860

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

May 5, 1916.

THE LONDON COAL TRADE.

Thursday, May 4.

The London coal trade for the past week has been fairly
busy. No great increase occurred in the number of orders
from the general public, but as there are still so many orders
on hand unexecuted, the delivery trade has been kept unusu-
ally busy. The shortage of fuel at the various wharves and
depots keeps the stocks very low, but loaded wagons are
coming forward with much better regularity, and empties are
also arriving at the colliery end far more promptly. House
coals are still bought up very freely, but the quantities offer-
ing are small. Steam coals and small nuts are in good
demand, and electric works and gas companies are still press-
ing for nutty slack and unscreened qualities. Very little
free coal is available, and merchants are exceedingly short of
supplies. Freights are continuing very high, although in
some-cases vessels have been fixed for London at 14s. from
the Humber ports. On Monday’s market 29 vessels were
returned as arriving in the River Thames, and 10 on
Wednesday—all contract cargoes. The fear of the danger in
navigation along the East Coast led to a considerable prospect
of vessels being held up en route, but the arrival of so many
boats during the week has been an agreeable surprise. The
renewals of contracts has been a prominent feature during
the week, as a fairly large number terminated on April 30,
and others are only running until the end of May. Those
that have been renewed are reported at the same price as
last year, and in a few cases the large nuts are advanced 3d.
per ton, so as to equalise brights and nuts prices. As, how-
ever, the‘bulk of the contracts run to the end of June, and it
is well known that heavy arrears have to be taken into con-
sideration, no large amount of contract renewals is likely to
take place until later in the summer. The meeting of the
Coal Owners’ Committee held at the Hotel Cecil last week
practically decided to adjourn until July 6, and this would
point to there being no intention to raise the price for the
coming year of all renewals of contracts, as usually by
June 30 all the yearly contracts are entered into. The main
object of the meeting was ostensibly to consider a proposal
to approach the Local Government Board with a view to
obtaining permission to secure a slightly increased price over
last year’s contract rates, to cover the increase in the miners’
wages conceded some little time back, and in further view of
a proposal to apply for another increase to bring the wages
up to the maximum level, but the decision to adjourn until
July 6 appears to negative any idea of gaining an increased
price for the coming contracts. Whether the coal owners
consider the present rates will be sufficient to cover the
increased cost remains, of course, an open question, and it is
certain that at the end of June there will be heavy arrears in
nearly every instance to be dealt with, either by concelment
or by an extension of time to allow of the arrears being
delivered. The shortage of fuel must be a very serious
matter at many of the outlying stations, for notices have
been given along some of the southern lines that no heavy
goods and coal traffic can be undertaken during the last 10
days of April. Fortunately the weather has been favourable,
otherwise the effect of this shortage would lead to consider-
able privation and difficulty. The closing of the Great
Eastern Railway suburban stations has been postponed until
May 22. The Tyne reports show that bunker coals have been
rather more plentiful during the week, but all other qualities
have been exceedingly scarce. Tyne best steams are fetching
50s, per ton f.o.b. ; seconds, 45s. Gas coal, 32s. 6d.; and
seconds, 30s. 6d. Foundry coke firm, at 46s. f.o.b.

From Messrs. Dinham, Fawcus and Co.’s Report.

Friday, April 26.—The seaborne house coal market was
again without supplies at to-day’s market, but the tone was
firm. Cargoes, 2.

Monday, May 1.—The return of much warmer weather
caused rather less demand for seaborne house coal at to-day’s
market, but no cargoes were on offer. Cargoes, 28.

Wednesday, May 3.—There was no alteration in the sea-
borne house coal market to-day, the demand, however, has
somewhat decreased. Cargoes, 10.

THE TIN-PLATE TRADE.

Liverpool.

