570

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

March 24, 1916.

on underground surveys at various collieries. The principal
and his two brothers have gone to the war.

As the result of an appeal by Col. Sir Lancelot Rolleston,
a full battalion (1,150 men) of miners from the East wood
Collieries of Messrs. Barber, Walker and Company has been
raised for home defence. Mr. C. W. Phillips (general
manager of the company), formerly of the Denaby and Cadeby
Collieries, was unanimously invited, and accepted the office
of commandant.

Mr. T. H. Cann, general secretary, and Mr. Trotter,
treasurer, of the Durham Miners’ Association, appeared
before the Annfield Plain tribunal on Monday, in order to
support the application of the association for exemption for a
clerk, aged 19, in the treasurer’s department. Mr. Trotter
stated that his department demanded not only a technical
knowledge, but an intimate knowledge of the precedents
which governed payments from the sick fund. Out of 120,000
members, 40,000 were now with the Colours. Six months’
exemption was granted, with permission to apply again at
the end of that period, if necessary.

Replying to a question by Mr. Ginnell in the House of
Commons, on Wednesday, the Home Secretary regretted
that he wnas not in a position to state the number of men
of military age and fitness now engaged at and in con-
nection with the coal and other mining and quarrying
industries in England and Wales.

The colliery tribunal for the Warwickshire area met on
Monday. In the case of the Arley Colliery, Mr. W. G.
Phillips, assessor for the masters, said there was no other
pit in Warwickshire which had lost so many men. Mr.
Knox said they bad lost 1,100 men since the war started,
and the output had gone down from 1,500 tons to 900 tons
a day. There were 1,262 men employed at the colliery
before the war, he said. Since the war 602 men had been
set on, 597 had left, and 500 had enlisted. There were now
767 employed at the pit. They could not spare another
man. They had lost 40 per cent. The president said
Arley had done better than any other pit he had come
across. The best pits in Leicestershire and South Derby-
shire had only shown 13per cent, of recruits, and yet
Arley, the first pit he had come across in Warwickshire,
had shown over 40 per cent. There was no other industry
that could show such figures. The tribunal only took one
man away, a shunter, and exempted the others. Enquiries
info the cases of other Warwickshire collieries showed a
similar high standard of patriotism, and the number of
men not exempted was very small.

The Glamorgan tribunal, dealing with the case of the
Celtic Collieries, was informed that whereas in 1914 they
had over 700 men, the present number of employees was
below 600. As showing the floating character of labour, it
should be noted that since August, 857 men had signed on;
and yet there were only 590 working at the colliery. The
Bute Colliery at Hirwain has had its employees reduced in
number from 728 to 652 since the war began; and the
International Colliery, Blaengarw, has gone down from
940 to 710.

The question of alleged shirkers making use of colliery
employment as a means of evading military service has
come up at different tribunals; and it is of peculiar interest
to know that the colliery representatives rebut the allega-
tions. At the Llanbradach Colliery, the manager said he
had not employed any men of military age other than
colliers ; and several other managers have denied that the
practice prevails to any extent; these denials coming both
fiom Monmouthshire and Glamorgan.

The Tredegar Company’s agent lias stated that they had
had to close one pit owing to labour shortage. They had
put on between 20 and 30 women, wTho worked satisfactorily.
—The general manager of the Bedwas Colliery informed
the Monmouthshire tribunal that they had 'taken on 348
men since the war started. He did not think that men
had flocked to the colliery to avoid the war, for the large
majority had worked in collieries before.

The Derbyshire colliery recruiting tribunal expressed
surprise at the percentage of absenteeism in the Piinxton
Company’s pits in Derbyshire 'and Nottinghamshire—over
41 per cent, in the week ended January 4, and 28 to 29
per cent, since that date. Mr. Stephenson (general manager)
said he put a notice up telling the men that a day’s
abstention from work meant helping the Germans, and after
the third notice he thought he should have a strike, so
strongly did they resent it. Mondays and Saturdays pro-
duced the most abstentions. He would allow banksmen to
be taken if the Miners’ Association would agree to women
being substituted.

It has been decided by the Cardiff tribunal that haematite
miners are exempt, so long as they remain in the certified
occupation ; but that the trammers are not exempt—a month’s
time being allowed employers to fill the places of the latter.

