THE COAL MINER

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 233, 26 June 1919, Page 8

THE COAL MINER

IS HE EFFICIENT? BOARD OF TRADE SAYS "YES" A BAD ENVIRONMENT l?acls about the miner and his work are given in the , report of the Board or Trade on the coal industry. Following are a. few extracts from the report:— The number and classification of persons employed in the coal mines of New Zealand for each year, from J 678 inclusive are set out:— Labour and Output. Tons raised per person Persons employed. employed under•Year. Above. Below. Total, ground. ISflO ... 617 1813 2460 591) 1801.... 688 2061 i 2754 600 1902 ... SO3 2052 2885 655 1903 ... 717 2135 ' 2852 C 65 1904 ... 763, 2525 3288 609 , 1905 ... 833 2436 3269 651 ISO 6 ... 1174 2518 ■ 3692 687 1807 ... 1143 2707 3910 662 1903 ... 992 2902 3894 641 1909 ... 1159 3032 4191 633 1910 ... 1136 3463 4599 634 1911 ... 1365 2925 4290 706 1912 ... 1130 3198 4328 681 1913 ... 1053 3197 4250 590 1914 ... 1176 3558 4734 639 1915 ... 1050 3101! * 4156 711 1916 ... 98S 3000 3988 750 1917 ... 1090 2893 3983 715 1018 ... 1102 '• 2892 3994 703

The number of workers in and about the mines increased fivefold, comparing the average for 1879-S1 with the number in 1914. The ratio of output to labour has. increased at a still more rapid rate, so that the output per person, employed underground increased nearly 70 per cent, between 1878 and 1916. It is worth noting that the three year? of the war period, 1915-17, show the highest triennial average of output per man. The output per underground worker is higher than in most other countries. Comparisons of this figure must, however, be taken together with information us to the height and width of the seam?, the hardness of the coal, proportion of stone, the .distances travelled underground, the of machinery used, and so forth, in the*"different localities or at the different dates compared, as well as the method.of calculating the average number employed for the year. The ';uroSer of mine work-, era decrensed by 7-40, or nearly 16 per cent., from 1914 to 1918. A Good Worker. The efficiency of the coal worker' in New Zealand, "in the opinion of competent authorities, compares favourably with that of similar workers in the leading fields of other countries. A fairly largo proportion of tho miners are immigrants from the mining' districts of England. Scotland, and Wales, many of them arriving after having worked for some lime, in the mines of Canada, tho United States, and New South Wales. The coalminer has strong migratory habits, developed, according to the opinion of the president of the Miners' Federation, largely by the rapidly-changing nature of the. conditions in which the miner works; he moves from one place to another to escape bad conditions or to discover better, and theso conditions change more rapidly than is the case with most other workers. A clnrsiflcation of the miners in respect of birthplace promises interesting results. A witness of tho widest experience and high authority was _ emphatic in the expression of his opinion that .the native born and locally trained New Zealnnrier makes the best miner. (On the other hand, tlie opinion of traders was juefc as emphatic that the immi- ' grant miner excels- in thrift, and-.punc- , tnal payment of debts.) ' .. ••

It was interesting to find that a very large proportion of the management posts (mine and administrative) are filled by men who have risen to them thjough the ordinary grades of labour.

the employment* in and about and essential to a coal mina are many and vnried. The following is a .more or less complete list, excluding the clerical operations, as described .by Mr. J. Bishop:—

Underground Labour—Hewing (contract work), timbering, trucking, and hauling, .crushing, baling water and pumping, overmen and deputies, maintenance work, ventilation, lamp-trimming, mine management. .

■. Overground Labour.—Tipping, loading, screening, weighing, blacksmiths and fitters, carpenters, engincmeii nnd stokers, eugine-wright, 'tub-cleaning, general labour.

•In the personal qualities that control the efficiency of an individual's work the average miner docs not appear to fall below the level of other workers. The character of his work, much of which is by no means of a routine nature, calls for tho exercise of .intelligence, initiative, resourcefulness, and adaptability, whilst the fact that he is in continual contact with his fellow-men, conduces to the discussion of ideas though the'position of tho mining settlements, and their uniform class constitution, tend to-narrow their views. The character of the underground! work draws' heavily on the mine worker's store of physical and nervous strength; and the light and air underground, even where conditions are most favourable, can never be as satisfactory as on the surface. The special dangers of mining help to develop certain sencrous traits of character, and. the-ag-gregation and isolation together breed u strong communal spirit; but (he general environment is, in present conditions, not such as to moralise the work and tho life—both individual and social—to the full extent that should be possible. Whether these conditions nrc capable of improvement or not is an important subiect for consideration in the main parl of the'report. Where conditions are favourable a few miners combine small farming with their mine work, or alternate between farniinsr and mining. Surface work, however, whether in town or country, is often repellant to the miner, who has grown accustomed to tho even temperaI ture o£ the pit*. I Use of Machines. Although the use.of machines for cuttinjf and holing is j.ow common in (lie -.collieries .of (lie fnited Stales of America, New South Wales and other coal regions, this work is still done by hnmi in our mines, except in. parts of the Taupir: Extended Mine. Machines were introduced by the Westport Coal Company into their mines and used for some ytiars, but mc-s ultimately discarded because of the men's objection to the contract system under which they were worked, and (he introduction of the eight hours bank-to-bank rule rendering them n costlier method than hand-hewing. Machines were also used in the Westport-Stockton mines for some vrars. and abandoned owing to (he difficulty of fixing n rate of pny for the men working the fillere.'