THE HUNTLY DISASTER.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXX, Issue 32, 24 September 1914, Page 8

THE HUNTLY DISASTER.

EVIDENCE AT THE INQUEST. [Pbb Panes Association.] Huntly, September 23. The Court was crowded when the inquest opened. i James .(Fletcher, general manager j of the Taupiri Coal Mines-, Ltd., said that on the, day of the explosion he was not in charge, being incapacitated at the time.. He appointed William Cowans as .deputy-manager. Cowans was one of the victims of the ex--1 plosion. The day of the explosion j was an off-day, at the mine, and actually six workings were in operation, tin..compliance with the Coal Mines Act, the whole of the working-places were examined each morning by three 'competent .persons, who entered within* two hours, prior to the main body oi *•;men commencing work. The reports ,of three examining deputies for that morning wore found in the office in the mine, I hey showed tnat the bino'meter registered from 37 to 37i degrees in different parts of the mine, and the thermometer from 48 to 49. 'All three reports stated that the reads were safe at 7 a.m., and the ventilation good. The deputies always carried safety lamps on their daily , inspection. Xo actual mining was'done that morning, the men descending merely to straighten up the tunnels. About three tours of tlio joH workings were made continuously by an ■ inspector specially appointed. His last report, on the 11th, stated that all was well, there being no falls, while the ventilation was good. Witness stated that firedamp had been found in small , quantities, on soy on) J occasions ‘‘in pockets. Iho last occasion was on August 17th, when Inspector Weir reported that he found diluted gas in Xo. 4, which wits dispersed as made by the stir current. Gas of this nature .'.as •usually caused by. a fall. Witness considered the. mines fairly immune fi om firedamp unless . a big fall occurred. On July 9th, W illiam Kelly, out, of. the victims, was working in No. 6 stone overhead, drive, a short distance from a pothole that , was bleeding gas. He went to the pothole for a drink, and having a naked hght on his head, he ignited,the accumulation of gas. His hair was singed, and he was off uoik. fox 14 days. This particular section was examined at 8 a.m. on The same day, and found safe. A good current of air was going through, the, drive, and a request was made to Deputy . Darby by one of the contractors to reduce the current, as the men complained of the cold. The request was refusou. In witness’s opinion , the accumulation of gas was/ caused by the disarrangement of the ventilation, because of the air intake pipe being blocked by a brattice cloth. Ho considered the men hxjd found the workings too cold to be comfortable, and.'.had blocked the pipe. The,whole incident was reported to the Government inspector. During the lorn u ,ars witness had been engaged at the 'mines, the accident to Kelly was the only, one of this nature, so far as witness could recollect. He had never received complaints from any man working in the mine of an accumulation of gas, and had no reason to suspect that gas was in the mine in dangerous quantities. Continuing his evidence, Mr Fletcher said that on August 26 signs of heating were noticeable in the old workings,- and on a search being made the trouble was located,. The conditions were reported normal at midnight.' There had been no other signs’ of heating, except on one occasion, for ten weeks previously. Witness admitted receiving a letter''froin Government Inspector Benin,e regarding the dangerous condition of 'the mine,, particularly in the old workings and the main (J.iive, owing to, the accumulation of dry dust. The letter instructed the company to im r mediately undertake the spraying of the dust .with water to remove the danger.’ The letter added: “Although I previously warned the-company of this danger, little or nothing Jias keen done to comply with the request regarding spraying in the old workings.” In view of the accident to Kelly,. Inspector Bennie requested that shot-firers be, appointed as required by special rule 25, and that ihe accumulation of dry, coal dust be dealt with in an adequate and proper manner. The report concluded; “Failure to comply with my request will, bo followed, by prosecution for jhi caches of the Act.” On August 25, the company received an intimation from Inspector Bennie that it might ho necessary to insist on the use’ of safety lamps.

Replying to Inspector W light, the witness said the spraying was done regularly, in the main shaft) but it was not considered necessary to spray the old .workings. Asked if he had any theory as to row the explosion occurred, witness replied in the negative. ... The company, he said, carried its own insurance risks.

Continuing, Fletcher said ihat if ’he men had expressed a desire for safety lamps they could have had thorn. One hundred electric safety lamps had been ordered by the company a while ago, and none but safety lamps would ho used in future. The n ine was considered a damp and cool one. A number of the men who succeed-1 ed 11 in escaping uninjured stated that liyo workings seemed as usual on the Wo ruing of the explosion. All declared that they had previously found it free of gas, though the majority j had noticed dry coal dust in varying quantities at different places. j The inquest adjourned till to-inor-xo w, *