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to sluice off. The portable engine and centrifugal pump now on the ground, and used for draining the pit, might be utilised in conjunction with this suggestion. Very good prospects can be got right on the top of the lignite, and the gold is of very, good quality. Nightcaps Colliery, Nightcaps. —(lB/8/99): The dip-workings under Owen's land are now nearly exhausted. Probably the end of the year will see the completion of this section of work. In the level-tunnel workings the places have been continued in the solid coal. Near the outcrop some ground is kept stripped so that the demands of the busy season can be met. As each acre so stripped will yield an average of, say, 35,000 tons of marketable coal, and it is possible to work a few acres in this manner, the value of such a stand-by is apparent. There appears to be every reasonable care exercised to insure safety, and the Act is generally well complied with. Morley Pit, Nightcaps. —(18/8/99): This pit is still worked opencast, the coal being at present taken by arrangement of the Wallace County Council from a county road adjoining the owner's property. Its face shows about 8 ft. of coal, overlaid by 3 ft. to 4 ft. of surface material. An ample area is kept stripped in advance. jff.fi. Mine, Nightcaps. —(lB/8/99): This mine was recently opened by Beadle and Lamont, and sold to S. Lee, late of Shag Point, who is now working it. The seam is about 6 ft. 6 in. thick, and very much disjointed by clayey veins. I cautioned the owner as to the care required in properly securing the roof and sides, and also required him to make a better job of the timbering at the entrance to the mine. Orepuki Mine (M. Straw, manager).—(ls/8/99) : This property, which has been idle for some years, was taken over a short time ago by the New Zealand Collieries, Eailway, and Oil Syndicate (Limited). A considerable amount of boring and prospectiog has been done to ascertain the area and thickness of the oil-bearing shale. "From information thus obtained it would almost appear that the coal- and shale-bearing area forms a basin. A new tunnel, 10 ft. wide at the bottom, 9 ft. wide at top, and 6 ft. 6 in. high, has been driven for a considerable distance, with a dip averaging lin 5. It has been very stoutly timbered and amply provided with manholes. Until the second outlet is made, ventilation is secured by the tunnel being divided by a stout wood bratticed partition, the heat from the steam- and exhaust-pipes of a small pump assisting to promote a good circulation of air. A level has recently been started from the tunnel, which has cut the seam of shale, 4 ft. in thickness. A seam of coal underlies the shale, but it is questionable if its quality will admit of its being of more than local importance. It is proposed to adopt a fan for the permanent ventilation of the mine. A large and expensive plant is now being erected for the purpose of extracting burning- and lubricating-oils and paraffin-wax from the shale, of which I hope to give further particulars when the work is completed. Accidents. An accident occurred at Allandale Colliery, near Shag Point, on the 13th April, 1899, by which a young man named John William Macintosh lost his life. Deceased was assisting in the repairs of the main jig-brow, and was in the act of taking a loaded tub down in the incline, when the coupling in connection with the haulage-rope gave way. Deceased was close to the foot of the incline, and holding on to the tub from behind when this occurred; and it was stated at the inquest that, owing to the rails being partly covered by debris consequent on the repairs in progress, deceased had to push the tub, and that a jerky push caused the hook to become detached. This allowed the tub to run, deceased meanwhile holding on to it, and on reaching the bottom it capsized, hurling deceased forward, and causing injuries to his head, from which he died some two or three hours afterwards. The Coroner's jury returned a verdict of " Accidental death." Peter McAllister sustained fracture of collar-bone at Gibbston Saddle Coal-pit on the Ist May. This pit is worked opencast, and the accident was caused by a fall of stuff. George Davis, a miner working at Freeman's Coal Company's colliery, Abbotsford, lost his right eye by accidentally getting his pick-point into it. Davis was working in the face at the time, and could give no explanation as to how the accident occurred. Samuel Newburn, an employe at Kaitangata Colliery, had his ankle broken while at work on the 27th June. Other accidents reported have not been of a really serious character, and, taken as a whole, coal-mining in the southern district has been carried on, at the principal mines especially, with due regard to the safety of the persons employed. General. In niost of the coal-mines worked opencast, operations are conducted by men who are not coalminers in the proper sense of the term. I find in many instances a strong disinclination to take off (or strip) a reasonable amount of overlying ground, and it is owing to the neglect of this simple means that the majority of accidents occur in opencast workings. The necessity of such work has been steadily urged, and if those pit-owners who are so negligent in this matter would only visit one or two places where stripping is systematically done they could hardly fail to realise the advantages. As no provision is made in the general or special rules for work of this kind, it will be necessary for Inspectors to take action in the manner set forth in section 49 of " The Coalmines Act, 1891," in cases where owners continue to neglect to keep ground stripped in advance. Owing to a considerable amount of my time having been taken up in connection with special work in other parts of the colony, I have not been able to visit several of the small mines during the portion of the year prior to my appointment as Inspecting Engineer to the Mines Department. It is at these small mines where the most trouble is experienced ; men working on a small scale, and often employing little or no labour outside their own families, are, as a rule, very indifferent as to the legislative requirements in connection with the industry. Nothing short of a few prosecutions will apparently rouse them to a sense of their responsibility.

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