There is a good deal of enquiry, but makers are not
anxious to take new business, owing to the further probable
reduction in the supplies of steel. Transactions are conse-
quently largely confined to second-hand parcels, and for these
daily (increasing figures are freely paid. Following are about
current rates for coke tins :—I C 14 x 20 (112 sh. 1081b.),
35s. 6d. to 36 s. per box; I C 28 x 20 (112 sh. 2161b.),
69s. 6d. to 70s. 6d.; I C 14 x 18| (124 sh. 1101b.), 36s. to
36s. 6d. ; I C 14 x 19J (120sh. 1101b.), 36s. to 36s. 6d.;
I C 20 x 10 (225 sh. 156 sh.), 51s. to 52s. I C squares and
odd sizes, 36s. basis and upwards. Charcoals rule firm at
38s. basis and up, with 7s. 6d. a box rise for each cross.
Terneplates are nominally 62s. a box for I C 28 x 20. Coke
wasters are in good demand.1 To-day’s figures run :—
C W 14 x 20, 33s. per box and up ; C W 28 x 20, 65s. 6d.;
C W 14 x 18|, 33s. 6d. ; C W 20 x 10, 47s.; all f.o.b. Wales
less 4 per cent.

Manchester Geological and Mining Society. — The next
ordinary meeting of the society will be held on Tuesday next
at 4 p.m., in Queen’s-chambers, Manchester. A paper on
“ The Micro-chemical Examination of Coal in Relation to its
Utilisation,” by Mr. James Lomax, w’ill be read. Mr. S.
Mavor’s paper on “ Compressed Air for Coal Cutters ” will
be open for discussion.

The Nation’s Coal Supply.—A joint conference of the com-
mittee of the Mining Association of Great Britain and of the
executive of the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain will be
held on May 16, to consider means of increasing the output
of coal. • From the outbreak of war to the present time there
hag1 been a diminishing output of coal, due to the large number
of miners who have enlisted and are on active service. There
is likely to be a further diminution of the number of men
working in the pits from the military requirements of skilled
men for tunnelling, and the combing out of those men who
have gone into the pits as a refuge from military service.
These two causes are likely to further deplete the production
of coal. In these circumstances, the Home Office has invited
the coal owners and miners to confer together as to the best
means of increasing the output so as to fully meet the require-
ments of the nation, for the Navy, for munitions, and for
trade. A special conference of the Miners’ Federation of
Great Britain will be held on Tuesday next to consider the
proposal as to the necessity of increasing the output of coal,
and to decide the men’s policv for the joint conference.

COMPULSION BILL AND EXEMPTIONS.

A new Military Service Bill extends compulsion to
all male British subjects between 18 and 41 who are
ordinarily resident in Great Britain. Youths will be
subject to the Bill as they reach the age of 18 here-
after. After a certain date, probably June 1' all exemp-
tions wdiicli have been granted to transport workers will
be reviewed. In its present form the Bill does not
appear to alter the general position with regard to the
mining industry, nor does it change the colliery
tribunals.

Dating from May 1, a new list of certified occupations,
issued by the Local Government Board, substitutes
badging for other means of exemption, and the net effect
is to reduce the number of men exempted. The trades
which have been added to the list for badging include
all classes of workmen in marine engineering, ship and
barge building and repairing, and heavy edge tool, pick,
spade, shovel, and spade manufacturing (except wood
turners). In the transport trades, the title “ Coal
depots or wharves ” has been altered to “ Coal trade.”

A war service badge and certificate, whether issued
since March I or not, will, if rightfully held, exempt a
man from being called to the Colours without the consent
of the Ministry of Munitions.

TRADE AND THE WAR.

On the North-East Coast on Saturday, the steam collier
“ Wan die ” had a sharp encounter with a German sub-
marine. The “ Wandle ” belongs to the Wandsworth,
Wimbledon and Epsom District Gas Company, and is
engaged in the coal trade. The vessel, which is of 488 tons
net register and carries 12,000 tons of coal, has been bringing
coals from Newcastle to Wandsworth Gas Works. She
carries a small gun, and the first time the gun was used was
on Saturday, when the fight with the submarine took place.
Newcastle was left about seven o’clock on Saturday morning,
and after being at sea about two hours, and when off
Seaham, she was attacked by a German submarine. The
first two shots from the submarine went wide, but the third
shot caught the fore lifeboat. Capt. Mastin, the skipper,
•showed skilful seamanship and zig-zagged his vessel, keeping
the stern on the submarine. One of the shots narrowly
missed the captain, and another shot damaged the after
hatch. After several more shots on both sides the submarine
disappeared.

