Sheffield Daily Telegraph – Friday 29 December 1922

Don and Dearne Valley.

Year Ending Better Than it Began.

Trade in the Don and Dearne valleys during 1922 as reports which follow will serve to indicatehas been good, bad and indifferent: on the whole, not nearly so bad as it has been in many other districts; and, generally: much healthier towards the close of the year than it was at the beginning.

With the exception of a lean time at the Goldthorpe Colliery of Messrs. Henry Lodge Ltd.. followed by the suspension of work there for several weeks, the closing down of the small Highgate Colliery. since restarted, and a short dispute over the revision of the price-list at Barnburgh, collieries in these districts have been working pretty well. That means a great deal, for most of the men work at the pits.

But in the steel trade, business has been, bad, and in the glass bottle industry, which appeared to give welcome indications of a revival about May, it has been exceedingly bad, and the last month of the year has seen a town’s relief fund started at Mexborough for the relief of acute distress prevailing among the glass workers.

On the register of the Mexboro’ Labour Exchange, which covers Mexboro’, Denaby, Conisboro’, Swinton. Kilnhurst and Wath. 553 persons were drawing unemployment pay on June 26. That was the lowest figure for the year. The highest was 1, 120 on August 28 and again on October 23. About 60 percent of the men on the register have been men engaged in the glass bottle industry, represented by the firms of Messrs. T. Barron. Ltd. and Messrs. Peter Waddington end Sons, Ltd.. both of Mexborough and both now-merged in the London Bottle Co., Messrs. Kilner Bros.. Ltd., of Conisboro’, and Messrs, Daly, Brown and Co. Ltd., of Swinton.

These men, however, have not been altogether unemployed. A work sharing system has been put into operation at all these works and the men have been working. on an average about to weeks in five. Thee are no immediate prospects of improvement in this industry, though the hope is indulged that more business will come as a result of a general trade improvement.

The manager of the Labour Exchange, Mr. B. Jebson. is also secretary of the Mexborough’ and District Local Employment Committee, whose main work during the year up to November 2 when “the fourth special period ” came into operation, consisted in interviewing applicants for “uncovenanted benefits.”

Bottles and Beer.

Mr K. L. Manett. of the London Bottle Co., interviewed, stated that the industry had suffered from foreign competition. ” Two conditions essential for any real revival,” he declared, ” are a reduction of taxation and a reduction in the price of beer. The export beer trade is dead’, and that makes a very considerable difference to us. “I think, too,” he added, “we should introduce the sixth shift here. Here in Yorkshire only five shifts a week are worked. No work is done on Saturday though furnaces must be kept going. The sixth shift is in operation in Lancashire, and it has the effect of reducing overhead charges–and when you have rates at 20s. in the £ you need to effect all such reductions yon can !”

In the coal mining industry, new developments have been taking place on the stretch of open country which lies between Manvers Main and Barnburgh Main, at Hickleton Main and at Denaby Main.

In the case of Manvers and Barnburgh, it is an overland colliery rail development, which will link up the Barnburgh pit of the Manvers Main Colliery Company with Manvers Nos 1 and 3. In the case of Hickleton the development is a new shaft ; in the case of Denaby, a headgear development,

About 6,000 men and boys find employment with the Manvers Main Colliery whose General Manager. Mr. A. T. Thomson, in the course of an interesting interview, stated that trade with them had been poor up to Midsummer —so poor that it had been as much as they could do to keep the right way is nice to be seen place going.

Coal Recovering.

” In July,” continued Mr. Thomson, “it began to recover. That was the time the American strike started and, although we hardly benefited from that directly, it stiffened the market and it began to put the collieries in a better position. Since then trade has gone on improving very slowly, but, still, improving.

” The output at Barnburgh is certainly increasing, It was the problem of housing and the war that held it hick, but the Company have themselves built over 300 houses. the Bolton-on-Dearne housing scheme has gone ahead at a tremendous pace and this pit, which has already increased its output to something over 10,000 tons a week, will increase it yet to 20,000 ”

“Manvers No. 1 has since averaged about 10,400 tons and Manvers No. 3 has been drawing its limit at about 15,500.

