684

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

April 5, 1917.

stated that since the failure of the absentee boards, through
. the defiance of its decisions by the miners, the percentage
of bad attendance had largely increased. In January last
in the Cadeby Colliery 720 shifts were lost, in February
900, and in March 1,020, which was an appalling number.,
The colliery company pressed for such an order as would
make the miners realise the importance of putting in full
work at this time of crisis. The Bench ordered the men
to pay up to £5 of the amounts claimed at the rate of 10s.
per week; amounts claimed below <£5 to be paid in full.

At a special meeting of the council of the Yorkshire
Miners’ Association at Barnsley on "Saturday, to consider
the position in regard to the call by the military authorities
for 20,000 men from the mines, Mr. H. Smith (president)
said endorsement had been given to the action of the execu-
tive of the Miners’ Federation in agreeing to the suspension
of the colliery recruiting courts for a period of two months,
and that during this period March 8 to May 8, the volun-
tary principle of enlistment be operative, this to apply to
all mine workers, above and below ground. It was further
agreed, he pointed out, that the question of assisting in
the voluntary recruiting campaign be left to the individual
consciences of officials, whether permanent or local, and of
private members. By an arrangement referred to by Gen.
Geddes, it was understood that if the required number was
not got from any county or any coal field by voluntary
enlistment, the number needed to make up their quota
would be taken by the colliery courts. There were over
265,000 miners working in the coal mines who had attested.

The Yorkshire branch of the Association of Mining
Electrical Engineers, at Wakefield on Saturday, discussed
the conditions under which the safe working of electrical
, plant in collieries can be ensured. The discussion arose
out of a paper by Mr. R. R. Smith, on “ Some Improve-
ments in Electrical Apparatus,” in the course of which he
pointed out certain risks resulting from the class of appar-
atus, insulation, etc., commonly in use. His conclusions
were challenged by several of the subsequent speakers.
Mr. A. R. Chaytor, who presided, characterised the paper
as very pessimistic, and contended that practically all the
dangers apprehended by Mr. Smith could be obviated by
the exercise of due care in the selection of the plant and
proper supervision in its working. It was particularly true
of the electrical equipment of collieries that economy could
be too dearly purchased. The splendid running of elec-
trical motors had been largely responsible for the preju-
dice which had in some quarters arisen against the use of
electrical plant in the pit. Colliery engineers were so
enamoured of its numerous advantages—the ease of start-
ing and need for little attention—that they had come to
expect an electric machine to run almost continuously
without attention, and consequently they had neglected it
to a degree that could never have arisen in the case of
steam or compressed air power, because this plant would
not have withstood such neglect or overwork. Several
speakers feared that unless those responsible for the
running of electrical plant at collieries made better use of
it, and proved its safety, the Government, yielding to the
pressure of Labour representatives, might compel its with-
drawal from work at the coal face. Mr. Harbottle said, so
far as the danger of fire was concerned, he had invariably
found that the modern protective devices were effective.

Lancashire and Cheshire.

Holiday Arrangements—Relief Society’s Meeting—A New
Appointment—Manchester Retailers.

The question of the holidays to be taken at the collieries
in the Lancashire and Cheshire coal field has received con-
sideration by both the coal owners’ and the miners’ repre-
sentatives, with the result that it has been decided that
the holidays should be confined to Good Friday, Saturday,
and Easter Monday in those districts where it has been
the practice to play these three days, and an urgent appeal
will be made to the miners observing the long week-end
holiday to make a full turn up on Easter Tuesday morning,
so that the pits may resume full work on that day.

The annual meeting of the Wigan and District Miners’
Permanent Relief Society was held on Saturday last in
the Miners’ Hall, Wigan, when Aid. John Cheetham, J.P.,
the president, presided over a large attendance of dele-
gates. The annual report showed a membership of 8,342,
an increase of 1,136 members on the previous year; while
the total income had been <£9,697, an increase of <£798,
and the total expenditure had been ’<£7,369, a decrease of
<£454 compared with the previous year. The decrease in
accident pay, <£473, it was pointed out, more than
accounted for the difference. The balance on the year’s
working had been excellent, being <£2,328, compared with
<£1,074, an increase of <£1,253 over the previous year’s
balance. The accumulated funds at the end of December
last were <£12,479. The cost of disablement cases had
amounted to <£4,398 for the year. The chairman referred
to the remarkable fact that while the miners were working
more time than had ever before been worked in the history
of the mining industry, many middle-aged men, working
an average of from 7^ to 8 days a week, the accident rate
had been lower than usual. Whatever the country might
think of the miners, the great majority of them had with-
out a doubt risen to the occasion, and had done all that
was possible to meet the urgent requirements of the Govern-
ment. Mr. Stephen Walsh, M.P., dealt with the position
of mining relief societies.

