September 3, 1915.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

485

25 per cent., grants an advance of per cent, on the 1888
basis of 4s. per day, the increase to take effect as from
the 24th ult., where that day is the beginning of a pay, and
from the 25th in collieries where other arrangements are
in operation. About 100,000 miners are embraced in the
award. The award represents an increase of 3d. per day,
and brings the standard wage of miners up to 8s. 6d. per
day, the highest figure in the history of the Scottish coal
fields. This is the third advance obtained by the miners
since May, the first being 9d. per day and the second (in
•July) 6d. per day. The first award was given by Mr.
Asquith, the Prime Minister, and had special reference to
the increased cost of living owing to the war. The remain-
ing awards have been given by Sir G-eorge Askwith. In 1888
the average wage of the Scottish miners was fixed at 4s. per
day. It rose in three years to 6s., but fell again to 4s. in
1896. The highest figure reached, with the exception of this
year, was in 1900, when the rate was 8s. There was subse-
quently a drop to 5s. 9d., but in 1907 it was up again
to 7s. 6d. Since then it has never been below 6s.

Miners’ Federation of Great Britain.

A special meeting of the executive of the Miners’
Federation of Great Britain was held at the Westminster
Palace Hotel on Wednesday to consider the policy to be
adopted at the National Conference to be held at the Home
Office on the following day. The meeting showed a strong
feeling of hostility on the part of several of the larger
districts to any suspension of the Eight Hours Act. This
was notably the case on the part of South Wales, Lancashire,
Derbyshire and other districts. It was contended that there
was no national requirement for the suspension of the Act,
and that at many collieries men were unable to work full
time owing to shortage of railway wagons. It was urged
that facilities should be given for securing the fullest possible
output under the present working conditions before any
interference was made with the legislative restriction of
hours. The opinion was also expressed that any extension
of working hours was likely to lead to more absenteeism on
the part of workmen.

BOOK NOTICES.

Gas Engineering and Gas Manufacture. A Review of the

Institution of Gas Engineers. Edited by Charles W.
Hastings. Part I. 8| in x 11 in.; illus. London and
Birmingham : J. G. Hammond and Company Limited.
Price, 2s. net.

The proceedings of our learned and technical
societies are veritable storehouses of knowledge, which,
however, in a practical sense, are seldom accessible to
the busy man. In addition to the personal interest with
which such records are endowed, they afford a com-
plete and logical survey of industrial and scientific pro-
gress. But to render them really useful to posterity,
the discreet use of the blue pencil is needed; the essen-
tial must be retained, whilst the ephemeral must be
expunged.

Mr. Hastings has rendered a great service to the gas
industry in this labour of love; as to his fitness for the
task there can be no doubt, since he has been present
at nearly every meeting of the institute since 1877, and
is thus able to add here and there the personal touch
which is invaluable in such a work. The gas engineer-
ing profession is younger than some others, but it is
really much older than is sometimes thought; and the
author has had no less than 50 volumes of Transactions
through which to range. He has adopted the chrono-
logical basis, epitomising the proceedings at each meet-
ing since the foundation of the British Association of
Gas Engineers in 1863. The present part takes us as
far as 1883, and five subsequent parts are to be issued,
bringing the record up to 1913. It is to be hoped that
the concluding part will contain an ample index, the
presence of which must add greatly to the value of a
compilation of this nature.

Glancing through this first volume, one is struck by
the fact that, whereas some burning questions in the
’sixties have been either solved or have lost their
interest, many of the topics then discussed are still to
the forefront. Thus, at the early meetings of the insti-
tute, during the presidency of Thomas Hawksley, papers
were read on such subjects as “ The Application of Gas
as a Motive Power,” “ The Distillation of Coal at
Various Temperatures,” and “The Manufacture of
Sulphate of Ammonia.” 'At the annual meeting held
at Nottingham in 1867, Mr. John Hutchinson, of
Barnsley, read a paper entitled “ Some Remarks on the
Explosive Properties of Firedamp and Coal Gas; with
particulars of experiments made in lighting portions of
the Oak Colliery with Pit Gas.” It was only six
months previously that the great explosion occurred at
this colliery; Mr. Hutchinson’s project cannot yet be
said to have reached fruition, although it has perpetually
stirred some very active intellects. In the following
year Mr. James Paterson, of Warrington, read a classic
paper on ‘ ‘ The Cannel Coals of England ’ ’; this was
followed in 1872 by a further paper on “ The Lithology
of Gas Coals.” In that year it is interesting to note that
Mr. R. H. Jones, of Dover, read a paper on “ The Effect
upon Gas Companies owing to the Increased Cost of
Coal.” Mr. Anderson’s machine for compressing coke
breeze into briquettes was also described in that year.

