February 2, 1917.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

243

the prevailing method of business, . inasmuch a,s it will
eliminate private action.

The committee of the new Cardiff ■ Shipbrokers’ Organisa-
tion held a meeting on Monday, and decided 'to change the
title of the organisation from Shipbrokers’ Association to
Cardiff Shipbrokers’ Institute, and there will be a benevo-
lent fund established in connection with .it. A general meet-
ing will .shortly be. called to consider the’ rules, etc., which1
have been drawn up by the sub-committee; and it is hoped
that at that meeting a report will be presented by the depu-
tation which recently interviewed the Board of Trade with
reference to protecting the interests of local shipbrokers under
the new chartering scheme.

The coal exporters of Cardiff were on Monday notified
that, as a. provisional measure, and in order to’ meet the
cost of war risk and insurance on neutral vessels, certain
alterations'had been made in the limitation ischeme so far as
neutral vessels were concerned. By these alterations, the
rates of freight to the French Channel and Atlantic ports
are increased by 20 per cent. Upon the rates to French,
Italian, and Mediterranean ports, the advance is 50 per cent.
—the alteration coming into operation immediately—that is,
on Monday last. As to time-charter rates for neutral ships,
the Allied Chartering Executive fixed 47s. 6d. per ton as the
time-charter rate for vessels above 1,000 tons, and 52s. 6d.
for vessels up to 1,000 tons. The rates for voyage charters
to the Mediterranean will therefore be increased as follow :—
To Marseilles, from 58s. 6d. to 87s. 9d. Genoa, from 59s. 6d.
to 89s. 3d.; Algiers, from 48s. 6d. to 72s.e9d.

Mr. Marshall, secretary of the Swansea Coal Export Com-
mittee, does not consider that the change in the rates of
freight will have the. effect of bringing more tonnage,
although it may prove of assistance. Intimation has been
received by him that the freights for rhe French Channel and
Atlantic ports are increased by 20 per cent.; whilst freights
to the French, and Italian Mediterranean ports are increased
by 50 per cent. In his opinion, the desired end will be best
obtained by better work at the docks, so that vessels may be
“turned round” more quickly; and he also suggests that
work should continue over the week-ends.

Coal exporters are desired to send in to the Cardiff local
committee information as to delays at French ports in respect
of discharging, so that, the matter may be at once taken up.

Mr. Hugh Bramwell, the new president o,f the South Wales
Institute of Engineers, i-s the chief agent and also a director
of the Great Western Colliery. Company. At one time he
filled the chair of the Coal Owners’ Association. He has
been a member of the institute for 20 years, and occupies a
seat on the council of that body. . For a paper contributed
during 1910 he gained the president’s gold medal. Mr.
Bramwell is distinguished as being one of the first to intro-
duce electricity for colliery working, and he is chairman of
the Treforest Electrical Consumers’ Company. Mr. Bram-
well delivered his presidential address on Friday last, and
among those present at the meeting were the Lord Mayor of
Cardiff, and also Sir J. W. Courtis (High Sheriff of
Glamorgan)., He expressed the opinion that the winding
of a heavy load paid better than high speed, provided
this was not attained at; the cost of an unreasonably heavy
initial outlay. For depths of 3,000 ft., which they, were now
approaching in practice, development- might properly tend
towards an equipment on the lines of an hotel or warehouse
lift. The present single rope to each cage,.which both sus-
pended and actuated the load, might be replaced by a.
suspending rope common to the two cages, and working over
a pulley on the headgear, with subsidiary operating ropes on
each cage from the winding drum. The former rope would
then suspend the load, and would be relieved of all acceler-
ation and retardation strains. The actuating ropes, on the
other hand, would be relieved of the, suspended weights, and
their work would consist of accelerating and retarding the
masses only. Mr. Bramwell referred to the low-pressure
turbine, and described a winding plant that had been
installed at a colliery with which he is connected. Here the
load was practically double what was customary in coal
mining up to the present, but the speed had been reduced by
about half of what was normal in big establishments.

The colliery medical board commenced its Monmouthshire
tour on Monday. Interviewed on the new “ combing-out ”
order affecting collieries, Mr. dames Winstone, J.P., acting-
president of the South Wales Miners’ Federation, expressed
the opinion that it was a mistake on the part of the people
responsible to enforce it.

Northumberland and Durham.

Roll of Honour — Coke Oven Managers — Aged) Miners'
Homes—Chartering Regulation.

