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Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 110, 2 October 1914, Page 8

UNKNOWN

OOMlffiSSriON AND INQUffiJT. EXPI/OSIOX DUJC TO IGNITION OF GAS. Huntly, October 1. The 'Ooveraim.ent OomanirMon of Enquiry into tJie Huntly disaster was formally op> (rn'it to-day, befoie Conimriss'.oners Burgess, Brown and Dugrav. the eoir.tpany wisa, repuwiited l'v Messrs Tonka and Ralf, the trustees b.y Mr. VV. Xiap.er, the 'Mines Department *>y Air. 'iMiu-assey, the Taupm .Miners' Union <bv 'Messrs Norton and Willord, and the New Zealand Minem' Union by Mr. Uould. The report oi the Commission will bo handed to tlie 'Minister on November 1. The proceeding* will probably lust a week. To avoid inconvenience two cnijuiriea are sitting together. The Commission was adjourned till to-morrow, whon t'ho imiaest will hava been comnleted. At the inquest, Professor Dixon, continuing ili.is evidence, said tlwx pfttb:ilbly only u few hundred f<\it oi gas was necessary lo start am explosion. Adked whether he connects the seismic di«turbanca at V%'hito Inland with the explosion, he said he did not know unouiih of the geological formation of the New Zealand coalfields to give all opinion. Ho did not (fcnow of any instances in whiah (arlh tremors hiui I>een connected with pit expkwionH. Only, in rec.'nt joarit laid tho exipJonion of coal dus-c been investijjated, and very few managers w ere aware that dust was a danger. (Questioned iby the. jury, Professor Dixon said the hydrog.m hump was a more delicate testis!" instrument tlhan tho ordinary safety lamip. Jle doubtod whether there wan oite in NV.v Zealand. Asked his opinion of tha life-having u/p----jaratus, ho Raid that in Lancashire the.ro ware stallions where men were trained in the use of apparatus, and a contingent was always ready for eaneigeney. lie suggested that the New Zualand Government should rastablish a central station for training experienced miners to use the apparatus. Professor Dixon continued that it was remarkalda that with such an accumulation of coal dust in I'.alph's mine an 'eX'ploiiion luul noi. belore iby blown-out siLots. Two and a l.alf per cent. of gas was not dangerous in itself. The explosive point was o.li per cent. All the evidenced pointed to the fact that the initiation of the explosion way due to tho presence of fas. It was clear that gas ihas since cenue in considerable quaot'ty Irani the ipoint of origin. Huntly, Last Ni#h+. Daniel Wear, the company's inspector, recalled, said that in testing for gu,s it was not the praieticci to examine every board. iSumo places were unused, because there had never been any indication of ga* illis. instructkmd were to look for lire, not gas. No one was deputed to Übt tor gjas in the old workings. Any tuila made were quite' vol--1 r.tary.

Jlrownlie, ft driver, recabod, stated that on thii morning of the explosion he, with others, hod ibeen instructed to \-n----ter the old workings to draw out rails, i.'artin picbu'bly received similar insuuctionH,and entered the old workings first.

Boyd Bcmiic, Government Inspect or of Mines, said that daring the pucsi Uy» years two accidents had ocvurrul through! gas iu the 'Extended No. 2 and Ralph's. Witness liad twice warned t'ho company of danger owing to the. quantities* of coal dust, thrraUcning prosicutioit* if (hey were not watered, bot : i i'.t the old and Uia.present workings,' He had nevw found 1 gaa present in tu«» workings in sufficient quantities to warrant the co.iiipulsory wie of sufeU' l-ionp*.

in reply to Mr. Naipier (for Ralph's trutttcea), Mr. Benntie said that hcul he had the power ha wouW certainly have insisted on the compulsory -use of safety lumps. The old workings should be (.xamined more frequently in future. The jury, after retiring, rt.turned 'i verdict that the deaths of tho foity-tl-.rce men were caused by the ignition of a quantity of gas in a section of tho old workings causing an explosion of real dust. Ttlw jury did not add any rider, in view of the fact that the Government commission is more closely investigating the causes of the explosion.