666 THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. April 7, 1916. January and February, as compared with the price for the previous three months. Under the terms of the amended sliding scale agreement, therefore, Northumberland miners’ wages for April, May, and June will be advanced by 12 per cent, on the basis of 1879, making a total above that basis of 90 per cent. This figure is the highest on record, and represents an increase of 37-1 per cent, since the commence- ment of the war. Last month the steam coal pits in Northumberland worked an average of 5-47 days per week, and the household coal pits an average of 5-24 days. The average over the whole county was 5-39 days per wTeek, as against 5’25 days during the previous month. Recent decisions of the executive committee of the Northumberland Miners’ Association state that having heard the deputation from Linton Colliery describe a new system of stone-caunch shooting and timbering, to which the branch objects on the ground of danger, Messrs. Weir and Cairns were requested to report. With regard to the dispute at Walker Colliery, a settlement has been arrived at. It was decided to ask the Coal Owners’ Association to confer with the representatives of this committee regarding the unsatis- factory wages paid to men at the Backworth Collieries who are doing light work and are in receipt of part compensation. Local branches were asked to supply names of men who have retired from work but would be willing to return for the period of the war; also of men who are in receipt of com- pensation and would accept light work. It is stated that most of the Durham collieries are likely to be idle on Good Friday and Easter Monday. Those pits at which the wages are usually paid on the Friday will be idle on the Saturday also, but those at which wages are paid on the Saturday will be working. The Sleetburn miners, however, have decided that they will work at New Brancepeth collieries as usual on the Good Friday and Saturday, but will “ lie idle ” on Easter Monday. We are informed that considerable progress has been made in connection with the movement in Northumberland for greater unity amongst the trades unions associated with the mining industry. Another meeting of the representatives of the Miners’ Association, the Colliery Mechanics’ Associa- tion, the Deputies’ Association, and the Colliery Engine- men’s and Firemen’s Association has been held, and a number of proposals discussed. The 44th annual report of the Durham County Colliery Enginemen’s, Boilermakers’ and Firemen’s Association states that the association added to its credit account £1,420, making the total worth at the end of the year £23,441. The labour department was equally satisfactory, for on the year’s working there was a credit balance of £1,204, with an increase of 33 members. The report mentions that for the six quarters since the declaration of the war the total output was only 14 per cent, less than for the six quarters immediately prior to 1914. Federated Area. A correspondent learns that at meetings of pit brow lasses held in various parts of the South Lancashire coal fields last week end, resolutions were adopted in favour of seeking increased wages. Scotland. For the purpose of considering an application for an increase of wages by the boiler firemen employed at the Fife collieries, and the adoption of an eight hours’ working day, representatives of the Fife and Clackmannan Coal Owners’ Association and the Scottish Colliery Enginekeepers’ Society held a conference at Dunfermline. At the close of the pro- ceedings it was intimated that, in order to avoid serious trouble at the present juncture, the parties had reached an agreement. With regard to the “ dirt question at Tannochside Collieries, an agreement has been arrived at, under which no further suspensions are to take place for excessive filling of dirt until the workman has had an opportunity to defend him- self in the presence of the checkweigher and manager. The miners in the Clyde Iron Company’s Easterhill Colliery have been paid on the day-wage system for some time, the work being chiefly development. Recently it was intimated that tonnage rates would be substituted, but the amount offered was considered inadequate. Very short notice was given of the change, and the men decided to strike work until a satisfactory settlement was arrievd at. The matter was reported to the union, and negotiations were opened, which resulted in restoration of the old system, pending further consideration. Iron, Steel and Engineering Trades. The London Gazette publishes an Order in Council which states that an alien shall not be employed on munitions work, as defined in the Order, unless written permission has been obtained from the Ministry of Munitions. Steel millmen’s wages at the Consett Iron Company’s works will be advanced a further 5 per cent, during the quarter just entered