December 24, 1915. THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. 1289 SAFETY METHODS AT AMERICAN COLLIERIES.* By R. D. Hall. The Susquehanna Coal Company has introduced a number of safety appliances in its collieries, as the result of employing experts in other branches than mining, to investigate the possible methods of preventing accidents. The investigation by all classes of experts has not been without actual results. The fatality rate has fallen from 32 in the first eight months of 1914 to 17 in the same period in 1915, or nearly 47 per cent. Device to Protect Men Falling in Manways. Among the new safety developments is one at Williamstown Colliery, in the Lykens division of the above company. This is illustrated in fig. 1. It is designed to reduce the seriousness of a fall down a steep manway, and is called the “ man catcher.” Another feature illustrated in the same plan is the ‘‘safety battery,” which is placed every 100ft. Man catchers are built in at every cross heading, so that if ■a man falls he does not hurtle the full length of the battery, but only to the nearest man catcher, which is located at the adjacent cross heading, and is in no case over 60 ft. below him. GANGWAY DETAIL OF MAN.CATCHER AT X Fie. 1.—Man Catcher and Safety Batteries. Fig. 5.—Safety Gates at Head of Shaft. Fie. 2.—A Switch which Throws Parallel with the Track instead of at Right Angles. These man catchers also protect the miner or labourer when he is travelling up the manway from anything which may start to fall down on him. The man catcher extends from the filled battery out 18 in. into the cross heading. This passageway is only 5 ft. wide, but the miner is readily able to pass around the man catcher in climbing into his place. The device is simply constructed of three props, which are planked from top to bottom. The safety battery is placed every 100 ft., and is so contrived that if anything goes wrong a man can take a short cut through the sliding trap door, instead of travelling up to the face of every room in order to reach a place of safety. It is the end of the room which is most likely to be dangerous. Where there is the sup- port of the broken coal, as in the centre of the room, the danger is not so imminent as at the working face; so the trap door at every 100 ft. gives a real assurance of safety to every workman. The company expects to reduce track accidents by using the switch stand illustrated in fig. 2. In throwing the switch, the switch tender throws the lever in a direction parallel to the track instead of at right angles to it. Consequently, if he pitches forward in doing so, he does not fall over the rails, but alongside the track. He consequently does not run nearly so great a risk of falling into the cars and being killed. Preventing Accidents in Shaft Sinking. Shaft sinking has an unenviable reputation as a source of danger when the small number of men engaged in that work is considered. The fatality rate is high in percentage, even though the actual loss of life is not * Coal Age. great. As a shaft in process of sinking is not a mine, the records hardly reflect the fatality rate as they should. The Susquehanna Coal Company has adopted many means for preventing these accidents at the new shaft No. 8 being sunk near Nanticoke at Nanticoke No. 7. There is always risk of a piece of rock or a tool falling on the men working at the bottom of the shaft. To prevent this, a safety cover is pulled over the shaft opening by a rope worked by the tender (fig. 3). This cover is put in place after the bucket is lifted, and before the dumping truck is pushed into place. In 1 Fig. 3.—Sinking Bucket Truck and Safety Gate. addition, there is another pair of safety covers under- neath. The dumping truck for the shaft sinking bucket is shown in fig. 4. The bucket is hoisted high enough to allow the truck to be pushed under it. As soon as the shaft doors are closed the bucket is lowered, unhooked, and pushed on the truck to the edge of the platform, where it can be dumped. The truck has three wheels on each side, so that it can span the gap in the rails necessarily left for the shaft guides and the passage of ’■’W: O® a Py 1 J 4 - ■: ‘ «• ft/ - the billy. The wheels are so disposed that the truck always rests on four wheels, and is not tilted, even when it is passing over the gap in the rails. Safety Gates and Shrouded Counterweights. The head of the shaft at No. 7 colliery, Nanticoke, is provided with safety gates (fig. 5) placed so as to prevent men from getting on the cage from both sides of the shaft. They are thus obliged, on entering the cage, to pass by the head tender. A gas pipe guard surrounds the counter-balance weights, and prevents the latter from injuring anyone should they break loose. Messrs. Mather and Platt Limited, engineers, of Park Works, Manchester, have taken the opportunity during the general trade dislocation due to the war, to improve and per- fect the large two-cycle double-acting high-speed vertical gas engine, so that when trade again becomes normal they will be prepared to manufacture these engines in large units of from 500b.h.p. upwards. The important installation of Mather and Platt’s patent mechanical filters for Oldham Corporation Waterworks has been successfully completed, also a further extension at Sheffield of a battery of six filters, making a total for the Sheffield Corporation of 61 filters. Filters have been installed at two large camps and at several big munition factories. For the city of Tiamen, in Japan, an installation comprising 14 open-type mechanical filters, each 12 ft. in diameter, having a total capacity of 4,000,000 gals, per day, has been completed, also numerous other instal- lations both at home and abroad. Apart from their well- known high-lift turbine pumps for colliery purposes, of which they have large numbers running for heads up to 2,000 ft., Messrs. Mather and Platt, or their licensees, have supplied large pumps for dock