Mr. 0. B. Palmer, late agent and manager at Felling
Colliery, has been appointed Deputy-Lieutenant of the
county of Durham.

The Bedlington Coal . Company Limited has adopted a
novel method of publicly acknowledging the serviceis rendered
to the Empire by the men who have enlisted from the com-
pany’s collieries. The acknowledgment takes the form of
two full-page advertisements in a local newspaper, in which
the names of the men and the pits from which they came
are set out in full. The number of enlisted men up to
November 30 last is stated as 1,159 underground workers
and 91 surfacemen, of whom 97 have been killed, 'and 32
are missing.

In similar manner to that adopted by the Bedlington Coal
Company Limited, a “ Boll of Honour ” in connection with
the Marquis of Londonderry’s collieries and estates has
been published. The returns show that serving in the Army
and Navy are 1,087 men from Seaham Colliery, 785 from
Silksworth Colliery, 723 from Dawdon Colliery, and 192 from
■offices, estates, and -steamers—a total of 2,787. Of this
number, 188 have made the supreme isacrifice. Military
honours have, been accorded to nine .men from Seaham, 12
from Silksworth Colliery, and nine from Dawdon Colliery,
and it is interesting to note that Lieut.-Col. the Marquis of
Londonderry has himself been twice mentioned in despatches.

The Northern section of the. Coke. Oven Managers’ Asso-
ciation, a meeting of the members of which wais addressed by
Prof. P. Phillips Bedson, of Armstrong College, on Saturday,
evening last, is a comparatively new organisation which aims
at the development of the by-product coke industry. It has
now over 30 members and eight associates. Mr. A. H.
Middleton, of Consett, is president of the section, and Mr.
G. A. Phillipson, of Hill House, Croxdale, near Durham
City, is secretary.

Mr. A. French, assistant surveyor at the Peases West
Collieries, near Crook, has been appointed surveyor for the
Bothervale Coal Company at their Thurworth Colliery,

Botherham, near Sheffield. During the many yeans when he
was in the former position, he conducted classes in mining
and surveying under the Durham County Council Higher
Education Department.

. Addressing a gathering under the auspices of the Hare Law
district committee of the Durham Aged Mine Workers’
Homes Association, Mr. John Adair, general (secretary to the
association, spoke in appreciative terms of the splendid
response made to the special appeal for funds. The bank
overdraft had now been considerably decreased, and he hoped
that soon there would be a credit balance to help on the
building of more homes for the aged people in which to spend
their later days in peace and comfort. The Hare Law com-
mittee voted £100 to the general fund, to be credited to the.
Hare Law district scheme.

Becent notices posted on Newcastle Commercial Exchange
include the following :—“ Until further notice, neutral ships
up to -1,000 tons may be time-chartered at not exceeding
49s. 6d. per ton.” “ Steamers loading coke of any size must
be submitted to the local committee for approval of the rates,
etc.” “ Brokers who have submitted vessels to the local
committee to load under the French and Italian schemes
since October 1 last must submit at once a. list of such
vessels, giving name, line, and sea speed.”

Cleveland.

Shipments of pig iron from the port of Middlesbrough
during the first month of the year, though not heavy,
fulfilled expectations. Official returns give the clearances at
35,629 tons, as compared with 35,909 tons for the previous
month, and 48,183 tons for January last year. Of the pig
despatched last month, 1,145 tons went coastwise, and
34,484 tons to foreign ports. Once again France was by far
the largest, customer, taking 29,786 tons, whilst Japan
received 2,253 tons, Italy 2,045 tons, and Denmark 400 tons.
Shipments of manufactured iron last month totalled 3,454
tons, of which 2,276 tons went coastwise, and 1,178 tons
went abroad, the principal customer being India, with, an
import of 668 tons. Steel cleared during January reached
17,925.tons, of which only 53 tons went coastwise, and 17,825
tons were despatched to foreign countries. France was also
the largest buyer of steel, receiving 16,122 tons, whilst Natal
imported 515 tons, and India 422 tons. The total shipments
last month of pig iron, manufactured iron, and steel reached
57,008 tons.

Lancashire and Cheshire.

