1196

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.June 14, 1918.

the portion near the floor was dark, red or brown.
The colour became lighter with the increase of the
spores and the decrease of the resinous matter. From
the true spore coal it was almost white. When the
spore contents decreased, the ash again became darker
and more red in colour.

The President, in moving a vote of thanks to
Mr. Lomax, said the question was now past the stage
of being a mere scientific diversion, and was becoming
more and more a practical problem in every-day
mining. Mr. Lomax was perhaps the greatest autho-
rity upon the micro-chemical examination of coal in
this country, and he had raised the subject to one
of practical mining. He was able to show which seams
would make coke of good or medium quality, which
was best for gas production or by-products, which was
suitable for making coalite or smokeless fuel, and—
perhaps still more important—whether by judicious
mixing a non-coking coal could be made into a coking
coal, and whether the carbonisation was best carried
on at a high or a low temperature. Thus the micro-
scopic examination of coal threw light not only upon
its composition and formation, but also the uses to
which it could be put in commercial practice.

The vote of thanks was carried unanimously.

Mr. Lomax said it must be understood that, like
everything else, a seam of coal had its birth or origin,
its youth, its middle age, its old age and its death. In
every seam that he had examined he found that it
started with similar constituents. The lowest portion
consisted of the remains of a very low order of plants,
which could live and flourish in very poor humic
matter, where plants more highly organised could not
exist. They produced the humic matter which was
essential for the propagation of the next series of
plants, the lycopodia or club mosses. The coal formed
from this substance was bright in colour and resinous.
In the next stage, when the lycopodia were prevalent,
the coal became dull in appearance and non-resinous.
For a time megaspores and microspores increased in
number, but then they decreased, and ultimately died
out altogethet. What happened was that the plants
could not grow in their own humus, and had to give
place to others. Then resinous matter, similar to that
found in the bottom part, came in again. These
periods corresponded to the birth, youth, middle age
and old age. Some people thought the death of the
seam occurred because subsidence of the ground
allowed water to cover it up, and the plants could
not live. He did not think that theory was correct.
The mass of decaying vegetation, the humus, had
become so corrupt and so bad that plants could not
grow in it. If the covering was brought by water,
the remains of water animals would be found, but
in a good many seams such remains were quite absent.
He suggested that the wind brought sand, silica or
shale from a distance. That it was possible for such
drifting accumulations to reach a thickness of 50 to
70 ft. was evident from the experience of travellers
in Arabian and African deserts. Now, if a seam of
coal was formed in that way of different kinds of
plants, its qualities would vary, and by observing the
results obtained from carbonising experiments with
samples taken from different parts of the seam, one
was able to get a good idea of what it was likely to
be in practice. In his experiments nothing less than
100 grammes was taken, and when suitable retorts
had been installed quantities of 1 cwt., 5 cwt., and
possibly 1 ton would be dealt with. It should be
borne in mind that one kind of retort might give
better results than another kind with a particular
seam or a particular class of coal. The exact tempera-
ture was also a material factor. All these points
required investigation if they were to make the best
use of the coal reserves of the country, and it was to
conduct research work of that character that the
works had been established.