Colliery tribunals have yielded interesting facts as to the
circumstances of different undertakings affected by the war;
and several points of note have been brought out. For
example, at the Newport tribunal, complaints were made as
to irregularity of the men working, the statement being put
forward that if only the absentee evil were fully remedied-, no
fewer than 30'0 men could be spared from Blaina alone. At
these pits between 4,000 and 5,00.0 men are employed; but
the representative of the company observed that some of the
men seemed to think it was necessary only to work five days
per week; whereupon Mr. T. Richards, ALP. (who is a
member of the tribunal) said that these men must be
Englishmen, for Welshmen worked six days a week. The
question as to the employment of women on surface work
was also raised; but it is stated that considerable difficulty
has been met with in their employment.

At Nine Aide Point Colliery the employees before the war
were 2,130. The company had lost 300 men, and, in answer
to the chairman of the tribunal, it was stated that the
absenteeism was about 9 per cent., of which over 5 per cent,
would be due to accidents and illness. In the Risca collieries
absenteeism was set down at 3 per cent. The agent of the
Tredegar Company stated that they had 6,260 men employed
before the war, and at present only 4,660. Their absen-
teeism percentage was 12, of which he thought five would
be due to 'accidents and illness. Mr. Fox Tallis pointed out
that that meant that 320 young men were avoidably irregular.
At another colliery the avoidable absenteeism was set at
6 per cent. It was remarked by one manager that the
average sickness throughout the collieries was between 3 and
5 per cent.

At the collieries tribunal for the western area, it was stated
for the Gwauncaegurwen Colliery that 188 of its men had
joined the Army out of 1,500, and they were now working
short-handed. AH the available elderly men had been
engaged, but labour was very scarce. Four hundred

tons of rubbish had to be brought up every day, and that
entailed much labour. The East pit was being developed as
a new colliery, and at least 500 to 600 more men would be
required. At the Gelliceidrim Colliery, whose employees
numbered 583 before tlie war, 72 had enlisted.

INDIAN AND COLONIAL NOTES.

Africa.

Transvaal Coal Fields.—The steadily increasing demand
for coal in the Transvaal is beginning to show itself in the
Aliddelburg coal field, which has for some time past been the
principal source from which the Transvaal coal output has
been obtained. Whilst the war has seriously interfered with
the coal export and bunkering trade, particularly at Delagoa
Bay, a satisfactory trade continues to be done with Cape
Town. The Transvaal coal output usually doubles itself each
decade, but this steady growth has been arrested, though a
more normal condition, of affairs is beginning to show itself
in the Transvaal coal trade, and if the demand in the future
continues to increase as in the past, the Middelburg coal field
will not long be able to maintain an output of similar quality
to that now regarded as the standard for steam coal in the
Aliddelburg area. The supply is more limited in extent than
generally recognised. Taking Witbank as the centre, a
survey will show that the good deposit of coal extends little
beyond the present workings in a northerly direction, and to
an equally small extent in an easterly direction. Ten miles
or so to the west the coal rapidly deteriorates in quality, the
bulk of the deposit lying in a south-easterly direction; but
much of this available to the existing railway is inferior,
practically all the areas of good coal being at the present time
under tribute. The position is therefore that, outside the
present collieries working in the Witbank district, there is
little room left for the opening of new collieries; and in all
probability, during the next 10 years, the Aliddelburg output
of coal as understood .at present will begin to decline, and
the necessity arise for the tapping of new and more distant-
fields. It is fortunate perhaps that the Transvaal, with its
enormous gold mining industry, possesses the principal market
for coal in South Africa, because it also contains the largest
coal resources of any of the South African provinces. Never-
theless, deposits of similar quality to that now worked in the
Middelburg district are of very limited extent, and long before
the gold mining industry has ceased to exist, the deposits of
good coal will have become exhausted. However, there are
enormous deposits of inferior coal both in the Transvaal and
the Orange Free State capable of being worked to advantage,
so as to supply the railways and gold mines, after the deposits
of good coal in the Eastern Transvaal have been wurked out.
In the early days of the gold fields, the inferior coal deposits
at Boksburg, Brakpan, and Springs supplied the gold mines,
but to-day these coal fields are practically exhausted, and the
few mines at work find it difficult to compete with the Middel-
burg collieries. With the opening of the Pretoria-Delagoa Bay
line of railway tapping the Middelburg coal field, the gold
mines found it advantageous to use Middelburg coal in larger
quantities, and mostly obtained their coal supplies from that
district. In the face of the peculiar limited resources of this dis-
trict, strain is beginning to make itself felt, and already relief
is being sought in some of the distant coal fields. So- far the
Ermelo coal field is receiving the most attention, and despite
the heavier railway rate to the Rand, the production of coal
is steadily increasing. The Breyten collieries have for several
years been producing coal in as large quantities as many of
the leading Aliddelburg concerns, whilst other collieries in
course of development are the Townland collieries and the
Spitzkop collieries. Ermelo coal may not be in all respects
quite as efficient a steam coal as best Middelburg, but it has
the advantage of being cleaner, if more lignitic. The higher
railway rate to the Rand is the principal drawback, but the
rate to the more distant markets is less irksome when com-
pared with the Middelburg rate, whilst ’to Delagoa Bay the
rate is a trifle lighter. Other Transvaal coal fields contain-
ing better coal than either Middelburg or Ermelo still remain
untouched, but as they lie some distance from existing lines
of railway, are not likely to attract attention -until the other
coal fields within easy reach are worked out, or new railways
constructed affording communication with the Rand gold
fields.

