Letters to the Editor
A WELL THAT REVEALED COAL
Sir, Industry has its romances, as well as the lighter sides of life. Some of the most colourful discoveries in the Industrial world have had their origin in apparently commonplace happenings.

So, some years ago, for example, a well-known resident of West Moreton, Mr. J. Hodgson, sank a well to the depth of 90ft. for Mr. Norman Baills, on his farm at Walloon. His purpose was to find water for the farm, but unknown to both Mr. Hodgson and Mr. Baills, there was laid bare a rich seam of coal unequalled by any other to be found in the coalbearing fields of West Moreton.

The old well is now dry, and is the temporary air-shaft of the Amberfield coalmine. Approximately five miles from Ipswich, on the border-line of Amberley and Walloon, a number of experienced coalminers are now exploiting the possibilities of this rich carboniferous field. On descending the mine, the visitor sees a clean seam of coal measuring 8ft. When dug the coal has a muddy smear which soon dries off. It is easily broken and the coal is regarded by experts as the best possible type for gas, steam, and power purposes. With the installation of proper equipment, it is estimated that at least 100 tons a day could be raised from this mine. The situation lends itself to future developments because it has factors without which progress is retarded. There are good roads around the mining centre, also the close proximity of the electric power lines. There is no water in the workings. Under these favourable conditions expectations of something good might be realised.

At a time when Ipswich is making great bids for the establishing of new industries in our midst, it is gratifying to know that here on the outskirts of the city we have a mine capable of providing coal at cheap transport cost. As this mine has the option of many hundreds of acres, steam and power are assured for many years.

It is to be hoped that this mining venture will meet with great success, because linked with ech expansions are many subsidiary industries. whose presence means the advancement and progress for our own district.
ANDREW B. SHEWAN.

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Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld.), Wednesday 23 March 1949, page 6

Amberfield colliery, a small mine at Amberley, has stopped production over a dispute on tonnage rates. The mine, which had been working on a day basis, recently was changed by the management to contract mining, and the management paid on the Rosewood field rate of 2/- a ton lower than that paid on the Walloon field in the Walloon district. The Queensland Colliery Employees’ Union considers that the mine is in the Walloon district and the higher contract rate should apply.

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Queensland Times (Ipswich, Qld.), Saturday 26 March 1949, page 2

AMBERFIELD MINE TO RESUME WORK
Work will resume at the Amberficld Colliery on Monday. The mine has been Idle for nearly a week because of a dispute over tonnage rates. Resumption will be on prestoppage conditions, and a conference between the managem?ent and the Q.C.E.U. will be held the some day in the unio office at Booval. The mine, which is in the Amberley district, has been working on a day basis. However, recently the management decided to change to contract mining and pay at the Rosewood rate of 2/- a ton lower. The union considers that the mine is in the Walloon district, and that the higher Walloon contract rate should apply. Shift work will continue until the area has been defined.

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Queensland Times (Ipswich, Qld), Saturday 3 March 1951, page 2

Yesterday Amberfield Colliery was idle. Members there did not work as a protest against the alleged carting of coal by the contractor on Thursday, the day of the general stoppage. The owners claim that the bins had to be cleared on Thursday to enable the men to work yesterday.

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MINER HURT IN FALL OF STONE Robert Christison (married), miner, of Bird-street, Bundamba, received contusions and abrasions in a fall of stone at the Amberfield Colliery yesterday. Ipswich Ambulance gave first aid and took him to the Ipswich General Hospital. After treatment he was discharged.

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AMBERFIELD MEN WENT HOME
A breakdown in the coal shed at the New Amberfield colliery (West Moreton district) today caused a delay in the supply of waggons and the men went home. The 22 miners are expected to resume tomorrow. Sixty tons of coal were lost today.

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Mine Idle Through Driver’s Illness
IPSWICH: Twenty-seven men at Amberfield colliery (Amberley) did not work yesterday because of the absence through sickness of the regular motor driver. The mine manager (Mr. J. Searle) said the mines resumption depended on the return of the driver. Coal loss was about 80 tons.

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Pit still out
The dispute at the New Amberfield colliery, which developed yesterday, continued today. The dispute arose over a request by the employees for the withdrawal of a turntable and the substitution of fixed points in a roadway where skips of coal are wheeled by hand. The mine employs 32 men and produces 105 tons of coal a day. The date of resumption of work is indefinite.

Amberfleld Colliery on the Ipswich field, will install a coal screening and picking plant next week. The equipment was tested in Brisbane yesterday before it was dispatched to the colliery.

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Queensland Times (Ipswich, Qld.), Tuesday 23 June 1953, page 2

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Two colliery owners were fined in the Court of Petty Sessions yesterday by Mr. J. P. Donlevy. S.M.. for income tax breaches. They were Noel Morris Roots of Brilliant Street, East Ipswich. and Eric John Petie of Joffre Street, Booval.

Roots pleaded guilty to four charges, and Petie to two. They were fined £25 for each offence, and ordered to pay £5/5/6 professional and 10/- Court costs in each case.

Roots was charged that, while trading as the firm of New Amberfield Colliery, he failed to pay to the Commissioner of Taxation the income tax deductions from his employees for the month of August, 1953 amounting to £238. A similar charge concerning the month of September this year in volved an amount of £173.

Two other charges against Roots stated that he failed to pay income tax deductions of £218 for August and £183 for September to the Taxation Commissioner from the New Malabar Colliery.

Petie, who trades under the name of New Mountain View Colliery,  faced similar charges involving amounts of £126 for August and £176 for September.