A wide circle of readers should be found for this work,
which is embellished by numerous portraits of
presidents.

Coal exports from the Nagasaki district in 1913 amounted
to 707,913 tons, 144,264 tons being exported at Nagasaki
itself, and 466,364 tons at Karatsu. The average value at
these two places was 13s. 2d. and 12s. lOd. respectively, and
the chief customers were China and Hong Kong, the United
States, Philippine Islands, and the Straits Settlements. A
large export trade formerly carried on at Kuchinotsu has now
passed to Miike, which is furnished with up-to-date loading
plant, and in 1913 exported 1,077,529 tons, at an average
value of 12s. 4d. per ton. The foregoing figures do not
include bunker supplies, of which there were shipped in 1913
620,157 tons at Nagasaki, 148,291 tons at Karatsu, and
208,855 tons at Kuchinotsu.

Notes from the Coal Fields.

[Local Correspondence.]

South Wales and Monmouthshire.

The Crisis and Settlement—Fernhill Colliery Reduced
Output—Messrs. Guest Keen's Chairman and Export
Restrictions—Some Points about the Main Colliery
Company—The Bute Docks Scheme.

During the past week South Wales has passed through
another coal crisis, and at one time there seemed every
prospect of the men ceasing work on the 25th ult. As
stated last week, the two points at issue were the inclusion
of the enginemen, stokers, and craftsmen in the bonus turn
clause, and the making of the agreement in regard to the
percentage advance retrospective. The reply of the Govern-
ment to the men’s request that they would receive a
deputation was a letter that was not made public, but after
it had been discussed on Friday a resolution was suddenly
arrived at to send the deputation to the Government “ to seek
an interview.” This was accorded, and the leaders saw
Mr. Lloyd George and Mr. Runciman on Saturday, and
heard what their views were. It was announced that
representatives of the owners would see the Ministers on
Monday, and after these meetings an announcement was
made on Monday evening that a tentative agreement had
been reached. A hitch occurred, however, and a further
meeting was held on Tuesday, the Government representa-
tives acting as intermediaries between the parties. On
Tuesday evening a settlement was arrived at, giving to
the banksmen, enginemen, and craftsmen the full benefit
of the award, and agreeing that if prevented from working
the full five shifts through no fault of their own they could
claim the bonus turn. It was mutually agreed also that
the advance in the wage percentage, should any be made,
should date from August 21. This settlement was ratified
by a delegate conference at Cardiff on Wednesday, but, as
it did not reach the districts until late the previous night,
many of the collieries were idle during that day. Some
stoppages also occurred ;in Monmouthshire at the end of last
week, but these were strongly condemned by the men’s
leaders.

At the meeting of the Fernhill Colliery Company at the
Great Western Hotel, Paddington, on Wednesday, Mr.
J. W. Beynon presided, in the absence of Mr. D. A. Thomas.
The chairman stated that Mr. D. A. Thomas was in Canada
and the United States on Government business, Mr. Leonard
Llewellyn was acting under the Minister of Munitions, Capt.
Kirk was at home on leave for a few days, and Lieut. L. F.
Beynon was also on le£^e from France. He expressed the
hope that shareholders hacTnot been carried away by popular
rumours of enormous profits, or they would be disappointed.
The usual dividend of 16 per cent, was declared, and it was
said that over 30 per cent, of the men had joined the Colours
—a sum of £2,000 being set aside in the balance-sheet for
dependants. The output was 118,000 tons lower than the
previous year, being 554,646 tons, as compared with 672,556
in 1914. This reduction materially increased the cost of
production, and all stores had increased in price. Dealing
with the recent strike in the coal field the chairman said
that the matter had been left to Mr. Runciman, who con-
ceded 90 per cent, of the men’s demands. The latter were
unable to agree to his decision, and the melancholy spectacle
was presented of the miners striking when others were
sacrificing their lives in the- trenches. The owners had
placed themselves unreservedly in the hands of Mr. Lloyd
George to settle in the best interest of the country, and 99
per cent, of the men’s demands were conceded. A
negotiator, he said, required no heaven-born genius to settle
on these lines. He regarded as one of the weaknesses of the
award the fact that no maximum was fixed, and every rise
in price would be met by a demand for an increase in wages.
Every increase in wages would provoke an increase in the
price of coal to meet the increased cost of production, and
thus a vicious circle would be created, and enhanced wages
would mean a reduction in output, when every ton of coal
was needed. He ventured to prognosticate that shortly the
Press of the country would be full of protests against the
exorbitant wages paid to coal workers. The Government
had been lavishly rewarding the miners, and had also given
a sop to the inland coal consumer at the expense of the
colliery owners. The law was bad economically, for high
prices had their own remedy, and it was desirous that coal
consumers should be careful in the use of coal. At a time
when it was important to bring gold or its equivalent into
the country the Government were paralysing trade by
legislation, but notwithstanding all this the directors hoped
to meet the shareholders with an equally satisfactory report
in 1916. The report was adopted with the dividend, and Mr.
Leonard Llewellyn was re-elected a director, Mr. F. D.
Halford, the secretary, being elected an additional director.

