The Brussels Post, 1949-2-23, Page 7Scotland's Coal Mines
(5croud part •,l article of lase week,'/
lay
William Holt •
I had hutch with the teiucrs in
their canteen. They are v.ry proud
of their newly 51011 trophies. They
are proud. too, that the first ship-
tuent• of c'a1 to Sweth 1 since ex-
ports were resUille l went from Me-
thil 011 the Pirtle of Forth; and
Scotland was 111no11)5 the ' lirst ter'
send coal this year to France and
Portugal. Many of the Millers in
that colliery canteen were covered
with pit dirt, and they ate without
cerenumy but obviously wilit great
appetite.
As 1 was coming away front the
colliery, in Vigil spirits at what 1
had seen of the work going on
(herr, the wheels of the winding
gear were spinning and freight ca05
were moving along the track which
skirts the cnarnIous spoil -heaps. I
could see similar heaps in the dis-
tance as I drove with an engineer
through the Pile coal -field; some
were old ones, grass -grown. Spate
of the heaps were being flattened
at the top by bulldozers.
Water in same of dee pits has
conte front the water -holes of open-
cast, or `strip' ithi0h11g. It gets down
through natural crevices and work;
up the seams. Where possible, the
water is drained away; and when
the ground Inas dei+,d up, cement is
poured into the crevices. There has
been a lot of open -east or strip
mining in Britain daring elle past
year, end there is to be an emen-
51011 of this type of mining, which
bring, immediate results. A large
consignlutnt of open -cast equipment
arrived recently from America, and
a gond portion of the machinery is
for use in Scotland. This kind of
mining, b3 the way, costs us more
in Britain because we have to put
the soil lade; the c111110t afford, to
leave any of our Land uncultivated
afterwards.
Another type of twine that has
been developed in Scotland is large-
iy based or! American principles:
that is, 'drift' mining. -These mitres
are for tete-I-Mg the scams which
are bett. cut open -cast and deep,
clown to, say, 150 feet. They put a
tunnel down on, say. a 100 -yard
slant, mid are drawing coal within
a year. These mines usually have
only a life of about twelve years,
but reit:rus have already justified
tete experiment. The surface plant
used to work- these drift. mines can
be easily di!n!anticd and used again
at another one.
In the Scottish coalfield, there
has been a pioneering drive in the
dcvclopmeet of these drift ntine5;
between thirty and thirty-five have
been started—half of them since
the industry was na tionalised.
:\ deep mine takes tdl0nt six years
to engineer, but it may last 100
year::, \\'e t1iI. Cd many of these
as we drove thr0ug.11 the Fife coal-
field, sone. with depths varying up
to 1,211(1 fret. The Long-term de-
relimineet pian+ of the Scottish
rod -field include the sinking - of
Mine additional very hype new col-
lier., lite them in -Fife, three ill
the 1 ol',iao-, and 0)10 i'1 Ayrshire,
on ti;- w coast.
1'11 ;etLimn-term production
p1 -ms ;; . ''n1,• the modernisation of
se!, ei ,' '3', '1' where the layout
and h,o!t, re. and winding power is
0111 ni ,i',', inn where the expecta-
tion of is lore enough to stake
this vnr'1) whfly, N. number of
such pin hate already increased
their ou;nlqur-man-.Flit by thirty
to rout.
In inicr.sing part of the Fife
creel -lice 1 !. where' :he coal -seams
run unit:- the sen.botton, anal the
undcr,:roend working= go a long
way out under the sera.
At uh:' t1;tis. of Cw'
o,.lenbeath, in
Orcome, 0f Fife, I saw- the 001)1 -
rel worh.'1r,ps that were built a
g11.101(1. o: a century ago 10 cope
with' the greater amount ,of Illailt-
tenance work and to follow tip the.
intensive mechanisation that started
so each.' on in Scotland.