upon, bringing them up to 37J per cent, above the standard. Consett steel workers were conceded in the previous two quarters similar increases. The quarterly ascertainment under the sliding scale in force in the haematite iron producing district in North-West England shows that the average selling price of haematite pig iron warrants was 115s. per ton, and that blast furnace- men’s wages have risen by 7 per cent, to the record of 93f per cent, above the standard. The claim for an advance of 2d. per hour by the Federa- tion of Engineering and Shipbuilding Trades is still under consideration by the Committee on Production. The claim was refused by the Commit to*', but is now re-considered as a new claim. The return of the accountants of the Midland Iron and Steel Wages Board for January and February, shows an average net price of £12 3s. lid. per ton. The rate for puddlers has advanced to 14s. 6d. per ton, plus a bonus of 63. Under the sliding scale arrangements, an advance of Is. per ton on puddling, and 10 per cent, on other forge and mill rates, has been effected in the North of England. The average net price for manufactured iron delivered during January and February was £10 14s. 4-60d. Mining Institute of Scotland.—The 39th annual meeting will be held at the institute, 39, Elmbank-crescent, Glasgow, to-morrow (Saturday), at 3 p.m. The retiring president, Mr. D. M. Mowat, has been re-nominated. Mr. James Nisbet will read a paper on “ The Sinking and Equipment of a Circular Shaft.” Two papers are down for discussion —‘‘Forming a Shaft Pillar in Two Seams,” by Mr. J. Black, and “ A Device for the Rapid Estimation of Oxygen and Blackdamp in Mines,” by Mr. H. Briggs. Notes from the Coal Fields. • [Local Correspondence.] South Wales and Monmouthshire. British and Foreign Tonnage—Newport's “ Famine ”— Singular Compensation Claim. Considerable discussion has been current with regard to the very high rates of freight, and the relative position of British and foreign owners. Whereas the former are subject to 50 per cent, excess profits tax, the foreign owner pockets the high rate, and is not compelled to make any contribution to the British Exchequer. One incident shows that, at any rate, the wage earners of the port are determined to share the high rates of the foreigner, for a conference of coal trimmers decided to charge foreign-owned vessels double fees. As a consequence of this resolution, a meeting of ship owners took place at the Cardiff Exchange on Monday, where the position of British time charterers was discussed. These British charterers have taken up foreign tonnage, and the double rates which the coal trimmers seek would fall upon them. , A resolution was passed demanding that British time charterers of foreign-owned vessels in British Channel ports should be regarded as British owners. It should be noted that the charge, even on foreign vessels, would, in the main, fall upon the British colliery owners, since the colliery pays the trimming on cargo, whereas the ship owner pays only on the bunkers. This being the case, it is no matter of surprise that at the Cardiff meeting of the Coal Trimming Board, the employers’ representatives declined to agree to the proposal. They rejected, also, a proposal to increase the ordinary rates and the bonus. Owing to stoppage of collieries in Forest of Dean, from which Newport gets a very material proportion of its house- hold supplies, there has been something very like a coal famine in that town during the current week. The heavy snow of a few days ago interfered with the surface men at the Forest collieries, and work underground had to be stopped. Ordinarily, between 150 and 200 tons a day of Forest coal have to be delivered throughout Newport by retailers. The Aberdare stipendiary has delivered his reserved judg- ment on a compensation claim which involved a singular point. A surface labourer sued for payment of £10, which was the difference between wages received (plus compensa- tion money), and 5s. a day, which he claimed, as a surface labourer, to be entitled to under the Conciliation Board agree- ment. The plaintiff had suffered from nystagmus, and had been paid compensation. He was then given light employ- ment, plus 13s. 7d. per week for compensation; but this did not amount to the surface labourers’ full rate of wages. Several points were raised in the course of the evidence and. arguments by solicitors, the plaintiff’s representative con- tending that surface men were entitled to 5s. a day under the agreement, even if they were on light employment. On the other hand, it was stated for the employers that plaintiff had refused to do work where there was dust, and that required stooping. The stipendiary said he should decide the case upon its merits entirely, and having regard to the statement that the man had been doing full work as an ordinary labourer, he gave judgment for the amount