Mr. Scowcroft said this might be an opportune
moment to explain how Mr. Lomax and his son came
to be managing the establishment. Some years ago
the Government asked colliery owners for a return of
the coals worked and unworked, with a view to com-
piling an estimate of the future coal supplies. He
had at his disposal a good deal of information, par-
ticularly north and east of the Irwell Valley fault,
but also to some extent on the west side of it. One
remarkable fact that struck him was that the best
mines and the best coal were being rapidly exhausted,
and that in a comparatively short period industrial
Lancashire would have to face a serious problem.
His attention was drawn to the number of what were
classed as inferior seams ’which were not considered
workable. He went into the matter in a very
amateurish way, and last October he had a talk with
Mr. Lomax about it. It was the first occasion on
which he had been to that gentleman’s establishment.
He very soon came to the conclusion that Mr. Lomax’s
energies and time were being wasted to a large extent,
and he asked several gentlemen in Lancashire who
were interested in the question of coal resources to
come down and see what was being done. Mr. Hobt.
Burrows and Mr. Clement Fletcher were so interested
that they offered to join, and eventually it was
arranged to take over the building—an old mill—
which was now being used for the research work.
Perhaps the visit of the society was a little premature,
because, owing to the war and to other circumstances,
the difficulties of obtaining labour and material, they
were still in a primitive stage, and the arrangements
were not as forward as he would have liked, but still
they were doing what they set out to do—coal re-
search and the micro examination of anything that
was of national benefit. Complete sections of some
of the best coals in England were being prepared,
and they were also making micro sections and
chemical analyses of inferior coals, and had already
proved that those seams possessed commercial value.
In view of the fact that future sinkings in Lancashire
would be to much greater depths than hitherto, the
question of the motive power for industries was very
important, and if by micro-chemical research they
found some use for the mines hitherto regarded as
inferior, it was a favourable point that the capital

necessary for working them had already been sunk.
There was just the question what sort of retort should
be employed, but he believed the difficulties would
be overcome. They were preparing micro sections of
bricks and of the raw material tor making bricks.
One large company said that since this work was com-
menced in February the information supplied had
enabled them to improve the quality of brick 50 per
cent. Cotton and pottery had also been examined.
They were out to carry on scientific research into the
natural resources of this country or anywhere else.
On the previous Thursday they received from South
Africa a lot of raw material taken from a depth of
3,540 ft., with a request that micro sections be made.
He was convinced they were proceeding on right lines,
but it was a matter that ought to be taken up by
the coal trade of Lancashire. When he visited other
parts of the country he found there were levies to
support this sort of work, and a good deal of it was
done in schools of mines. He had it on the authority
of a professor who gave a lecture on the subject at
the London University a short time ago that Mr.
Lomax and his son were the only two in England (or
in Europe) who could make a coal section of the size
that they did.

Mr. Gerrard said he was quite sure every member
present wished the fullest success to the promoters
of this enterprise. There were hard-headed men of
business associated with it, and colliery people in
general would have the fullest sympathy with the
object, the development and utilisation of those in-
ferior seams of coal which had been the bugbear of
the coal trade for generations. They had been passed
and left behind, now they could be utilised for the
development of power to carry on the industries of
Lancashire when the better seams passed away.
There could not be a better work.

BIRTHDAY HONOURS : SECOND LIST.

The second list of Birthday Honours includes the
following promotions and appointments to the Most
Excellent Order of the British Empire for services in
connection with the war : —

Knights Commanders (K.B.E.).

Captain Henry Dennis Readett-Bayley, J.P., D.L.,
organiser of the Dennis Bayley Fund for the transport of
wounded.

Lieut.-Col. Albert George Hadcock, T.D., F.R.S.,
managing director, Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth and
Company Limited.

Mr. Harry Duncan McGowan, managing director of
Nobel’s Explosives Company Limited.

Mr. Adam Nimmo, president, Mining Association of
Great Britain; chairman, Board of Trade Committee on
the Coal Trade after the War; member, Central Coal and
Coke Supplies Committee.

Mr. Allan MacGregor Smith, chairman, Management
Committee of the Engineering Employers’ Federation.

Mr. John Edward Thornycroft, director, Messrs. J. I.
Thornycroft and Company Limited.

Mr. Seymour Biscoe Tritton, partner, Messrs. Rendel,
Palmer and Tritton, consulting engineers.

Commanders (C.B.E.)

Mr. Albert Eddison, general manager, Kynoch Limited.

Mr. William Fraser, managing director, Pumpherston
Oil Company Limited.

Major John Ronald Greg, director, Metropolitan
Carriage, Wagon and Finance Company Limited.

Mr. Charles Russell Lang, joint managing director,
G. and J. Weir Limited, Cathcart.

Mr. William John Jones, Assistant Controller, Iron
and Steel Dept., Ministry of Munitions.

