside Infantry Brigade.

Commenting on the national conference of coal owners and
miners, to be held in London, to discuss the question of
output, Aid. Wm. House, president of the Durham Miners’
Association, informed a Press interviewer that he felt abso-
lutely certain that, if the rank and file of our workers only
realised all that was involved in this war, there would be
no unreasonable loss of time, no quarrelling over trivial
matters, and the most hearty and loyal support for the
Government.

It was stated on behalf of the Easington Coal Company,
when, at Castle Eden last week, application was made for

ejectment orders against two workmen formerly in the com-
pany’s employ, that the company had only 10 houses at
liberty and 25 persons wanting to occupy them. It was a
fact that there were six streets of unoccupied houses at
Easington, but these were not in the hands of the company
at present. The necessary orders were made.

At Wednesday’s meeting of the council of the Newcastle
Chamber of Commerce, a letter from the Admiralty was
read. This suggested the establishment of committees in
Newcastle and Glasgow for the issue of licences for the
export of steel, the Newcastle committee to deal with applica-
tions from the north of England and the Glasgow committee
with Scottish applications. When the committees were
formed, details of the work to be undertaken could be dis-
cussed at the ’ Admiralty. The chairman (Mr. J. H.
. Beckingham) said the appointment of these committees for
the steel trade might be taken as an indication of what might
come from the coal export trade. The secretary (Mr. Herbert
Shaw) was instructed to communicate with large steel works
in the district with a view to securing names of gentlemen
willing to serve on the committee.

Cumberland.

Cumberland and War Supplies—Harrington Coke Ovens
Taken Over by the Workington Combine—Inquest on
the Risehow Accident : Safety Factors.

A deputation representative of the county of Cumberland
went to London last week, and had a long interview with
the Ministry of Munitions concerning the part which this
district may play in the production of war supplies. The
interview .afforded ample facilities for a statement of the
productive and manufacturing resources of the county, -and
of the prospects of the various firms in the county working
together on a co-operative basis.

The Harrington coke ovens have now been entirely taken
over by the Workington Iron and Steel Company, and the
second battery of 50 ovens were started on Monday morning.
This new block of ovens was completed some time ago, but
owing to the large number of men enlisted from the works
and the adjoining colliery, and the consequent decreased
output of coal necessitating the working of short time, the
new ovens had not been lighted up. The introduction of a
large number of Belgian miners has, however, helped to
bring conditions almost to the normal again. Although a
considerable quantity of coal will be required from neigh-
bouring collieries, it is expected that shortly the colliery and
the whole battery of 100 coke ovens, as well as the extensive
by-product plant will be in full operation.

At Hackthorpe Police-court, on Monday, the case was
mentioned in which the Home Office prosecuted Mr. W. H.
Borlase, manager, and the Greenside Mining Company, Glen-
ridding, Ullswater, for an alleged offence under the Metalli-
ferous Mines Regulation Act, 1872, regarding underground
machinery. The case had been before the court on previous
occasions, and the clerk handed a communication to the
magistrates in which the Home Office withdrew the charge,
it being understood that the company had now complied
with the Home Office regulations