A correspondent of the Morning Post strongly urges the
preferential use of gas and gas engines as factors in the
greater output of by-products used in the war. Regarding
gas engines, lie observes There is a tendency nowadays to
use electro-motors in factories, deriving electric energy from
town supply. This latter cannot be considered an economical
power at the present time, the consumption of our valuable
black assets being so much in excess of that in gas power,
i.e., when the recovery of coke and liquid by-products are
taken into account. The recovery of liquid by-products such
as toluene, benzene, etc., is the all-important matter at the
present juncture. It does seem strange that, whilst the gas
power, which is capable of machining the shells and also acts
as an agent at the same time for the manufacture of the
explosives to fill them by drawing on the town gas mains,
should be superseded by the more extravagant electro-motor
deriving its energy from a source wdiich provides no
by-products.

Creditors in this country (who are not enemy creditors) of
Phoenix Aktien Gesellschaft fur Bergbau und Huttenbetrieb,
of Duisberg, Dusseldorf, etc., are required to send claims to
the Public Trustee. London, by May 29.

Denmark’s recent tariff announcements include a duty of
10 ore on a tool worked by compressed air in a cylinder
(presumably pneumatic hammers, hammer-drills, etc.).

The imports of iron and steel (metal and manufactured
goods into Argentina declined from £7,031,000 in 1914 to
£3,729,000 in 1915.

The Commercial Intelligence Branch of the Board of
Trade recently increased its collection of samples of German
and Austrian goods, and the collection is exhibited from
time to time in the industrial centres of this country. The
collection includes combination tools, hammers, augers,
chisels, spades, planes, gauges, etc. Over 3,000 German
catalogues may be inspected at the Commercial Intelligence
Branch, 32, Cheapside, London.

The German Press has been set to work against the
announcement that Dutch ships wffiich obtain coal in
England are expected to reserve a certain percentage of their
freight space for imports to England, and against the
Foreign Office’s reminder that coal of German origin carried
by neutral ships is liable to seizure; and it is maintained
that England issued the reminder that bunker coal of German
origin is liable to seizure in order to compel the Dutch to
obtain English coal under the required conditions as to freight
space. According to these papers, Germany will now regard
English bunker coal in neutral ships as contraband, and will
consequently 'apply to such neutral ships the German methods
of submarine warfare.

Two old Danish sailing vessels, one the “ Marie,” of
Troense, built in 1776, and the other the “ Tvende Brodre,”
of Marstal, built in 1786, have been rigged up and sent out
to enter the competition for the enormous freights now offered
everywhere.

The German universities are taking great pains to collect
all matter of interest to Germany which is published during
the war. “ War Archives ” are being built up, for example,
at Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Kiel, Jena, and Vienna. At
Leipzig there are two special collections—one for economic
and sociological questions, and another for political ques-
"tions. In the former about half the collection consists of
industrial information obtained from foreign countries—
material dealing, for example, with the iron industry, the
chemical industry, the machinery industries, and, .above all,
with the textile and mining industries. Most attention is
given to England.

A special committee has been appointed by the Iron and
General Metal Trades Section of the Liverpool Chamber of
Commerce, at the request of the Board of Trade, for the
purpose of issuing certificates for steel and steel goods,
similar to those issued by the Cutlers’ Company at Sheffield.
The area under the jurisdiction of the Liverpool committee
will be bounded on the east by the second meridian of
longitude; on the north by a line joining Scarborough and

Lancaster; and on the south by a line joining Boston and
Barmouth. Forms for. the certificates can be obtained on
application at the Chamber of Commerce, B 10, Exchange
Buildings, Liverpool.

At Wednesday’s meeting of the council of Newcastle
Chamber of Commerce, the secretary (Mr. Herbert Shaw)
referred to the decreased duration of the validity of coal
export licence's wdiich came into force on April 25, and stated
that the restriction appeared to be due to the enormous
demand for coal for our factories and munition w’orks. The
authorities in London had assured the Committee that every
consideration wnuld be given to cases in wffiich it wTas neces-
sary for a shipper to apply for a renewnlof licence. Mr. E. J.
Tully sarcastically remarked that the 'authorities gave
“ every consideration,” but kept ships waiting 40 or 50 hours
after they were ready for sea. Mr. Shaw replied that tlie
advisory committee w7as making further representations on
the subject.

At the same meeting, the Steel Export Licence Committee
reported that, during the month, 145 licences had been
issued, making a total of 904 up to date. At an early date
it wnas likely that the authority of the committee wrnuld be
extended to deal wuth steel exports that did not contain
chrome, cobalt, nickel or vanadium, especially in the case
of steel flats, rounds and squares.

