590

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

March 23, 1017.

that the candle-power with broadside of flame was 0-37
with the ordinary M-arsant, and 0-72 with the Davis-
Kirkby, and therefore they claimed a higher candle-
power, without the addition of any extra parts—simply
a larger bonnet and larger gauzes. The “Davis’
Deputy,” according to Prof. Briggs, on a broadside test
gave 0*85, and the Davis-Edison would give 1-26 at the
end of 17 hours—a point which was emphasised by the
representative, in view of the fact that some of the
members had remarked that it was rather heavy. The
special features of the “ Deputy ” were that the intake
holes were Ilin, from the top of the lamp, and air was
prevented from blowing through them by an inner shield,
which also conducted the air supply to the flame. A
regulated fresh air feed was fixed at the base of the
bonnet, to maintain or recover the light when gas was
found. The weight, in aluminium, was lib. 12 oz. An
advantage claimed for the Davis-Edison lamp was that
the upkeep of an alkali battery was very small, only
amounting to a few pence per annum, and with it they
gave a six years’ guarantee, which they were prepared to
stand by.

On. the proposition of the President, a vote of thanks
was accorded the representatives of the various firms
for their descriptions.

COAL MINING IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

According to the annual report of the Department of
Mines, New South Wales, for the year 1915, the output
of coal for that year amounted to 9,449,008 tons, valued
at £3,424,630, being a decrease of 941,614 tons and
.£313,131 in value when compared with the year 1914.
The coal exported during the year was 4,668,394 tons,
valued at £2,485,448, as against 5,868,033 tons, valued
at £3,159,151, for the previous year, thus showing a
decrease of 1,199,639 tons and £673,703 in value. The
coal shipped to oversea ports totalled 2,067,324 tons,
valued at £1,128,722, as against 2,646,250 tons and
£1,463,880 in value during the year 1914. The exports
to Australasian ports amounted to 2,601,070 tons,
valued at £1,356,726, being a decrease of 620,713 tons,
valued at £338,545, on the preceding year. The pro-
duction from the Northern district was greatly
diminished by the restriction of the export trade owing
to the war, the output being 6,307,015 tons and
£2,397,833 in value, as compared with 7,113,991 tons,
valued at £2,734,872, for the year 1914. The collieries
of the Southern district produced 2,261,398 tons, valued
at £784,316, as against 2,362,741 tons, valued at
£749,394, for the previous year, thus showing a decrease
of 101,343 tons, but an increase of £34,922 in value.
The output from the Western district was 880,595 tons,
valued at £242,481, as compared with 913,890 tons,
valued at £253,494, for the preceding year.

The Chief Inspector of Coal Alines (Mr. A. A. Atkinson)
gives particulars of this branch of the mining industry.

The following table shows the output of coal, the
numbers employed, and the number of mines at work
in the various districts :—

Output of coal. Persons employed.

t--------*---------, ,------*-------. No. of

District. 1915.	1914. Below Above mines.

Tons. Tons. ground, ground.

Northern...	6,307,015	...	7,113,991	...	9,347	...	3,393	...	79

Southern...	2,261,398	...	2,362,741	...	3,363	...	906	...	18

Western ...	880,595	...	913,890	...	972	...	210	...	22

Total, 1915 9,449,008 ...10,390,622 ...13,682 ....4,539 ... 119
Total, 1914 10,390,622 ... — ...15,180 ... 3,794 ... Ill

It will be observed from these figures that there was a
considerable reduction in the output of coal as compared
with the previous year, the Northern district showing a
reduction of 11’3 per cent, in its output, whilst the
Southern and Western districts only suffered to the
extent of 4*3 and 3-6 per cent, respectively. Of the total
output, 6,035,568 tons (or 64 per cent.) were drawn from
shafts, and 3,413,440 tons (or 36 per cent.) from tunnels
or adits. Further reduction of the amount of coal pro-
duced from, shafts as compared with the previous year is
due to the fact that several collieries worked by shafts
were idle for extended periods either from want of trade
or from industrial disputes, such, for instance, as Kill-
ingworth, Seaham No. 1, Burwood Extended, and Coal
Cliff. In the Northern district, 56’51 per cent, of the
output was won from the Greta seams, and 28-59 per
cent, from the Borehole seam. This indicates the pre-
ference which coal merchants and others have for the
coal from the Greta seams, as compared with the best
coal from the Newcastle district. In the Alaitland-Cess-
nock district two large collieries are being developed bv
the Caledonian Collieries Limited. The output from
Richmond Main Colliery, which has great possibilities,
has up to the present only been small.

