0.-4.

100

r E. R. GREEN,

42. Is the fire not a naked light %■ —But if that notice were not there the men would walk right into the body of the workings with naked lights. 43. How does the extent of the workings during the last twelve months compare withjthe previous period ? —I am surprised to find it going on. It is like a lame duck, as it were. It is just to save property. The main drive may be required some day. 44. But the workings have extended since two years ago I —Yes, I believe the management did not expect to get the coal which they found in No. 7 dip, but they are on pillars, which will not j last very long. 45. I would like to ask you if two years ago —on the 16th October, 1909 —in your annual report to the Department you stated that the furnace was inadequate and incapable of overcoming the increased drag, and that the company purposed putting in a fan % —That was the outcome of a conversation with the general manager. Mr. Lee is a very active-minded man. I could give you a hundred dates when we discussed all manner of things—for instance, there was the suggestion that the Castle Hill and Kaitangata Mines should be connected. 46. But in your report to the Department you say that the furnace was incapable of overcoming the increased drag, and that it was proposed to install a fan. Now you admit the air has increased and the drag must be greater, but still the fan has not been installed % —Yes ; but it would be like putting new leather on an old boot. There are many men here who are anxious to work in that mine, and if you tried to force the company to put in a fan the mine would be stopped to-morrow. 47. Do you know that subsections (20) to (25) of section 40 are not carried out in these mines, especially those referring to special exits. Take, for instance, the furnace shaft: the Act requires that a test shall be made every three months with twice the weight of the ordinary load, and the chain is not to be a single-linked chain % —But this is not a shaft for raising persons. 48. It is a place where the men are lowered or raised—it is a place of escape % —ls the latter part of that subsection complied with, which requires a representative of the miners to be there at the tests ? 49. I asked that question, and the workmen say " No " ? —lf you take the engineer s report-book you will find that the apparatus is examined and reported on. 50. The Chairman.} Have you seen it ? —Yes, I see and note the entries. 51. And as to the other parts of the mine—the ordinary working-places—you see them and satisfy yourself that they are tested properly I—Yes.1 —Yes. This mine is heavily staffed with engineers and officials, who are required to report in books regularly kept for the purpose. 52. Mr. Dowgrayj\ You say you disapproved of that apparatus. I ask you if, on the occasion of the trial to which you referred, you did not say you wanted a meeting of the men held to approve of it? —I did. I wanted their opinion ; but I have not received it to this day. 53. Yet you said you disapproved it ? —I said I did not like it. 54. The Chairman.] Would you suggest that these sections of the Act should be made applicable to emergency outlets of that kind ?—Yes, for this reason : that if that were done it would be giving protection for all. The mine-owner would then know what he had to face. Under the Act as it stands, if a new shaft is about to be opened the Inspector has no say in the matter. 55. Would you consider it reasonable that, before the management of a property decided on a new scheme such as this present shaft, a plan of it should be submitted to you for approval ?—I think that would be a good idea ; but it should go to some one in authority —say, to the Minister, not necessarily to the Inspector. 56. Mr. Dowgray.] But the company knows what they have to face ? —Well, that is debatable, according to the Chairman. If a man is going to construct a dam on a goldfield, the plans have to be forwarded to Wellington for approval. Similarly, it would be a great advantage if the plans of mineshafts were also submitted. 57. And also as to proposed methods of ventilation, and so on ?—Yes. 58. You said that no up-to-date mine would install a furnace ? —Not in our mines. 59. There is nothing to prevent them doing so ?—Not at the present time ; but there are several mines where furnaces have gone out and fans have been put in. 60. Would you suggest that furnaces should be prohibited in gassy mines ?—Well, that would come under what we have just been discussing—the submission of plans to the Department. 61. Can a man judge a bad roof when the stone is in a very large body ? You said you preferred the stone to the coal I —Yes, a good hard stone I prefer to any coal. 62. The stone would perhaps seem hard, and yet be bad if it were in a large body ?—I said that the mine has been working for so many years that the men have become skilled in the examination of the roof. 63. But you said the present method of extracting pillars has been employed for only a year or two I —Yes ; but the old mine had been closed for twenty or twenty-five years, and we went in four or five years ago, and the roof was as hard as possible, though it had been standing all that time. 64. Is it not the duty of the deputy to pass the men in ? —Yes. 65. And is it not the men's duty to examine the roof also ? —Yes. 66. Well, how is a man going to examine the. roof so high after he has filled a great deal of that coal away I—They1—They have long rods and ladders. 67. The Chairman.] What is your opinion of the suggestion of the use of the electric torch?- —It is a very good suggestion. 68. Mr. Dowgray.] Is there any great danger in a man reaching up with a pole to examine the roof ? —Of course, there is danger in all walks of life. 69. Is it satisfactory % —Yes, it has proved so. 70. You heard Mr. Crow say that in less than ten minutes after we left his place yesterday the whole place collapsed ? —Yes. Was that the witness who said Mr. McAlister had said it was as safe as a rock ?