Coal, Coal Mining Coal Miners.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 284, 1 December 1898, Page 33 (Supplement)

Coal, Coal Mining Coal Miners.

WW^W^^^k^jfr^^tY, day no doubt nw/Z^^^Llm thß use of coal as 18 fuel wiU die ovlt• i^^N^Jfl '!>?* time j* p°s-M\\^ir~-ON<@ Slbly ye far re" X VS*?Ss^^\nl moved, but it fe \lfiS7S) J/J wou,cl luive to be «l /^C^sS-^i '" the vevy re" '^__5-?G^^^^^ mote future for — ■ -=^ the coal measures of the colony to be exhausted before its advent The amount of workable coal in the various fields of the colony was some years ago roughly 'calculated at 4,000,000,000 tons. l)p to the close of last year the total output of the mines' of the colony was between ten and eleven million tons, something- a little more than one fourhundredth part of the estimated deposits. The much greater portion of the known coal area consists of deposits of brown coal, which, though valuable as a household fuel, or for lotteries or brick making, is not of general industrial valu\ and is not of. sufficiently high class lo lie exported.

The second variety of coal is a pitch coal, found principally at West Wanganui, near Nelson, but also at Ileefton, and at Shag Point, forty miles north of Dunedin. The evaporative power of this coal is 5.21b of si earn for every lib of coal, and it is found in the strata of the upper cretaceous period. The third and most valuable variety is the anhydrous' coal — coal which contains little or no moisture, and comprises the sub-varieties of glance, semi-bituminous and bituminous coal. These coals are found in the rocks of an earlier period, an I on the basement rock, the thickness of the marine formation above the scam being several hundred feet. These coal seams point to the lime when New Zealand was covered first by vegetation, then by the sea bod, and finally raised bodily out of the surrounding water. Of the first variety—brown coal— the deposits in both North and South Islands are very large, the known deposits being calculated to contain five hundred million tons.

The principal mining district in the colony is situated on the west coast of the South Island, at the Puller and Grey River. At the Grey River the extent of the coalfield is thirty square miles, and the evaporative power of tlie coal averages about 7^lb of steam for lib of coal. This coal scam, .which is named after Brunner, the discoverer, is worked by a number of companies in different parts of its length. This, west coast coal ranks very high, as the following paragraph from the presidential address of the late Sir John Coode to tne Institute of Civil Engineers, London, testifies: 'The bituminous coal found on the west coast of the South Island is declared by engineers to be fully equal, if not superior, to the best description from any part of the world.' The famous episode of the Samoan hurricane in which the 11.M.5. Calliope steamed out against the gale while German and American warships with full steam up were slowly dragging ashore has been so often adduced as evidence of the value of this west coast coal as to be worn almost threadbare. Most of the coal measures worked in the Auckland province are of a less valuable class of bituminous coal than Westport. Sir James Hector gives the evaporative power of Kawakawa coal as from 6.5 to 7.9, and that of Whangarei and Kamo as (5.5. Coal undoubtedly occurs right through the north. The usual strata overlying coal, has been traced by Mr McKay, Government geologist, in a north-westerly direction from Whangarei to Hokianga, and that there exists in this immense district areas that might profitably be worked is undoubted. In the " Waikato again coaj occurs along the banks of the river in many places, and is extensively worked at Huntly and Taupiri. The Taupiri Extended output

is close on 35.000 tons annually, and the mine, which is the biggest in the province, ranks as the seventh largest producer in the colony. Unfortunately the coal from the Waikato mines is only suitable for local consumption and use in household and local industries, It is not debarred from being a good marine coal so much by lack of heating cpialitjes as by the fact that it is liable to spontaneous combustion. Most of the coal from the llikurangi, Kawakawa, and Ngunguru districts in vie north is suitable, however, for marine purposes. In the case of the Kawakawa mine, the present ground is very largely worked out, and prospecting with a view to developing surrounding areas is proceeding. The case of the. mines in the Whangarei district, however, is very different, the work of opening up the Kiripaka and Ngunguru mines being hardly more than completed. The great' drawback to these northern mines is the lack of facilities of communication and the necessity of conveying the coal in small

