CHARGE OF MANSLAUGHTER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 231, 9 March 1915, Page 5

CHARGE OF MANSLAUGHTER.

KCIIO fir THE lIUNTLY IiUSASTIUi. By Ta egruph.—Ptosis* 3.ssoeiation. Hamilton, March 8. The trial /if James Fletcher, late manager of itaiph's Colliery., llunfly, . 011 a charge of Manslaughter in the recent pit disaster, commenced to-day before Mr Justice Cooper and a special jiny of twelve. The charge rea'tC that en or about September 12, l!)14i. lie (lid omit, without lawful excuse, to' observe his legal duty with regard to the- safety of the lives of the miners emplojped in Ralph's Colliery, and in qoiisuqutmsa' of sndi omission did cause the'death ofWil-

,'liam Burton, thereby committing' jnaiv!sl«giitcr. Mr Ostler is for the CrMvn. and Messrs Sfcerrelt, K.C., and Tim(;s lor the defence. Thro* are about twenty, witnesses, and fflie ease is expected t3» last a week.

The grounds of' were: (IV Tliat accused had made it a practice to allow- miners to go into- the workings wifc'lr iurfccd lights- and to remove rails, in spite of the fact that he knew cas was<t>eirr£ constantly found there by deputy inspectors; ('£) that knowing tlie presence' e/f gas in the mine, and of ignitions' ami explosions' that had taken place; and that the- mine was a dusty one and that the coal' dust was highly explnsi've, h-fl did not order safety lamp's to be-used in the mrne; (,7J that, contrary to special rules, lie did not keep the door leading to the old workings locked; (4) that he (fi'd not carry out the watering- of the mine as instructed 'Hy the Government inspector; (5) that he did not cause daily inspection of ali parts of the mine to Tie made, as required by special rules, nor did he cause adequate inspection of the old workings to be mfftTe'.

Mr Ostler, opening for the Crown, reviewed tlip leading to the disaster, his address occupying two hours. The facts relative to the date and the occurrence of the disaster were admitted.

Boyd Bonnie. Government Inspector of Mines, stated that it was tlic practice of deputies to insnect tlic old workings weekly and report daily. These , ports showed gns had been discovered in tlie cli[ workings. Witness wrote to accused on May 3vtl. drawing attrition to tlie coal dust in Ralph's mine, and asked that remedial measures he tak-n to combat the danger by spraying. Accused replied that' there had' been no complaint. On July 1r Ji witness wrote regarding tlie presence of gas and coal dust, and impressed the necessity of coping with the danger. -Accused replied that the matters 1 were receiving attention. On August 25 witness pointed out that if any further ignitions of fire-damp occurred it would be. necessary to insist on the use of safety lamps. Tn reply to Mr Skerre'E. witness said the mine bad been worked for 25 years with naked lights. Up till 1014 it had been regarded by all experts as safb under the naked light system. There bad been no complaint by the men or their inspector. At times the men had complained of dust on the travelling roads, but this bad no relatl-m to the inflammability of cnnl dust. Witness had inspected the mine for a period of nine years prior to the explosion. Tiie character of the coal in this mine was hard lignite. The gunpowder blasting methods by which yt was obtained were often overcharged, and the coal thrown back "on the roads. The mine was more dusty than others in his district. It was a fact that prior to the explosion expefts in New Zealand so far as he knew, did not know of the extreme inflammability of the dust in this min6. Although witness bad made six examinations from January to the time of the disaster, in none of the working parts did he find any accumulations of gas, but they were always found in the old workings. : The general rule was that the accumulations of gas were not found in old workings unless thpre had been a fall from the roof. His conclusion was that the condition of the mine was generally satisfactory from a pas point of view. He had no knowledge of any mine in New Zealand treating coal dust water-spraying or of other methods. Prior to the explosions be was aware of the use of water for inert dust in mines, but not in Australasia. Generally the quantity of air in Ralph's mine was from 290 to 300 cubic per man, whereas the minimum allowed by lawwas 150 cubic feet. During the course of his examination of the old workings there were one or two places where ladders should have been used, and the scene of the disaster was one of them. The object of thtf regulations to keep doors locked where they were only occasionally used was to prevent miners straying into dangerous places. He was sure the door in question had been erected between his last visit in August and the time of the disaster. It was possible that the explosion of gas ha<l occurred from a fall in No. 6 bord, between knockoff time on Friday and Saturday at 8 a.m. He was of opinion that if there had been a blower of gas freed by falling debris it would have been there in sufficient force between 5.30 p.m. and 7, a.m. to cause the explosion. Under re-examination by Mr. Ostler: Witness said that on bis visit to the mine after giving bis instructions he found it had not been-watered adequately or regularly.

Frank Reed, Inspecting Engineer of Mines, said he had visited the mine five times after the explosion and measured 350,000 thousand feet of explosive gas mixture. It was well known that coal dust had been the cause of many colliery disasters. Half an ounce of dust to a cubic foot was sufficient to cause an explosion. He thought the two deputies could adequately inspect the old working.