The quantity of coal and shale raised average 691 tons
per person below ground, or 519 tons per person includ-
ing surface workers. The corresponding figures for the
year 1914 were 687 tons per person employed below
ground, and 523 tons per person employed below and
above ground. It is usual to compare these figures with
similar ones for the United Kingdom, but in consequence
of the war the usual information is not included in
Part I. of the Divisional Statistics by the.Chief Inspector
of Mines for 1914.

In 1915, 2,817,072 tons of coal were cut by machinery,
as compared with 2,775,921 tons in 1914. Of these,
2,162,726 tons (2,264,010 tons), a decrease of 101,284
tons, were got by 172 (163) machines, and 654,346 tons
(511,911 tons), an increase of 142,435 tons, by 100 (80)
compressed air machines. It is satisfactory to note that
the coal cutters driven by compressed air are receiving
more attention, and this is particularly desirable in
collieries which give off inflammable gas, as the use of
compressed air for operating at the working faces is
safer than electricity.

The following table shows the distribution of the output
in 1915 and .1914 :—

1915.	1914.

Exports to Australasian Tons. Perc. Tons. Per c.

ports ................... 2,601,070...27’52...2,581,810...24'85

Exports to foreign ports* 2,067,324...21’88...3,286,223...31'63
Home consumption .......... 4,780,614...50'60...4,522,589,..43*52

* Including United Kingdom and other British possessions.

This is the first time that the home consumption has
reached 50 per cent, of the total output, and this has
been brought about by the restrictions placed upon the
export of coal to foreign ports owing to the war, and to a
lesser degree by the increased requirements of fuel by
such industrial concerns as the Broken Hill Proprietary
Company’s iron and steel works at Newcastle, Messrs.
G. and C. Hoskins’ iron works at Lithgow, and an
increased demand for coke in the smelting of ores from
metalliferous mines in the various States.

The following table shows the principal markets to

which coal was shipped	from Neweas	tip in 1915 and
1914 :—	1915.	1914.
To Australasian ports-—	Tons.	Tons.
Victoria 		1,159,366 ...	1,144,682
Queensland 		107,906 ..	97,430
South Australia ...	791,147 ...	685,367
West Australia		194,209 ...	199,115
Tasmania		116,010 ...	133,862
New Zealand	  To foreign ports—	447,755 ...	536,799
United States		123,240 ...	157,330
Java 		168,839 ...	361,579
Philippine Islands	62,310 ...	96,875
Chili			251,287 ...	556,431
Straits Settlements	93,581 ...	223,833
Sandwich Islands...	59,915 ...	123,344
Shipments increased to	the following	destinations :-—•

New Guinea, 21,195 tons (10,627 tons); Japan, 10,916
tons (8,646 tons); New Hebrides, 3,313 tons (1,458
tons); Friendly Islands, 16,546 tons (6,19.1 tons); Guam,
53,992 .tons (18,239 tons); and Ocean Island, 23,904
tons (8,719 tons). On the other hand, they declined to :
Great Britain, 14,470 tons (30,615 tons); Mexico, nil
(43,638 tons); Natal, nil (1,218 tons); Canada, nil (21,433
tons); Society Islands, nil (2,513 tons); Belgium, nil
(2,051 tons); Germany, nil (20,107 tons); Argentina, ml
(1,214 tons); Alaska, nil (8,556 tons); Uruguay, nil (915
tons); France, nil (657 tons); San Salvador, nil (1,018
tons); and Nauru, nil (7,260 tons). The total exports
amounted to 4,006,177 tons, a decrease of 737,328 tons.
From Wollongong, 182,028 tons were exported, a
decrease of 46,188 tons compared with 1914; from Port
Kembla and Bellambi jetties, 257,174 tons, or 4,953 tons .
more than in 1914; and from Sydney, 348,810 tons, being
316,497 tons less than in 1914. These shipments
included: Chili, 1,538 tons; bunker coal, 331,476 tons;
United States, 2,160 tons; and Ceylon, 10,266 tons.

