THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1878.

Thames Star, Volume IX, Issue 3019, 18 October 1878, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1878.

These is no denying that many valuable lives have been lost on this goldfield by accidents in mines that might have been prevented had ordinary precautions been taken in prosecuting mining. It has also Been remarked that many of the accidents which have resulted fatally have been in mines in which tribute parties are engaged, the victims being tributers. Deplorable as these casualties undoubtedly are, we. fail to see that the Mining Inspector should be held accountable for them. It is unreasonable to assume that the Inspector; should be acquainted with the condition of every shaft, tunnel, stope, winze or pass in the many mines on' this extensive goldfield. If there Were twenty Mining Inspectors and a century of underviewers, and these officers were constantly engaged in visiting mines ; and if each and every one of them were armed I with absolute powers to enforce' compliance with what they might consider necessary orders for preserving the safety of the men working in mineß, they would not be able to prevent accidents. How, then, can it be expected that a Mining Inspector who has important executive functions imposed upon him by law, and an underviewer who, we suppose, takes his orders from the head of the department in making his rounds, can pay such frequent visits to our mines as to be held responsible when an accident occurs ? A great deal has been said and written on this question, and it would appear that some people look upon the presence of the Mining Inspector at a Coroner's Inquest as that of a person who has been guilty' of some. culpable 'dereliction 'of I duty, with a prospect of a verdict of mari- | slaughter being recorded against him. < Such very shallow observers have but. a I limited idea, of the duiios of a Mining i.lnspector, and altogether ignore the resI ponsibilities of mine managers. We have I no desire to be understood as reflecting upon any particular case in these remarks, least of all to that which resulted in the death' of McKelrie. In that inI tance the mine manager was comparatively | new to the ground, but if he had been ; years in the mine, and hourly supervising the workings of the tribute party of which McKelvie was one, he probably could not have averted the melancholy accident which lately occurred. More-, 'over, the heroic and almost superhuman exertions of Mr Eadford —to which McKelvie bore witness in his statement to our reporter—acquit him of blame in

the matter. The fact appears to be that tributcrs go into a mine to get as much out- of it in as short a space of time as possible, and unless the mine manager looks very sharply after them they do things which wages men would scarcely care to do. If, therefore, a mine manager cannot keep such an oversight over the men in one mine as to insure the workings being carried out with ordinary security, how can it possibly be expected that the , Mining In-' spector can do this in a hundred mines ? Will anyone point out how the Mining Inspector can make a daily visitation to every mine on the field, grope his way up this stope, or winze, or pass, and- insist upon the .miners protecting themselves against possible accidents ? As well make a Mining Inspector in the coal' districts of England responsible for the terrible colliery accidents as to impute blame to the Mining Inspector for the sad and painfully frequent accidents here. It has become too much the fashion to ascribe mining accidents to a. neglect of duty on the part of the Mining Inspector. His appearance at inquests is, we find, looked upon as that of one who may possibly find himself inculpated as an accessory, whereas he really attends to see if any of the ordinary and necessary precautions have been .neglected, because, if so, his duty would be to proceed against the culpable parties. That the law scarcely .comes up to what should be exacted of managers and miners is admitted, but it is too much to say that a Mining Inspector can be held responsible for accidents, when, as evidence so often discloses, men have absolutely disregarded ordinary precautions to protect''their own lives or those of their fellow workmen-^----more often, be it said, risking their own lives where danger is apprehended.

The Hon. Daniel Pollen, ex-Minister of the Crown, and the Hon. Daniel Pollen, a member of the 'Legislative.. Oonncil, with strong, personal and political bias against the present administration, are one and the same in flesh, we believe, but, holding different views. While in office; the' Hon. Daniel saw no objection to hand-, ing over the Thames foreshore. Thames constituency is- a powerful one, aHd was generally found returning , members who supported the, ex -Colonial .Secretary's party. Haying-elected Sir; George Grey as their senior member, and he having succeeded in turning out the Hon. Daniel and his friends from the comfort* able places they had so long occupied, the Hon. Daniel suddenly discovers that the conveyance to the Thames Harbor Board of the foreshore, proposed to. be. accomplished by the passing of the Harbor 'Board Bill, would ; impinge upon the rights of the CroWn. To offer opposition now to. a measure he was amongst the .first to promote when it suited his policy and-his party to make a show of conciliating the Thames, is only just what might be expected from Dr Pollen. ; His public life has been regulated by a consistent disregard of the . proprieties, and a sacrifice of public interests whenever they threatened to interfere with his own. That he should now prove false to his own convictions,' and oppose a-Bill involving important interests to this place in. order to spite Sir George Grey, is not surprising in a man who enjoy s the unenviable distinction of I Having betrayed Auckland when the removal of the seat of Government depended upon his vote. Dr. Pollen will probably not prevent the passing of the Harbor Bill, but his tactics show the necessity for some reform in the constitution of the Upper House, if only to give the'people the power of deposing political renegades such as he has proved irimself to be. ' .-..- ■■ ■-.•-. v-■■;.'..; :,•;•■ ■ '

