A VIEW AT THE BAY OF ISLANDS COAL MINE.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1935, 19 October 1874, Page 3

A VIEW AT THE BAY OF ISLANDS COAL MINE.

The following appears in the Auckland "Evening Star," and if the statements are correct, they prove that it is high time that the authorities should see to the proper and safe working of the coal seams in this Colony : — Understanding that the directors of the Bay of Islands Goal Company were about to call for tenders for getting out coal at the Kawakawa mine, and having had 25 years experience in coal-mining in all its forms, practically and theoretically, I went to the mine, being partly induced by an expressed desire of several shareholders that I should report through your columns on its present state. I have been, as it were, cradled in coal-mining, and have worked coal in seams from 2ft thick up to 30ft. My first training was in Staffordshire, England, with both thick and thin seams, worked both by knobs and pillars, and also by what is called long work, and I have worked in nearly every company's mine in Newcastle, Australia. With regard to the working of the Bay coal mine, I defy any good miner to say there is any systematic working about it. It reminds me more of pig rooting than coal-mining, and if a number of Maoris who had never seen a mine before had carried on the operation it would have been a discredit to them. As to the ventilation of the .mines (which is j one of the most essential things in coal- 1 xniniDg) at the Kawakawa there is no system at all, and those who work the coals may be very thankful that no ignitable gases are contained in the coal as there is commonly in the old country, otherwise it would be impossible to work this mine without incurring great danger of an accident through want of knowledge how to ventilate their workings. lam sorry to state that I see no sign of any alteration for the better. There must have been, thousands of pounds wasted — literally thrown away — in the mine, and the shareholders should see to it. One example I will mention. A new shaft has recently been sunk in a portion of the crop, for the purpose of draining the dip of the mine. Very soon that crop will be worked out, and it will be necessary, in order to drain more of the deep of the mine, to sink the shaft deeper, and drive out a level in the rock instead of in the coal, or (what should have been done at first) sink a new shaf in the deep of the mine. The same kind of economy (?) may be seen by a practical man in any part of the mine. The seam is a well-defined one, and might be worked even more cheaply than the Newcastle c^al with good management, the latter being very much harder.