THE HUNTLY PRESS. PUBLISHED WEEKLY AT 1 P.M. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1914. Notes and Comments.

Huntly Press and District Gazette, Volume 3, 23 October 1914, Page 2

THE HUNTLY PRESS. PUBLISHED WEEKLY AT 1 P.M. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1914. Notes and Comments.

The sequel to the evidence of “PERMITTED” Mr Frank Reed, Explosives. c r hief , Inspector ot Mines, as given at the late eWnmission of enquiry, ban been the closing of the Extended and Ralph’s mines, and, consequently, the loss of employment by some 600 men. Mr Reed’s assertions were such that no body of directors or officials would, in the face of them, allow men to proceed underground, and, though equipped with safety lamps, use explosives not on the English “ permitted” list. Undoubtedly, coal can be got at the point of the pick, but not in such quantity as would re-itnhurse the employee for his exertions, or prove profitable to the employers. Hence tbs present impasse; for, as no permitted explosives can be obtained i’ the D minion, the wheels o. industry must remain idle until shipments can be obtained from Australia or Great Britain. The value and sacredness or human life are of paramount importance, and appeal as earnestly to the directors and officials of the Taupiri Company as they do to the public and the Department, and for an official, respected and undeniably clever, and with a keen sense of his responsibilities, to state in effect —as has, unfortunately, happened in actuality

that the mines should be closed down until the arrival of flameless, and, necessarily, less powerful explosives, has created a state of unemployment that has g'one to swell the ranks of men out of work on account of the present war. The Home Authorities, under whom comes the question of the use or non-use of certain explosives, were stated at the Commission to be second to none in knowledge of such matters ; but when they “wipe” an explosive off the list, they avoid drastic steps by allowing such explosive to be used concurrently for one year with those “ permitted, ” so that the manufacturers and retailers may not lose by the stocks on hand. In Huntly the much discussed “ Monobel ” has been barred, the result being idle mines, men out of employment, importers and retailors left with full stocks on hand, and consumers deprived of the fuel requisite for steam and household purposes —-a position that might have been modified if- —and especially' as the owners and officials have insisted on the use of the safety lamp in the Huntly mines—■ a less extreme and more moderate course of action had been insisted upon, a course that, while adopted to prevent another “ holocaust,” would have allowed men cager to work to ha able to do so. The via media is usually the best, and compromise is not always to be contemned.