The County Elections will take place next month, and a doubt seems to exist as to the mode in which these elections should; be; conducted-i-whether; by one Eeturning Officer and deputies appointed by him, or by the appointment of a Returning Officer for each riding. The Attorney-General, it would appear, has given an opinion which favors the appointment of one Returning Officer for each '■ County, yet the Governmenthave gazetted separate officers to each riding in regard to several Counties. The County Solicitor and Captain Fraser (who was appointed Eeturning Officer by the County Council) interpret the Act to mean an officer for each riding, and this seems to be the most; generally accepted view ;of the matter. For the sake of candidates, end 1 to ensure the validity of the coming elections, this point ought to be definitely decided. At any rate, if the clause admits of two interpretations it would be more consistent with public usage to adopt one or the other plan, and not permit some Counties to go upon one interpretation and others to follow another course, thereby investing the whole matter with doubt and suspicion. . ;

. We understand that the Inspector of Weights and Measures, Sergeant Louis, is making .a tour of inspection amongst the tradesmen in order to see that they are complying with the' Act.

Messes Frater Brothers, of Auckland and Thames, have just issued a " Share Investors' Guide," containing' the names of the Banking, Insurance, Shipping and other Companies belonging to the Colpny, amount of subscribed and paid up capital, reserve fund and undivided profits, amount per share, amount paid, up per share, last dividend per cent, per annum, latest mar-, ket quotation, annual interest at current prices, and when financial half-year closes. The.information is*bf a valuable character, as investors can see at a glance the percentage for money which any company or institution is paying at current rates-

The fourth of a series of instructive lectures will be delivered, to-night by Lieutenant Barlow to the Hauraki Engineers, and the subject on this occasion —" Escalading and Storming"~wijl be particularly • interesting. Mr Barlow interlards his otherwise dry subjects by historical military sketches, which serve to engage the attention and fire the ardour and- imaginations of his audience. The officers of the Engineers have resolved to clothe the corps in the orthodox British Engineer uniform, namely, a. handsome scarlet tunic, with facings of blue velvet, dark blue trousers with inch and. a quarter scarlet stripe, blue forage cap, with a

white band for undress, and busby for full dress. Tbe order for these will be despatched as soon as the measurements of the men can be taken. The total equipment will cost about five guineas per man. We have received from the publishers, Messrs J. and W. Corrie Johnston, the October number of " Words of Grace." It contains a very good portrait of the Rev Dr Somerville who was so recently amongst us as a revivalist preacher, with a notice of his mission. A map of the Pacific Islands, with two accompanying papers " Martyrs of Polynesia" and "Martyrs of Tonga." Sermon by Bey T. De Witt Talmage. Portrait of Mr Thomas Spurgeon, with short notice. A hymn, music and words, '* Keep praying at the door." Sermon by the Eev Oswald Dykes and a lecture. ,by Bishop Moorhouse, and other well-selected matter. It is the best colonial religious magazine we have seen produced. ; The Naval gun boat, with officers and crew, will, we are informed, leave he?:e at 2 o'clock to-morrow for Coromandel; to arrange for the Brigade's Minstrel Troupe giviig an entertainment there in. the course of a week or two for the benefit pf;pne of their comrades. , : . We learn that Dr. Schwarfcbach leaves ;for Auckland to-morrow. From Aiack* land, we understand, he proceeds South; and thence Home, but with the intention' of a^ain visiting the Colonies at some; future time, when we have,no doubt he will be warmly welcomed. It is due to. Dr. Schwarzbach on bis departure to* say that he has shown the greatest kindness and liberality' in treating several cases, brought under his notice by the ladies of the Benevolent Society, for merely nominal, sums. He also took considerable pains to examine two Hospital patients, but unfortunately without being able to afford relief. • About the middle of May, in the year memorable for the Chartist, demonstrations, th(B brother of Mr Field, superintendent of the Hastings cemetery,, w.ert: to sea, and some ten years afterwards was reported drowned. Twenty years after his departure a verbal statement was made to his relations that he was in South America, and doing well. It was not credited till one day last week the sailor returned," and statjd how he had been thrice shipwrecked, and fought in the Federal war on the Southern side; also that he had become a wealthy Carolina cotton grower, and bad come to Europe to see the Paris Exhibition, and find out some of his friends, if alive, in England.—-Ex. . , ' A GOOD thing (when about to buy. a watch or any article" of jewellery), is to have a large assortment to select from.. To realise the. above go to Wilkes, the old established Watch-maker and Jeweller, Shortland. Cuetoineis wanted for watches, clooks, and jewel" lery. Established, 1867.—IAdvt0