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Otaki Mail, 5 July 1922, Page 4

(Continued Crom third pugc). . zm.e engine, wincn i... now -< chuaiio Uonl llie clUiiUiU', Is lull iv'UUUUI intermission. Aiiullicr problem, aiid one which is j accentuaiea by ino presence of ihe ijcil/.llie engine 111 .lie UUUiui,. : is. me : air supply. This is iiiainUnnea.. by ■ SUCtIOU, created Uy electric energy lie-in me power-house, through a shatt reading up to the lace. V\ lieii me loui aii ui. me tiuau is wiimuuvwi a ui..u o .h j 01 pure air lrom me nioutu 01 me ■ iLiniiei is caused. | At S d'ciock uii Saturday evening j work ceased, as usual, tuiiu. niuiuigiu on auuuay, except that a pump in"- j lelldani was on UUly, as ine wwn o, j Hie pumps is unceasing. as me ciee i tiicai supply "'a.- cut Oil wiieti «uti. ceased, an auMiuuy engine ui me j mouth oi Ihe tunnel was ilirowu inn. gear to create hit suction in un-.m i to keep tlie tunnel clear lor tne punij | aiteiiuant's periodic incursions to tnc j puinpng eugne. Ths ran sattsiactoniy, or nearly so, until l> o'> lock on j Sunday afternoon, wiieu a delect uc- i CUi'l'.ed, and the engine ceased run- J lung. There was accordingly no ventilation in the tunnel, and .tne mines lrom the benzine engine accumulated thicKly at the head, However, as there was no won; to be done until midnight, and the electric energ-y was expected at 7 o'clock, this occasioned little concern. The current came on at 7 o'clock, but ceased torty minutes later, owing to a breakdown ai the power-house.

A man uatned Areeg was OH da... at lire pumps at the tune, and sla.ethai when iiis relief (LSullerj came on tit o o'clock lie lnioniied hiin that the gas was very thick, and "a man would not last live minutes in it." At y. m, the loremiui oi the shin iu go on at midnight, A. E, Maxwell, came down lo make bis customary preliminary inspection, and on his way stopped lor a chat with Trigg, tne attendant at the electric sub-sta-tion. ITigg informed .Maxwell oi tin' lailure ol 11 ie current ;il 7.-HI, and was unable to state when it might be expected again. However, .Maxwell went oh to the tunnel. Some lime later, Trigg, who had I e< u growing more and more uneasy and could hear nothing oi either Maxwell or Butler, determined either to dUpel in get coniirtnalion ol Ins v....i5; tears, and made tor Ihe tunnel. This was til in.4o o'clock—on accotiui ~,' Ui' daylight saving scheme jn vogue at .Mangahao, all times mentioned aie hall an hour ahead oi local time. ai ihe n h Trigg met three lunuellers ol the uiidnight shift— F, and [>. Graham am! \V. Biras—who bad strolled down to see thai everything was right, ami told them ol ins leanand his mission. On their instigation he returned to his posi in case the current was .-witched on, and Ihe Hire,, iiiunelleis went up the tunnel for a distance ol about "20 chains. They called out, and knocked on the pipes, but got no reply. As there wns no prool thai either Butler or Maxwell had entered the tunnel, and as Ihe fumes were oveipowering further in, they returned tor some definite information. Not a sign ol either man could be seen in ihe camp, and tlie onl> alternative was that they must be in iT'.e tunnel. Not one ol the three faltered ui the dreadful prospi : . They donned their gum boots, ihese men. took Iheir lights, and set mil. The engineer. W. ii. Miiler. who had been a i cut before dissuaded lrom going in al joined thorn. They were never t-een again alive. When and where V. Birss. lather ol die lad who laid down liis life, joined ■l,■in is noi precisely known, 11 is body was found lying amougsi tho.-e of the men who composed this firs! gallant band, -HiLL JNVPSTiGATION. EXBEIiTS DISKVTCHED TO THJi

SCENE. j ■ Directly tlie news of the disastei at Mangahao reached Wellington yesj lerday, the Minister oJ Public Works j (Hon. J. c;. Coates! gave instructions j thai u staff officer o*the Public Works j Department, should proceed to Hu; works to investigate the occurrence Au expert Croin Hie Mines Deparlnieu: accompanied the officer, m order that Iu- much information as possible i might be gained regarding the cause* j oJ the sevi re loss of life. The Minister said yesterday that he was tiot in a position to comment upon the disaster. The matter would be investigated very fully by compei tenl men. and uo pains would 1R I spared lo ascertain all the facts. It I was regrettable in the extreme that i the big work at Mangahao had been ! accompanied by such a tragedy, and ii was peculiarly unfortunate thai brave men should have lost their lives in the attempt a; rescue. The Hon. .1. t;. Coates referred to the disaster briefly when he was addressing the staff oi the Public Works Department at a gathering

j held in honour of the retiring Govern- ! in.enl Architect, Mr John Campbell. i Me said that some good and faithful men had lost their lives. Among them was n very bright young member of the staff of the Department. He believed thai the spirit in which this officer had met his death entitled them all lo feel proud of the department to which they belonged. T; was a department with a fine record of service aim achievement. OFFICIAL REPORT f Details of the appalling affair are well related by the assistant engineer !at Arapeti (Mr J, Hurrcll it. his re- ' port to the Public Works Department, lie states that Maxwell, before commencing the usual inspection of the tunnel carried out by the shift foreman at 0.31 "it Sunday evening, visited Triggs in the sub-station, where he was on duty from p.m. until midnight, and was talking to him for some time. Therefore Maxwell was fully apprised of the current having been cut off, and that the electric fan was not running. "There is a probability, although <

this cauiiot be vciiiied," says the report, ■ thai Maxwell and Buuer started tne auxiliary lan beiore going into the tunnel, as it is UiU»o!le>aiJie mat a. man oi Maxwell'*, experience would have entered ihe tunnel withoui first siaiting tiie auxiliary lan. There is no evidence, though, whether Butler was with Maxwell or not. Butler may nave been already in tiie tunnel when Max.-, ell eiileren. Ai ;J.'iU Trigg, having seen" no sign of Maxwell and Butler, became uneasy ,and was on the point ol going in to look lor them when Ihe Grahaui brothers and VV. Uirs.- came over to the tunnel mouth to ascertain if lliey would be able to go on shift. Trigg communicated ins fears to them, and they decided lo go in and see if the two men were iu the tunnel, Trigg went back to the sub-station t,o stauu-

The tnrcc men went in about 20 I chains and called out and knocked on the pipes, but got no reply. They ! came oul and asked Trigg it he was sure the two men were in there. Trigg saiu he was not sure, but thought so, and suggested that they should go to Butler's hut and see if he was there, thinking that perhaps he and Maxwell bad Celt the fumes and come out and gone to lie down, investigations proved that Butler was not in his hut. The two Grahams and \V. Birss were in the act of putting on gum boots preparatory to reentering' when Miller, the engineer, mined, lie decided to go in immediately, but on Trigg's advice waited a lew moments for the two Grahams ami \V. Birss. This party went, in at 11.20. There is no evidence where 1 ? . Birss met this party, but he evidently went in with them. When Trigg's relief arrived at approximately 12 midnight Trigg, not having seen anything Of tiie rescuers, went into the tunnel and found the party, but was 100 far gone to do anything. He managed to reach the. sub-station and tell his relief, "They are down! I'e.use the camp!"