At a meeting of Messrs. Guest, Keen, and Nettlefolds
Limited, at Birmingham, on Thursday last week, it was
stated that 4,000 employees had joined the Colours. The
chairman, Mr. E. Windsor Richards (Caerleon), referring
to the Price of Coal (Limitation) Act, pointed out that
through advanced wages and other causes the maximum
output was not obtainable, and unless prices of materials
used in working pits were also limited it would be impossible
to continue working, except at a loss. Restriction of exports
meant that periodically business became impossible, and
he emphasised the importance of exports for increasing the
balance of trade, which at present was against this country.
Business was far from normal, and much would be required
from everybody. A dividend of 10 per cent., with a bonus
of Is. per share, on the ordinary shares was declared.

Of special interest were certain statements made by Sir
George White at the meeting of shareholders in the Main
Colliery Company, and they carry all the greater weight
because of the high standing of Sir George White as a
financier, and of his long association with South Wales
industrial undertakings. The Main Company’s property is
situated between Neath and Swansea. It yields no dividend
this year, although a gross profit of over £21,000 is recorded.
Some persons, said Sir George, ran away with the idea that
coal mining was necessarily profitable: but in their case the
margin of profit was small. In 1909, with an output of
450.936 tons, the gross profit from all sources, before any
writing off for depreciation or renewals, was £6,871, or 3-65d.
per ton. Over the past seven years, with an output of over
three millions of tons, the average gross profit had been
6-76d. per ton. But, as a matter of fact, out of that 6|d.
per ton, no less than 24d. was made up of revenue from
other sources—rents of properties, working of steamers, etc.;

and the profits on the actual working of the collieries amounted
to an average of only 4£d. per ton. During that period they
had paid in wages alone £1,102,000, or 7s. 3d. per ton, which
was equivalent to about three-fourths of the average selling
price of the coal; and out of the remaining fourth came rates
and taxes alone a sum of £37,740, or 3d. per ton. Sir
George White made another very striking point. He said
that the dividends which had been paid went only half-way
towards meeting depreciation in capital value of the shares;
for the total amount distributed on preference and ordinary
shares over the seven years averaged £10,649 per annum,
whilst the market value of the shares had shown an average
annual depreciation of £21,785. He pointed out that one
of the hardships of their position was that their wage rates
were governed by the Conciliation Board, subject to the same
scale of percentages as the most profitable collieries in the
Rhondda and other districts, and he thought that the circum-
stances of each group of collieries should be dealt with on a
more equitable basis.

In connection with the new scheme of the Cardiff Railway
Company for working the traffic at Bute Docks, Cardiff, it
was stated last week that the Cardiff Railway Company has
offered to accept from the various railway companies con-
cerned practically a sum equivalent to the saving which the
companies will bring about owing to their being relieved of
traffic on the docks. Emphasising the need of the scheme,
the chairman of the Cardiff Chamber of Commerce said last
week that the quantity shipped per tip at Cardiff was less
than that per tip at competing ports.

The directors of the Cardiff Railway Company, at their
meeting on Friday, decided to give Parliamentary notice to
promote a Bill in November next for the purpose of carrying
into effect the suggested scheme of new sidings. The pro-
motion of the Bill will depend, of course, on the war condi-
tions. Mr. A. R. C. Pitman, Edinburgh, has been appointed
deputy-chairman of the company, on the suggestion of Lord
Bute.

