June 9, 1916. THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. 1093 INSTITUTION OF MINING ENGINEERS- LONDON MEETING. . The general meeting of the Institution of Mining Engineers was held yesterday in the rooms of the Geological Society, Burlington House. The following were among those prose>nt: Messrs. James Gilchrist, G. J. Binns, W. Williamson, Sir W. Garforth, G. K. Kerr, D. M. Mowat, W. Smith, C. C. Ellison, C. C. Chatwin, H. Stanley Atherton, Walter Davis, M. Seymour, J. S. Haldane, Prof. O’Shea, W. C. Mountain, Prof. Hard- wick, J. Gerrard, W. W. Lloyd, E. 0. Forster Brown, T. H. Bailey, J. R. R. Wilson, W. Drennan, W. Hay, T. F. Winmill, M. Fryar, J. H. Ashton, A. Strahan, H. Nash, M. Chation, R. Wood, Prof. H. Louis, Arnold Lupton, Col. Blackett, W. G. Fearnsides, W. Hargreaves, J. I. Graham, P. Lewis, IV. Maurice, Harold Jeans, J. Balfour Sneddon, E. A. Hailwood, W. Chambers, A. S. Anderson, W. F. Clark, A. Cortney, H. Johnstone, R. W. Dron, James Bain, S. Hare, S. A. Smith, A. J. B. Atkinson, G. Blake Walker, T. H. Wordsw’orth, L. R. Fletcher, B. Dodd, J. Simpson, N. T. Williams, J. Cadman, J. Merivale. Announcements and Address by the Acting President (Sir William Garforth, LL.D.). Sir W. Garforth, in opening the meeting, said :—-I have much pleasure in announcing that the council, at its meeting this morning, accepted the recommendation of the General Purposes Committee, and has unani- mously nominated Mr. Wallace Thorn-eycroft as Presi- dent of the Institution of Mining Engineers for the ensuing year, and he will be- duly elected at the meeting in Glasgow in September next. It gives me equal pleasure to announce that the council has accepted the recommendation of the Medals Committee, and has awarded the Institution Medal to Dr. William Atkinson, H.M. divisional inspector of mines and a.past president of this Institution, whose specially valuable work is well known to the mining profession. As you are aware from the general meeting circular, the new bye-law’s made under the charter of the Institu- tion have been approved by the Lords of the Privy Council, .and came into operation on January 12, 1916. The bye-laws have received the most careful considera- tion of the special committee appointed to draft them, and of the councils of the various^ federated Institutes. The council considers that the embodiment of these bye-laws in the charter will, with the qualifications for membership', tend-to raise the status of the Institution. On behalf of the council, I desire to express how sincerely and heartily wre wash our late president (Sir Thomas Holland) every success as chairman of the Com- mission wdiich has been arranged to undertake important duties on behalf of the home Government and the Indian Council. As a Fellow’ of the Royal-Society, Fellow of the Geological Society, and other kindred Institutes, and also for his good fellowship, Sir Thomas Holland’s association with this Institution was greatly valued by all the members. I wish, on behalf of the council, to take this opportunity of thanking him for the very able and efficient manner in wdiich ho conducted its affairs during his presidency. I am glad to announce that, with the approval of the ’ Advisory Council for Research, the council of this Insti- tution. has appointed the president-elect to the vacancy on the neuv committee caused by the resignation of Sir Thomas Holland. I now’ desire to draw7 your attention to a communication wdiich has been received from the “ Advisory Council for Research,” wdiich consists of the Lord President of the Council (Lord Crewe), the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary for Scotland, the President of the Board of Trade, the President of the Board of Education, Lord Haldane, the Right Hon. A. H. D. Acland, the Right Hon. Joseph Pease, and the Right Hon. Bonar Law7. This committee of the Privy Council makes grants on the advice of a small advisory council composed of eminent scientists and men actually engaged in industries dependent upon scientific research. The members of the Advisory Council are : Lord Rayleigh, Sir George Beilby, Mr. Duddell, Prof. McClelland, Sir Charles Parsons, Prof. Thorpe, and Mr. Threlfall, with Sir William McCormick as administra- tive chairman. This Advisory Council is not and cannot very w’ell be made to be representative of all the great industries of this country without unduly increasing its size. The difficulty of securing adequate representation has been met by the establishment of strong standing committees concerned w7ith the most important industries. The main function of these committees is to advise the “ Advisory Council ” on researches relating to the industries with wdiich the standing committees are concerned. Accompanying such communication w’as a request for this Institution to nominate four members to form the nucleus of a committee, the first representatives being Sir Thomas Holland, Dr. J. S. Haldane, Dr. Robert Moore, and myself. A similar committee has been formed bj7 the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, and as certain subjects for investigation are of common interest to both Institutions, a joint meeting w7as held at the Board of Education on May 9. In the afternoon of the same day separate'meetings were held, wdien it w7as decided by the representatives of this Institution to undertake the investigation of upwards of 30 different enquiries connected w7ith coal-mining opera- tions on the surface and underground. It was further arranged that the committee should enlist the services of a certain number of members of this Institution w’ho had special knowledge and experience in those branches of the industry in w’hich they wrnre especially competent to