Mr. A. Rushton, for some years manager for the Abram
Goal Company Limited, of Bickershaw, near Wigan, has
this week taken over the general managership of the
Astley and Tyldesley Coal Company’s pits in the Tyldesley
and Astley districts, at certain of which various important
extensions are now in progress. He succeeds Mr.
Walshaw.

The coal dealers of Manchester are taking steps to
obtain an increase in the retail price of coal. The Act
which fixed the price of coal at the colliery did not limit
the retail price, and it was stated at the time the Act was
passed that the price to the consumer would be liable to
vary if the costs of delivery changed. The coal dealers
met last week and again this week with a view to draw-
ing up a case for submission first to the Lord Mayor of
the city, and later to the Controller of Mines, with a
request that he will sanction an advance in the price.

Notts and Derbyshire.

The position of pit lads who attain the age of 18 was
explained in a letter from the Board of Trade read at the
council meeting on Saturday of the Derbyshire Miners’
Association. The letter stated that within 30 days,of a
lad reaching the age of 18 it was the duty of the colliery
manager to notify the colliery recruiting court, who would

provide an exemption certificate. That arrangement, how-
ever, did not apply to lads who entered the pits after
reaching the age of 17.

The town clerk reported to the Retford Town Council
on Friday of last week that the chairman of the directors
of the Butterley Colliery Company had seen him about the
minerals under the land belonging to the Corporation, and
had offered the same terms as had been accepted by the
principal land owners—Col. Denison, Col. Whitaker, and
Mr. ,W. H. Mason. So far as they could see, the terms
were reasonable. They would pay a royalty of <£20 per
foot per acre. If the seam was 5 ft. thick, that would be
<£100. From June next, when they would start sinking,
they would pay rent up to the time they began to work
the coal. This rent would be nil the first year, Is. per
acre the second, 2s. 6d. per acre the third and fourth, 5s.
per acre the fifth, 15s. per acre the sixth and seventh,
and 20s. per acre the eighth and onwards until they began
to work the Corporation minerals, when the royalty named
would be paid. They proposed to pay <£3 per acre for
surface working, such as laying out a line to join the Great
Central Railway somewhere on the Clarborough side of
the borough. It was resolved that the matter should be
referred to the Water and Estates Committee, and that,
if necessary, a special meeting of the Council be convened
to deal with it.

The Midlands.

Under - Managers’ Meeting—Miners for the Army—
Drainage Commissioners’ Report—The Canal Traffic
Scheme.

At the monthly meeting of the South Staffordshire and
East Worcestershire Colliery Under-Managers’ Associa-
tion at Dudley on Saturday, it was reported that replies
had been received from Mr. Guy Calthrop, Controller of
Mines, and the local members of Parliament, to the resolu-
tions sent from that association asking for reasonable con-
sideration when committees were being selected either for
the control of mines or any important matters connected
with coal mining. The replies contained assurance of
assistance in the direction desired by the association. It
was also reported that the proposed amalgamation of
under-managers’ associations was being taken up heartily
in various parts of the country, and that a suggested
conference during Whit-week was likely do fructify.

With the object of securing miners for the Army, several
meetings have been held in the South Staffordshire district
this week, addressed by the men’s representatives. Speak-
ing at Dudley, Mr. J. Richards (the president of the local
Miners’ Association) said the miners were up against this
fact, that since the commencement of the war no fewer
than 170,000 men had found refuge from military service
by going into the mines, and, in his opinion, these men
should go into the Army before a call was made to the
legitimate collier.

