Coal Mines and Conditions Therein.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 23, 11 August 1911, Page 4

Coal Mines and Conditions Therein.

That the. miners of New Zealand are generally dissatisfied /with conditions pertaining in mines is evdenced by the complants voiced from" north to south; and undoubtedly there is just cause for general dissatisfaction. The Chief Inspector of. Mines, in his last available report-to the Mines Department, isays regarding fatal accidents : "The proportion of lives lost was 1.79 per thousand persons employed, which proportion, although lower than prevails in some countries, including North America and South Africa, exceeds the general European average. By far the greater number of accidents may be attributed to the carelessness of the sufferers or to misadventure.' , In the face of this statement by the New Zealand Chief Inspector, the British Chief Inspector is quoted as having said in a late report, "that not one single accident takes place in mines that could not.: be prevented if money is spent to prevent it." • Would the New Zealand Chief Inspector have us believe that accidents are caused bj f different agencies in New Zealand mines than in- British? The Chief Inspector asserts,, that many of the fatal accidents "may be attributed to the carelessness of the 'jstifferers." Yet, significant fact, why do the verdicts of the juries not say so? The New Zealand Chief Inspector further says in his report that "with the introduction this year of the new regulations under the Coal Mines Act, making it compulsory that all underviewers and firemen, and deputies (in addition to mine managers as heretofore enacted) shall be the holders of certificates of competency or service, it may be hoped that greater safety will be obtained in: our coal mines," which hope, and venture, and yet iegx-et to say,'judging by the number of recent fatal accidents, will not be realised. At a recent examiiiatipri -held- in Huntly under "the new regulations" one of the examiners was then a director of the- Taupiri Mines Co., Ltd., by which company most of the candidates were employed. The truth is that men are appointed to official positions in mines who, for the increased wages, are willing to serve the masters (aiid some of them show considerable aptitude in that respect), but are woefully ignorant regarding scientific mining knowledge. lln the report of the Inspector of Mines, Northern District,'are embodied these remarks in reference to the Northern Coal Co.'s mine : —"Although this" (the sinking of-a collecting shaft) "has resulted in a material improvement in the ventilation, it ;is inadequate." One naturally asks what must the ventilation: have been previous to the sinking of the shaft? In the same Inspector's report on the Union Collieries relating to the ventilation he writes: "Main intake 1421 cubic feet of air per minute, or 79 cubic feet of air per man per minute; main return, 3350 cubic feet of air per minute, or 186 cubic feet per man per minute,-" the mean of which, 133 cubic feet, is 17 cubic feet less : than provided by the Act. In reference to Driiry mine, he says: "The- ventilation is ■'inadequate,"

By J. E. DUNCAN.

yet in no case lias the inspector taken proceedings against the mine owners or their agents. In reference to the sanitary conditions at Ralph's mino (Taupiri Mines Co.),'the Inspector" in his 1909 report says, "mine sanitation is properly attended to," and of the Extended mine, of the same company, "the sanitary conditions are satisfactory." The excrement cans are placed in a. "workedour" bord or "place," and the allpowerful odour arising therefrom in many cases pervades the air on a travelling way, causing a passer-by to hold his breath. I doubt if one penny has been spent in the purchase of disinfectants since the pans have been put in; most certainly there is none used now. You, who have never been compellxl to toil in these sunless depths and "wiiulowless hungeons" can but dimly imagine the effects of this nauseating odour permeating the already vitiated and foetid air. And this the miner has to breathe, while wresting from Nature her possessions (which the master class""afterwards, divides), and oftimes he' is face to face with death. In these mines, within a period of two years four miners have lost the sight of an eye, and others have had their sight severely affected. The miners of Huntly, by an Arbitration Court award, which they have said is tlieir last, "have to "cut" the coal to a depth of three feet, and if the bosses are sympathetic, why not advocate the abolition of the coalcutting, which is responsible for the greatest percentage of these accidents ? But no, there would not then be such a quantity of "lump" coal, and consequently less profits. In the Kaitangata mine, where numerous fatal accidents have occurred within the last eight years, some of the •miners have been engaged in withdrawing pillars and "dropping top coal" in a particularly thick seam. When pillars are withdrawn and "top coal lropped," the miners fill, coal imde ran unprotected roof. I notice the miners there have lately, and rightly so, been considering the gravity of this procedure, which is little short of courting a mangled body or death itself. [Recently Walker was killed in Freeman's mine, Green. Island, from this cause. —Ed.] Comment on the conditions at the Greymouth State mine is unnecessary. In 1910 three fatal accidents occurred, and other accidents •'"'wherein the victims have been crippled--and maimed. In America, a mine has recently been opened by tho Government at Bruceton, Pa./for the purpose of testing appliances for the saving of life. Certainly tho Point Elizabeth State • mine does not seem to be, 1 run for this purpose. I heard W. T. Mills say in Auckland "that a system of industrial despotism pertains in your New Zealand mines because the man on top appoints the n>an below." Let us, the workers in every factory, mine,' and mill, where wrongs are crying aloud for redress, arise, and, speaking t with a United voice, say a system of industrial democracy" shall pertain in which the workers shall.be the masters. Why nob act: "Ye are many they are few."