Australia.

Queensland State Collieries.—The Queensland Govern-
ment has recently been negotiating for properties known as
Blackheath and Aberdare in the Ipswich district for State
coal mine purposes, but .it now appears that the Box Flat
and Park Head properties have been acquired at a price
between £75,000 and £100,000. It is believed that .a second
site has also been secured in the Ipswich district.

The coke workers on the South Coast went on strike at the
end of December, and refused to return to work unless they
received 10s. 2d. per day for ram ovens, and 10s. 8d. for
beehive ovens. Some of the coal mines were a-ffected by the
stoppage of the coke workers, as difficulty was experienced
in handling the slack coal which is in normal times con-
verted into coke. The coal exports from Newcastle for the
third week in December totalled 61,548 tons, of which
38,770 tons went to the other States and New'Zealand, and
22,778 tons to overseas markets.

Canada.

Coal Mining in Alberta during 1915. — The complete
statistical returns in respect of the coal mining industry in
Alberta during 1915 are not yet available, but it is estimated
that the year’s output will aggregate between 3| and 3J
million tons, representing, as compared with the production
of 1914, a decline of approximately half a million tons. The
principal decrease is in bituminous coal production. Most
of this coal is sold to the railway companies, whose consump-
tion during the past year has been less as a result of the
reduced railway traffic. Again, oil for locomotive fuel is
being used in increased quantity, and this also is very
seriously affecting the market for bituminous coal. In the
lignite fields, during the early part of the year, the mines
were worked very intermittently, owing to the exceptionally
mild weather then prevailing. Within the last three
months, however, trade conditions have been much more
favourable, and the mines, with the exception of those in
certain districts handicapped by a scarcity of railway cars,
have been operated at full capacity. Until about the'middle
of November this scarcity of cars affected in particular opera-
tions in the Drumheller and Edmonton districts, but since
then conditions have improved. In the Lethbridge district
operations were for a time restricted by a shortage of labour,
but this disability has now been removed. During the year

50 new mines have been opened, and 58 mines abandoned
in the province. There are at present 256 mines in operation.
A decrease in the number of fatal accidents as compared with
the 1914 returns is to be noted. The fatalities from mine
accidents during 1915 were 15; while there were also 28
serious and 28 slight accidents. The only accident caused
by explosion of firedamp was that occurring at the mine
operated by the Twin City Coal Company, at Edmonton
South. In this accident one life was lost, the victim having
gone into an abandoned portion of the mine where gas had
accumulated. An Order in Council was passed last June
requiring that all mine plans be made only by persons holding
mine surveyors’ certificates under the Alines Act. The effect,
especially at the small mines, has been noticeable in the
improvement and greater accuracy of the plans now main-
tained. In this Order it was also provided that plans should
show the position of gas or oil well with relation to the
workings of any mine which had approached within a dis
tance of 2,000 ft. of such wells. During the year new pro-
vincial mine rescue stations have been established respectively
at Jasper Park Collieries, Pocahontas, and the Brazeau
Collieries Limited, Nordegg. There are thus now five mine
rescue stations in the province and two mine rescue cars.
The superintendents of these mine rescue stations are also
devoting a considerable amount of time to instruction in
first-aid. Certificates of competency in mine rescue work
have been granted during the year to 74 men, which brings
the total of certificated men up to 220 since the establishment
of rescue stations.

MINING AND OTHER NOTES.