In 1915, 417,753 tons of coke were made, valued at
£313,240 19s. 8d., an increase of 112,953 tons in quan-
tity and £100,172 2s. 2d. in value. The average value
per ton at ovens was 15s., as compared with 14s. in
1914. There were 833 coke ovens at work, 218 built but
not working, and 58 in course of building, a total of
1,109. The persons engaged in the manufacture of coke
numbered 639. The greater portion of the output
(305,584 tons) was produced in the Southern district.
Early in the year a bench of 66 Semet-Solvay by-product
ovens at the Broken Hill Proprietary iron and steel works
at Port Waratah commenced operations, and it is under-
stood that these ovens have yielded good results, and
generally given satisfaction. The same company was
completing 33 additional ovens of the same type, and
some part of the by-product recovery plant was expected
to commence operations shortly. The coke ovens worked
by the Australian Coking and By-Products Company
near Newcastle, were idle during the whole of the year,
and the same applies to the few coke ovens erected by
the Ashford Coke Company, near Inverell. In the
Southern district, the ovens belonging, to the Illawarra
Coke Company, at Coal Cliff, commenced operations in
the early part of the year. Unfortunately, their opera-
tions were very much hampered by industrial trouble at
the Coal Cliff Colliery, the source of the supply of coal.
The same thing occurred in connection with other coke
works, but for shorter periods. In the'Western district,
the. ovens owned by Alessrs. G. and C. Hoskins worked
only for about six months of the year, in consequence of
the difficulty in obtaining a suitable supply of coal. This
firm was erecting an additional 15 ovens, making 95 in
all. The Oakey Park ovens were not fully employed, the
beehive ovens (32) working only the first six months.
However, the retort ovens (30) worked all the year. The
beehive ovens belonging to John Fell and Company did
not work at all during the year.

During the year, 23 fatal and 117 non-fatal accidents
were reported. Each of the fatal accidents resulted in
one death.only; the non-fatal accidents caused injuries
to 119 persons; 22 of the fatal accidents took place in
coal mines, and one in connection with oil shale mining.
The fatal accidents and deaths show an increase of six as
compared with the previous year; and the non-fatal acci-
dents show a decrease of 41 accidents and 46 in the
number of persons injured. Of the deaths, 13 were due
to falls, one to a shaft accident, seven to miscellaneous
accidents underground, and two in surface accidents.
The persons injured may be classified according to place
and cause of injury: Underground falls, 38; shaft acci-
dents, 2; miscellaneous underground, 56, including by
explosives, 7; ropes or chains breaking, 1; run over or
crushed by trams or tubs, 22; other haulage accidents, 5;
electricity, 1; machinery, 5; sundries, 15; on surface,
119, including by machinery, 4; on railways, sidings,
or tramways, 6; by electricity, 1; and from miscellaneous
causes, 12. The death rate from accidents per 1,000
persons employed was 1-262, as compared with 0’851:
and 411,529 tons of mineral were raised per life lost, as
compared with 614,157 tons in 1914. No accidents from

explosions of firedamp or coal dust have been reported
since 1910, though firedamp was reported from several
collieries in the Northern and Southern districts. Though
some attempts have been made, to introduce electric safety
lamps for the workmen’s use underground, up to the
present these attempts have not been attended with
success, owing to trouble with the batteries and to the
difficulty in keeping in order the mechanical parts of the
lamps. Some few years ago a number were introduced
into the Metropolitan Colliery, on the south coast, but
their use has been discontinued. In the Northern and
Southern districts at present, a few of these lamps are
used by officials at various collieries; but there are no
electric lamps for general use for underground workers,
although 60 electric safety lamps of the Wolf type were
used during the year at South Bulli Colliery, and the
management are making arrangements to extend their
use underground. Although there have been some
improvements made in the ordinary safety lamp, with
oil as the illuminant, little has been done , by the
managers to introduce these improved types.