claimed.; Northumberland and Durham. Dunston Dredging—Boys and Girls for Surface Work— Miners' War Fund—Gapt. Howe Wounded. For about four or five weeks only five out of the six loading berths will be available at Dunston staiths, owing to dredging operations. The work does not appear likely to cause much inconvenience at present, for tonnage is extremely scarce in the Tyne. Mr. Vernon Richards, of the East Pontop Lodge of the Durham Miners’ Association, and a member of the Minimum Wage Committee, has compiled and published a useful card of rates, etc., of w’ages for the different classes of men employed in Durham collieries. The card shows basis wages, minimum wages, wages inclusive of percentages, county average piecework rates, etc., and the datal and piecework rates for boys. Last week the Northumberland Education Committee considered a letter from the Northumberland Coal Owners’ Association relative to the difficulty in maintaining the output of coal owing to the depletion from the number of surface labourers who were leaving the mines for military surface, and urging that the school attendance regulations should be relaxed to allow of the employment, on the surface of the mines, of boys under the age of 14 years. It was resolved to consider applications in respect of boys (and, under certain exceptional circumstances, girls) who had reached the age of 13 years and were not otherwise entitled to exemption for whom permanent employment of a suitable character was available; and in respect of boys of 12 years, part-time employment to a total extent of one-third of the school year. In the discussion, Aid. Thos. Taylor stated that the tribunals were going to take a lot of men away from the screens at the mines, and no doubt the boys would do the work just as well. Aid. Jobling remarked that the work the boys would be required to do1 was not very laborious—picking stones out of the coal carried over the screens. If boys were not permitted to be employed, there would be no alternative but to stop the collieries or have female labour. Mr. Wm. Weir, president of the Northumberland Miners’ Association, said he did not think the work could be done efficiently by boy labour. In Cumberland they were trying to meet the case by employing underground workers, between 60 and 70 years of age, who had given up work, and those in receipt of compensation who, although not able to resume their ordinary work, might be able to take on some light employment for the period of the war, on the understanding that it did not interfere with their compensation, if that work should cease. The committee decided against Mr. Weir’s view. Reporting to the quarterly meeting of the Durham County Colliery Enginemen’s and Firemen’s Association, last week, Mr. W. B. Charlton, agent, stated that 40,000 Durham miners had joined the Colours, of whom 400 were from that society. That reduced the workers by 33 per cent. When it was remembered that the output of coal for the six quarters since the declaration of war was only 14 per cent, less than for the previous six quarters, it was something Durham men could be proud of. The association had given a motor ambulance car, at a cost of £600, to the Red Cross Society. The annual financial statement showed that £1,420 had been added to the credit account last year, making the total funds of the society £23,441 at" the beginning of 1916. As the result of the year’s working in the labour department, there was a credit balance of £1,204, and an increase of 33 members. The balance-sheet was adopted. The war fund established by the North Seaton miners is doing valuable work. Levies are deducted from the pay of all hands engaged at the colliery, and payments made to the relatives of local men killed in the war. Relief is dis- tributed to those laid idle through sickness, etc., and to their families. In the case of each man killed or dying- through sickness contracted as a result of active service, the sum of £25 is paid to the parents or widow. Up to the end of last year the total income amounted to £1,130. Of this amount, £315 had been handed over to the county fund, £47 paid in local relief, £84 in supplementing the rent allowance to soldiers’ and sailors’ wives, £10 had been given to the Belgian Trades Union Fund, £7 to the French Red Cross Society, and three death legacies of £25 each had been paid. The fund has insured itself against the latter “ risk.” News has been received to the effect that Capt. R. A. Howe, of the Durham Light Infantry, has been wounded in action. Prior to the war, Capt. Howe was manager of Messrs. Strakers and Love’s Sunnybrow (Willington) Colliery. Three D.C.M.’s have been awarded to miners from Harton Colliery, from which place 800 men have joined the Colours. Mr. Joseph Hall, who has resigned his position as general manager of the Bishop Auckland Co-operative Society owing to ill-health, commenced work in the pits in C as sop