Another increase in the quantity of water raised by the
pumping engines of the South Staffordshire Mines Drainage
Commission is recorded in the monthly reports of the engi-
neers issued on Saturday. The general manager and
engineer for the Tipton district (Mr. Edmund Howl)
reports a rainfall for the past four weeks of 2-53 in. The
pumping, he states, had been 12,444,900 gals, per 24 hours,
as compared with 12,109,700 gals, in February, and
11,713,500 gals, in the corresponding period last year. The
Moat old engine was being worked part time' and the
-Gospel Oak Mond gas-driven plant full time, to assist the
Moat new engine. The water in the Tibbington bye-pit
of the Empire Colliery was a little higher. It was still
necessary to work the Bradley engine full time, but at
Deepfields the quantity of water was decreasing slowly.
The old engine had worked a few turns only to assist the
new engine by pumping Thick coal water. The Stowheath
and Herberts Park engines continued to be worked at full
speed, while there was no change of any importance at the
Mond gas-driven plants. The underground levelmen had
been engaged in the shaft at the Hopyards and in the
Moat old engine shaft.—The surface drainage engineer
(Mr. S. B. Priest) reports that clearing has been done on
Willenhall Brook above the station. The raising of the
Boggy Arm course Where sunk by mining on the down-
stream side of the Gospel Oak road had been continued,
and the banks of the Foundry Brook were being raised
near the junction with the River Tame. The repairing of
the mining damage on the Shavers End course had also
been continued. Joint work with the Dudley Corpora-
tion had been continued on the timbered portion of the
Withymoor culvert, while mining damage on course No. 23
Saltwells was being repaired. — With reference to the
northern portion of the Old Hill district, Mr. W. B. Collis
reports that the water has remained practically the same
during the past two months, and had been well kept down
by the Windmill End pumping engine.

Colliery owners in South Staffordshire are interested in
a proposal to assist them in their canal traffic difficulties.
Traffic to and from the collieries has suffered severely of
late, not only from the delay occasioned by the freezing
of the waterways, but in consequence of the shortage of
boat labourers, which has resulted in many of the boats
on canals usually busily employed in transferring coal and
slack from the pits to the iron works and other manufac-
turing consumers in the Black Country area having to be
laid idle. Experiments are just now being carried out in
the hope of overcoming haulage difficulties by means of a
movable motor, which could be readily transferred from
one boat to another as required. Apart from initial equip-
ment, difficulty is experienced in using motor boats with
fixed engines for coal haulage on account of the constant
oversight they demand, as the risk of injury is to be
guarded against. Horse traction is more to the purpose,
especially now that there are so few workpeople to be got.
A single horse will often suffice to work three boats
between the colliery and the consumer’s wharf. While
the journey is being made with one boat, the other two
will be loading and unloading at either end. A motor
which could be transferred from boat to boat as easily as
a horse can be would promise a useful advance. The idea
is not entirely, new ; on the contrary, it has been used for
some time in the propulsion of small boats, and the point
now specially in view is the utilisation of the system for
haulage generally. The scheme, if adopted, would prove
of great service to the local collieries, because of the
extreme handiness of transferable motor employment. Any
method for facilitating haulage from the Staffordshire
collieries at the present time would be extremely welcome,
for the delay which has been forcibly introduced into the
transport system by the National Service requirements has
become a serious hindrance to output at the pits, and an

equally big trouble to the South Staffordshire works
dependent upon the native fuel supplies.

Kent.

The deep sinking in the No. 2 pit at Snowdown Colliery
entered at the week-end the 4 ft. 5 in. seam of coal at a
point correlating satisfactorily with the depth at which
it was struck in the boring at Barfrestone. The directors
have .issued the following announcement to the share-
holders in Kent Coal Concessions, South-Eastern Coal
Field, Extended Extension, and Deal and Walmer Coal
Field, who are providing the funds for this opening out
and proving of the deeper seams of the coal field :—“ Your
directors have great pleasure in informing you that a seam
of coal, 4 ft. 5 in. in thickness, has been met with in the
Snowdown shaft at a depth of 3,007 ft. The seam is in
one piece, and without any dirt partings. The coal is
bright, and unquestionably is superior to any yet uncovered
in this coal field.”

Scotland.

Damage Through Underground. Workings—Recruiting in
Lanarkshire — Electrical Engineers — Proceedings of
Colliery Managers.

A deputation of Motherwell feuars had an interview at
Hamilton Palace with the Duke of Hamilton’s Commis-
sioners in regard to the question of damage to property
through mineral workings. The deputation was sympa-
thetically received, and it was arranged that the Commis-
sioners would report their decision to the feuars as soon
as convenient.

The recruiting campaign for the voluntary enlistment of
miners has now been inaugurated throughout the mining
districts of Lanarkshire. The response so far has been
somewhat disappointing.