On Tuesday, Mr. E. Atter, coroner for West Cumberland,
resumed the enquiry at the Maryport Police Station into- the
accident at Risehow Colliery on June 22, when John Clark,
36 years of age, a married man, living at Grasslet, was
killed and other three men injured. The accident occurred
at the new colliery which is being sunk by the Flimby and
Broughton Moor Colliery Company; Clark, along with
Bartholomew Leek and John Jones, were w’orking in a kibble,
at .a depth of about 50 fms. in the shaft, and taking up pipes
for the pump, which it was intended to raise in order to fire
a -shot. The order was given to raise the pump, and as soon
as the crane was started the steel rope broke, and the three
pipes running from the pump to the surface and the chains
fell down the shaft on to the men in the kibble. Jos. Kearns,
who was on the top, was caught by the chain as it was
dragged down the -shaft. Clark died on the way to the hos-
pital. Kearns, Young and Leek were also injured and
taken to the hospital. Jones escaped injury. Arthur B.
Dawson, surveyor, produced a plan of the place where the
accident occurred. The depth of the pit was about 50 fms.—
John Jones, pit sinker, described the accident. On
June 22, he went to work at 6 o’clock. Thos. Young was in
charge. They had been pulling the slide pipes up and taking-
some packing out. After that had been done, the kibble in
which they were working was raised about 70 ft., and Young
gave orders to heave the pump. When this was done the
rope broke. The pump had been lifted in the same manner
scores of times. This was the second crane rope that he
knew of in 12 months. He had seen only one man, a fitter,
examine it. The slide pipe would be about 8 ft. or 9 ft. in
length.—Thos. Young, one of the injured men, a chargeman,
stated that the pump did not catch anything; it had a
clearance of 2 ft. 6 in. When the crane was started he heard
a click, and the pump dropped 9 ft. to the bottom of the
shaft.—Wm. Fearon, crane driver, stated that he was at
work lifting the pump by orders from Mr. Briggs. He took
the key out, and the next thing the rope parted, about 6 ft.
or 7 ft. from the drum. It was not close to the pulley. The
rope was put in about September. He had known the crane
give a lurch when they had been lifting a very heavy weight.
—Joseph Osborne spoke to examining the ropes on several
occasions.

Mr. Lloyd Thompson, manager of the colliery, said he
examined the broken end of. the rope, and found it had been
worn a little, and there were one or two single strands that
had been worn through on the outside. The condition of the
rope was reported to him every day. A new rope was pur-
chased on August 31, and was put in on September 6. It
had been in use intermittently ever since. The weight the
rope was lifting when the accident happened was, as near as
he could calculate, 6 tons 9 cwt. It was a f-in. rope, and
the breaking strain was 17 tons. It had hoisted this weight
the day before. Osborne had been with the company four
months, but he had not reported any defects in the rope.
They had put in a stronger rope, and another pump down
the pit. There was a winding rope proper; this was for
hoisting material. The winding rope was an inch in diameter,
and the breaking strain was 37 tons. As a matter of fact,
the smaller rope had the heavier weight to lift, but on the
winding rope they had a factor of safety of 10.—By the
inspector : So that you would never raise more than 4 tons
with the winding rope. With a factor of safety of 7 you
would get 2| tons, but instead of 2| tons you had something
like 6| tons. It had repeatedly had this 6j tons to lift during
the last few weeks. It had been under a severe strain, and
this was the last straw?—Yes.

Mr. Wilson (H.M. inspector of mines) : Taking the same
class of steel and a proper factor of safety, instead of a |-in.

rope it should have been a lj-in. rope, and if the rope had been
properly chosen for the job it would have had a breaking
strain of 59 tons instead of 17 tons.

In reply to further questions by the inspector, witness said
he was not responsible for putting the rope in. He had made
enquiries of the cranesman, but it had never occurred to him
to work out the strain on the rope. He attributed the acci-
dent to the rope not being strong enough. He was unfortu-
nately responsible. Osborne’s examination complied with the
regulations, which prescribed an examination once a week.
If he had had the ordering of the rope he would have ordered
a stronger rope.

The inspector said unfortunately this rope was just about
half as strong as it ought to be. That was the long and short
of his observations. Unfortunately Mr. Thompson was
responsible. He had found the rope already in use, but it
had not occurred to him to calculate the strain on it and find
out if it was not strong enough. Someone was responsible,
and Mr. Thompson had shown himself responsible by ordering
a rope three times as strong as the one that failed.

The coroner said there had been no criminal responsibility
or neglect, but there had been admitted neglect or fault of
someone connected with the company, and Mr. Thompson
was candid enough to take the responsibility. There was a
reasonable excuse for him, as the rope was in use when he was
appointed manager, and that being the case he had not inter-
fered with it. He assumed that their verdict would be that
the deceased was killed by a fall of rope attached to the chain,
and if they made any irecommendation or censure he thought
it should be a suggestion for a better test, a better examina-
tion of the rope and chain.

The foreman said some of the jurymen thought they should
have lifted the men up before the pump was hoisted, and then
the accident would not have occurred.

The inspector : I understand that the men were doing
something. No doubt if these men had come out on top they
would not have been hurt, but that is not the point. They
should be absolutely as safe in the shaft as at the pit top.