Abrar fifty per cent of the out-
put is repairs and fifty per cent new
production. Quite a lot of mining
machinery is manufactured in the
works, including haulages, )nine
cat's, drop -bottom cars, and con-
veyer scrapers, Structure for sur-
face milks is also made there.
in his office in Cotvilenbeath, I
talked to the man in charge of coal
production in the Fife area. Round
the walls of that office were draw-
ings of new equipment, and surface
layouts, and photos of scale models
of what some .of the new Scottialt
pit -heads will loolc like lit five year's
time,
His main difficulty in getting
more coal up to the surface was
shortage of labour, and this problem'
was made worse by the. shortage of
houses, Houses were going up, and
men were coming in feont other
• districts, but not fast enough,
Despite these ninny difficulties —
geologicai, and eCononfc, and.social
• —trey are going ahead, those dour
.Scotsmen in the north-Rritis'I) coal-
fields, getting the 'black diamonds'
of Britain.
Scotland possesses a vast, rich re-
serve 'of high-grade coal. No mat-
ter how rapidly the industry is re -
equipped and developed, , there
should 3,e coal to test 250 y'ear's. The
long -terns and the medium -terns de-
velopment plaits 600 not so sped
settles 115 the shprt•t01'711•nl'185, hut
they are going on quietly-, and the
benefits will, without doubt, le
reaped in. time.
ME, FARM FRONT Berlin Reds Use This 'Paper 3tAileti Coid War
Jo - . 'ek.
just for 14 rinluge, here', a little
5/100055 SIOI'r--tsr rather a story
about a young dean who appears to
be well ott his way to success, Ile
.i. hazel 1f. Cail of For'd's Mills
down in New Brunswick, and lee's
s now 291 years of age, •
A few years ago he bought three
old farms which were pretty well
run down—in fact, to most people,
they looked as though they were
just about done fur. But Cail
started in to build diem up, using
ground limestone, fertilizer and, 1
imagine. plenty of elbow grease.
How well he succeeded can be
total from the fact that last year
he harvested 1100 bushels of oats
and barley, 800 barrels of turt4ps,
and enough good hay for 40 head
of cattle; which sounds like pretty
fair going.
At 1945 Call bought out Lite
Herefords owned by 1'. M. C1rvon
of Rexton, N.B. The lot consisted
of one hull and two cows with two
heifer calves. From that start he
now has 20 head of purebred Here•
fords, 10 of which are now old
enough to be breeding cattle.
While attending a winter fair 1101
long ago a Polled 1'Iereford bull
w'a5 51108)1 by Tuttle Bros. of
Wentworth, N.S. Although just out
of pasture this bull was second in
its class against strong horned
competition. Cain was so impressed
that he decided he would like to do
away with the horns, and breed
Polled Herefords himself, The
Tuttle bull was the first of that
breed to go into Nova Scotia, so
Cail wrote to Malcolm lfcGregor
of Brandon, Man.—who had sold
the animal to the Turtles —and
asked what about getting one like
it.
The result was that, just a ,short
bine ago, 1llighty Otto—whose pic-
ture appears else -where on this page
—was shipped to Cail. Mighty
Otto, by the way, is a half brother
to Otto Leader, which was the bull
bought at the 1947 Royal Winter
Fair and flown to the Argentine
where he became Reserve Grand
Champion at the great Palermo
show, ' e, *
Until his purchase arrived in New
Brunswick, Hazen Cail had never
set eyes on Mighty Otto. He
planked down $1500 for the bull,
sight unseen; and in time hones to
build up a herd of around 50 head
of Polled Herefords of the better
type. Judging by what he has
accomplished in the past few years,
we imagine that Cail will be suc-
cessful. If not, it won't he from
lack of trying.
In the past I have received
several inquiries regarding the pos-
sibilities of Ontario farrne1s gettitlg
workers from the Netherlands, Now
I've received information front the
Netherlands immigration Commit-
tee, which 1'11 pass along to any of
you who are interested, withou)
C010111108 1,
n * *
"About seven thousand I-Iolland
immigrants have conte to Ontario
during the last two years. and note
work 011 farms in this Province, on
the whole to the satisfaction of the
farmers," the report says, "The int -
migrants, with very few exceptions,
are happy in the land of their adop-
tion. An adjustment to our way
of life and learning the English
language brings its difficulties; but
soon these people evill be absorbed
• into our rural communities, living
and acting like born Canadians.
"It is regrettable that they were
not allowed to bring along their
money wizen leaving Holland, In
many cases these people possessed
valuable property and had money
in tete batik, but the Netherlands
Government could not allow any to
be taken out, on account of econo-
mic conditions caused by the last
War.,
•, * 4
"Being excellent farmers they
desire to possess farms of their
own, but this will have to wait for
a while, until such time at least
Chiang Kai-shek
End.of 1948: "We will fight still anothdr
eight years."