assist in the proposed scientific and industrial enquiry. Having regard to the valuable papers which the members of this Institution have already contri- buted to- the Transactions, wdiich indicate the present method of winning and presenting coal in the best com- mercial condition, I feel sure that every member of it will at this crisis in history wish to comply with the requests of the country’s trusted advisers. Time will not permit me to enter into details of the various subjects suggested, but it is considered necessary to mention some of the lines on w7hich the investigation might proceed. It can be sho-wm that- the general practice of British coal mining is quite equal, if not superior, to- that of any other nation as regards the , tonnage produced per life lost, obtaining as large a tonnage per foot per acre, with as low’ a cost of underground production considering the high w-’ages paid to wmrkmen, and utilising to- the best advantage the great forces of Nature. These results are principally due to the longwall method of working coal seams, wdiich it has taken the British mining engi- neers many generations to perfect, after selecting the best points from other systems of working wdiich have been carried out in this country for centuries. This method has lent itself admirably to- the introduction of cutting machines, by wdiich a rapid advance of coal face is obtained, w hereby the coal is subjected for the shortest possible time to the superincumbent weight. The straight undercut induces a straight line of break, so that the roof is maintained in a. more solid and unbroken condition, wdiich advantage, when assisted by the straight line of timbering, has been the means of reducing the number of accidents from falls of roof. Statistics show7 that in some mines w’orked by these methods no fatal accident has occurred at the coal face during the past 20 years, in which time millions of tons of coal have been got.- The straight line of face has opened the wny to the coal face conveyor, and this intro- duction of mechanical means has further increased the output of coal per man per day. By reason of a more regular subsidence, a more uniform settlement of the overlying seams and surface land has- resulted, with beneficial results. These advantages have in recent years become more apparent in the working of deep mines, and as the natural temperature increases the method will be found to assist the ventilation, and lead to other advantages. Whilst the longwall method is not applicable to all mines, many seams, some of them thin, and lying at a considerable depth, are now being profitably w7orked, though at one time objections were made to its adoption. Full advantage has not yet been taken of labour-saving appliances, owing, in some instances, to the irregular line of face. Experience gained during recent years has shown that the output can be materially increased by many different forms of appliances. As there may be a scarcity of labour, possibly due to the number of men lost in the present war, all means must be taken to make up the difference by giving the men the benefit of every appliance in order to obtain the maximum output. . With regard to the consumption of coal for raising steam, it may be pointed out that in certain manufac- tories in this country great economy is obtained, due to w’orking the boilers at a pressure of 130 to- 1801b. per square inch, with softened feed wrnter heated to over 300 digs. Fahr, by economisers, and by having the surface of boilers and economisers suitably proportioned to the load, and with careful firing a resultant thermal efficiency of 70 to 75 per cent, is obtained; further, by the use of superheaters and compact arrangement of plant, with short ranges of steam pipes w7ell covered with non-conducting material, by using the steam in turbines or in modern w7ell-designed compound con- densing engines, a steam consumption of only 10 to 121b. is being obtained per indicated horse-pow7er per hour, or the exhaust steam from the main engines is used to drive turbo-generators for supplying current to isolated, auxiliaries. Whilst these beneficial results are being obtained in some textile and other industries, the steam plants at many collieries are most wasteful. For instance, with a steam pressure of 60 to 701b., boilers, improperly covered, imperfect boiler settings, allowing large cold air leakages, hard water forming thick scale, no economisers or feed heaters, boilers hard fired with deficient heating surface, or lightly fired with excessive heating surface, also careless firing—the result is a thermal efficiency of less than 50 per cent. The steam —after passing through long ranges of insufficiently covered pipes—is often used in non-expansive, non- condensing engines, resulting in a steam consumption of 50 to 1001b. per indicated horse-pow’er per hour. Another most important part of the investigation is to enquire into the national loss wdiich is being -entailed by neglecting to recover more of the valuable -substances of wdiich coal is composed. It is hardly necessary to remind the members of the institution that coal is the raw material from wdiich, in the production of coke, ammonia, tar, and benzol are obtained; that ammonia, wdien converted into sulphate; is most valuable to agri- culture as a fertiliser. In other forms it is needed by the woollen and calico industries, for the manufacture of permitted explosives, as the refrigerating medium by wdiich cold storage is made possible, and it is also largely used in the chemical, electrical, and other trades. Tar, with its hundreds of derivatives, is essential in the dyeing industry, and for the production of high explo- sives, and also to the medical and