Mr. N. Eagles of the Commonwealth Crown Law Office appeared for the department, and Mr. P. Fallu (Messrs Dale and Fallu) for defendants.

Mr. Eagles said that on October 30 this year, a department investigator had questioned Roots concerning payments of tax deductions for July, August, and September. He said there were about 28 or 30 employees on the staff. After consultation with his accountant, Roots admitted that an amount of £238 had been deducted from employees’ wages during August. The investigator pointed out that the amount should have been paid to the Commissioner by September 7, but it had not been received until the end of October. There had been no application for extension of time to pay. “The defendant’s record is particularly bad.” stated Mr. Eagles. “No payment has been received without a demanding letter from the department.” He then out lined the delay in the payment of deductions to the Commissioner extending from September, 1951, up until the date of the charges.

LAG EXAMPLES
As examples of the lag in payments. Mr. Eagles said that the December1952, deductions. which were due on January 7 this year were not received until February 18. The January deductions, due on February 7 were not received until March 12.

I would like to draw the attention of the Court to the fact, that the employer had the use of considerable amounts of money – hundreds of pounds – over a period stated Mt. Eagles. “Even though his employeea do this work, defendant must have been aware that he had money he was not entitled to.”

“It may be suggested that there was no fraud intended,” continued Mr. Eagles. “The section concerned does not mention fraud. The onus is on the employer to ensure the remittances are forwarded to the department by a due date.”

Referring to the Malabar charges, Mr. Eagles said the facts of the case were similar to the other charges. “Again, on every occasion the remittance has had to be demanded,” he said.

Mr. Fallu said the facts generally were not disputed so far as payment was concerned. “However, the defendant has risen from a coal miner to a position where he owns his own mine, and he has no capacity for bookwork.” said Mr. Fallu. “His whole attention Is directed to the working of the mine. He engaged the services of a secretary, and he has never come in contact with the book-work or correspondence of the business. “I have the person who does the secretarial work present in Court, and he is prepared to give evidence if necessary that these matters were not brought to defendant’s notice,” continued Mr. Fallu. “I would suggest that defendant has been more casual than culpable.”

“COMPLETE SURPRISE”
Mr. Fallu said Roots left the busines side of the colliery to his secretary and it had been a complete surprise to him to find there had been any time lag. Payment had always been made, the average lag being about five weeks.

“It looks as though it eventually got to the stage when the colliery waited for the demand letter before paying.” he stated. “Apparently the department eventually got fed up. The defendant’s secretary assures me that it was his fault entirely, and it was due to pressure of work in the office.”

Mr. Fallu asked the Court to take those factors into consideration when deter mining the penalty. “I would like to point out the terrific amount of secretarial work involved with a colliery,” said Mr. Fallu. “The amount of tedious book-work is tremendous. The defendant is quite sound financially, and there was certainly no intention to defraud or use the money due to the department.”

Mr. Fallu said that both New Amberfield and New Malabar were good collieries, and he asked Mr. Donlevy to treat the matter as a casual approach by defendant rather than a culpable one. He added that to his knowledge there had not been a prosecution of a similar nature in Ipswich.

Mr. Donlevy said that defendant’s record was a particularly bad one, but he felt justified in taking Mr. Fallu’s remarks into consideration. “Ignorance doesn’t excuse defendant, but I think he should be given an opportunity to do the right thing.” said Mr. Donlevy. The blame apparently lies with the agent, and I think I am entitled to take that into consideration, particularly when defendant is a practical man. “Ordinarily I would have taken a very serious view of the breaches.” said Mr. Donlevy.

In each case he convicted and fined defendant £25, and committed him for gaol until the fine was paid. He ordered that suspension of the warrant be delayed for 48 hours. Defendant was also ordered to pay £5/5 professional costs and 10- costs of Court in each case, in default levy and distress. Mr. Fallu said the fines would be paid immediately.

REPEATED DEMANDS
Outlining details of the charges against Petie, Mr. Eagles said the circumstances were very similar to those against Roots. Repeated demands for forwarding remittances had had to be made, and defendant had admitted the amounts had not been paid by the due date.

Mr. Fallu stated that Petie employed  the same secretary as Roots and his previous remarks applied to these charges. “Petie is a very practical man so for as the mine is concerned, and he has no capacity for book-work.” said Mr. Fallu. He had no knowledge the payments were held up. It is another case of a man being casual about his business.

Mr. Donlevy imposed similar penalties.

PIT WORKER HURT
Ben Hohenhaus, married, an employee of Amberfield Colliery (Amberley) was admitted to hospital after an accident at the pit yesterday morning. Hohenhaus was cutting pit prop timber on a circular saw when a piece flew back and struck him on the lower part of the body. He was given first aid by ambulance bearers and taken to hospital where his condition yesterday afternoon was stated to be satisfactory.

DISPUTE OVER PAY AT MINE
The question of payment to a winch driver resulted in a day’s loss of production at the New Amberfield Colliery, at Amberley today. The 41 employees of the mine held a meeting and later conferred with the management. The matter was finalised, but the employees did not begin work. Production loss for the day was 115 tons.

STOPS CAP COAL POLL
Because 14 men worked at the Mt. Elliott colliery at Amberley when the mass meetings were held in the pillar extraction question, the other employees, numbering 29, have refused to work with them. As a result the colliery today produced only a portion of its usual 90 tons output a day. The 40 employees of the New Amberfield colliery, at Amberley, went on strike today as a protest against, the action of the manager in driving the haulage motor and having brushing work carried on when the mine was idle for the mass meeting.

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