THE Inanghua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIAY, JANUARY 4, 1878.

Inangahua Times, 4 January 1878, Page 2

THE Inanghua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIAY, JANUARY 4, 1878.

Ik our laat issue we pW«&ed tip full particulars elicited at the fate inquost Upon tho body of tbe unfortunate man Patrick Djmey. At the inquiry the fullest lattiude wan given to jurors to intertognte witnesses, and the privilege was freely ererciaed. with the reßUlfc that every , circumstance Burrounding tbe accident, as well as in connection with tbe character and working of; tho Energetic mine was laid bare. There is no reason to at* terapfc to disguiao tho fact that at the time, thtf Intelligence became circulated that the, accident had occurred a pretty widespread feeling was 'entertained thafc there was something radically wrong with the system of working the min©,and:thl3belief bad its origin in the fact that one, or two fatal accident* bad previously occurred in ' the >atne mine. So' firm was thia opinion upon the minds bfttiany persons thai; feeling ran pretty high, and a general wish was expressed that the services of experts should be called in to inspect the mine and report upon the workings. The inquest was accordingly adjourned, and a number of persons were chosen to visit the mine and report upon it. As the outcome, of all this we have the information detailed in our last issue, from which it appears, rb far ns we are able to judge, the supposition, offaultj* ness in the , working of the mioe was without foundation. Tliore was, of course, some diversity of opinion as to the wisdom of working ground without timber, but we are informed it is by no means an exceptional circumstance on this field to dispense with the use of timber wherever the character of the ground Reeins to warrant it. At any* rate there was nothing in the evidence to show that the use of timber was at all restricted or forbidden in thißJnsUnce, and consequently no blame k, fairly ata tachable tothe company upon that head: The blaifrd; t^enV'if Maine there be, is noceiiarity narrowed down to those working In the ground and those im»mediately supervising. Here we have the frank fldmission of the man in charge of the shift that he may have been guilty bt an error of judgment in not insisting at ooce to stay the doubtful portion of ground, but against this we have his sworn evidence that he called the Workmen's attention to it, and even "suggested " that it should be taken down* 'i'he workmen, however, placed greater dependence upon the ground. ' and $o discarded the suggestion with the (sad result already known. As one of the witnesses but too truly remarked, it is not easy to get all workmen to properly attend to their safety, and it now becomes necessary to consider whether it shall nob be made tbe bottriden duty of the Comp«niuß to withdraw all discretion in these matters from the workmen, in favor of a cast iron rule that nothing shall be left to ohniwp. This brings us at once to the all important question of the appointment of a thoroughly competent Inspector of Mines for this field, and there can be no longer a doubt as to the need of such an appointment! It is well known that in the early days of reefing here the top leyels of many of the mines were worked in a very sloven* ly fashion, and now that it has become nccoHßary to go into deeper levels, unloas tho requisite precautions are taken in time, we may look for a frequent repetition of "tho dreadful cuHualty of Friday laat. As this is a mutter rightly within tho functions of the County Council to take action in, we truttt the members are by this [ time properly impressed with its im* portanco, and that where so many I. lives are at stake they will allow no > minor considerations to impede their action.