The directors of the Pearson and Knowles Coal and Iron
Company Limited have subscribed a quarter of a million
pounds (new monevl towards the War Loan, on behalf of
the company, and offer a. considerable inducement to all their
employees to subscribe to the best of their means. The
scheme laid out is that all employees are invited to sub-
scribe in £5 or multiples of £5 up to. £100, for which the
employee will refund by 47 weekly deductions of 2s. per- week
and one deduction of Is., making £4 15s., and so in propor-
tion for each £5 subscribed. The subscriber will receive at
the end of 12 months his certificate for the full £5, or the
amount subscribed, as the case may be, together with the
full amount of interest due, and the company will purchase
the bond outright for him on the employee giving in his
name to the colliery office.

At the Bridgwater Collieries, Walkden, a tunnel is being
constructed to connect with the Linnysbaw Colliery, three-
quarters of a mile away.

Notts and Derbyshire.

Col. B. E. Martin had sufficiently recovered from his
wounds to preside over the 135th quarterly meeting of the
board of management of the. Midland District Miners’ Fatal
Accident B’elief Society, held at Derby on Tuesday. He'
spoke of me manner in which the miners had “ made good ”
in 'the Army, and said there were few people he would rather
have with -him in a. tight corner than a party of colliers.
He also referred to the comradeship and brotherhood pre-
vailing among all ranks, and expressed the hope that that
spirit would be, perpetuated in time of peace, so that the
economic and industrial .problems which would -then present
themselves might be tackled on the right lines. There had
been inconsiderate and tyrannical employers in the past, just
as there had been foolish-minded men.—The board reported
a membership of 50,143, an increase of 6,564 compared with
that of a. year ago. Seventeen members died during the
quarter, as against nine in the corresponding period of last
year. The income during the three months amounted to
£2,949, an increase of £346, and the expenditure, to £2,076,
an increase of £151. The amount thus carried to the credit
of the benefit fund was £873, as against £568. a year ago.

The Midlands.

The decision arrived at by the Government to withdraw
additional men from the mining industry for military service
has created a. great deal of questioning among the collieries
on the Cannock Chase coal field. The main hope of the
colliery managements of, redressing the balance of output
would seem to be. in the greater regularity of working on the
Cannock and Cannock Chase fields rather than in substituted
labour. The average number of days worked in this district
last year was probably the highest of which the Chase has
any previous record, and production was also assisted, under
persuasion of local miners’ leaders, by voluntary curtailment
of holidays to a considerable extent, and the abandonment of
stop days. Goodwill between masters and men at the pits,
-and stricter organisation will, there is every reason to hope,
go a long way to supply the new depletion now ordered, and
it may be freely admitted that it has been felt for a long time
by those best acquainted with the problem of the “ slacker ”
in the Cannock Chase district that the only satisfactory solu-
tion would be to withdraw, the military exemption, from men
failing to give fair service, in the. pits.* Endeavours have
been made to deal with the matter through the instrumen-
tality of pit committees, on which both employers and work-
men have been represented. A certain amount of good has
resulted from the committees’ practice, but the evil ats a
whole remains.

Kent.

At the Snowdown Colliery deep sinking, last week was
entirely spent in bricking the shaft, 68 ft. of this work being
carried out, from 2,852| ft. to 2,784| ft. The shaft is sunk
to 2,853Jft., so that about another week will be required to
complete bricking before resuming sinking.

The output of coal at Tilmanistone and Snowdown collieries
last week was nearly 6,000 tons.

Scotland.

Mining Instruction — Cost of Coal Production — Medical
Charges—Fife Exports.

The question of mining instruction in Ayrshire was ’ dis-
cussed at a meeting of the Ayr County Education Committee
held at Ayr. The subject wa.s raised by Mr. Alexander
Emslie, rector of Ayr Academy, who moved that a committee
be appointed to make enquiries and report on the whole ques-
tion. He stated that they had 21 classes in mining in the
county, with between 300 and 400 students, yet the college
results showed that only seven students had secured the
colliery manager’s certificate. He had no deisire to censure
anybody, but he thought there was a, case for enquiry as to
whether the proper objective was being followed. Mr. J.
Cuthbertson, organising secretary'of secondary education in
the county, stated that it was a remarkable fact that if the
wages at the coal .face were good, the desire to become
managers and under-managers became leiss. To the ques-
tion whether theTT had yet reached an ideal system of mining
instruction, he must answer “No.” Even 300 or 400
students was ^a. very small proportion of the total number of
men engaged in the pits, and in a subject like mining,
where the safety of the men depended on knowledge, it was
desirable that every man should know .something of the
dangers to which they were exposed, and how best they
could be minimised. Mr. Emslie’s motion wa.s defeated by
ten votes to six. '

During the pa,st month an investigation has been made into
the cost of production by an examination of the Scottish
coal owners’ books. The method was agreed to by the
Scottish Coal Trade Conciliation Board, when the owners put
forward, in opposition* to the claim of the miners for an
advance in wages, the statement that the cost .of production
has increased to such an extent that any advance in the
price of coal that had taken place was more than used up.
It is reported that an examination of the coal owners’ books
has now been completed, and that the results are tabulated
and ready for presentation to Lord Strathclyde, the neutral
chairman of the Conciliation Board.

