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in the hands of two gentlemen, Messrs. Mcintosh and Allen, and the shares are held by members of their families. They possess a private railway from Bushy Park to the mine a distance, of two miles, and the expenditure on the mine and railway is estimated by them a a f out f lO i^ c average output has been about 13,000 tons a year. It is sold at Bushy Park, the nearest Government railway-station, at from 10s. to 14s. per ton, according to quahty-the nuts are 80 da Bs. and the slack at Is. per ton-but these prices have only been obtainable for the past yeai oso. The price paid for hewing varies from 3s. to as much as 10s. in bad places and is said to average 6s. 9d. a ton, including trucking. There was an award some time ago fixing 3s. 6d a> ton tor pillars, 4s. for levels, and 4s. 6d. for headings, exclusive of trucking, shift-men are paid 10s. a day. Truckers are paid from 4s. to Bs. The mine has not been profitable until the last year, when a profit of something like £300 was made. There are about fifty men employed We were so impressed with the urgent necessity for immediate improvement in the condition of this mine that we submitted to your Excellency an interim report thereon, as ollows •- "We visited this mine on the 20th March last. We found a prevailing feeling of apprehension of danger on the part of the miners employed, but they declared that if they gave evidence they would lose their employment. . . m an n " We entered the mine by the only air-intake, and crawled along it, chiefly on our hands and knees, for a distance of between 9 and 10 chains. This roadway is made through ground where the pillars have been removed without leaving sufficient support and the whole place is creeping. The props and timber overhead are breaking under the strain, the floor is coming up and the sides are bulging. It has all the indications of a place that may close m at any moment. This intake leads into the main workings, which are on the dip from a main haulage-road and are dependent entirely for ventilation upon the air-intake. In every working-face we visited the air was deficient, and up the north side it was still more seriously so. The Inspector of Mines, -ho was present could not obtain any reading from his anemometer. Dangerous and unhealthy as this condition of things is, the peculiar and immediate danger arises from the strong possibility of the intake closing, and the air-current, poor as it is now, ceasing altogether, when the black damp of which there is a considerable quantity in the mine, would probably overpower the men before they could "We were very unfavourably impressed with the condition of the whole mine. Broken sets of timber were not infrequent, the roof was ragged and apparently neglected, and there was a together a want of carl for the lives of the men employed. The quantity of timber se and m hand appeared to us to be insufficient for safety. The chief ground, however for representing this now to your Excellency is the apprehension of some grave catastrophe through the want of proper ventilation. We strongly that immediate steps be taken to compel the owners of the mine to put it in a condition of safety." We are informed that an improvement has been now effected, but to what extent we are not aware. Owing to the condition of the ground, we are of opinion that frequent inspection should be made of this mine. Shag Point Mine. This mine is situated some two or three miles from the Allendale Mine, and its workings extend some distance under the sea. Its present output is about 20,000 tons a year and i employs about seventy men all told. . The men are paid under industrial agreemen 5s a ton foi bords, 6s. for headings, and shift-men 10s. a day. The mine is worked from a shaft, and is well Vent The ed coal is sold at the railway-siding close to the mine at 15s. for round coal 6s to 8s .for nuts • the slack is wasted. The coal is much used m Dunedin and elsewhere m the district, and fs of 'about the same quality as Kaitangata and Allendale coal, and fetches much the same price Unfortunately the prospects of the mine are not good; the coal appears to be pinching out, but some boring is being done with a view to finding more coal. ~, • ~ , *.- „* rt.« With the exception of the grips on the cages in the shaft, to which the attention of the manager has been called by the Inspector, we were well satisfied with the condition.ofthe,w«tt ings in this mine. We were unable to obtain the usual statistical information as to the ownership, share capital, and history of this property. The mine-manager was unable to supply it, and unfortunately we were unable to obtain the attendance of the secretary. Homebush Mine. This mine is situated on the freehold property of Mr. John Deans, at South Malvern, Canterbury It "s worked by the owner in conjunction with brick- and tile-works of considerable magnitude. The mine has been working for twenty-eight years and during all that time has been under the management of Mr. Thomas Brown. It employs fourteen men in all, and turns out abou 25 tons of coal a day, of which quantity 20 tons are used per week at the pottery-works. The balance of the coal is sold at the tip, which touches the railway, at 14s. pe,: ton. The_ railwayhaulage to Christchurch is 4s. 6d. a ton for forty-nine miles of railway. The.seami 7 1 1. 6 n to Bft thick, and lies fairly evenly at dip of lin 3. The coal is a brown coal of good quality for household purposes and pottery-works. It is at present being worked on the rise, and the supply on that side I estimated to last three or four years at *c present output. Jo work the divide will necessitate pumping-gear, and somewhat more expensive appliances but when worked with proper pant wufenaWel much larger output to be obtained at less cost We found the workings fn thoroughly satisfactory state, with good ventilation and roads, but the tramway from the mine mouth to the y tiphead, some two miles "long, is in a rather dilapidated condrion. The used in the pottery is obtained from a separate seam a little further up the gully than the mineThere are said to be outcrops showing good coal in the neighbourhood of this mine which have