October 22, 1915. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. 837 Coal Mines Inspection in 1914. SOUTH WALES DIVISION. Dr. W. N. Atkinson, in his report under the Coal Mines Act for the South Wales Division during 1914, states that of the staff, Messrs. A. Pearson, J. S. Foot, E. S. Rees, and R. Morgans have been absent on mili- tary duty for considerable parts of the year, and they are still absent. During the year 2,492 official visits to mines were made by the inspectors, 2,313 of which included underground inspections, including 240 by the inspector of horses, and 605 visits were made to quarries. Persons Employed. The first table shows the number of mines worked and Table A. Non-fat al Fatal accidents acci- reported dents. to inspector.* A11 non-fatal accidents disabling for more than 7 days. Place and cause. » 02 J-i the number of persons employed, divided according to age and sex, at mines under the Coal Mines Act, in the Explosions of fire- damp or coal dust 1... 1.. Falls in mine ..... 193...197. Shaft accidents ... 15... 15.. Miscellaneous under- ground ..:....... 117... 122. 21.. . 29 .. 19... 20 523... 540... 14,768... 14,771 13.. . 34... 186... :04 486... 515... 14,029... 14,046 Division, during 1914 :— Mines County. at work. Persons employed. ---------a---------' Below Below Above ground. and ground. (-----K— above Males. Males. Total underground 326.. 335...1,046. ..1,118. ..29,002 . 29,041 On surface......... 42... 42 .. 140... 142... 2,546... 2,548 Brecon .......... 28 ... 2,170 ... 593... 5 ... 3,308 Carmarthen....... 67 ... 9,242 ... 2,432... 2 .. 11,676 Glamorgan ....... 371 ...133,924 ...22,945... 69 ...156,938 .......... Monmouth ....... 124 ... 53,072 ... 8,562... 53 ... 61,687 Pembroke........ 3... 374... 127... 4... 505 Radnor ........... 1 ... 2 ... 1... —... 3 Total in 1914 ... 594 ...199,324 ...34,660... 133...234,117 Total in 1913 ... 609 ...198,123 ...34,859... 152 .233,134 These figures represent the number of persons ordinarily employed during the period January 1 to July 31, the period before the commencement of the war. The total number returned as employed on the last pay day of December 1914 was 203,990, showing a reduction of 30,127 persons; which probably indicates approximately the number of miners who had joined the Colours before the end of the year. Output of Minerals. The next table shows the output and value of minerals :— Gross total in 1914 368...377 . 1,186.. J ,260...31,548...31,589 Total in 1913...... 321...782..1,187..1,291.. 35,180.. 35,328 * Includes (a) accidtn s causing fracture of head or limb, or dislocation of limb, or any other serious personal injury ; (6) accidents caused by explosion of gas or dust, or any explosive, or by electricity, or by overwinding, and causing any personal injury whatever. f Including those injured by accidents which proved fatal to their companions. _________________________________________________________________ his partner (a brother) were burned, one so severely that he succumbed to his injuries at the Llanelly Hospital on the 29th of the same month. Falls of Roof or Side.—By falls of ground there were 193 fatal accidents and 197 deaths, 523 reported non- fatal accidents, and 540 persons injured. Thirteen of the persons killed and 26 of those injured were boys under 16 years of age. The loss of life by falls was 34 more than in the preceding year, and the number of persons seriously injured was 32 less. No definite reason can be given for this increase in the number of fatalities by falls. It cannot be associated with any scarcity of timber or other cause due to the war, because the County. Coal. Fireclay. Ironstone. Other minerals. Total. Brecon Carmarthen Glamorgan Monmouth Pembroke Radnor Tons. 651,223 2,311,023 35,847,381 15,015,790 54,308 Value. £ 355,762 1,870,169 22,176,592 8,358,089 30,821 Tons. 22 8,755 49,975 71,337 Value. £ 3 2,612 7,809 17,065 Tons. 30 8.845 8,880 Value. £ 9 2,871 2,784 Tons. 9,943 | Value. £ 932 Tons. 651,275 2,319,778 35,906,204 15,105,950 54,308 Value. 355,774 1,372,781 22,187,272 8,878,870 30,821 Total, 1914 Total, 1913 53,879,7 8 56,830,072 32,791,133 33,474,202 30,089 156,497 l 27,489 34,649 17,755 19,596 5,664 7,611 9,943 2,885 932 606 54,037,515 57,009,050 32,825,518 33,787,068 Of coal classed as anthracite, the output was 4,370,239 tons, being a decrease of 462,920 tons. The following shows the number of coal cutting machines employed :— Number driven by Statute tons cut by Description. Elec- tricity. Com- pressed air. Elec- tricity. Com- pressed air. Disc 3 . 1 .. .. 13,782 .. 8,000 Bar .... 38 . 50 .. . 211,762 .. . 334,036 Chain 3 . 7 .. 17,198 .. 26,126 Percussive ... — 29 .. — . 23,917 Total .... 44 . 87 . 242,742.. . 