1949: Fled.
A pro -Soviet political cartoonist, drawing for
Zeitung, sees a parallel between China's retiring
/Howley, the United States commandant In Berlin.
)pose, with an airplane in the background ready
American-spons
Howley,
End of 1948: "It is unthinkable that we wilt
leave Berlin,"
1949; ? ? ?
the Soviet -licensed Berlin newspaper, 3erltnet
president, Chiang Kai-shek, and Colonel Frank L.
Chiang and Bowley are pictured in an identical
to take them away. Rowley is shown holding as
ored newspaper.
when a treasonable down payment
can be made, Some have already
managed to get farms by working
on a share basis. Others saved
enough to rent one. Probably in a
few more years many will see their
desire fulfilled,
''Also this coming year, more
plan to come if farmers in Ontario
needing help are willing to act as
sponsors. To be a sponsor requires
to give the immigrant suitable liv-
ing quarters, either a separate house
or suitable rooms, steady employ-
ment and pay prevailing wages,
minimum being seventy-five dollars
a month.
* e,
"There is a good variety of choice
and qualifications. Dairy attd nixed
farmers, gardeners and fruit experts,
florists and nurserymen. Boats are
scheduled to arrive twice mouthy,
starting next month. Any one de-
siring this help is advised to apply
at once. Solve your labor problems
before spring is here."
* * *
That's the end of the quotation;
also tate end of this week's column
except to say that the place to
apply is The Netherland Immigra-
tion Committee, P.O. Box 234,
Chatham, Ont. Phone, 659-W,
Maritime Stuff
The skipper and the engineer
were arguing. The latter said that
steering a ship was far easier than
looking after the engines, and' the
captain said that looking after the
engines was child's play compared
with steering. They decided to
settle the argument by changing
places.
After ten minutes the captain had
to admit he was beaten. "Macpher-
son," he shouted, "I can't get the
engines to start!"
"That's all right," replied the
engineer; "ye needna bother—we're
aground."
1 Merry Menagerie-Bywah Disney)
11.6
"They wear us on hats, coop us
up 111 cages and steal our eggs.
And yet they have the neve to
call us their little feathered
friends!"
Mighty Otto Heads East.—This is a picture of the sttnitner
\ earling Polled Ilcreford ball Mighty Otto referred to iii ottr
1':\lrM FRONT' column, Although Otto doesn't look too
shivery, the mercury. at Braddon registered 48 below zero on
the day this picture was taken.
Good Advice
As you haven't asked Ine for
advice,
I'll give it to you now:
PLUG!
No matter who or what you are,
Or where you are, the how
.IS PLUG!
Yea may take your dictionary,
Unabridged, and. con it through,
You may swallow the
Britannica
And all its retinue,
But here I lay it f.o.b.—
The only word for you,
IS PLUG,
There's many a word that's
prettier
That hasn't half the cheer
OF PLUG,
It may not save you in a day,
But try it for a year.
PLUG!
Arid to shote you I am
competent
To tell you what is what,
I assure you that I never yet
Have made a centre shot,
Which surely is an ample
Demonstration that I ought
TO PLUG.
—From "Plug"
13y Edmund Vance Cook.
A STRANGE CREATURE
Trouble can come to almost any
corner of the world, Right now
it's in the "potato patch." Bugs,
potato bugs, were the probletn in
my boyhood days, now—it's prices,
writes R. J. Deachman. Potatoes
can be, at tines, unusually prolific.
'When the season is right they may
wreck us, with abundance! It is
more difficult to deal with abun-
dance than with scarcity.
Man is a strange creature and
wonderfully perverse. He howls to
high heaven when prices are 111911
and wants the government to solve
his problems, He resents paying
high prices for things he buys but
thinks, not for a moment, of the
high prices of the things he sells.
When prices drop tete Consumers'
League may be silent but the pro-
ducers will go after the government
and ask for a floor under prices.
Strange world, isn't it?