The jury found that deceased was killed by the breaking of
the rope attached to the chain, which was unsuitable to the
weight attached to it. They also adopted the coroner’s
suggestions respecting the testing and examination of the
rope.

Yorkshire.

Miners' Neglect of Work—Hemsworth's Housing Scheme—
Sinking Projects after the War—A Coal-cutter Accident
—Home Office Prosecution at Leeds : The Case of Pit
Ponies.

The dearth of coal-getters, to wrhich Mr. Maurice Deacon,
managing director of the Maltby Main Colliery, referred
last week, at the annual meeting of the company, is by no
means peculiar to Maltby. Practically the same story is
told in connection with every colliery in Yorkshire, the
miners of which county have rallied to the Colours in a
remarkably patriotic way. Mr. Deacon pointed out that
Maltby now has only 1,400 men, compared with 1,600 last
year, and that the reason they had not made a profit was
because of this shortage. This, notwithstanding the number
of men who neglect their work, has increased from 14 per
cent, to 20 per cent. The present number of men at
Maltby is less than half of those required. All the collieries
are in the same position. The bulk of the pits in the
Doncaster district have contributed from 500 to 800 men
apiece, and -as it has been found to be next to impossible
to fill up the vacancies, the difficulties of managers may be
easily appreciated. It is this circumstance which makes
disputes like that -at Askern, which meant the closing down
of the colliery for the whole of last week, so regrettable.

The very much required housing schemes in some of the
colliery districts look like being hung up through the war,
in the same way that some of the town planning schemes
are just now hanging fire. At the monthly meeting of the
Hemsworth Rural Council, last week, a letter was read from
the Local Government Board in which the suggestion was
made that the Council should prepare and submit their
housing schemes to the Board, so that they could hold local
enquiries, and then consider whether the actual execution
of the schemes should be proceeded with or deferred for a
time in view of the war. The estimated cost of the schemes
at present being prepared in the Hemsworth Rural area is
about £119,000. The Council decided to meet the Board’s
wishes, and proceed as rapidly as possible, so as to facilitate
the holding of the official enquiries.

The miners of Frickley Colliery, at South Elmsall, have
every reason to feel grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Warde Aldam,
of Frickley Park, for their generosity in various directions
from time to time. The splendid model hospital which
adjoins the colliery is largely due to them; and in directions
almost too numerous to mention they have assisted to make
life in this colliery centre more agreeable. The latest act
of Mr. Warde Aldam is to provide a splendidly-equipped
rifle range, in which those miners who, for various reasons,
are unable to go to the front, may at least learn the rudi-
ments of defence of hearth and home in their leisure
moments.

It is understood that when the war is over there will be
great activity in the extensive coal field of the Doncaster
district in the shape of new sinkings, and the rapid pushing
forward of partly-completed pits. The prospects at Harworth,
where the German colliery was commenced and interrrupted,
very fortunately, some people think, by the war, are said to
be excellent, and there are hopes that this will be taken over
and become a purely British concern. Then there will be the
new pit at Firbeck, the acquirement of which has so largely
added to the area of the Dinnington Main Colliery, and
which will, it is expected, prolong its life from 45 years to
70 or 75 years. The long-projected colliery at Armthorpe or
Cantley will, it is presumed, be sunk immediately hostilities
come to an end; a start may indeed be made as soon as the
Allies can be definitely said to have rounded the corner and
to be in the straight run to Berlin. This is the pit which
will.work the coal under the Doncaster racecourse. Then
there is the completion of the pit of .Messrs. Pease and
Partners to look forward to at Thorne Moorends. And
rumour has it that there are other new collieries in prospect
as well, but regarding which nothing definite can be said in
these troublous and critical times. All of which tends to
show that the Doncaster district is destined to be more
closely allied to coal and commercialism than ever.

In a recent prosecution by the Carlton Main Colliery Com-
pany, who claimed £5 from a dataller for absenting himself
from work at the Grimethorpe Colliery, it was stated to be
the intention of this company, and of other colliery companies
as well, to press their claims for the full amount due to them,
and not to merely claim for a nominal amount. The com-
pany had contracts to supply coal for the Army and Navy,