Although the ventilation of most of the collieries in
the Northern district was well maintained, there were
several of the smaller collieries where furnaces, operating
at the bottoms of shallow shafts, were still in use for
producing the ventilation, and the results were not satis-
factory. At iShortland Colliery another shaft was being
sunk for ventilating purposes. The owners of Gunnedah
and Alus wellbro ok Collieries intended to purchase fans.
At Alount Pleasant Colliery another shaft for ventilation
purposes was to be sunk shortly; whilst at Bulli Colliery
preparations were being made to erect a fan at the top
of the furnace shaft. No further installations of fans
took place in the Western district. At some of the
collieries more attention required to be given to the erec-
tion of stoppings for conducting the air, and to- seeing
that the brattice was directed closer to the working
faces. Five fires occurred during the year, viz., at the
Wallsend, Co-operative, Shortland, Whitburn, and North
Bulli collieries respectively; and spontaneous heating of
coal was observed at Stanford Aferthyr, AVhitburn,
Central Greta, and Thornley collieries, resulting in the,
sealing off of districts in all but the last-mentioned
colliery, in which case the tunnels were sealed off. Neath
Colliery was re-opened at the commencement of the year,
after the fire which took place in July 1914. The sealed
areas in the Australian Agricultural Company’s Sea pit
did not give much trouble during the year, and were
under constant observation. The Hetton Colliery was
abandoned, the working being no longer a commercial
success.

In his report, Air. J. E. Carne, the Government
Geologist, states that he and Air. L. F: Harper
examined the coal land near Exeter offered to the
Commonwealth for the establishment of a Federal
colliery at Meryla (county Camden), about 1| miles
easterly from the Great Southern Railway line near
Exeter, 93 miles from Sydney. The area offered totalled
300 acres, containing an average thickness of 7 ft. of
coal in the No. 3 Illawarra seam. Analyses showed that
the coal was of medium quality, but would need careful
hand-picking to secure a fairly uniform grade of coal,
owing to the presence of clay bands and inferior splint
coal. The ash of the coal and carbonaceous clay shale
associated with it was very flocculent, and the greater
portion would be liable to’ be blown into the cement
furnace stack. An estimate of the available supply of
coal gave the total amount as approximately 3,250,000
tons. With regard to the probable cost of plant for
economic working, it was suggested that a report should
be obtained from a competent coal mining engineer. A
report on the Baltimore, or Talbragar River, coal field
was also prepared by Messrs. J. E. Carne and M.
Alorrison, who stated that the coal seams were so split
by thin intercalated bands of clay shale as to be com-
mercially unworkable without very careful separation of
the included bands; but if that could be done economic-
ally without excessive waste in small coal, the average
quality would be good, at all events in parts of• the field.
The outstanding feature of the clean Baltimore coal was
stated to be the high yield of volatile hydrocarbons. For
gas manufacture the carefully picked coal would be
eminently suitable, but for steaming purposes it would
be inferior to the coals of the Northern, Southern, and
AVestern coal fields.

Speaking at a luncheon of the Associated Chambers of
Commerce, Sir Albert Stanley, President of the Board of
Trade, reviewed the conditions of British commerce,
announced the Government’s intention of forming a British
Corporation (which in turn would form a Trade Credit
Bank), and declared that much less coal would have to be
burned in this country from now onwards.

Miners and Electoral Reform. — A special conference of
the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain was held at the
Central Hall, Westminster, on Monday, to consider the
policy of the miners at the National Conference of the
Labour Party on electoral reform. Some 150 delegates were
present from all the mining districts in Great Britain. Mr.
Robert Smillie presided. The meeting passed a resolution
to the effect that women should be enfranchised on the same
basis as men, and this resolution was brought forward (as
an amendment) by Mr. Smillie at the National Labour Con-
ference on Tuesday. It was defeated, 931,000 votes being
cast in favour of it and 1,562,000 votes against. The same
conference then passed a resolution welcoming the efforts of
the Speaker’s Conference, expressing the opinion that the
Parliamentary Labour Party should support as a minimum
the resolutions of the conference, provided that the
enfranchisement of women, including women wage-earners
and widows, was 'agreed to, and calling for immediate legis-
lation on the lines of the report. The Prime Minister
received a deputation from the National Labour Conference
on AVednesday. Relative to electoral reform, he said there
would have to be general agreement as a condition of legis-
lation. He referred to the great need of National Service,
and Mr. Neville Chamberlain arranged to meet the deputa-
tion on Thursday regarding the same subject.