756 BEPOBT— 1891. 



coal consumed could be saved. There is, therefore, in the mines of Great Britain 

 alone a wide and lucrative field for the inventive ingenuity of mechanical engineers 

 in economising fuel, and especially in the successful application of new methods for 

 dealing with underground haulage, in the inner workings of our collieries, more 

 especially in South Wales, where the number of horses still employed is very large. 



Leaving the subject of mining, I may observe that considerable progress has 

 within recent years been made in the mechanical appliances intended to replace 

 horses on our public tram lines. The steam engine now in use in some of our towns 

 has its drawbacks as well as its good qualities, as also has the endless-rope haulage, 

 and in the case of the latter system, anxiety must be felt when the ropes show signs 

 of wear. The electrically-driven trams appear to work well. I have not, however, 

 seen any published data bearing on the relative cost per mile of these several 

 systems, and this information, when obtained, will be of interest. 



At the present time, I understand, e.'ihaustive trials are being made with an 

 ammonia gas engine, which, it is anticipated, will prove both more economical and 

 efficient than horses for tram roads. The gas is said to be produced from the pure 

 ammonia, obtained by distillation from commercial ammonia, and is given off 

 at a pressure varying from 100 to 150 lbs. per square inch. This ammonia is used 

 in specially-constructed engines, and is then exhausted into a tank containing water, 

 which brings it back into its original form of commercial ammonia, ready for re- 

 distillation, and, it is stated, with a comparatively small loss. 



Much attention in modern times has been given to the relative values of the 

 numerous new explosives, which have been introduced for blasting in mines and 

 for other purposes. Sir Frederick Abel is the greatest authority upon this subject. 

 As applied to mining, various experiments have from time to time been made for 

 the purpose of testing how far it would be safe to employ these explosives in the 

 atmosphere of a coal mine without the risk of causing an explosion of fire-damp. 

 A number of these are mainly composed of compounds of nitro-glycerine with 

 aluminous earth. But, whilst the experiments have indicated that, with rare 

 exceptions, they are practically flameless, it is undoubted that one which would be 

 absolutely so, and which could be used with safety in fiery mines, has yet to be 

 produced. 



The adoption in our gaseous mines of a flameless explosive, a self-contained 

 electric lamp of moderate weisrht which will burn without attention for twelve 

 hours, and the general application of water to moisten the dust, are all more or 

 less questions in which the mechanical engineer is interested, and, when adopted, 

 will probably have the effect of putting an end to the disastrous explosions 

 accompanied by loss of life which occur at intervals in our fiery collieries, and I 

 trust that the deliberations of this Section may result in the practical adoption of 

 steps to secure this desirable object. 



In conclusion, as an inhabitant of Cardiff, I may be permitted to congratulate 

 this port on this, the first visit of the British Association. Its rising import- 

 ance is becoming generally recognised, and, since the last visit of the British 

 Association to the Principality, material progress has been made. Lord Bute has 

 constructed a large dock of 33 acres at Cardiff, and a still larger dock of nearly 70 

 acres has been constructed at Barry within the port of Cardiff. The tonnage of 

 shipping cleared at the port has increased during the past eleven years 91 per 

 cent. Various new industries have been established here, notably, the manufacture 

 of hfematite iron for steel making, on a large scale* by the Dowlais Iron Company ; 

 and the exportation of coal has increased from 5,862,349 tons in 1880 to 12,250,652 

 tons in 1890, or 109 per cent. At Swansea the manufacture of tin plates, which 

 is one of the leading industries of the western part of this country, has increased 

 from 25,.343 tons to 229,791 tons in 1890; and the trade at the neighbouring port 

 of Newport has also materially developed, all showing a rapid progressive develop- 

 ment of the large resources of South Wales. 



I trust that only a short interval will elapse before we are honoured with^ 

 another visit of the British Association, and that it will be the good fortune of 

 the President, who may have the honour of occupying this chair on that occasion, 

 to chronicle similar progress. 