OBITUARY.

Mr. Joseph Parkin, who died at Crook at the age of 73
years, was father of Mr. Joseph Parkin, manager of
Cramlington Colliery; Mr. Robert Parkin, manager of
Hartford Colliery; and Mr. Edmund Parkin, under-manager
at Ludwmrth Colliery.

Mr. James Turnbull, Darlington, wfliose death is
announced, w^as a well-knowm colliery -agent. He was 64
years of age, and a familiar figure at Darlington .and on
the Middlesbrough Exchange. For a long time he had
represented Sir Walter Scott 'and Company, colliery
proprietors.

The death took place at his residence, Bassagaard, Park-
place, Dunfermline, of Mr. James Dall Connel, wdio for many
years wras associated with the management of the Lochgelly
Iron and Coal Company Limited.

Mr. John Williamson, coal inspector at Seaham Docks for
the Londonderry Collieries Limited, died at Seaham Harbour
on Monday last, at the age of 79 years.

Iron and Steel Institute.—In his presidential address at
the annual meeting on Thursday, Sir William Beardmore
said that wflien manufacturers wTere blamed for lack of
enterprise, workers should be blamed at the same time for
refusing to utilise to the best advantage improved methods of
manufacture. Unless restrictions and limitations dictated
by workers’ organisations w^ere abolished, much of the gain
possible to the nation by research and experiment must be
lost. As an example of the influence of the restrictive-methods
of trade unions, he mentioned that w7hen the employment of
girls in the projectile factory at Parkhead Forge w7as necessi-
tated by the demand for an accelerated production of shells
and the scarcity of skilled workers, the production by these
girls wTas in all cases more than double that of thoroughly
trained mechanics—members of the trade unions—working
the same machines under the same conditions.

Daylight Saving.— In a letter addressed to Sir Henry
Norman, M.P., the Home Secretary states that the Prime
Minister hopes to be able to provide an early opportunity for
the discussion of the motion in favour of daylight saving.
The lessening by an hour a day the time of artificial lighting
would effect a considerable saving in the expenditure on fuel
for lighting purposes, and the Committee appointed by the
Government to supervise the allocation of our coal output
passed a resolution urging the immediate adoption of the
Daylight Saving scheme. Further, the Committee of the
general managers of the great railways is strongly in favour
of the proposal. The Association of Chambers of Commerce
also unanimously adopted a resolution in April, pressing
upon the Government the desirability of its. adoption as a
matter of urgency. The proposal has been adopted by
Germany, Austria, - and Holland, while in France the
Government has recommended it to the Chamber of
Deputies, which voted in favour of it.

Scientific Research in Engineering.—Prof. J. A. Fleming,
speaking on Monday night at a conference at Laxton Hall,'
Westminster, convened by the Society of Engineers to discuss
“ Engineering and Scientific Research,” said it w7as esti-
mated that the capital invested in Great Britain at present
in plant and materials in the two branches of mechanical
and electrical engineering was not less than £1,000,060,000.
The enormous destruction during the w-ar of the production
of the engineer’s shop and office would call for re-construc-
tion, and offer a vast field for engineering wTork. Until w7e
produced more men who could do new’ things and not merely
know about old ones, it was futile for Great Britain to hope
to gain pre-eminence over Germany in scientific industries.
The advantages wdiich we had in greater originality of mind
and better workmanship were neutralised to a large extent
by the want of a sufficiently thorough and broad scientific
education to enable us to see the practical value of the open-
ings given by scientific discoveries. It was the want of this
sufficiently thorough scientific education wdiich accounted for
the limited faith of many employers and capitalists in scien-
tific research, and also for the inability of the practical
worker to take advantage of, or see the meaning of, facts
wdiich presented themselves to him in his everyday wmrk. In
many matters it would pay British firms in the same busi-
ness to promote 'scientific research in common on certain
problems of manufacture. Our post-war policy could not be
simply defensive. No tariff wall could be built so high, no
boycott of German goods so thorough as to defend our posi-
tion in the absence of a positive and vigorous policy of attack.
Hence the first condition of success on the business side of
engineering must be association and combination, and the
second the scientific method in all things.—In the subsequent
discussion, several speakers urged the need of more suitable
education, and Lord Headley said he thought the schools gave
too much.