851 ___________________ ■ May 5, 1916. THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. _______________________ __________________________________________________________________ OUTPUT OF MINERALS UNDER THE COAL MINES ACTS DURING 1915. According Io the advance proof of the Home Office Report on Mines and Quarries, which has just been issued, the output of coal from mines under the Goal Mines Act, which was 287,411,869 tons in 1913, and declined to 265,643,030 tons in 1914, fell still further to '253,179,446 tons in 1915, showing a decrease of 12,463,584 tons on 1914, and of 34,232,423 tons on 1913. The comparison with 1914 for each of the inspection divisions is as follows :— __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Tons. Scotland .......................... —3,250,506 Northern ..................................... — 5,354,193 York and North Midland __............ 4- 696,507 Lancashire, North Wales, and Ireland —1,284,314 South Wales ........................................ —3,427,128 Midland and Southern ............ -f- 156,050 ___________ Total decrease ........................ 12,463,584 The number of persons employed at mines under the Coal Mines Act was 953,642. These figures show a decrease of 180,104 on the number employed during- the _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Output of Minerals and the Number of Persons Employed in each Inspection Division at Mines under the Coal Mines Act during the Year 1915. 239,178 tons were made at Grow’s Nest district collieries. The consumption of coal in the province during the past two years has been sadly interfered with by the war, through its retarding or stopping of many industries; this has had a reflex action on the transportation lines, which are the largest consumers of coal. The market for the coast collieries was seriously affected by the diminished sales of bunker coal to ocean steamers, as a result of war conditions on the Pacific Ocean steamer trade. The competition of fuel oil has been keenly felt, and the adoption of this fuel by the three trans- continental railways for use in British Columbia has removed a steady and growing market for coal. The total production of coke in 1915 is an increase over that of 1914 of some 13,850 tons, despite the fact that the Hosmer plant—which in 1914 made an output of over 34,000 tons of coke—was closed down. This total production is 10 per cent, greater than the average output for the last 10 years. The high market price of copper has kept the copper smelting plants of the interior very busy, with a consequent increased demand for coke, while, on the coast, the copper smelting plant of the Granby Company at Anyox has occasioned the re-start- ing of the Canadian Collieries coke ovens at Comox, where this past year 9,246 tons of coke was made. The Western Fuel Company mined about 411,470 tons of coal, an increase over the previous year of about 100,000 tons; for this increase the Nanaimo Colliery is to be credited with 72,000 tons, and the new Reserve Colliery with 28,000 tons; this latter colliery is situated about five miles from Nana.imo, and has this year temporarily abandoned. The Crow’s Nest Pass Coal Com- pany worked in 1915 eight mines at its Coal Creek Colliery, and four at its Michel Colliery. Coke ovens were operated at both Fernie and Michel. Its gross output of coal was 797,010 tons, against 778,403 tons in 1914, an increase of 18,607 tons. The quantity of coke made was 239,178 tons, as compared with 199,866 tons in 1914, an increase of 39,312 tons, which more than compensated for the loss of production at the Hosmer ovens, which in 1914 made 34,711 tons'. PARLIAMENTARY INTELLIGENCE. HOUSE OF LORDS.—May 3. Tonnage Question. Lord Beresford, in calling attention to the serious depletion of mercantile tonnage for trade purposes, said the losses amounted to 4J per cent, of the total mercantile marine before the war, and 14 per cent, of the vessels remaining for trade purposes after deducting the vessels requisitioned by the Admiralty. He advocated the building of more merchant ships, and read a letter to the effect that new shipping was delayed by Scotch iron works declin- ing to supply steel at the prices fixed by the Minister of Munitions for English steel works. Imports should be further restricted. Description of mineral. Inspection division. Total. Total in 1914. 1. Scotland. 2. Northern. 3. York and North Midland. 4. Lancashire, N. Wales and Ireland. 5. South Wales. 6. Midland and Southern. Lancashire and N. Wales. Ire- land. