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Monthly Circular.
No. 230.	February.	1915.
TO THE MEMBERS.

GENTLEMEN,

There are two or three matters of general importance which my strength will not permit me to dwell upon at any great length. The Conciliation Board proceedings, have been sent out to you, by four of my colleagues, and there is the question of the "Daily Citizen," but the one to which I want to draw your attention is the matter of recruiting among our members, and the mineworkers generally. During the month there have been notices in one or two papers that the Durham men have not recruited in such large numbers as might have been expected. I received a letter directly bearing on this question, and the following is a quotation, "I think our men have not been credited for the splendid manner in which they have responded to the call of the Country and Empire in the thousands who have enlisted. I feel sure that more than half of the men of the Tyneside Irish Battalion and the Northumberland Fusiliers and Tyneside Scottish who have enlisted are men from Durham, yet because these battalions are named the Tyneside Irish and the Northumberland Fusiliers, the whole of the credit goes to Northumberland." I heard of a letter from one of the Officers at the Front, this morning, which said that "That is the only time in which the men of Durham have not come up to the scratch."

The writer proceeds to say "I hope you will be able to put this matter in a right light." My object in briefly placing this in the Monthly Circular is, therefore, to show that the assumption that the men of Durham have not been loyal is based on false premises. Under the circumstances in which I am placed, I will take the experience of three or four of our collieries, without giving any names, but can guarantee the truth of the facts. I will mention them as A.B.C. At Colliery A, forty men joined the Durham Light Infantry and ninety-three other regiments a total of 133, the percentage in that case was 70% joined other regiments outside the county. Now take the Colliery B, 26 men joined the Durham Light Infantry and 100 joined other regiments, a total of 126, the percentage being 80% joined other regiments outside the county. Now take the Colliery C, 17 men joined Durham Light Infantry, 78 other regiments, a total of 95, the percentage being 82% outside the county. The complete tabulation of these collieries, which might be taken as a type of all others, we find that 83 joined the Durham Light Infantry, 272 joined other regiments, a total of 354, that making a percentage of 76.86 of men who belong to Durham who have joined and have been absorbed in other regiments and are credited to other regiments. The reason is this in my opinion, without any ill intention of charging the Durham men with direct disloyalty, is because the writers have built up a case on a wrong foundation, and in a wrong manner. At the time that the Tyneside Irish and the Tyneside Scottish and the Northumberland Fusiliers were being formed was a great furore, these men rushed off to other regiments and the Durham Light Infantry fell short of the compliments, and these writers assumed that these were the only men that had joined the service.

The proof of these facts are available to anyone and my object in mentioning them, is my regard for the brave young men who have left their homes and have joined various other regiments, and I hope that these will get full credit for their loyalty.

The Victoria Cross for one of our Members.

I have great pleasure in recording a conspicuous honour for one of our Shotton putters which comes in very handy anent the remarks on recruiting. The letter is addressed to myself.

"Shotton Lodge,

"Shotton Colliery.

"(Pte. H. H. Robson, V.C., son of one of our coal hewers).

"Dear Sir,

"I have pleasure in stating that one of our putter lads has won the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery in France. He joined the Royal Scots a little over two years ago.

"He is lying at present in an Hospital at Cambridge, wounded. We are having a presentation arranged for him when he is able to come home to receive it. I have written Mr. Cann, asking for as many of the Agents and Executive Committee as possible to come out when that presentation is to be made, but I have to write you specially asking you to come if you could manage it when the day comes. Hoping you will be well enough to be with us."

I can assure the Shotton Secretary that nothing would give me greater pleasure than being at the presentation, but I see no possibility of being able to do so for some time to come, yet I should like to recognise such great bravery in every case, which is so abundantly being shown among our members.

Aged Miners' Homes Christmas Treat Fund.

I received a letter bearing date 23rd of February, and it is a very pleasing letter, from J. J. Prest, Esq., Horden, which is but a continuation of his great kindness to the Aged Miners' Homes, and I think it would be well to give it a place here.

"Dear Mr. Wilson,

I am sorry you are still confined to your room and sincerely hope you will soon be well enough to be up and about again among your friends."

"You will be pleased to learn we brought in a balance of £68 5s. 10d., to the Christmas Treat Fund, and after providing 365 married couples with parcels of the value of 8/- each, and 191 single men with parcels of 4/- each, we are carrying forward a balance to next year's account amounting to about £65, which is quite satisfactory, taking into consideration the many calls there have been, and still are, on the charitably disposed towards the various funds that have been raised to meet this terrible war."

Compensation Committee. — March.

The Committee was held in Newcastle, on February 1st, when there was 10 fatal cases, and 19 non-fatal cases, and they were dealt with in the following manner :—

Fatal Cases

Fatal Cases

Lodge	Name	Age	Occupation
Lumley	Thomas, Carr	30	Hewer
South Derwent, Willie Pit	Bartholomew, Davison	18	Putter
Marsden	Richard, Griffiths	19	Driver
Boldon	William, Marriott	15	Driver
Marsden	Thomas W., Robson	45	Hewer
St. Hilda	George, Roxby	57	Stoneman
Marsden	Fred, Sickling	17	Landing Lad
North Biddick	Franklin, Snowdon	15	Landing Lad
Lumley New Winning	Richard, Whitling	47	Coal Cutter
Beamish, Air Pit	Isaac, Whittaker	25	Hewer

Non-fatal Cases

Non-fatal Cases

Lodge	Name	Age	Occupation
Adelaide	William, Bell	52	Filler
South Moor (Louisa)	Charles, Brown	34	Hewer
Chilton	John, Cant		Coal Hewer
Marley Hill	Thomas, Cawthorn	43	Canchman
Dean and Chapter	James, Daley	17	Pony Putter
Dean and Chapter	Frank, Hodgson	61	Hewer
South Moor (Louisa)	G. T., Johnson	17	Driver
Horden	William, Maudlin	20	Driver
Dawdon	Hugh, Murphy	21	Putter
Adelaide	Stephen, Ramsey	38	Hewer
Stanley Drift	Matthew, Robson	65	Stoneman
Esh	Edward, Rooney	23	Hewer
South Moor	Robert, Rutherford	28	Stoneman
Chilton	George, Urwin	29	Hewer
Sacriston	Richard, Wilford	36	Hewer
Chilton	James, Wilkin	22	Hand Putter
Roddymoor	John, Wilkinson	66	Shifter
South Pelaw	John, Willis	43	Hewer
Ouston	Giles, Wood		Shifter

Durham, 1915. John Wilson.

 

Source:

NEEMARC - Ref: NUMDA/1/6/40, D.M.A. Minutes, Circulars etc. for 1915 (two volumes: covers Jan-Jun, Jul-Dec)