June 23, 1916.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

1191

MAX Ab

For BELTS, ROPES, & WIRE ROPES.

MAXA LTD., 43, Cannon St., London, E.C.

J. W. BAIRD AND COMPANY,

PITWOOD IMPORTERS,
WEST HARTLEPOOL,
YEARLY CONTRACTS ENTERED INTO WITH COLLIERIES.

OSBECK & COMPANY LIMITED,
PIT-TIMBER merchants,
NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.

SUPPLY ALL KINDS OF COLLIERY TIMBER.

Telegrams—" Osbecks, Newcastle-on-Tyne.”

*** F°r Miscellaneous Advertisements see Last
White Page.

(Mimj Gordon

AND

Journal of the Coal and Iron Trades.

Joint Editors—

J. V. ELSDEN, D.Sc. (Lond.), F.G.S.
HUBEBT GREENWELL, F.S.S., Assoc.M.I.M.E.

(At present on Active Service).

LONDON, FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 1916.

The London coal trade for the past week continues
brisk, and the delivery trade is well maintained.
Bailway tonnage is coming forward more promptly,
but seaborne qualities are short. Steam coals and
small nuts are in strong demand. All qualities of
house coals are selling freely, but the deliveries are
slow. Contract renewals are proceeding carefully,
and a large number have-already been settled.

The Tyne and Wear coal trade is reported to be
in a -highly unsatisfactory state, through acute
tonnage shortage and the uncertainty regarding
Government intentions. There is a common belief
that a new official arrangement of prices is imminent.
Lancashire, Yorkshire and Midland collieries are
being pressedJ;o complete contract deliveries before
the end of June. The Humber trade is quiet owing
to scarcity of tonnage, and South Wales reports
irregularity, with a tendency to weaker prices. The
uncertainty is tending to lower prices in West Scot-
land, and in East Scotland collieries are failing to
obtain increased quotations.

Enquiries are reported regarding tonnage for
bringing American coal to England. The suggested
rate of freight (over £3 per ton), and the brittleness
of much of the American coal in use, are noted as
difficulties in the way of the scheme.

It is reported that the Board of Trade contemplates
an advance of coal prices to meet increased wages
and the consequent additional cost of production.

In some quarters there is a disposition to regard
the Anglo-French limitation of coal and freight
schemes as working badly, but it is as yet quite too
soon to judge any of the possible results. The
machinery on the French side is not yet in working
order, and may not be in full operation until about
mid-July.

The Scottish Committee, which was appointed to
facilitate the working of the scheme for the supply
of coal to France, has been handicapped in its
operations by the scarcity of tonnage, due to conges-
tion and delay in French ports.

An agreement was reached on the points in dispute
between the owners and the workmen inAhe South
Wales coalfield. The Conciliation Board met at
Cardiff and decided to accept the recommendations
of Judge O’Connor, who acted as arbitrator.

The two chairmen of the Conciliation Board will
have an interview with the Lord Chief Justice on
Tuesday next, relative to the appointment of an
independent chairman in succession to Lord Muir
Mackenzie.

A table of maximum prices at French ports appears
in this issue.

An account of the Manchester Geological and
Mining Society’s visit to the Llay Main Colliery, near
Wrexham, appears on another page. Mr. F.
Schmidt’s paper on “ Shaft-sinking by the Freezing
Process ” was read at the society’s meeting on
Tuesday.

The Board of Education has just
Education issued a memorandum by the
Of the ; Technological Branch on the teaching
Miner. of coal mining in part-time schools.

It is highly creditable to the miners
that so many of them have been eager to take
advantage of the facilities afforded by evening and
technical schools for obtaining the necessary instruc-
tion for qualifying as under-officials; and that a
considerable proportion of them have ultimately
become under-managers and even managers, is
sufficient evidence that the provision of these classes
has been productive of good results. But hitherto
the attempts to educate these young miners have
been limited to descriptive lectures on mining, and
no systematic endeavour has been made to train
them with a view to raising the general level of
intelligence of the men as a whole. It cannot be
too strongly emphasised that safety in working
cannot be secured solely by ensuring adequate com-
petency among the officials.' A large amount of
responsibility must necessarily devolve upon the
rank and file if the full effect of the Coal Mines Act
is to be realised. It is essential, also, that the men
should have an intelligent knowledge of the dangers
that confront them in their daily routine of work.
The more the younger workers, therefore, can be
induced to take advantage of courses of instruction,
the more careful attention will they pay to the regu-
lations that have been made for their safety and
well-being in their work.

In order to cultivate an enthusiasm for the acquisi-
tion of a sound knowledge of the fundamental
principles of practical coal mining two conditions are
essential. In the first place it is necessary to ensure
a complete system of instruction which will impress
the miners as a whole as to its practical utility; and
in the second place it is requisite that some reward
for proficiency should be put within the reach of
diligent and earnest workers.