The newly-elected office-bearers of the West of Scotland
branch of the Association of Mining Electrical Engineers
are announced to be as follow :■—President, Mr. H. A.
McGuffie (Glasgow); vice-presidents, Mr. Archibald
Smellie (New Cumnock) and Mr. Frank Anslow (Glasgow);
auditor, Mr. Wm. Jarvie (Bothwell); treasurer, Mr. C. E.
Hart (Glasgow) ; secretary (pro tern.), Mr. D. Landale
Frew, 45, Hope-street, Glasgow; secretary, Mr. David
Martin (on war service) ; sub-editor, Mr. D. Connacher;
members of council, Messrs. A. McPhail, Alex. Napier,
Wm. Barr, and Wm. Thomson.

A gratifying response is being given by Ayrshire miners
to the appeal for ex-ploughmen who are working in the
mines, to give a few hours daily to work on the land.
Names of volunteers have been forwarded from 10 mining
districts in Ayrshire.

The annual meeting of the Scottish branch of the
National Association of Colliery Managers was held in
Edinburgh on Saturday. It was reported that the mem-
bership of the branch stood at 245, and that the financial
position of the organisation had been well maintained.
Seven members of the branch, including the secretary
(Mr. Wm. . Colvin, Dunfermline) were stated to be on
active service. Officers were elected for the ensuing
session as follow :—President, Mr. N. A. Wilkie (Bow-
hill) ; vice-president, Mr. Robert Wilson ((Alloa); secre-
tary and treasurer (pro tern.), Mr. James Gilchrist,
Clifton Bank, Cambuslang; councillors, Messrs. Thomas
Stevenson (Hamilton), James Kirkpatrick (Bothwell),
Archibald Smellie (New Cumnock), and James Bovd
(Kilsyth).

At the same meeting, Mr. Charles B. Sneddon,
manager of Frankfield Colliery, Shettleston, read a paper
on “ Steel Piling for Excavating Purposes at Dalmarnock
Electric Power Station, Glasgow.” He described and
illustrated by means of lantern slides the nature of the
difficult work which was carried out at Dalmarnock power
station, Glasgow, by Messrs. Train and Taylor, building
contractors, Cambuslang. From the success which had
attended the operations, he had no hesitation in recom-
mending Scottish colliery managers to use steel piling
wherever it should be required. It could be used in
sinking, a shaft through sand or ground containing large
quantities of water. A recent example was the sinking of
two shafts at Hatfield Main Colliery, near Doncaster. At
that colliery they sunk through 27 ft. of clay, soil, and
quicksand in No. 1 shaft, and 25 ft. 6 in. in No. 2 shaft.
I he pits were 26^ ft. in diameter. The piles were driven
through the soft soil and to a depth of 3 ft. into the red
rock sandstone. These piles, which were known as the
Universal joist piling, were of a heavier type than those
employed at the Dalmarnock power station.

Other proceedings of the Scottish colliery managers on
Saturday included an important discussion on the ability
of our home manufacturers to combat and oust the foreign-
made types of coal cutters. The discussion arose out of
a paper read by Mr. M. Gunnis (Giffnock Colliery) on
“ The Coal Cutter as Affected by Conditions.” Mr. James
Boyd (Kilsyth) said he was not bitterly opposed to import-
ing and using, if occasion demanded, American machinery
in the coal pits. To some extent we in this country were
co-partners with America, because many of our most
skilled engineers and designers were engaged in this
industry in the United States. He felt, however, that
good would accrue from a discussion of this character if it
roused and encouraged our home manufacturers, engineers,.
designers, and workers—for the latter were also at fault—
to a sense of the present requirements. If they would
only put their best efforts into' the production of a good
and reliable article at an equitable cost, he had faith that
British workmanship and designing would successfully
combat foreign-made produce. Ability and initiation were
to be found in abundant measure in this country, and
where we were weak was in the lack of willingness between
manufacturer and worker to co-operate together for the
common interest of the mining industry. Hitherto our
manufacturers and commercial magnates had shown an
anxiety to deprive competitors in the same line from know-
ing more of their business than they could help. That, to
his mind, was a great mistake, for this hide-and-seek policy
had to some extent retarded the progress of the mining
industry. It was, he felt, difficult to predict what our
future attitude to foreign trade and commerce might be,
but he. did not think they should have any scruples against
accepting American machinery. Mr. M. Gunnis thought the
colliery managers of Scotland might put their organisa-
tion, to practical use if they arranged for a kind of infor-
mation bureau on mining subjects. From that bureau
information could be given and received concerning modern
or up-to-date appliances, methods, and systems that were
best suited for certain conditions. Something of that kind
he felt Would be of great service to mining men, who were
at times up against problems and in a state of uncertainty