“But for the seven hour shift these figures would certainly have been better. The shortening of the shift from eight hours and decrease the output, and decrease the men’s earning capacity. It is a general opinion among mining engineers, and the good many others, to – now after the seminar shift and been subjected to the best of practical work experience – that seven hours is not economic for either the men or the company – especially for the men.”

Hopeful Signs.

At Manvers there is brick-making as well as coal mining, and there are by-product departments not by any means negligible. Bricks, made originally and still primarily for the Company’s use, are now going to building schemes up and down the country —about 75 per cent. of the output of-bricks goes away. From the coke evens of Manvers, where good use is made of small coal, come nowadays, not only coke, but also the coke oven gas supplied for Mexboro’, Swinton, Wath, Bolton and Thurnscoe, tar from the distilling, sulphate of ammonia, – and benzol, crude and purified.

On the subject of prospects for 1923, Mr. Thomson expressed the view that the improvement in trade would continue.

”Of course,” he remarked, “we feel the pulse of trade very distinctly at collieries. The unmistakable indication of an improvement in trade generally is that we are unable to obtain from the railway companies now “common user ” waggons which were available for coal transportation when trade generally was bad. They are not available for our use now because they are needed for other purposes.”

Asked whether he cared to state what miners’ earnings had averaged at Manvers and Barnburgh during the year, Mr. Thomson at once produced figures to show that colliers’ earnings at the three pits had averaged about 16s. per shift. Barnburgh comparing very favourably with, the older pits, despite the revision of the price list.

“With men earning such money,” was the comment, “we in Yorkshire cannot see any case for subsidising miners’ wages. I certainly do think our South Yorkshire coalfield is the best coalfield in the country, and I like the men. Speaking generally they are good fellows. In our own coalfield, of course, they are better housed than they are in some other parts of the country, and the result is we have miners of a better class.”

Full Time.

At Hickleton Main, with the exception of a few weeks, in each of which a day only was lost for want of trade, full time has been worked throughout the year. The output for the 12 months has been about 900,000 tons—something less than the output of pre-war days, when the same number of men and boys were employed—about 3,300. The best day’s winding was in June when the figure was 4,467 tons. It is to the Parkgate seam that the new shaft is being sunk—a depth of 700 yards, Sinking started at the beginning of 1921, and the Barnsley seam, which alone has been worked so far at this pit, has now been reached by the new shaft, at a depth of 540 yards. The new development will not result in a mere transfer of energies from one seam to another : it will provide’ much additional employment.

Housing has proceeded apace here as at Bolton and Goldthorpe. Two hundred dwellings have been erected by the Thurnscoe Urban Council, and 292 by a building society financed by the Colliery Company. The Urban Council has a scheme for the erection of 240 more houses and it remains to be seen what else the Colliery Company may do.

At the Denaby and Cadeby pits about 4,000 have been employed regularly throughout the year. There has been no lost time. At Denaby both the Parkgate and the Barnsley seams continue to be worked; at Cadeby. the Barnsley only. The new headgear is being erected at Denaby for the further development of the Parkgate seam, and this, naturally, will result in increased employment. The outlook here is bright.

It is bright, too, at Wath Main where, in the Barnsley and Parkgate seams, about 2,500 have found constant employment. There are coke ovens here. as at Manvers, and the coal output has been better than pre-war.

Wheels and Axles.

At the Kilnhurst Steel Works of Messrs. John Baker and Co. (Rotherham) Ltd., trade was bad for the first ten months, but it picked up then, and the year has closed with a decided improvement. Here the output is one of wheels and axles, and the improvement has made itself felt more particularly in connection with an increased demand for private owners’ wagons which has come from the collieries chiefly. For tram wheels trade was poor throughout the year.

