Pit-Head Baths
42.
asked the Secretary for Mines if he will give the names of collieries where pit-head baths have been established in Great Britain; how
| STATEMENT showing the number of Baths provided at Coal Mines in Great Britain. | |||||
| District. | Name of Colliery. | Total Number of Persons employed. | For general use. | ||
| Below Ground. | Above and below Ground. | Number and kind of Baths. | Daily Average Number of Persons using Baths. | ||
| Lancashire and Chesire. | Chanters No. 1 | 506 | 723 | 76 Shower | 500 |
| Chanters No. 2 | 494 | 702 | |||
| Gibfield Arley | 716 | 1,079 | 48 Shower | 350 | |
| Victoria (Howe Bridge) | 114 | 190 | 20 Shower and 1 Ordinary. | 135 | |
| Reedley | 393 | 435 | 30 Shower | 160 | |
| Yorkshire | Manvers Main* | 2,897 | 3,786 | 20 Shower†| 120 |
| Barnborough | 1,431 | 1,758 | 40 Shower | 110 | |
| Wath Main* | 1,823 | 2,287 | 88 Shower | 600 men per hour at end of day shift (maximum). | |
| Wharncliffe No. 1 | 523 | 1,418 | 8 Shower | 72 | |
| Silkstone No. 4 | 497 | 6 Slipper | |||
| Staffordshire, North. | Parkhouse Nos. 1 and 2 | 221 | 308 | 6 Shower | 50 |
| South Wales and Monmouth. | Graig Merthyr and Lefn Drim (Slants). | 809 | 966 | 6 Ordinary | 4 |
| Deep Navigation | 1,593 | 2,035 | 75 Shower | 581 | |
| Fife and Clackmannan. | Wellesley | 1,264 | 1,542 | 84 Sprays | 512 |
| Glencraig* | 730 | 879 | 20 Sprays | 120 | |
| Lanarkshire, &c. | Douglas Castle | 218 | 283 | 20 Sprays | 120 |
* These baths are in course of erection. | |||||
| †A further installation of 20 baths will be completed shortly. | |||||
Inspectors Of Horses
41.
asked the Secretary for Mines the number of mines at
many men are employed at each colliery; and whether the workmen take advantage of the bathing facilities provided?
With the hon. Member's permission, I will circulate a statement in the OFFICIAL REPORT showing collieries where six or more baths are provided for the workmen. This will include, in answer to the third part of the question, particulars of the average number of workmen who use the pit-head baths at the collieries where they are provided.
Are the facilities provided taken advantage of by the workment at these collieries?
Particulars will be given in the statement I make.
Following is the statement:
work in Great Britain and the number of inspectors of horses employed in such mines in the years 1921 and 1922, and the total number inspections of these mines by those inspectors in those years, respectively?
The number of mines, under the Coal Mines Act, working in 1921 was 3,030, and in 1922, 2,911. Of these, 1,803 and 1,699, respectively, were mines in which horses were used. The number of inspectors of horses was eight in each year. They made 2,000 inspections in 1921 and 2,254 in 1922. But inspection of horses is not limited to the inspectors appointed specially for that purpose. It is part of the duty of all but one or two inspectors of mines, of whom there are 78, besides the horse inspectors.
Will my hon. and gallant Friend consider the propriety of appointing more inspectors?
Under the limits of the present power of expenditure I have, it would mean cutting down inspectors who have to deal with other matters.
Do the inspectors simply inspect the horses in the stables at the pit bottom or do they go on the road and see the conditions under which the horses have to work?
They certainly should go down the road and see them at work, and I believe they do.
Mechanical Haulage
43.
asked the Secretary for Mines the number of mines in this country in which the haulage is done entirely by machinery; and how far the mines in France and Germany have adopted mechanical haulage in the place of animal haulage?
In 1922, of 2,911 mines working under the Coal Mines Act, horses were employed in 1,699, leaving 1,212 mines in which haulage was done by mechanical means or by hand labour or both. I have not the information which would enable me to answer the second part of the question.