, There has been much discussion throughout Scotland rela-
tive to those men who, since the outbreak of the war, have
left other occupations and gone to work in the pits. The
subject has recently been receiving attention in official circles
because of complaints from bona fide miners that they have
been unable to secure constant employment because of over-
crowding in certain mining districts. In official circles it is
felt that if there is to be a vigorous “ combing out ” of men
in the pits, then it must be made to apply to those who are
not bona fide miners, but who came from other occupations
so as to escape military service.,

It has been reported to the executive of the Lanarkshire
Miners’ Union that several of the medical practitioners in
the county are charging the wives and dependants of soldiers
for attendance and medicine. The matter ha.s been referred
to the secretary of the Lanarkshire Medical Association, as
an undertaking was given by the doctors nearly two years
ago that, for the period of the war, medical attendance and
medicine would be given free to the wives and dependants of
soldiers on service.

The Fife ports were the only places in the country which
showed an increased export trade for the week. -The total
shipment was 44,385 tons, as against 36,024 tons the previous
yveek. Burntisland exported .13,820 tons, against 6,640 tons.
Foreign consignments amounted to 5,590 tons, the remainder
being coasting. The total foreign shipment from Scotland
for the week was 45,692 tons.

HULL COAL TRADE IN 1916.

In his annual report, Mr. W. Herbert Truman, city
coal inspector, states that the coal export trade of Hull
decreased by 1,387,801 tons as compared with 1915. The
shipments of coal coastwise during the year also show
a decline of 269,911 tons. The various collieries have
sent reduced quantities during the year with two excep-
tions, these being the Manvers Main Company, whose
figures show an increase of 13,610 tons, and the Acktpn
Hall Company, with an increase of 12,058 tons over the
previous year. The Denaby and Cadeby Company still
occupy the leading position, Bullcroft the second place,
followed by Manvers, Bentley, Carlton, Brodsworth, and
Ackton Hall, each of these contributing over 100,000
tons during the year. The total export of coal abroad
during 1916 was 1,062,135 tons, against 2,449,936 tons in
the previous year—a decrease of 1,387,801 tons. The
decrease in 1915 was 518,865 tons. The total shipments
of coal coastwise during 1916 was 318,896 tons, against
588,807 tons in 1915—a decrease of 269,911 tons. The
decrease in 1915 was 147,906 tons.

The following are the principal quantities sent by the
collieries to Hull in 1915 and 1916

Name of colliery.	1915. Tons.	1916. Tons.
Denaby and Cadeby 			683,163 .	... 540,006
Carlton, Grimethorpe and		
Frickley 				269,261 .	... 111,611
Bullcroft	 ..	254,262 .	.. 177,859
Bentley 			204,913 .	.. 119,733
Brodsworth 			182,701 .	.. 104,534
Ackton Hall		89,031 .	..101,089
South Kirkby, Featherstone and Hemsworth 				139,242 .	.; 53,752
Glass Houghton 		129,311 .	.. 79,410
Manvers .......L .				126,507 .	.. 140,117
Dalton	 .....;	122,210 .	.. 57,929
Mitchell			116,317 .	.. 63,936
Hickleton 					103,577 .	... 93,861
Allerton By water 			101,037 .	.. 53,569

Discovery of New Seam Reported.—It has been reported
on the London Coal Exchange that the Stanton Coal and
Iron Company found a seam of coal 5 to 6 ft. thick on .their
Bilsthorpe estate, between Mansfield and Newark. The
seam appears to lie at about the same depth as their Rufford
pit, and should be. a welcome addition to their London, trade.

Question of Coloured Labour. — The Prime. Minister
received a deputation from the executive of the Triple Alliance
(miners, railwaymen, and transport workers) on Wednesday
regarding the importation of coloured labour. Mr. Lloyd
George said.that there was no intention of introducing inden
hired coloured labour into this country, unless circumstance?
of absolute necessity arise,