Did you ever think of this pecu-
liar thing? We have a market for
live stock, innumerable factors play
upon that market, The price of
"feeders," ,the cost of grain, infla-
tion and deflation, the volume of
money, the tempo of business, the
weather, the foreign demand for
neat. All these things work 011
that market and, except in very
exceptional times, provide us with
the meat we need at reasonable
price. If there had been no such
market in existence we would have
had to create it and I can't get into
my mind a picture of parliament
sitting down and starting front
scratch to create a market which
would function in a manner quite
so satisfactorily as the present,nleat
market. With all the fooling we
may do with floors and ceilings we
will in time accept the open mar-
ket and stay with it. Theft eventu-
ally seek and attaint free movement
of natural products, not only with
the United States, but the world.
Fastest Rail Ta-ilp
In The World
You won't believe it if you ride
in the Vistadonle, and watch the
roadbed curving around the Missi-
ssippi River bluffs ahead of your
train, but the running time of the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy's
Zephtyrs, from East Dubuque,
Illinois, to Prairie du Chien, Wis-
consin, is the fastest scheduled rail
trip in the world. It takes just
thirty-nine minutes to travel the
54.6 miles from stop to stop, an
average of eighty-four miles an
hour, This is nearly two miles an
hour faster than any other sche-
dule, anywhere, yet the the train
seldom exceeds ninety -utile -an -hour
top speed.
e *
It doesn't seen) fast, sitting in the
glassed -in roof -top compartments
that are features, of these post-war
trains, because you are so far above
the ground. It's a different story in
the front end of the Diesel engine
that powers the train, especially
when you knife by a long string
of freight cars on an adjoining
track. Veteran enginenen aren't
ashamed of a brief prayer at such
moments, particularly when the
cars block off a grade -crossing view.
The men who guide the Zephyrs
along the bank of 'the Mississippi
1i1ce the absence of grade crossings
and populated towns on their route.
"But we have another hazard," I
was told by Frank T. Schini,
Zephyr engineer, "in the rocks that
often fall from the bluffs." Affable,
careful, sixty -six-year-old Schini
played a major role in reducing the
risk from rock falls some years ago.
From the cab of his freight loco-
motive he 'spotted rocks on the
parallel track in time to flag down
a fast train which would have been
wrecked. Shortly after, the Bur -
wired fence along the bluffs. A
lington installed an electrically
break in the fence automatically sets
back signals in stop position.
Once Schini has eased the 2,000 -
horsepower engine and its seven
lightweight stainless steel cars past
thirty miles an hour, not far out
of East Dubuque, he ,s.ets the
throttle )vide open and cloves his
left hand close to the cord of his
bull -throated air horn, His right
hand is never far from the break
lever, and one foot rests ou t, "dead
man" pedal that automatically stops
the train if not depressed. It takes
five or six minutes for the roaring
Diesels feeding smooth electric
power to the axles, to incl) the
speedometer to ninety, Before it
travels much lighter, Schini cuts the
throttle, then inches it up when the
speed falls off.
There are plenty of Diesel trains
that, at times, exceed the Zephyr's
steady ninety to ninety-five miles
an hour. They seldom, however,
top 105, though.Diesels have reach-
ed 120. But the all -tine speed
record still belongs to steam, dats
ing back to 1905, when a Pennsyl-
vania .traits streaking across Ohio
reached 127,1 utiles an (tour,
Health: What people are always
drinking before they fall down,
; ssmA p,(4' o'tt't
Childhood
Encore
By
80GE1( 8. VaIIJILA."tdi
1'ht. house still stands at 215 Its -
wood Lane, Claremont. The In-
wood Lane is important. Remember
that. The dumber doesn't stake any
differepce, because then there wa'n't
another house within 500 yards,
lfoneysudde at the end of the
piazza entwined a lattice screen and
you could really suck the honey,
Uncle Clem—who wasn't really my
uncle—had shown Inc how. Can-
nas grew funnel -shape way up past
the piazza railing. Motier's round
peony garden on the side lawn) by
the swing that my father had made
(I never remembered 1,int) grew
luscious creamy pink and whit:
flowers.
Inside was the brick fireplace be-
fore which the thre; of us would
sit in the winter, Uncle Clem taking
care of the fire and telling us stories
while Mother sewed, and I would
watch the picture of Nero's Horses
over the mantel until I saw their
eyes roll and breath steam out of
thr.ir nostrils,
This was the house I was boru fit.
it was big and it was old and it was
full of strange nooks from cellar to
attic. I knew' Mother liked it for
she often said she hoped some day
to buy it.