vessels to the Auckland market. Taking the whole provincial output, a steady increase is noticeable. For 1805 there was an increase of 25,278 tons, in IS'.IO an additional 10,089 tons were taken out, and last year a further increase of 1, '173 tons was made. .Mr .lamse Coutts, the inspector of the Auckland coal mines, in his most recent report to Parliament says: 'There is abundance of coal which can be worked in the Auckland district at a small cost, and a much greater output could be maintained if necessary. The imports are almost, correspondingly decreasing. In 1807, including the mine working on the Mokau River on the borders of Taranaki. there was an out put for the province of M 0.007 tons, while an approximate. estimate puts the amount of coal won since the mines commenced work at 2.313,000 tons. The output of the various mines in 1807 (in tons), according to the Government return, was as follows: — Kawakawa, 11.134; .Ngunguru. 16,248; Kamo new mine, 1,037; West Bryan's, .Mine, 2,147; llikurangi, 30,663; l'hoe-

nix, 5,020; Waikato, 13,317; Taupii Extended, 33,913; Taupiri Keservt 18,870; Bombay and Mokau, 3,14} The number of men employed i about 313, and calculating thei wages on the basis that it costs <i a ton to deliver the coal at the pi mouth the total wages would b £-12,000, or approximately £2 7/6 pc man. The resumption this year o operations in what is now known a Ralph's Taupiri mine will send v the amount annually produced cor sidcrably. There have been in fac well defined indications for som years pointing to a very considerabl increase in Auckland's coal mmm industry. The progress made in th development of coal mining diirin the past few years is but a partif fulfilment of the promise shown, an there is reason to believe that th

improvement will proceed in an increasing ratio. Coalmining is lacking in the fascination which makes old gold diggers occasionally return to the pursuits of their younger days, although rendered by age and a hard life thoroughly unfitted for severe w..-.k. It is a life of hard toil accompanied by no small amount of risk, but a. steady worker is able to earn very good wages at it, which is a very considerable consideration. The risks that the miner runs have been to a very appreciable extent minimised by careful inspection of the workings by Government officials, and by the gradual improvement which has taken place in the artificial safeguards for the protection of the lives of those whose work takes them under the ground. Still occasionally there is a bad accident such as occurred in the Brunner mine some two years ago, and it is impossible to dissociate in the mind the life, of the coalminer with a certain ever present feeling of danger. The element of danger in his work, however, never occurs to the average

miner except at rare intervals. It is a case of familiarity breeding contempt, aud the coalminer thinks no more of proceeding to his work than the eily clerk thinks of taking down his ledger. Hound about Iliintly the- miners may be seen proceeding io their workearly in tlie. morning smoking and generally worrying themselves very little. They disappear down the mouth of the pit, and are swallowed up in the darkness of the drives, and in the evening they appear again grimy and black like anyone who has much to do in the handling of nio.-t coal becomes, and trudge back to their homes somewhat more tired than in the morning perhaps, for the work is arduous, but none the less contented. Thr- work of the goldminer, even if he is only on pay, still presents that mental strain induced by a feeling that at any time one may make a discovery of importance; but with the coalminer Ihe case is different. lie hews away and blasts at great masses of coal, the dimensions of which are known with a moderate amount of accuracy after development work in

ri the mine has proceeded to a certain c, stage. He has no incentive of possible 3. discovery to spur him on, but neverie theless he works hard to hew out as r much of the solid mass of coal before >/ him as possible. it There will probably never be a time ie when the Auckland province will be :r a large exporter of coal, but with the >f increase in the number of industries s locally will coalmining be prosecuted p with corresponding vigour. Therfe l- may also of course come a time when •t the* iron fields lying contiguous to the te coal areas of the North will be deveie loped extensively, or the ironsand of g the West Coast be utilised on a cone. siderable scale, and should industries g start the coal measures of the il province, will rank- very differently d from what they do to-day in the scale c of the country's commercial interests.