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two minutes in that atmosphere. Satisfied then that nothing could be done to save the property, I determined to seal off the mine permanently about 2-| chains in from the daylight. A strong party of miners were put on to prepare the wall-sides for the stopping, and the work was carried on continuously all the following night and day. About midnight on the sth February a most extensive fall or explosion occurred inside the mine, and if we had been further in the tunnel all the workmen employed there would have been lost. This fall cut off our ventilation from the fan, and it was with great difficulty that the inside wall of the stopping was closed from the black-damp gases that were forcing back towards us. However, we closed that by three o'clock in the afternoon, and on Wednesday we completed the whole work. The dam was built with two walls of 3 in. planking, with 5 ft. of solid puddled clay between them. On Thursday morning we went to the bridge end of the tunnel and built a similar air-stopping there. The gases were not so bad at that end. We finished that work at six o'clock that night. On Friday morning we started to fill the furnace shaft, this shaft having been securely covered over previous to opening it for some days. After a hole had been cut through the covering, a flame burst through to a height of about 150 ft. This work was completed at two o'clock in the afternoon, and the shaft filled to the surface. I might mention, in connection with the shaft, on the Thursday night that Mitchell and I came over to colliery office, the caretaker, Roland Broome, instructed me from the" company : " Tell Tennent to do no more in the way of putting out fire, as we cannot stand the expense." I did the work on the Friday on my own responsibility. There were ten men employed. 3. The Chairman.] Who paid the men?— The company paid the men afterwards. That was the end of operations until the 24th February. 4. Did you spend any money belonging to the Government on it ?—No. 5. You had no authority, I suppose? —I had no authority. Mr. Hayes then came on the scene on the 24th February. Having received £20 through Mr. Bayfeild, the local agent of the Cardiff Company here, to build a dam in the main entrance behind the main stopping —that is, the water-dam —the conditions were that the dam was to be made effective, and I would see to the additional cost. I entrusted the work to Mr. Mitchell, who was the underviewer of the company, making provision that Peter Martin was not to be employed in the work. 6. Did you give reasons for that ?—No; only we both understood that he was a man who would not do the work to our satisfaction. 7. Why did you stipulate that he was not to be employed?—-Because I knew that he would not do the work to my satisfaction. 8. Mr. Harden.} Had you had him working before ?—Yes. Mr. Hayes and I then left, and it being his first time on the Coast we made a tour of the alluvial mines on the Coast, and I returned back in three weeks. By that time the dam was finished, and the water was to the roof. There was a little leakage behind one of the upright props, but not of much consequence. 9. The Chairman.] Is this the occasion of which you heard Mr. Martin speak complaining of your conduct when you came?— No. On the 25th April I met Martin at the bridge side of the property, and asked him if he could take up the leakage in the dam at that time, and he said, " Yes, quite easily." I instructed Martin to put the dam right. That was on Wednesday, the 25th April. On Saturday, the 28th April, Roland Broome telegraphed, " Think dam tight tonight." On Wednesday, the 2nd May, accompanied by Mitchell, we met Martin in the mineentrance cabin. Having entered the mine we found a large body of water boiling up from under the bed-log. I then asked Martin if nothing more could be done to save the dam, to which he hesitatingly replied, "I do not think so." This matter was reported to the Mines Department, and instructions were given to me to proceed with another dam, which I accordingly did. The new dam-seat was partly excavated, but I could not attend to it at the time, and I told Mitchell to let the work stand. Messrs. Shore, Alison, and Foster at this time came on the property. On the Saturday they cut a man-hole through Martin's dam with the object of getting into the mine. The black-damp was so dense that they could proceed no further. They did get beyond the front of the dam. On the 18th June, by authority of the Minister of Mines, I was instructed to take any steps I chose for the saving of the property. The Commissioners (Messrs. Shore, Alison, and Foster) having made a remark as to the opening of the mine, I determined to carry this out, and built a ventilating-fan at the main entrance with the view of forcing the gases backward through the outcrop openings. The air-stopping was then cut, when we found the tunnel choked. It was sufficiently choked to form a natural dam in the tunnel, and prevented the water from coming out, except very little. Mr. Hayes then decided to finish the dam that I had started. Two days after the miners had started excavating the old dam-site a large open fissure of water was struck. Knowing it was useless to proceed further with that work, I decided to remove Martin's dam, and built a new dam on that site. Cutting down to the bed-log, Charles Johnston—l was present at the time—reaching down his hand to clear some debris from the saw, lifted an unburned plug of dynamite, and, after carefully examining it, I told him to throw it back into the water. 10. The Chairman.] Why?—l did not see at the time any reason for keeping it. I then left the tunnel and went over the hill to the Bridge section. 11. Looking at it in the light of recent events, how do you account for the dynamite being there ?—The man that shifted the stuff will give you the evidence. There was no use for the dynamite in the mine, and I know there was no dynamite used for cutting any of the dam-seats. 12. Mr. Harden.] What have you been informed since about this dynamite ?—I cannot tell you about it. There is only one man who knows anything about it besides myself. 13. What did you hear about it ?—I knew from the character of the stuff under the bed-log that the ground had been shot. There had been a considerable explosion. We finished the dam on the 9th August. Mr. Hayes, Mr. Dixon, and I, considering that the waters would overflow at the subsidence over the North block (No. 5), we decided to leave the tunnel-exit as it was at that time until the mine-water flowed through the tunnel into Chasm Creek. The water flowed through