district at the age of nine years, and worked his way up to deputy overman at Eldon Colliery. In 1899 he was appointed to the post of chief cashier of the “ Co-op.,” and four years ago general manager. The Haydon Bridge Coal Company has been formed for re-opening and working the Whitechapel Colliery. Cumberland. Fatality through Misuse of Appliances. The inquest on Thomas Cunningham, who met with his death instantaneously, -at Wellington pit, Whitehaven, owing to having been caught by a runaway set on a dilly, disclosed the facts that the runaway set was uncoupled to the main set, and that the runaway switch, intended to prevent accident by diverting runaway tubs to the side, had not been properly used, but had been propped so as to make it ineffective. The cross-examination of Mr. J. Hanlon, the miners’ agent, was directed to whether it was the duty of the miners to look after the dilly working or whether there should not be someone whose special duty it was to look after couplings and the runaway switch. H.M. inspector said that provision was made in accordance with the Act for the proper working of the dilly if the means provided had been made use of. If the appliances had been used in the proper way the accident would not have happened. These things were put there for the safety of the men, and if they did not use them, he did not see what else could be done. The jury’s verdict was “ Accidental death. ” Yorkshire. Barnsley Trade Reviewed—Armthorpe Prospects—Shot- firing Fatality—Position at Thorne. At a meeting of the Barnsley and District Chamber of Commerce recently, the annual report was presented, in which the trade of the district was reviewed. High prices, stated the report, had been got for coal, which were set off by the very high prices of colliery stores, but the output had decreased owing to the large enlistment of workers. One regrettable feature of the year was that miners left at home - had not realised the vital importance of regular attendance at work, the percentage of absenteeism being deplorable. Owing to the abnormal conditions, colliery development in the district had of necessity been very limited, but endeavour was being made, as circumstances permitted, to open to the seams of coal lying below the Barnsley bed, and though these seams were thinner than the Barnsley bed, they were rich, and gave excellent results on the residual productive side.' A new company, the Barnsley Smokeless Fuel Company Limited, was erecting a coking plant to work on the low temperature system for the purpose of producing a smokeless domestic fuel and valuable residual products used in connection with the manu- facture of dyes. Rumour is once again busy with the plans and prospects of the colliery which is to be sunk at Armthorpe, three or four miles from Doncaster. Electric power from the Bullcroft colliery may be used for Sir Arthur Markham’s Armthorpe developments. Mr. Percy Morris, town planning surveyor to the Doncaster Rural District Council, read a paper before the north-eastern district of Municipal and County Engineers at Doncaster. He pointed out the advan- tages to be derived from the circumstance that the area is now practically a virgin area. It had also been announced that this colliery would ultimately be the largest in the Doncaster district, and might employ from 3,000 to 4,000 men and boys. An inquest was held at Chesterfield regarding the death of Leonard Buxton (46), colliery stallman, which occurred as the result of injuries received in Ireland Colliery of the Staveley Coal and Iron Company. Three charges of rippite were put into a 4 ft. 6 in. seam of coal in 44 stall, Sutton district, with the object of bringing down the bottom coal. Two of the charges were exploded satisfactorily, but the third misfired. A fourth shot, fired with the object of recovering the miss-shot, was exploded, but it failed in its object, the miss-shot still remaining in the coal face when the men left work. The deputy on the incoming shift was instructed, and every precaution taken to indicate the direc- tion of the unexploded charge. Buxton, who came in with the night shift, was assisting the deputy, Ephraim Clayton, to recover the detonator, 'and was using his pick shaft to remove some of the coal which had fallen as the result of the previous explosion, when the charge blew out. Buxton sustained severe burns. “ Accidental death ” was the verdict. Although sinking operations have been suspended at the Thorne., new colliery, the work in progress is sufficiently important to account for the men having been exempted by the military tribunal. The balance-sheet of the Ackton Hall Colliery Funds shows that the Hon. J. C. Lister contributed £6,618, and the officials, clerks, and workmen £3,913. Payments amount- ing to £9,043 were made to dependants of soldiers from the colliery, and other disbursements are specified, leaving a credit balance of £920.