Mr. Arnold Duncan McNair, Production Branch, Coal
Mines Dept., Board of Trade.

Mr. Holberry Mensforth, general works manager,
British Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Com-
pany Limited; member, Manchester Co-operative Muni-
tions Board of Management, and member, Manchester
National Shell Factory Board of Management.

Mr. William Walker, M.M., Acting Chief Inspector of
Mines; member, Coal Export Committee.

Engineer-Commander William Henry Wood, R.N., di-
rector and engineering manager, Messrs. John Brown and
Company.

Engineer-Commander William Henry Wood, R.N.,
director and engineering manager, John Brown and Com-
pany.

Mr. Charles Henry Wordingham, president, Institu-
tion of Electrical Engineers; director, Electrical Engi-
neering, Admiralty.

Officers (O.B.E.).

Mr. Charles Gurney Atha, managing director, the
Frodingham Iron and Steel Company Limited.

Mr. William Bates, of Messrs. Rea, coaling agents.

Capt. Henry Leon Cabuche, Assistant Controller, De-
partment of Engineering, Ministry of Munitions.

Mr. Rowland H. Charlton, chairman, Charlton and
Company, engineers, Grimsby.

Mr. Norris Henry Deakin, for many years secretary
of the Sheffield and District Engineering Employers’
Association.

Mr. James Valentine Ellis, commercial and general
manager, Workington Iron and Steel Company Limited.

Mr. Lawrence Ennis, general manager, Messrs. Dorman,
Long and Company Limited.

Mr. Wm. Robertson Heatley, British Consul, Odense.
Well known in the Newcastle coal trade.

Mr. Francis Lawrence Lane, managing director, the
Leeds Forge Company Limited.

Mr. Harold Bulkeley Reynolds, manager of Plant and
Machinery and Design of Plant Installation, Messrs.
Babcock and Wilcox Limited.

Mr. George Hudson Wright, engineering manager,
Messrs. Cammell Laird and Company.

Sir Arthur Du Cros, M.P., has been appointed chair-
man of the Dunlop Rubber Company Limited.

Coal Trade Benevolent Association.—At the last meet-
ing of the directors of the Coal Trade Benevolent Asso-
ciation it was reported that the West Yorkshire Colliery
Travellers’ Association had resolved to hand over the
cash balance in hand, also the investments in War Stock,
to the general funds of the Coal Trade Benevolent Asso-
ciation. The announcement was received with great satis-
faction, and a special vote of thanks was passed.

REPAIRING A SMALL CIRCULAR
SHAFT.*

By S. Chambers.

The shaft, which is very old, and is used as the upcast
at a colliery near Bristol, is 300 yds. deep and 6;; ft.
in inside diameter. The brickwork with which it was
lined throughout was in many places only 44 in.
thick, but mostly 9 in., and rested on wooden
curbs at regular intervals. These curbs had been
slowly destroyed by the beat from the steam boilers
formerly in use underground, so that the brickwork
had become dangerous.

On commencing repairs from the top downwards a
serious collapse took place, and it was found that al out
50 ft. from the upcast shaft the roadway was entirely
blocked with brick and rubbish. On descending the
upcast, pit, it was discovered, at a point 24 yds. from
the surface, that the brickwork lining for some distance
beneath had entirely disappeared. An oak curb 17 yds.
from the surface appeared to be sound, and above this,
where the lining had lecently been repaired, everything
was in good order.

To secure this curb and the brickwork resting thereon,
half-a-dozen holes were bored well into the hard pennant
stone round the shaft, and steel bars 4 ft. long and 2 in.
in diameter were driven in at a slight dip for a distance
of 2 ft. some 4 in. below the curb, the intervening space
being filled wTith good sound oak; the remaining short
section of brickwork immediately below the curb was
removed. A proper seat for a new curb was prepaied
5 yds. below the curb, where the shaft was narrower,
and brickwork was built close up to the bottom of the
old curb. The next 35 yds. of the shaft was unlined, so
that it was only necessary to clear the sides of all loose
stones, etc. Below this portion the patches of brick-
work were in such condition that no attempt could be
made to secure them.