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Barium (compounds) : — 7,477 — — — — 7,477 6,265 Clay and shale, other than fireclay and oil shale 113,885 55,630 (a) 12,749 29,904 — — 24,338 236,506 399,810 Coal 35,596,856 47,030,285 67,504,130 24,923,976 84,557 50,452,600 27,587,042 253,179,446 265,643,030 Fireclay 556,412 280,482 303,614 154,176 22 119,322 425,718 1,839,746 2,374,068 Igneous rocks — 79 — — — — — 79 634 Iron pyrites ' — — 1,802 652 — — 6,801 9,255 9,359 Ironstone 375,241 4,746,293 74,551 — — 15,763 868,370 6,080,218 7,241,481 Limestone 4,464 — — — — — — 4,464 6,442 Oil shale 2,992,676 — — — — — 5,976 2,998,652 3,268,666 Sandstone (including ganister) 50,593 1,761 1,570 — 222 137 (b) 141,420 (c) 135,718 Total 39,690,127 52,122,007 67,983,983 25,110,278 84,579 50,587,907 28,918,382 264,497,263 279,085,473 Total in 1914 43,686,414 58,431,037 67,374,083 26,445,277 93,040 54,037,515 29,018,107 279,085,473 — No. of persons employed— Underground 96,104 143,585 177,977 82,133 556 169,779 84,539 754,673 915,381 Above ground 25,750 40,539 51,095 23,537 183 32,876 24,989 198,969 218,365 Total 121,854 184,124 229,072 105,670 739 202,655 109,528 953,642 1,133,746 Total in 1914* 146,168 248,251 260,870 123,909 793 234,117 119,638 1,133,746 — (a) Including 7,911 tons of alum shale (6) The quantity of ganister obtained was 123,938 tons. (c) The quantity of ganister obtained was 121,168 tons. * For the period January to July. The total number of persons employed on the last pay day in December 1914 was 981,264. ______________ _________ _______ _______________ ________________________ __________________ __________________________ period January to July 1914, but a decrease of 27,622 only on the number employed on the last pay day in December 1914. The rate of the decrease on the pre- war figures in the output of coal is about 12 per cent., and in the number of persons employed at mines under the Coal Mines Act about 16 per cent. ______________________________________ INDIAN AND COLONIAL NOTES. _________________________________________________________________ Africa. Coal Output in 1915.—The returns of the Department of Mines and Industries for the month of December complete tbe yearly review of the coal and base metal industries of the Union, and enable us to see how far progress has been made during the period. During the month of December there were 59 collieries producing coal in the Union, of which number 26 were in the Transvaal, and seven, five and 21 respectively in the Cape, Orange Free State and Natal Provinces. Prices at the pit’s mouth in December averaged for the Transvaal, 4s. 3-94d. ; Cape, Ils. 7-54d. ; Orange Free State, 5s. l*15d. ; -and Natal, 6s. 7*93d. per ton, the prices being slightly higher than during the year 1914 in the Cape Province, and a little lower in the other Provinces. The quantity of coal sold in the Transvaal during the year 1915 amounted to 5,202,805 tons, as against 5,157,268 tons for the year 1914, thus showing that the consumption by gold mines and in other ways was improving, although still in arrear as compared with the quantity sold during 1913, which showed the record figure of 5,225,036 tons. The following is an abstract (giving the tons sold) from the pro- gressive totals shown by the Department :— Orange F. S. Natal. .. 609,973 ... 2,898,726 .. 699,217 ... 2,567,817 .. 727,540 ... 2,304,116 Transvaal. Cape. 1913 .... 5,225,036 ... 67,481 1914 .... 5,157,268 ... 53,621 1915 .... 5,202,805 ... 46,850 _____________________ Canada. Coal Mining in British Columbia.—According to Mr. W. Fleet Robertson’s preliminary review of mineral production in 1915, it is estimated that the gross production of coal was 1,960,804 long tons, of which 414,140 tons was made into coke, leaving the net production at 1,546,664 tons. These figures show a decrease, as compared with 1914, of 205,624 tons gross, and of 264,303 tons net. The quantity of coke made was about 248,423 tons, which is an increase of about 13,847 tons as compared with 1914. Summarising the pro- vincial production of coal, the estimated output from Van- couver Island collieries is 1,009,779 tons, from Nicola and Similkameen collieries 101,060 tons, and from Crow’s Nest district collieries 849,965 tons. Of the total make of coke, become a producer. Operations were begun in 1910 by sink- ing shafts to a depth of about 1,050 ft. to the Douglas seam, in the centre of. a 2,500-acre area of virgin coal field; the coal seam has a thickness of 14 ft. of good coal. Two shafts were put down, 350 ft. apart, and connected underground by a.rock tunnel. The general installation of plant and of the shaft bottom is probably the most modern and nearest to perfect in British Columbia. Ventilation is secured by two 90 in. Sirocco fans, rope-driven from a 24 in. by 30 in. engine. The tipple is of thoroughly modern design, capable of handling 2,000 tons of coal in nine hours. The Canadian Collieries (Dunsmuir) Limited is the successor of the Wellington Colliery Company, formerly owned by the Dunsmuir interests, and operates two collieries, one situated at Cumberland, 70 miles north of Nanaimo, and the other at Extension, about six miles south-west of Nanaimo. The Comox Collieries, situated around Cumberland, are connected by a standard gauge railway, with