Considering site was a widow,
my mother did well in providing for
the two of as until .Mr. hale came,
'i'ltat was Uncle Clem's real name.
She didn't need the small amount he
paid her. ft was just from the kind -
mess of iter heart that she gave him
a ]tome. He was old, feeble, bent
over; he carried a cane most of the
time. I know those things note.
But strangely I remembered him as
spry, full of pep and fun. He was
good and kind and always thinking
•of things to do.
Mother never knew where he
carte from, until after he was gone.
The first I ever saw of him was
when he appeared at the door into
the living room and "entertained"
him until Mother came in from the
chicken coop.
Mother was cool to him at first.
She was always suspicious of
strangers. But I saw the kind of
fellow he was right away. He told
.her his family was gone and asked
if she had a room to spare. He said
be had a little money, enough to
pay for his roost and board.
Uncle Clem spent nearly all Itis
dime with me. Sometimes he would
forget what we were playing, and
sit with a kind of dreamy, faraway
look. Then he would snap back Into
what we were doing. He got to
calling my mother Mont and I guess
site didn't inind,
Once I heard him tell her that his
working days were over and he en-
joyed trying to be a,boy again.
But there were some things 1'
couldn't tunterstamt about lull,
When we played hiding games he'd
aeet4 t„ 'iaC,^ an uncanny sense of
where to look. fie knew about the
flat stone over the abandoned well
bellied the rhictceu coop before. I
showed it to him, the Ioose board
on 1'va floor of my closet, the re-
Ce5ne5 over the eaves in the attic,
and me door to tete unused cold
storage vault in the cellar. fir
even khtocked 011 one of the inside
walls where it sounded hollow, and
1!e said; "l'itere was a window there
once."
When Uncle Clem died I cried all
night. '-lothcr lead to go into his
personal things. Isis will %yea made
out to her, leaving her enough to
buy the house. Ill never forget her
cry of surprise when she came ac•
ross an old newspaper clipping he
had saved, It was about his retire-
ment from business. 1 have it now.
"Clement B. Yale," it began,
"5115 served a testimonial dinner
last night by the insurance company
which 11e has served for 40 years-
1'hia a record for the company, stet -
ed John I1, Quinn, the president,
who pre-ented Mr. 11ale with a gold
1satrh, hale, who now retires on
pension. ,as born Marcia 19, 135',
0,, fest ors! Lane, Claremont...
Motor Manners
Join! Kieran is Widely known as
a great sports writer and nature
haver, alio as one of the experts on
"Information Please." Writing about
motorists recently Kieran stated
that most of theme drive like "sons
of Bella!, flown with insolence and
wine." As proof of the statement
he cited the fact that, in the United.
States alone, more than 10,000
pedestrians are killed each year, and
said that such fatalities are usually
the result of bad motor manners.
He also offered the followwng
polite suggestions for abating what
he calls an "insufferable situation,"'
Here they are:
I. ,Drive as- though pedestrians
werfriends, not enemies.
2. Try using the brake occasion-
ally instead of relying exclusively
on the horn, This will prove that
you really do give more than a
hoot for a pedestrian.
3. Don't wait until the last
moment and then slam on the
brakes. You might as well kill a
man es scare him to death.
4. A driver blocking a cross walk
should not sit there with an arro-
gant air as though the milling
pedestrians were beneath contempt.
At least he could look apologetic.
"Assume a virtue if you have it
not" (Shakespeare).
5. Don't cheat at traffic lights or
earners. Give the pedestrian time
to get across the street before you
start up.
6. Don't drive so fast. it probably
won't matter If you arrive a few
minutes later.
7. Remember that an automobile
is supposed to be a accessory t,
eiviltzation and not s. homicidal
weapon.
1\iip Firemen Acting Really Nippy,—At,tlte annual fire brigade
review held at the Imperial Plaza Palace, Japanese airmen
shinny up and down guy -ropes in a.demonstration of their skill.
Almost 5,000 firemen `took 14'art-in a spectacular' review, WIllet
was witnessed by great multitudes.
PENNY
ANGMAOLIMG LAW, ITt:7TMI; WS
WAR A'TALK ABoUr 'leen LAT)
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