Although undesirable, the bricks had to be allowed to
fall down the shaft, the latter, although 64 ft. in
diameter, being so very much off the vertical that the
cage rubbed sometimes on one side and sometimes
on the other. The room between the headgear and
ground level was also rather limited, so that the cage
was only 5 ft. high, 4 ft. 4 in. long, and 2 ft. 8 in.
wide. This meant that when a tram was on the cage
the cover had to be removed to allow the men to stand
on the top of the tram ; and when filling the tram, the
men were bound to stand on the edge of it, and many
bricks fell past the edge. Hence, it was finally deter-
mined to allow all the brickwork that needed removing
to fall to the bottom and be filled into trams. Where
the strata were hard, the loose brickwork was simply
pulled off and allowed to fall; where the brickwork
could be saved, it was saved and strengthened; and
where new brickwork was required it was put in. After
working to a depth of 230 yds., it was found that the
beds were somewhat contorted, and crossed the shaft at
an angle of 45 degs. from the horizontal; and so much
material had fallen out, mostly from the dip side, that
for the next 50 ft. or so the shaft, instead ‘of being 64 ft.
in diameter, was not less (on the average) than 20 ft.
Much of the surrounding strata were in an extremely
dangerous state, and after an attempt had been made to
secure the shaft by means of timber, Mr. Hugh
Johnstone, H.M. divisional inspector of mines, made a
suggestion, which ultimately led to the clearing away of
most of the difficulties. This suggestion was to lower
a cylinder slightly smaller in diameter than the
diameter of the shaft, to rest it at the lower extremity
of this great cavity, and afterwards to fill the space
outside the cylinder with concrete. It was explained,
however, that such a cylinder could not be lowered
down this badly-twisted shaft, and he then suggested
the idea of having a cylinder 50 ft. long by about 64 ft.
in. diameter, made of plates 6 ft. long, 2 ft. wide,
and f in. thick. The plates were to be taken
down, one or perhaps two at a time, built together near
the top of the cavity, and then lowered down to their
proper place. Finally, in view of the cost of and delay
in obtaining such a cylinder, it was considered that a
cylinder 4 ft., or perhaps 5 ft., in diameter could be got
down, rested on a scaffold, and that part of the scaffold
between the cylinder and the sides made fairly tight, so
that concrete could be placed and retained in the cavity.
The cylinder could afterwards be cut out, and the
concrete cut away to the original diameter of the shaft.
This plan being agreed to, two old egg-ended boilers
were procured—one 4 ft. and the other 44 ft. in diameter,
with a combined length of 47 ft., excluding the egg-ends.
Owing to lack of room between the winding pulley and
the ground level, it was necessary to cut each boiler into
three lengths. Each length was let into the pit
separately, and coupled with the other parts by means
of bolts and fishplates The bolts and fishplates were
used because of the difficulty of getting one part to slip
into the other.

Since about for 22 yards from the top the shaft had
been repaired, and was therefore 64 ft. in diameter,
the parts could not be assembled there, as there would
be less than 12 in. between the outside of the cylinder
and the shaft side; and as it was essential to have
sufficient space for a man to get round the cylinder for
the purpose of putting bolts through from the outside,
it was necessary to go about 60 ft. below the repaired
part with the first and chief scaffold.

To put this scaffold in, recesses were cut in the sides
of the shaft to receive two heavy beams, which were
placed 5 ft. apart. Two other beams of sufficient
strength were placed on top of and across them, but
only about 2 ft. apart. Brackets were placed on the top
of the lower beams in such a way that the upper beams
could not spread. When the cylinder was built and
raised a foot or two by the capstan, it was a simple
matter to roll the top beams back towards the sides of
the shaft, and so allow the cylinder to slip down between
them and also between the lower beams.

Scaffolds wide enough for the cylinder to pass
through were placed about 3 ft. below each joint, so that
a man could get the bolts through from outside—the

* From a paper read before the Mining Institute of
Scotland, June 8.