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ANNEXUEE B. REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION ON LINTON EXPLOSION. In the matter of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1908 ; and in the matter of a Commission to inquire into the explosion which occurred at the Linton Coal-mine on the 15th November, 1929. To His Excellency the Governor-General of the Dominion of New Zealand, Wellington. May it please Your Excellency,— Pursuant to the Commission dated the 26th November, 1929, entrusted to us by Your Excellency, we have the honour to report as follows :■ — 1. We duly assembled and commenced the inquiry at the Nightcaps Town Board's Hall, Nightcaps, on the 11th December, 1929, at 9.30 a.m. 2. Parties. The following parties appeared without citation : — (a) The Department of Mines (represented by Mr. A. H. Kimbell, Under-Secretary for Mines ; Mr. J. A. C. Bayne, Chief Inspector of Mines ; and Mr. C. J. Strongman, Inspector of Mines for Westland District). (b) Mr. George Duggan, Inspector of Mines for the district. (c) The United Mine Workers of New Zealand (represented, by Mr. A. McLagan, secretary). (d) The Nightcaps and Ohai Underviewers' and Deputies' Union (represented by Mr. A. E. Barnes, secretary). (e) The Nightcaps District Coal-miners' Union (represented by Mr. L. S. Edwards, president, and Mr. J. Shedden, secretary). (f) The Linton Coal Co., Ltd. (represented by Mr. H. J. Macalister, barrister, of Invercargill, and Mr. H. E. Barraclough, barrister, of Dunedin). (g) Mr. G. S. Langford, manager of the Linton Coal-mine (represented by Mr. H. J. Macalister and Mr. H. E. Barraclough). (h) The Southland Coal-mine Owners' Association (represented by Mr. H. J. Macalister). (i) The relatives of the deceased Antonio McCoy, Robert John Johnston, and George Henry Kitto (represented by Mr. G. Reed, barrister, of Invercargill). 3. Proceedings. After the inquiry had been formally opened and the order in which evidence would be received had been settled, the proceedings were adjourned till the afternoon. The Commissioners then, with such of the parties as desired to do so, visited the mine and inspected that part of it adjacent to and. affected by the explosion. The sittings were resumed on the afternoon of the 11th, and were continued on the 12th and 13th December. The Commissioners on 14th December made a further inspection of the mine, and more particularly of the vertical shaft hereinafter referred to and of the second outlet to the mine. During the course of its investigations the Commission examined nineteen witnesses. The proceedings were open to the public throughout, and lengthy reports were published in the newspapers. 4. Description of the Mine. The Linton Mine in which the explosion occurred is situated at Ohai, some forty-five miles northwest from Invercargill. The Linton Coal Co., Ltd., besides freehold land, holds under lease from the Crown an area of 200 acres on and under which the No. 1 Linton Mine is situated. The lease was granted on the 30th June, 1913, to the predecessor in title of the company, and was assigned to the company on the 10th September, 1913. Coal has been won from the mine for a number of years. The seam is a thick one, averaging about 30 ft. and. reaching over 40 ft. in thickness. Its gradient varies, but is in general easy and very convenient for working. The coal is brown coal of good quality. In the north-west dip heading of No. 1 Mine, in which the explosion occurred, the coal is reached through a main tunnel about 20 chains in length, descending at an easy gradient from the surface and passing through sandstone for a distance of 200 ft. in the first 11 chains from the entrance. The mine is being developed by two main dips, and the coal is to be worked on the panel system.. The workings have, in the course of development of the mine, come under progressively deeper cover, and the deepest workings are now about 400 ft. below the surface. A plan of the workings is forwarded herewith. The floor of the workings is in most places damp. The coal is hand-hewn and blasted, and produces an average amount of dry dust. The mine has direct steam haulage, and compressed air is used for pumping and underground haulage. Electric hand and cap lamps of the Oldham pattern are used for lighting. 5. Story of the Explosion. The explosion occurred about 9.30 a.m. on Friday, 15th November, 1929. There were about twenty-six men at that time in the workings about the further end of the north-west heading. At that part of the mine the explosion manifested itself as a hissing noise with a sharp concussion causing pain in the ears. The men were collected by Robert Wilson, an. underviewer, who led them up the main drive to about the point B, where they were stopped by thick smoke. Wilson then went through to the other side of the lay-by at that point, but found conditions worse than in the main drive. He had received that morning a clear report from Henwood, tho outgoing deputy, as regards gas. He therefore concluded that the explosion had been caused by the bursting of a gob fire through fire stoppings in another section of the mine, and that the conditions would grow worse instead of better, as proved to be the case. He accordingly led the men up the main drive, and he and several others fell before reaching the surface and. were carried out insensible by rescue parties. The deceased Robert John Johnston and George Henry Kitto appear to have been with Wilson's party at point B but to have got separated from it later. Kitto's body was found, bearing no marks of violence, in a dead end near the point F, and Johnston's in the same condition at No. 2 lay-by in the main drive. Both appeared, from the colour of the flesh, to have died from carbon-monoxide poisoning.

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