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costs £3 10s. for non-compliance with special rule No. 17 under the Coal-mines Act of 1908, in that he did not see that the underviewer or his deputy remained underground while two men were on shift during the evening of 20th July, being the occasion when James R. Walker was killed by a fall of roof. 17th August, 1911.—Kaitangata Colliery: Joseph Carson, twenty-five, roadsman.—Fatally injured by a fall of stone from roof while timbering roadway. 7th September, 1911. —Homebush Colliery: Thomas Patterson, forty-eight, miner. —Fatally injured by a fnl! of si one from low roof on roadway while setting timber thereto. Non-fatal. Kaitangata Colliery (7/7/11) : John Hale, roadsman, sustained a fractured leg by being caught between a bos ami prop owing to the sprag coming out on the heading. Kaitangata Colliery (21/7/11): William Christian, roadsman, sustained a fractured rib and contusion of back owing to being struck by a piece of stone i'rom roof while repairing timber. COAL-MINBRS' JiELIKF FUND. Contributions by coal-owners to the Coal-miners' Relief Fund amounted to £889 lls. Id., while payments from the fund aggregating £604 Is. 3d. have been recommended on account of accidents which ocourred during the year in and about coal-minis in the district. f have, &c, E. R. Gbben, Inspector of Mines.

ANNEXUEE B. QUESTIONS ASKED AT THE 1912 MINE-MANAGERS' EXAMINATION FOE FIESTCLASS CEETIFICATES OF COMPETENCE. Subject I.— Prospecting, Boring, Shaft-sinking, and Opening m<l << Colliery. 1. Describe how you would proceed to examine and test a coalfield prior to spending capital on development; also describe appliance.-; for boring with which you may have had experience, ami the conditions under which you would use same. 2. How would you secure a main trucking-road with heavy side pressure- and soft roof, the road to be 8 ft. wide by 6 ft. high in the clear.' (Jive sketch of sets and sizes of material you would use. 3. What are the chief point- to he considered before deciding a system of working (bord-and-pillar, longwall, or any modifications of these) a seam of coal? + . Describe fully the plant necessary for the sinking of shafts to considerable depths, and the special appliances and means usually adopted to ensure the safety of men employed at such work. Subject 2. — Working Goal ami Timbering underground. 1. Give sketches of (a) bord-and-pillar on the panel system, (b) general arrangement of longwall workings, with figured dimensions of size, of pillars, width of bords and trucking-roads, also the distance between the gates in longwall (assume normal conditions). 2. Enumerate the conditions which govern the size of pillars. .!. Show by sketches how you would proceed in extracting pillars in a steeply inclined seam, and describe special means (if any) which you would adopt to avoid accidents. 4. What rules would you lay down with the object of preventing accidents from falls of roof and sides, also from shot-firing? Subject 3. — Mine-gases, Spontaneous Combustion, ami Ventilation. 1. Prepare a chart for fire-damp, white-damp, and black-damp under the following headings : Proper name; Chemical formula; Specific gravity; Character; Effect upon man; Explosive proportions; Caused by; Test for; Where found. 2. In the general body of the air in a working-place what percentage of CH 4 would you consider sufficie'iitly dangerous to warrant the withdrawal of the men (a) where safety-lamps are used? (b) where naked lights are used? Also state the minimum percentage of oxygen and the maximum percentage of CO 2 in which miners should be permitted to work. 3. How and where would you measure the quantity and take samples of the quality of air in mine-workings which were reported to be inadequately ventilated? What is the minimum velocity which an anemometer will correctly register ? 4 k current of 25,000 cubic feet of air is split into three airways, A, B, and C, having the following dimensions: A—Area 6ft. by 9ft., length 700 yards; I?— Area 6ft. by 10ft., length 800 yards , C Area 4 ft. by 10 ft., length 300 yards. How will the quantity divide itself amongst these splits if no legulators'are used and all splits are subject to a common pressure? ', If 2 horse-power produces 10,000 cubic feet of air per minute in an airway 10 ft. by 10 ft., what'horse-power will be required to produce the same volume of air in an airway 10 ft, by 75 ft. ? (Assume both airways to have the same length.)