The memorandum now before us certainly does
aim at securing the first of these conditions. A very
carefully prepared scheme is now for the first time
formulated, and, if conscientiously carried out, a pro-
gressive course of study is provided, which cannot
fail to raise the efficiency of the miners to a satis-
factory level. This in itself should prove a strong
incentive to the men, and there is also offered the
further inducement of ultimate promotion to official
rank. But the attainment of this goal can scarcely
be achieved by all. Between the age at which boys
first start work at collieries and the age limit of 25
for appointment as managers, there is a long period
of time which should be employed in continuous
study, and it has been found, in consequence, that
there has been a tendency’to defer joining instruction
classes until it is often too late to recover the
knowledge lost in the interim after leaving school.
The plan now suggested seeks to remedy this defect
by providing a graduated course previous to the
advanced course specially adapted for qualification
as certified colliery managers. This preliminary
course is divided into junior and senior stages. The
junior stage comprises a two years course both
for boys and adults, and the senior stage is
arranged for a further three years course of a
more specialised character. The subjects are care-
fully chosen for the purpose in view. Thus, a boy of
14 would spend a couple of years in' learning
practical mathematics, drawing, elementary science,
and English. He could then pass on to the senior
course, devoting the first and second years to the
same subjects, but of more specialised character,
while in the third year he would study surveying,
mining machinery and electricity and the higher
branches of mining science. He will thus have
devoted five years to progressive work in mathematics,
drawing, and applied science, and although only six
hours’ work per week is required of him, he should
then be excellently equipped for the special
curriculum prescribed for a first-class certificate.

We do not think it is possible to devise a scheme
better calculated than this to raise the general level
of proficiency, and to provide the requisite number of
men qualified to proceed to the certificate standard.
A detailed syllabus of work has been carefully

planned to enable the necessary ground to be
adequately covered. But the Board of Education
do not claim to have reached the limit of a perfect
system, and they will welcome any-criticisms and
suggestions that experienced teachers may offer.
Such criticisms, however, can only follow from a
careful study of the full details of the scheme, and
should obviously not be lightly made in view of the
evident care with which each syllabus has been
prepared. The Board is careful to point out that
they do not desire in any way either to fetter the
liberty of the teacher or to discourage individuality
in teaching. This opens out a wide field for
discussion. Individuality in teaching is, of course,
an excellent thing; but it can be carried too far, and
may easily develop into the encouragement of educa-
tional faddists, whose intentions maybe too divergent
to produce the best uniform results. It is for this
reason that a working syllabus is essential.

Perhaps a greater difficulty, arises when we con-
sider the ways and means by which the scheme can
be effectively carried out. There are questions to be
considered of accommodation and equipment, the
functions of local education authorities, the supply of
qualified teachers, and last, but by no means least,
the co-operation)of employers.

Colliery owners have already done much to further
the education of miners, and we believe they will
cordially respond to the appeal now made for an
extension of their active interest in this good work.
The example of the South Wales colliery owners in
providing the excellent School of Mining at Treforest
might well be followed in other coalfields, and every
facility should be given to enable miners to attend
classes, and to facilitate their organisation and equip-
ment. This is already being done in regard to mine
rescue stations, where, as in Derbyshire, advanced
classes can be usefully set up.'

The success of this scheme will depend upon its
enthusiastic support by employers and men alike,
and its results should not fail to be of inestimable
advantage to both.

The Doncaster coal owners are to be

The congratulated upon the systematic
Spontaneous work carried out in the laboratory
Heating Of established by them for the investi-

Coal. gation of the cause of the gob fires
so frequently occurring in certain
pits. Mr. T. F. Winmill’s researches on the oxida-
tion of coal have undoubtedly thrown considerable
light upon this subject," and a point has now been
reached when it may be possible to find a practical
remedy for these dangerous occurrences. That
spontaneous combustion of coal was due to oxidation
has, of course, been long known. But no clear
knowledge previously existed as to the reason why
gob fires were so prevalent in certain seams and
occurred so seldom in others. Mr. Winmill has set
himself to discover the cause of this difference in the
behaviour of coals, and he has endeavoured to find
the law governing the rate of heating—that is to
say, in other words, the rate of oxygen absorption or
oxidation of coals in general. Some unexpected
results have been obtained. Thus, although a
finely-powdered coal oxidises more rapidly than
larger fragments, the rate of heating is not simply
proportional to the size of the particles. Oxidation
is thus not entirely a question of surface action;
there is also a certain amount of penetration of
oxygen, which may possibly be found to vary with
the texture of the coal substance, and is perhaps a
function of the pore space. This assumption seems
to derive support from the results of Mr. Winmill’s
experiments, for he found that the oxygen absorp-
tion was always most marked in the case of coals
with a high natural moisture content. It may be
assumed, we suggest, that moisture content depends
upon porosity. At any rate, this is what would be
expected, and it might be worth while examining
the degree of variation in porosity exhibited by coals
of various kinds, about which nothing very definite
seems to be known. At the same time it appears
to be established that a small percentage of moisture
in the coal facilitates oxidation, while complete
removal of the last traces of moisture retards it. The
latter fact is quite in accordance with chemical