28 MAY 1948, Page 16

O.M.S. IN THE MINES

SIR,—In your first article last week, you stated that "less coal per manshift is being produced today than in 1938." The published statis- tics do not support this. In 1938 the average output per manshift at the coalface was 2.90 tons. By 1946 it had fallen to 2.76 tons ; for 1947, the first year of nationalisation, the average was 2.85 tons, and for the first quarter of 1948 was 2.91 tons. For the week ended May 8th last (the latest for which detailed figures are available) the O.M.S. at the coalface was 2.94 tons, an increase of nearly 1 cwt. on the pre-war figure.—

Director of Public Relations.

National Coal Board, Hobart House, Grosvenor Place, London, S.W.r.