pumping, circulating water for con- densers, and so on, up to 60,000 gals, per minute. The number of boiler feed pumps of the turbine type being installed is rapidly increasing. A new line of pumps, called “ Medium Lift,” for capacities from 200 gals, up to 25,000 gals, per minute, and for heads of from 75 ft. to 175 ft., has been placed on the market. THE POOLING OF COAL WAGONS. Some light on the Government’s proposals in respect of the pooling of railway wagons was forthcoming at a protest meeting at the Sheffield Coal Exchange on Friday last. The information was given by Mr. M. W. Middleton, of the British Wagon Company, who was one of a deputation repre- senting national interests, which has just waited on the Board of Trade to voice a protest. Their interview was with Sir Richard Redmayne, Chairman of the Coal Organisation Committee. Mr. Middleton said Sir Richard told the deputation on behalf of the Government, that, in proposing pooling, they had in mind the pooling of coaling wagons Fig. 4.—Dumping Truck on which Bucket is Lowered only, and these would be used for coal purposes only. What was all-important, too, was that, contrary to the common notion, the scheme did not emanate from the railway com- panies. It was an absolute fact that there was a shortage of coal; and, therefore, from a national point of view, the Department felt that something had to be done. Sir Richard told them also that both pits and works were standing for want of coal or for want of wagons. The deputation was further assured that when a scheme was formulated, consideration would certainly be given to interested parties, such as coal owners, wagon owners, and wagon merchants. As regarded arguments against the adoption of any pooling schemes, and the contention of owners that they had bought and financed their wagons in order to facilitate and keep their trade going, Sir Richard asked how much worse off the owners would be if they received the same number of wagons as at the present time? To the suggestion that the wagons supplied might be of the wrong .sort, he replied that was merely a matter of sorting them out, and as sorting had to be done now there could be little difference. He rather thought that no person would be worse off by the pool, but probably better off, since the traffic would be got through faster. If pooling were to be adopted, Sir Richard said it would have to be adopted by districts in order to make it feasible. The question of repairs was one of the difficulties, and it would have to be gone into properly by the people interested. The objection which appeared to impress Sir Richard most emanated from a big London coal merchant, who pointed out that the only way he could ensure coal supplies from the pits was by sending wagons. If there were no wagons, he doubted if, as things were, there would be any coal. The outstanding feature of the interview, Mr. Middleton concluded, was that Sir Richard impressed upon the deputation that if privately owned wagons were pooled it would be done from a national point of view. Though pressing their objections as strongly as possible, the deputation agreed that if it was a national question, then from a national and patriotic point of view the owners would have to accept it. To emphasise the import- ance of the issue, it was pointed out that 50,000 tons per week more coal was going to London now than at the same time last year. The meeting unanimously passed a resolu- tion protesting against pooling of privately owned wagons, as detrimental to the trade. Not only have several protest meetings of those engaged in the coaling industry been held throughout the country, but various Members of Parliament have raised the matter in the House of Commons. Mr. Needham questioned the Secretaries of the War Office and Admiralty as to the unload- ing of goods from wagons used by their departments. Dr. Macnamara, replying for the Government, stated that a committee consisting of representatives of the railways and of the various Departments concerned was at present devoting a large part of its efforts to the question of prompt unloading, and a proposal was under consideration for the appointment of two officers who would visit naval establish- ments, etc., where temporary railway congestion had occurred, in order to assist the local officers in the more rapid handling of railway rolling stock. Asked if that applied also to coal wagons, Dr. Macnamara said, off-hand, yes; but he would look into the point. Questioned on Monday as to the proposed pooling arrange- ment, the President of the Board of Trade said it had been suggested by the Coal Mining Organisation Committee and by the Port and Transit Executive Committee that railway wagons, including those belonging to private owners, should be pooled, and the suggestion was being carefully con- sidered both by the Board of Trade and by the Railway Executive Committee. He recognised that there were great difficulties in the way of such a scheme. The interests of wagon companies and other private owners would, of course, be carefully considered, and representatives of those interested consulted before any decision was formed. It is now stated that the Board of Trade have abandoned the scheme of pooling private wagons, owing to the strong opposition on the part of traders and colliery owners. It is thought likely that the Great Northern, Great Central, and Great Eastern railway companies will join together in pooling their empty trucks. The Midland and the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway companies are said to be opposed to the suggested arrangement. The London and North- Western Railway Company are passive, and will only join in if it is universally adopted. By an Order in Council, the exportation of hiematite, pig iron, and iron and steel smelting scrap is prohibited to all destinations. Exports of solid drawn steel tubes are prohibited to all destination other than British possessions and protectorates.