The lines Commission.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 35, 3 November 1911, Page 5

The lines Commission.

SITTING AT REEFTON.

The Mines Commission sat at Reefton on October 21 and heard the following evidence :— Mark Fagan, inspector and secretary of the Inangahua Miners' Union, with a membership of 1005, consisting cf about 750 miners. The scope of tne Commission has been discussed by our committee. I have bad. five years' mining in New Zealand and about ,12 years in Victoria and elsewhere. I hold no certificates, having been a procrical miner. During the past two 3 T ears 215 accidents have happened to minors. three of which pnv/ed fatal. The fatal accidents were caused by firing eleven holes _at one time, and they had not time to get away. Another fatal accident was caused by an uncertificated person getting hold of the win ding -2_ear. . )e amount of money paid for minor accidents for two years by the Union wss £1193- In his ;.,. nion, the men who wero killed had been too hasty. They were contractors. I wo.id suggest that certain men be employed as'shot firers. There have been such appointments in No. 1 level in the Great Boulder mine where T have worked. The shot firer charges the hole. He does it during crib time; even he would have to hurry if there were a number of holes to be fired. I know of no one holding such a position in the New Zealand manes. I have used electricity for firing myself. I should say it was no t safe for an experienced man to fire more than 11 holes. Some men boast that they are experts, and eanfiie ""5 or 20, but they sometimes do it cure too often. I have had- no experience with instantaneous fuse. I would advocate the use of the elc<_3-ric buttery. There would be .till the necessity io.*' a shot firer. A battery has been p ! _ced in the Blackw_ter mines, but tho men see ml to be ■ h .ghtened to use it. I have never seen a hang-fire with the electric firing. 11 has always been a proper explosion or ami _s fire. An amendment has been made to the Mining Act wJhereoy tt would do away with a similar accident which occurred in the Energetic to that of an uncertificated man entering the engineroom or interfere with the driver when men are being raised or lowered. Anyone doing so would commit a breach of the Mining Act. Ido not concur with the new code of signals now in force. I think itwill be the cause of an accident. The old signals were better than th. newones as'(regards this field. \n enginedriver who has to get" his certificate on this field, and accustomed to the old signals, would probably, get confused with the new ones. I think the old signal of three and one much better than the present four, as he is likely to get confused with a straight three to raise mullock. We have enginedrivers in our union who. 'will give evidence later on. The sides of the cage being open might be the cause of an accident through one of the guys beingloose and striking the men in the cage. It frequently happens in small mines, to save expense. The enginedriver on the afternoon shift lowers ohe men and goes home. In the case of ai accident happening below, a miner could bleed to death before he could be got out, as be would have to. wait until the enginedriver on the day shift comes to work. I think levers should be placed on all levels, so that he could p\il the knocker, instead of at the present time he has to put his head out in the shaft and perhaps have to pull about 101) ••_-. 1500 feet of line. I think thee should be a stiff penalty as to anyone being allowed to handle the knocker line except the person in charge, as it tends to confuse the enginedriver. I think the Mining Act should be altered so as to compel companies to have wooden tamping sticks in each level. At the present time men have to go into the bush to cut them. I think it should be compulsory for all mining companies to have an ambulance and first aid appliances, this to be kept in the enginedriver's room. I have seen one in use at the Big Rive]', viz., Bayne's system, which I think is a very good one, In other mines * 1 .re a man gets injured it is very painful to get him to the surface. I t:tfc<_bute the number of poisoned fingers on this field to a want of proper appliances for the washing of the wound, which afterwards festers. I would recommend a bath and change house. It should be compulsory, each man to have at least 2J- feet of room and a proper person to be in charge. No plunge bath to be in use. They should be hot and coldshower baths, with a concrete floor. I would advocate the compulsory use of pahls on windlasses underground. All travelling ways should be at least 4x4. I know where there is a want of stagings, proper ones should be put in every 30 feet, as if a man got tired going up a ladder he could not rest himself. A number of accidents have been caused through lifting heavy timber, causing ruptures. I would suggest the using of an endless chain for the lifting of heavy timber. There is one in use-at Blackwater on the surface, but none below. It should be compulsory to have gates in each chamber near the shaft, instead of at present there is only a bar. I have seen' a truck of timber nearly disappear down the shaft. I think there should be a speaking tube or telephone with connection on each level. The problem of ventilation is a very difficult one,, especially with development work going on. The remedy I would suggest would be the compulsory use of exhaust fans in the months of January, February, and March, the ventilation beiug very bad. One mine had to be shut down, having to depend on natural ventilation. At the old shaft in the Globe there is plenty of air going through to,, blow the candle out, but it contains no oxygen.

I think the p'reseni system of rising in this field should be done awa3 r with, as in many cases very ]jttle can be *•_.._ uml ud. Risina: should be limited

to a oetrtain distaaiioe , m the Mining. Act. They dan rise to any distance. They should be compelled to sink onethird of the way, and all rises should consist of three compartments. I think there should be a standard of 75 or 76 fully" saturated, which is as hot as any man can work in. I think a man working is a better judge of the temperature than testing. Of course, some men can stand more than others. . As far as air is concerned, a candle is the best test where not fit for a man to work in. I would rather see a temperature standard. I have often noticed a. very bad smell arise from inferior candles being used. None but the very best should bemused. I think sanitation a very important matter to men engaged below. On the surface in ordinary factories an inspector is appointed", whereas down below perhaps where 100 or 150 men are working, nothing is done. The class of sanitation should be properly attended to by a man told off to do such work. I think the constitution of the present inquiry with regard to fatal accidents is unfair. Ido not) think the two assesors should be mine managers. The workmen should be represented as one of the assessors. Generally the mine managers are a happy family The man should be nominated by the union or controlling authority. In answer to the chairman, he be prepared to allow the Warden to nominate as long as ihe nominated a practical man. I think the powers of the inspector of Mines should be extended; at the present time his powers are limited to such an extent that it is simply a farce, and referred to a section of the Act, where he considers a place very dangerous, and notifies the mine owner, who can continue working for seveii days. Then, if not remedied, it is referred to the warden—another delay of perhaps seven days. Then, after the warden gives his decision an offence is not committed for another 14 days. I do not think there is any necessity for seven days to be allowed the mine owner to appear. I think 48 or 49 hours sufficient, after he received notice ; also, he should stop work or commence the necessary alterations authorised within 24 hours, and not 14 days "as at the present. I suggest that a warden on a mining field should have practical mining knowledge. I think that provision should be made in the Mining Act for dealing with the dust nuisance, to compel companies, where, they do not use rock drills, that water should be used. Even in this field where water is used the spray is not sufficient to keep down the dust. I woul_ prevent men from boring uppers, also dry drilling by haand or machine. I have often seen men coming up from a temperature of, say, 76 degrees, going home on a cold day' with' their clothes stiffened by the time they arrive home, through wanrb of a changing room. I think that contracting is the cause of a lot of miners' complaint in this district. Also with regard to the bank-to-bank clause, contractors can work 10 or 12 hours a day if they like. The chairman thought they could not legislate in such a case, as contractors ought to know themselves that after working eight hours they ought toknock off work. The witness: To legislate in such cases I think would be trenching too much'on the liberty of the subject. Mr. Fagan suggested that something more in the shape of relief should be given' to the miners who are compelled to stop work suffering from miners' complaint, but the chairman stated that it was outside their scope to inquire into. —"Grevm.iith Star."