Northumberland and Durham.

Home Grown Timber—The Centenary of the Safety Lamp—
Trade at Seaham—Detecting Token Frauds.

At the inquest at Wheatley Hill recently, touching the
death of Geo. Albert Bell, a shaftsman at the local colliery,
it was stated that deceased had gone down the shaft on
the cage top to make some repairs to the rapper rope. He
slipped one foot over the cage side, and fell down the shaft
into the Harvey seam sump, a depth of 25 fms. The cage
was stated to have been wet and slippery at the time, and
without protection or flange at the sides. A verdict of
“ Accidental death ” was returned. Mr. F. H. Wynne,
H.M. inspector of mines, suggested that a wooden ledge, a
few inches high, should be put round the top of the cage,
so that any shaftsman who happened to slip would have
a better chance of saving himself.

The manner in which the pits at Auckland Park are over-
coming the difficulties caused by the shortage in the
importation of mining timber is not without its interest and
its moral. A large plot of ground at the north side of the
colliery has been utilised as a timber yard, and newly-felled
home-grown timber is being stored there. An up-to-date
saw mill has been erected, and most of the timber used at
that and some other neighbouring collieries is cut to the
required sizes at this sawmill and despatched therefrom.

After holding the position of second engineer at Murton
Colliery for over 10 years, Mr. John Brown has been
appointed chief engineer at the Hamsteels Colliery.

The employees at the new coke ovens at Thrislington
Colliery have presented Mr. L. Armstrong, assistant
engineer, with a suitably inscribed mahogany timepiece, on
the occasion of his marriage.

Lieut. A. B. Hare, a nephew of Mr. Samuel Hare, of
Howlish Hall, and a member of a family which has given
freely of its sons for military service, was married last
week to Kathleen Muriel, only daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
J. C. Hall, of Hill Side, Auckland Park.

Capt. Collingwood Lindsay Wood, of The Hermitage,
Chester-le-Street, who was killed in action in Belgium, left
estate of the gross value of £16,987 8s., with net personalty
£14,099 10s. He left £100 to the 18th Hussars
Regimental Cottage Hospital. Capt. Wood was the third
son of Sir Lindsay Wood, colliery owner, of Durham
county.

Dr. David Scott Park, who has been medical officer of
the Houghton rural and urban areas for over 30 years,
and medical adviser to the Lambton Collieries Limited
under the Compensation Act for a considerable period, has
resigned in consequence of indifferent health, and intends
taking up his residence in the South gof England. He has
received a substantial presentation subscribed for by every
section of the community amongst whom he has laboured.

That the centenary of the introduction of the Davy lamp
into the northern coal field, at Hebburn Colliery, will
occur on January 9, 1916, the members of the Newcastle
Society of Antiquaries were informed by Mr. John Oxberry
at a meeting held in the Castle, Newcastle, last week. The
information was given during the reading of a paper by
Mr. Oxberry on the Davy lamp, in the course of which Mr.
Oxberry traced, with minute care, the occurrences and
circumstances which led up to the invention.

The members of the society, he said, had a special interest
in the matter, for two of the original members, the Rev.
John Hodgson and Mr. John Buddle, were co-partners in the
movement which led to the discovery of the safeguard,
whilst, at the May meeting in 1816, Sir Humphry Davy
was elected an honorary member “ because of the important
service he had rendered to the people of the district, and
because of their strong sensation of gratitude for the
humanity and admiration of the talents which elicited the
great discovery.

No dividend will be paid to the shareholders of the Seaham
Harbour Dock Company in respect of last half-year’s
working, but the hope was expressed, at the meeting held
last week, that in six months time the company would
be able to resume the conditions which had hitherto
prevailed. Mr. S. J. Ditchfield, who moved the adoption of
the report, remarked that the effect of the war was shown
in the shape of a very much reduced volume of coal traffic,
a complete cessation of pit timber imports, and in largely
increased working costs brought about by higher prices
of materials and higher wages. The shipments for the
half-year were 282.000 tons below the record of the six
months ended June last year, representing between 25 and 30
per cent, below the maximum. They looked forward to an
improved state of affairs, and were glad to report some
increase in traffic since the end of the half-year. The