392,079 The above machines were used in 58 mines. The figures show an increase of 16 coal cutters, but a decrease of 4,898 tons of mineral cut from the preceding year. There was an increase of two conveyors, the total number being 63. Accidents. The total number of accidents reported was 1,554, of which 368 accidents caused the deaths of 377 persons: two of these accidents (with two deaths) occurred in 1913, the deaths resulting after the statistics for that year were closed. The total number of persons injured by reported accidents was 1,260. Eight accidents each caused more than one death, as follows :—One accident by suffocation by natural gases caused three deaths; one accident by explosives caused two deaths; one accident by inrush of water caused two deaths; one accident by trams caused two deaths; and four accidents by falls of roof each caused two deaths. The remainder were all single fatalities. Table A gives a summary of fatal and non-fatal acci- dents, classified according to place and cause. The death rates were as follow :—Per 1,000 persons employed above ground, 1-207; per 1,000 persons employed below ground, 1-681; per 1,000 persons employed above and below ground, 1-610. The above death rates are calculated on the number of persons ordinarily employed from January to July (seven months). Explosions of Firedamp or Coal Dust.—Twenty-five explosions of firedamp, resulting in one death and injuries to 29 persons, were reported during the year, being an increase of two accidents and a decrease of 437 deaths, and 19 persons injured, as compared with the preceding year. This is one of the best records ever attained by the area covered by the Division. The fatal explosion occurred at Porthdafen Colliery, Carmarthen. On May 18 at 7.30 a.m., the first hours of the shift, an explosion of firedamp occurred by which a collier and average monthly number of deaths during the seven months before the outbreak of hostilities was 18, whilst during the succeeding five months the average number per month was only 13*8. Shaft Accidents.—Fifteen fatal accidents caused 15 deaths, and 13 reported non-fatal accidents resulted in injuries to 34 persons. By overwinding 20 persons were injured in two accidents, both by the cages in which they were descending being dashed on to the bottom of the shafts. In one case the winding engine was fitted with an overwind controller, and the reason given by the winding engineman to account for the accident was that he thought the engine was going rather too fast, and he intended to put steam against the engine, but forgot to use the reversing lever, with the result that the speed of the cage was accelerated instead of being arrested. In the other case of overwinding, a controller had not been fitted to the winding engine, although it had been on order since December 1912. The accident was brought about by the failure of the engineman to reduce the speed of the engine in time. Four of the fatal accidents were duo to persons being crushed under cages. Miscellaneous Underground Accidents.—By explosives there were three fatal accidents and four deaths, 23 non-fatal accidents, and 32 persons injured. Ten of the non-fatal accidents injuring 14 persons by explosives were due to the use of naked lights in conjunction with explosives. There were four fatal accidents (six persons killed) from suffocation by natural gases. In one of these, at the Whitworth Colliery, No. 1 pit (Mon.), on February 21, the under-manager, an overman, and a fireman were suffocated by a mixture of blackdamp and firedamp through going into un ventilated workings, which had been bashed off for six weeks, in order to recover some tools which had been left inside. The imprudent and dangerous action of the victims of this accident was facilitated by the use, or rather misuse, of an electric lamp. At Tareni Colliery, on December 12, a collier was killed by a sudden outburst of firedamp and coal dust. It cannot be stated positively whether the accident was due to a sudden outburst of gas and coal dust from solid strata, or to a violent displacement of gas and dust by a heavy fall from above a cavity already existing, and no doubt full of firedamp; but on two previous occasions there had been undoubted sudden outbursts of gas and dust from the solid strata in the same disturbed area, by one of which a life was lest in 1913, by a man being buried in an outburst of coal dust. There was one fatal accident (one death) from an underground fire. At the Big pit, Blaenavon, on April 2, a labourer, aged 53, while engaged in whitewashing refuge holes in a return airway, was so affected by fumes from a fire caused by the fusing of an electric cable, that he died the same night. The cable carried direct current at 500 volts pressure, and was armoured; but the continuity of the armouring was broken to form a joint at the place where the fire occurred, and this joint appeared to have been allowed to touch timber; it should have been enclosed in a metal joint box. There was one irruption of water, causing two deaths. At Dunvant Penlan Colliery on May 28 two men were drowned by the failure of a barrier of coal. A return slant dipping at an inclination of 30 degs. had been allowed to fill with mud and water, and a narrow place was driven up from a lower level to meet it, without boring. A barrier of coal a few yards thick, through which ran a small fault or roll, was left between two places; and as the barrier