C.—2

14

V. STONE-QUARRY INSPECTION AND STATISTICS. By section 2 of the Stone-quarries Amendment Act, 1920, the application of the Act was extended to include every place, not being a mine, in which persons work in quarrying stone and any part of which has a face more than 15 ft. deep, and also in any tunnel in the construction of which explosives are used. Tho Act, however, does not apply to any Government operations, or any road or railway cutting, or excavations for buildings. The following is a table showing the number of quarries under the Stone-quarries Acts, also the number of persons ordinarily employed thereat, and the annual output and value of crude stone during 1923 : —

Of the fatal accidents the following is a short description : — Percy Ayden, at the Mount Eden sewerage-works, on the 10th February. The deceased was using a hammer and gad in a tunnel where six shots had been fired the previous day. He must have struck some unexploded gelignite, as an explosion occurred, which resulted in his death. John Fowler, at the Mangatuna Quarry, Tolaga Bay, on the 12th May. The deceased was the quarry foreman, and was engaged in firing a round of shots when the accident occurred. From the evidence it appears that he either miscalculated the time of burning of tho fuse or had attempted to light too many shots and left himself insufficient time to take shelter before the shots went off. Arthur Joseph Pobar, at Calder's Quarry, Dunedin, on the 7th June. The deceased with other workmen was engaged on tho quarry-floor when a large fall of stone took place from a height of about 90 ft. up the face of the quarry. The other workmen were able to get clear of the falling material, but the deceased was struck and so seriously injured that he died the following day. VI. STATE AID TO MINING. (1.) Subsidized Prospecting. Upon subsidized prospecting operations seventy-five persons were intermittently employed during the year. The following is a statement showing the results of prospecting operations as reported by the Inspectors of Mines.

Provincial Name and Aadress oI 9 I iCtret Government Inspector of "g 3 "3 >. District. Stone-quarries. ° » fi a a ■ .a .3 a Sts a-? tun o fj <M S o at i> In s»<l S5 li So' AhBh | 'SrS Si a-H >& fl. 'f'g d "3 3 o u et M N 9 o a ■ O <U bC IS Sa 11 m Output of Stone. o o h? <h-h <h-h O a OS o ma cn a 01.H 01 § St jjjj h4 «M 0Q,S <4 | Q i M a -» S3 4) )3 I a a o a £ s8<| a o Auckland .. James Newton, Mines 90 656 Dept., Auckland M. Paul. Mines Dopt., 18 119 Waihi (Hauraki Mining District only) Hawke's Bay James Newton, Mines 15 76 Dept., Auckland Taranaki .. Ditto .. ..12 48 Wellington .. „ .. 32 185 Canterbury.. J. F. Downey, Mines 18 124 Dept., Reefton Nelson ~) "1 Westland \ Ditto .. .. V17 138 MarlboroughJ Otago | A. Whitley, Mines ... „qa Southland ) Dept., Dunedin 15 12 32 18 96 18 76 48 185 124 656 119 Tons. 485,205 77,134 19,711 8,207 83,886 93,763 Tons. 180,000 29,118 42,481 15,990 5,949 Tons. 10,700 53 541 1,620 2,186 Tons. 15,951 14,400 8,330 7,210 Tons. 92,443 207 Tons. Tons £ 148,740 25,381 10,022 8,277 37,582 35,523 'so 1 }" 138 7,616 2,825 910 2,544 I 1,740 6,835 34 298 88,890 39,819 18,418 55,125 38,858 2,383 98,635 Totals 1923 .. 242 1,644 Totals 1922 .. 212 1,383 242 212 1,644 1,383 864,412 580,707 316,182 265,091 34,458 60,692 103,566 88,087 143,248 210,184 2,383 3,128 80 220 370,995 318,093 Qu. .ery Accidents. The following is a summary of serious iccidents during 1923 at quarries under the Stone-quarries Act:—

Cause. Number of Accidents. Fata!. Serious. Number of Sufferers. Killed. Seriously injured. explosives .. .. 'alls of ground 'ailing from face or during ascent or descent.. lisoellancous Totals 2 I 3 1 I r 3 2 1 3 I 1 i 3 3 3 3 3