The beehive coke oven is gradually disappearing from the
Birmingham district of Alabama. In 1914 there was an
average of 400 by-product coke ovens in operation during
the year in the State, in wThich was produced 2,042,068 tons
of coke from 2,873,106 tons of coal, or a yield of little more
than 70 per cent. At the present time there are 720
by-product coke ovens in the district—300 Semet-Solvay
ovens and 420 Koppers ovens. In addition to reclamation of
the usual by-products from the coal gases or volatile matter,
the Woodward Iron Company erected a benzol plant with
a capacity of 2,000 gals, per day when its first battery of
by-product coke ovens was installed. AVith the installation
of the second battery the Edison Company erected a benzol
plant at Woodward with a capacity of 13,000 gals, of benzol
per day, and with the completion of the by-product ovens
by the Tennessee Company at Fairfield a benzol plant of
13,000 gals, per day capacity was erected alongside the
ovens.

The net personalty of the late Air. M. Nicholson, colliery
Proprietor, Middleton Hall, Leeds, has been sworn at
£139,139.

Commenting on Dr. J. A. Harker’s paper on “ Methods
■and Appliances for the Attainment of High Temperatures in
the Laboratory,” at a meeting of the Faraday Society, Sir
Robert Hadfield 'stated that at his works in Sheffield he
made roughly about twelve thousand pyrometric determina-
tions per week, each one requiring control or checking and
keeping in order by those who had had scientific training;
yet there were some people in London wdio 'appeared to think
that in the North they lived in Egyptian darkness, and
paid no attention to scientific research.

Enquiries have been received in NewT York for 300,000
tons of coal for Europe, including :—For Pocahontas coal,
100,000 tons; for New River coal, 100,000 tons; and for
Kanawha gas coal, 100,000 tons. Mr. Martens, who is
booking the order, says that he anticipates that there wall
be, immediately following the war, a tremendous demand
for American coal, and he would not be surprised if in the
first year after the war America would sell Europe as much
as 20,000,000 tons, and in the second year it would possibly
be 10,000,000 tons, while in the third year it would probably
drop to 5,000,000 tons. R. Martens and Company, of New
York, is a branch office of the same concern of Petrograd,
Russia, the other branch offices being located in London,
Paris, Adadivostock, and so on. The president of this
company is Baron Rhondda.

During 1915, Spain imported 1,726,332 tons of coal and
178,692 tons of coke, as against 2,504,985 tons of coal and
370,768 tons of coke in 1914; 4,449,273 tons of iron ore, and
9,136 tons of manganese ore were exported from Spain in
1915, as against 6,095,121 tons and 8,965 tons respectively
in the previous year.

The latest available report of the Pennsylvania Bureau of
Industrial Statistics shows that in 1912 there was in the
mining and preparation of anthracite coal a largely increased
relative labour cost, as a pay-roll of over 99,000,000 dols.
was provided from a total value in production of 168,000,000
dols., or about 59 per cent, of the whole. It is quite evident,
moreover, that the report of the Bureau is conservative in
its statement regarding anthracite production, for according
to the United States census report of 1909 the wages paid
in that industry represented 63 per cent, of the total selling-
value of the output, and there were advances in the wage rate
in 1912 as a result of the agreement made on May 20 of that
year. The bituminous rate is higher still than that of
anthracite, as 74 per cent, of the total value of 160,000,000
dols. goes into the pay-roll. Outside of labour cost, the
chief expenses in mining is in the purchase of supplies, which
in anthracite production constitutes about 20 per cent, of the
total cost. In bituminous production the cost of supplies
constitutes about 14 per cent, of the total expense. Nearly
6 per cent, of the cost of anthracite is in the royalties paid
to land owners.

Mr. R. James will lecture on 41 Gas ” at a meeting of the
Monmouthshire Colliery Officials’ Association to-morrow
(Saturday) evening, at the School of Mines, Crumlin.

Representatives of the Norwegian iron industry are
visiting England in order to open negotiations with the
British Government concerning the. Anglo-Norwegian agree-
ment with regard to that industry.

The third meeting of the session of the Staffordshire Iron
and Steel Institute will be held at the Institute, Wolver-
hampton -street, Dudley, to-morrow (Saturday), when Mr.
J. E. Fletcher (president) will read a paper on “Blast
Furnace Working and the Function of Slags.”

A lecture was delivered at the Association Hall,
Manchester, on Tuesday, by Air. T. C. Elder, on “ Engineer-
ing Industry and Public Policy.” The lecturer said the
engineering industry must help itself; it -must organise a
general'association powerful enough to exert collective influ-
ence in all foreign markets, to offer authqviWGxe counsel to
the Government, to stimulate scientific research and bring
it into closer communication with industrial progress.

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