showed signs of failure it was strengthened by a barricade of timber and left in that condition, without examination, for about two months, when the barrier gave way, and the water rushed down and drowned two men working in the main slant below. There were 87 fatal underground haulage accidents, with 88 deaths, and 326 reported non-fatal accidents with injuries to 341 persons. The figures show a decrease of four deaths, but an increase of 73 persons injured compared with the figures for the preceding year. The heavy trams used in the district, and the steep and irregular gradients of the roads, are largely responsible for the haulage accidents. Two persons were killed and four injured while riding on tubs, and one person was killed and six injured by going in front instead of behind tubs while moving them by hand on inclined roads. • By electricity there was one fatal accident and one death; six non-fatal accidents and seven persons injured. The fatal accident occurred at Penrhiw Colliery on September 10, when an assistant electrician received a fatal shock while attempting to replace the cover of a switch box, without having previously cut off the current of 500 volts pressure. By machinery underground there was one fatal accident and one death, 14 non-fatal accidents and 17 persons injured. The fatal accident occurred to a collier who was removing small coal from the tension pulley of a coal conveyor at a longwall face, when his left arm was caught between the pulley and the belt. Many of , the non-fatal accidents were contributed to by the insuffi- cient fencing of underground machinery. Of the non-fatal sundry accidents, 24 were caused by horses kicking, crushing, or falling on persons, and five by the use of hatchets in cutting timber. Surface Accidents.—On the surface at mines, including railways, tramways and sidings, there were 42 fatal acci- dents with 42 deaths; 140 non-fatal accidents and 142 persons injured. By electricity on the surface there were four non-fatal accidents, four persons injured. These were all slight injuries, three of which were caused by irregular or improper manipulation of electrical plant, and one by a faulty cable connection. Dangerous Occurrences. — Notices were received of dangerous occurrences from which no personal injury resulted, as follows :—Ignitions of gas or coal dust, seven; underground fires, 12; breakages of ropes, chain, or other gear by which men are raised or lowered, 14; overwinding while men are being raised or lowered, two; inrush of water, two—total, 37. Of the above ignitions of gas or coal dust, six were ignitions of firedamp oy naked lights. The other ignition was attributed to sparks caused by stones falling on the ends of steel “ tangers ” while a fall of roof was being repaired. The men working on one side of the fall said they saw a stream of intense sparks, and a flash extending 3 or 4 ft. across the heading. The men on the other side said they heard a report, and directly after saw a cloud of grey smoke or steam, accompanied by a peculiar smell. No firedamp could be found when the place was after- wards examined. Of the underground fires, five were gob fires, or indi- cation thereof; four were caused by naked lights, one of which was the work of an incendiary; one was caused by electricity or a naked light, and one by the heated bearings of an auxiliary underground fan setting timber on fire. This fan 'was a small portable j-horse power machine, worked by compressed air, with bearings totally enclosed in an iron casing and lubricated by oil splashed from the bottom of the casing by the cranks. So far as could be ascertained, the fire originated inside the easing, where the only inflammable material was the oil. The fire made the casing red hot, and set fire to the wood sills to which the fan was bolted. If incom- bustible material had been used for the sills they would' not have been ignited. Of the breakages of ropes, etc., five were broken wind- ing ropes, four were haulage ropes used, for winding men, two wTere guide ropes, two were breakages of wind- ing engines, and one a broken pulley shaft. Prosecutions. Proceedings were taken against the owners and officials of 15 collieries. A point of some interest arose in pro- ceedings against the owmers and agent of Adare Level for not having appointed a manager. At the trial, the general manager said he had appointed a manager, but had overlooked sending notice thereof to the inspector as required by the Act. This resulted in the dismissal of the summonses, but as the position was not disclosed till the hearing, the owners were ordered to pay the costs, and a special advocate’s fee. A prosecution for failing to provide two means of egress from a steam pump lodge room in a sinking shaft at Celynen Colliery w\as dismissed. The magistrates held that under the circumstances the lodge room was not a steam engine room within the meaning of section 59 of the Coal Mines Act, and on appeal this decision was upheld, on the ground that it is a question of degree, and that question one of fact for the magistrates, when