Adversely affected in 1921 by the coal dispute, in 1922 the works suffered as a result of the engineers’ dispute. At first only fitters and turners were affected, but later on the whole place had to be closed down. Invited to express an opinion as to what might be done to affect a further improvement in demand for real, and axles. Mr. George Baker, the managing director said: “Well. of course, the thing that would help us most would be the prevention of the placing of contracts for the needs of our Indian railways with Germany, for instance. The bulk of the Indian contracts are going there. That, is on account of the price, and the price is purely a question of the rate of exchange.

“With regard to our prospects for 1923, we share the more hopeful feeling that seems to prevail generally, but more than that we can hardly say. There is certainly more work about now than there has been.

“Our new chainmail, by the way has come into full operation this year, and it is doing very well indeed. We are getting a very much bigger output and better tyres than we have ever done. This mill, built by Messrs Henry Berry and Co., to the design and instruction of the managing director. represents a new departure in tyre rolling, and is one of the most interesting developments that have taken place in connection with the manufacture of rolled tyres for some time.

Steel for Tyres.

One of the main consideration in the Manufacture of high tensile railway tyres is that the steel of which such tyres are made such receive the correct heat treatment during the process of rolling. That, perhaps, is an ideal practice which it has not always been possible to carry out. Manufacturers have been faced with the difficulty of rolling tyres at temperatures which give good results as regards both section and tests. Tyres rolled at a high temperature made good sections, but gave poor tests as rolled. Attempts to roll at temperatures which had been found to give the best tests frequently resulted in hollow faced tyres.

This problem appears to have been solved at Kilnhurst by the installation of this new massive cogging mill of special design. At Verity’s Steel Works, Swinton, the output is also one of wheels, and here trade has been bad practically all through the year, though they have “begun to feel the revival.” A big proportion of their normal trade is with the Colonies.

The Queen’s Foundry of Messrs. Hatterley Bros., adjoining, have had “nothing complain of in respect of the volume of their trade during 1922. It has compared very favourably with that of pre-war days, though it has not reached the mark touched before the post-war slump. General engineering costings, kitchen ranges, and stills are produced here, and orders have been executed for Bolton on Dearne, Mexborough, Wath and Swinton housing schemes.

Brush Factory

The past 12 months have witnessed another trade development at Kilnhurst, in which Mr George Baker is keenly interested as he is in the new Mill already described.

It is as yet in a small way and some months after its birth in November 1921 it appeared doomed to an untimely end. But the infant factory, well-nourished – expensively nice – from one source, as clunk alive, and, although it is too much to say that its future is assured, it is not too much to say that its future should be assured by people whose war memorial consists of an imperishable sense of obligation to the menu were maimed and disabled as they fought in defence of their country.

Many people, just after the War, talked glibly and doubtless well-meaningly, about providing work for such men. Mr George Baker did it – and he has been allowed to do it – alone.

He found the capital for the Discharge Soldiers and Sailors Brush Factory here, at Kilnhurst, on the Steel Works premises and he will have to stand the loss on its first year working.

“Trade at this factory is improving and,” said Mr Baker, when asked to talk about it – and he talked about it freely, for this object is one which is near his heart.

“.” It has improved very much, and there is now little likelihood of it being closed. We shall just continue to employ a few men will carry on until further improvement in trade takes place. These ex-service men are turning out a very much better brush now than they did at first, and the demand for them is in increasing. They make all sorts of household brushes and have brooms and other brushes used for scavenging.

Ex Service Men

“There is no question of profit-making for me in connection with this brush factory,” Mr Baker explained, “The utmost I can get out of it is at some future date is the capital I put into it, and the moment that is repaid the whole business belongs to the men. I’m afraid it will never will be repaid, but still, if we make the men’s wages, so that they can be provided with employment, it is something. Indeed, that is all we ask.”

Mr Baker smiled – was it indulgently, or sadly – as he remarked that he was aware many people could not credit him with being quite disinterested in this enterprise. But the sole interest E add in it was a philanthropic one. At first they had been foreign competition to contend with. Now they had keen British competition. But many of the local Urban Council were now ordering brushes from them, and the public could support the factory, when purchasing brushes for the household, by asking the shopkeeper for brushes made by these ex-service men.