the seaboard at Union Bay, where are situated the loading piers and also a coal washery and battery of coke ovens. At. the company’s Extension Colliery four mines have been in operation in recent years. A,stan- dard gauge railway connects this colliery with the harbour at Ladysmith, and also with the E. & N. Railway, and here a coal washery, extensive docks, and storage bins have been erected. The Pacific Coast Coal Mines Limited operates a property at South Wellington, near Nanaimo, and also one at Morden. The production from the former property was seriously interfered with by water breaking into it from an adjacent abandoned and flooded mine, so that the output this year is about 25,645 tons less than last year. The Morden mine began to produce this year, making an output of 22,500 tons, which practically offsets the decrease at South Welling- ton. In the Nicola district three companies produced coal in 1915, viz., Middlesbro Colliery, Inland Coal and Coke Com- pany, and the Pacific Coast Colliery Company, making a joint output of 88,385 tons of coal, as against an output of 114,546 tons in 1914. In the Similkameen section, the only company credited with a coal production is the Princeton Coal and Land Company at Princeton, which, in 1915, mined 12,675 tons, a decrease from the previous year of 6,860 tons. During the past year the Kettle River Valley Railroad has been built, passing through Princeton, and giving direct com- munication with tbe Boundary district and connection, vid Merritt for the present, with the coast. This should greatly enlarge the available market, while the railway itself will consume a large amount of coal. The Princeton coal is lignitic in character, and, while not better than other coals for steam purposes, is very popular as a domestic fuel. There were only two companies producing in the East Kootenay coal field in 1915—the Crow’s Nest Pass Coal Company, operating collieries at Coal Creek (Fernie) and at Michel, and the Corbin Coal and Coke Company, with its colliery at Corbin. The Hosmer mines, owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway Natural Resources, was closed in 1914, and has been at least Earl Curzon replied that our ships were conveying supplies of food, coal, grain, timber, and raw material for munitions, and munitions themselves, to all the Allies, and on a scale unprecedented in the history of any war. ' Five hundred mer- chant ships of all sorts were being built, and the small craft added to the strength of the mercantile marine had been over 2,500. Discussions were now proceeding for the release of a number of shipyards, and further communications were pass- ing between the Tonnage Committee and the Board of Trade, the War Office, and the Admiralty. Great difficulties were met with in regard to the building of new ships under present conditions, but over 100 merchant ships in the yards had been certified as war work. The Government had engaged a con- siderable number of Canadian lumber men to cut timber in this country, and 1,500 were on their way here for this pur- pose. By using British supplies of timber for sleepers, pit props, and other purposes, we should render ourselves' less dependent upon foreign supplies, and in a few weeks quite a big result was expected from this experiment. Efforts were also being made to relieve congestion at the ports. Attempts to bring back workers from the front had not realised expecta- tions, but something had been done by pooling railway trucks and releasing sheds. Efforts were, made to promote the more economical use of existing ships by making them available for fresh voyages as promptly as possible. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—May 2. Old-Age Pensions. Mr. Montagu, replying to Mr. A. Allen, said that no action was being taken at present for the 'reduction or revo- cation of existing old-age pensions in consequence of temporary increases of means due to the pensioners’ re-employment on account of the shortage of labour. Contraband of War. Mr. James Mason asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs why basic iron and basic iron ores, and why steel other than that containing tungsten or molybdenum, are not included in the list of articles declared to be contraband of war. Sir E. Grey said that enemy countries possess large deposits of basic ores, from which ample quantities of basic pig iron and ordinary steel can be cheaply produced. Those countries had, therefore, no inducement to import those commodities, and his Majesty’s Government no reason for declaring them to be contraband. __________________________ Mr. C. Jones, A.M.I.E.E., chief electrical engineer, Cannock Chase Collieries, lecturer in electrical engineering at Wolverhampton, Chasetown, and Hednesford technical insti- tutions, has been elected president of the Warwickshire and South Staffordshire branch of the Association of Mining Electrical Engineers.