surgical professions for drugs and antiseptics, to the rubber and photographic industries for solvents and developers, besides being required in the raw7 state for road making, felt making, etc. Benzol, besides furnishing, an additional supply of raw7 material for the above purposes, is used as a fuel in combustion engines, and furnishes refined products w7hich are required for similar purposes to the tar deriva- tives. Though the distillates of coal are essential to many industries, only about 20 per cent, of the output of this country is at present carbonised, and the whole of the tar, ammonia, and benzol contained in the remain- ing 80 per cent, is therefore lost. The reason for this is presumably that the colliery companies have been able to find a more profitable market for their coal with- out erecting coke ovens, or old colliery concerns may have exhausted their good seams and the remaining seams are too inferior to warrant a large expenditure in recovery plant. But the time has now arrived when coal should no longer be regarded simply as a fuel, and every member of the institution ought to be conscious that the nation- is getting the greatest possible value out of the coal he is producing. It may be mentioned that of the quantity carbonised, 5,000,000 tons a year are being burnt in beehive ovens without obtaining the recovery of the by-products. This quantity alone repre- sents a loss to the nation of 70,000 tons of ammonium sulphate, and 250,000 tons of tar, and 12,000,000 to 15,000,000 gals, of benzol, all of which could be saved if the coal w’ere distilled in retort ovens. In connection with the distillation of coal, enquiry should be made into the possibility of utilising the waste gases from by-product ovens, as there are at the present -time 7,000 million cubic feet of waste gas available annually, of wdiich only a small proportion is being utilised. It may be mentioned that pow’er schemes have been worked out with much success in some districts of this country, wdiere the" w7asfe gases from coke ovens and furnaces are collected and utilised. There is still ample scope for neighbouring collieries, steel w7orks, public lighting and power companies to- co-operate and save the continued w7aste of this cheap source of power. Amongst other sources of waste, it may be pointed out that large areas of coal have often been left in conse- quence of spontaneous combustion and the fear of loss of life. Pillars of coal have likewise been left as boundaries between estates, wdiich waste it is hoped will in future be, avoided. Large pillars of coal have also been left for the support of reservoirs, railways, and other structures on the surface, w’here the injury and cost of repairs w7ould have been insignificant compared with the value of the coal left for support. It is to be hoped that some Government interference will take place to prevent similar pillars being left in working the deep mines of the future. It is impossible in the time at my disposal to enumerate other details wdiich relate to the proposed investigation required by the Advisory Council. I may, hoiveven, express the hope that, by a more intimate inter- change of ideas between the Advisory Council, members of the Royal and other scientific societies, the Institution of Mining Engineers, and the representatives of the various industries, not only in this country, but in our colonies, advantages will be gained wdiich hitherto for w’ant of such combination has not been possible. I feel sure that every member of the Institution will be most anxious to respond to the appeal of the Advisory Council and give of his best for the sake of his country. Besides, having regard to the “ trade w7ar ” which will follow’ the conflict which is now7 raging, w7e may expect the time will come wdien our brave fellow7-members who are now7 at the front will return; and, when the enquiry is made as to w7hat w7e w7ho have been at home have done, w7e may point to our scientific investigations, which may, it is believed, be ‘the means of enabling the Empire to maintain its position amongst the powerful nations of the w7orld. What is required at the present time is a serious attempt to utilise to the fullest extent the best of every method and appliance in this country, and to abandon as soon as possible all that may be defec- tive and detrimental. The commercial success of a country depends on a cheap supply of fuel, which may be said to be the foundation on which all other industries rest. The following papers were then read “ The History of the Safetv Lamp,” bv Prof. F. W. Hardwick and Prof. L. T J O’Shea (p/1087); “The Health of Old Colliers,” by Dr. J. S. Haldane (p. 1101); “ The Absorp- tion of Oxygen by Coal,” “ The Estimation of Moisture in Coal (p. 1090); “ The Atmospheric Oxidation of Iron Pyrites,” by Mr. T. F. Winmill (p. 1102), the discus- sions on which will appear in our next issue. TRADE AMD THE WAR. The Colonial Secretary has been appointed a member of the committee concerned with organising and developing .scientific and -industrial research. Enemy businesses which are being w7ound up by order of the Board of Trade include Richard Klinger and Company, engineers, 66, Fenchurch-street, London. The British Consul in Bordeaux reports local inquiries for engineering material, machine tools, iron fire-bars for loco- motive furnaces, and electrical fittings of all kinds. The Irish peat industry has received -an impetus owing to the high price of coal and thousands of acres of peat are being cut and saved as fuel to supplement the coal supply. Many. public institutions .are accepting, tenders for turf instead of coal, owing to the big difference in price, with the result that bog owners stand to reap