LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 53, 26 November 1907, Page 3

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

$ THE NIC!JJ.TCAPS 'ROYAL COMMISSION . " REPORT. Sir,—As managing director of the Nightcaps Company, I have something to say concerning these documents, more especially as I was present at the daily sittings, and also conccrning your leader 'of the 21st instant upon it; The Commission is wrong in stating that the mine manager (Jlr. Lloyd) "has several times during the past few years had prohibition orders made against him." He took out only two pro J hibition orders during tho-last-26 years; while in our employ, and - the last would , iiot have boon takon if lie had not made one slight hope during'tho currency of the first: one. There is. no reliable evidence that he ''consumed the greater part of .a bottle of whisky" the evening before the disaster. He admitted having two or thrco "nips," but there were others in the houso who could tako whisky as well as he. When going home between 3 and 4 o'clock on the morning of'the disaster, and boing apprised that tho'firo iii the mine was gaining, he did the right thing in personally rousing the men ho wanted to fight it, because ho knew where they lived, and thoy would be more likely, to como quickly oil the 3cene whon called by the' "boss." Besides lie could do nothing in the mine before they arrived, so the time was not wasted; and if the Commissioners think otherwise, I and others differ most emphatically from that opinion. The Commissioners further state that on the day before tho disaster "it would have been impossible to make elfoctivc stoppings in tho time available." Not so. Had the inidcrviewer carried out the mino manager's instructions (and ho can't bo everywhere in and out of the mino all day long), tliero would have been no serious outbreak of fire and no disaster; but the underviower did not do so. The ovidence is conclusive on this point—indeed, ho sent the men home, although thoy wished to stay and finish them. Then a good deal is made of the two gallons of beer that were brought into tho mino to refresh the 12 to 15 men who wore figthing the firo, smoke, and damp, and later on some brandy to try to bring back to life. Jardine. and others who .were suffering like the rest —nil hard worked, too—and if tho mine manager had somo, liko. the rest, was lie not entitled to it ? , It is all .very. well, for you, Sir, and for the Commissioners, sitting in your office chairs, to think'or "say that'this was wrong ; put yourselves in. the samq exhausted position, and "dare to tell mo or anyone else that you would not have done exactly the same tiling. • It was "proved beyond tho shallow of a doubt that when the mine manager went into the .mine about 4 o'clock on the fatal morning lie was»sober. Tho only man who said he was.not was Jackson, the secretary of the union, and when ho was asked further lie said ho knew-by his breath. Now, Sir, if you or 1 drink a "lass of beer we can smell each other a goocl long way off, but that does hot provo we' are drunk ; and, while on this subject, let mc say here that everyone assumes that a initio manager should be sober ovory hour of the- twenty-four. Pray, lioiv many editors and Commissioners the world over are so, and at 3 or 4 a.m., day in and day out.the year'round. The fact that the mine plan was only, lurliislied once a .year to the Inspector of 'instead of twice, was a mere technical breach of the Act, and fully explained; as also tin non'-uso of safety lamps lor examinatibn; and 1 am probably in stating that before this disaster only two'or three minos known to be gassy (and the Nighlcaps was not one) out of the 13!) in Otago and Canterbury did use safety lamps, because it was' imperative that they should do so. But had safety lamps been used at Nightcaps oil tho morning of the disaster, they would have been useless 'n dotecting whito-damp, as has been proved; while all tho men were aware that blackdainp was. present, liccause the naked lights showed it, and warned them in plenty <A timo'to retreat. The tlirte men who mat their deaths in tho mine were fresh when thoy went in, and naturally could remain longer than the others, who were exhausted lij' some hours of hard work; and there niUDt havo been some sudden, and unforeseen changc. about this tiirio. One of the three (Duncan) was a deputy, f and a miner of twenty years' experience;' and yet lie appears to have been quickly overcome. Jardine proved this by being overcome himself, and it is probable that Carson and Welsh were' overcome 'about the same time; and y?,t shortly before this.the, mine manager lnm T self and others who had been down in the sanio place for a considerable time, and therefore wero not fresh men, were able lo stay there, .and eventually pull through. - The Commissioners, appear to have laid great stress on the point that the - daily examination of the mine was an empty form, because tho daily entry in the report bookwas:," Had examined all working placcs, and found all safe." What on earth, or • iind-jr the earth, more could, the deputy say? if these examiners aro to spend most of their time in writing long reports instead of doing their practical work, the wholo thing is a sham, as any practical, not theoretical, mine manager knows; and having had twen ty-sk years' - knowledge of Mr.' Lloyd and. his workin and out of the mino, I say without hesitation that, in my opinion, .lie'has proved himself to be—as he is—one or tho most capable and careful practical mine managers in NewZealand, as regards both life and property : and it would be better for the Dominion an;l its mines if there were more men of his stamp available. .Tliero are 'plenty of men, with preseiit-day educational advantages, who can pass theo-retical-examinations, but they are useless,' with these qualities only, in managing ..a mino or in handling men. < Coming now to . Mr. Green, the inspector of mines. I was present-when lie gave his evidence, and in my opinion lie did not get fair treatment, and. I am. not-by any means the only one who thought mid said so; in fact, it was the talk of the town, if I may put it so. I hold no brief either for Mr: Lloyd or Mr. Green, for they are both quite able to defend themselves; but an examination of the verbatim evidence (which you can, I think, hardly have seen yet) will bear out my opinion. When a man, experienced in mining as he is, is asked to give a bald answer, yes or no,- to difficult questions on expert matters, and cannot do so without explaining fully his reasons, and is frequently reprimanded for so doing, then I do not think it is either fair or just to him and his subject. During the seven years that I havo known him ho. has invariably paid surprise visits to the mino (unless otherwise for special reasons), and has not fraternised with either tho owners or the employees, and .thereby he has shown a discretion and proper appreciation of his responsible position— nor is lie afraid to find fault when necessary. Probably he will not thank me for writing as 1 have done, but the feeling was so strong in me to do him bare justice, if tho opportunity offered, as the report and your leading article has now. done, that I was bound to do it, even thouf*]i' it may have given offence to others, which I need hardly say was not,'and is not, my intention. In -conclusion I must say that I think somo of tho remarks in your leader, in reference to the commissioners, the inspector, and tho mino manager aro quite uncalled' for, and show clearly that when thewritcrponncd it he could not possibly havo studied the verbatim evidenco —indeed, 1 doubt if it is available yet—and therefore was not' competent to criticiso as ho has done. ' I have to.apologiso for taking up so much of your space, but the importance of the subject dcmands.it in this instance; and as your side has had such a prominent, place, I triist you will accord the same courtesy to 1 ours. —I am, etc." • WILLIAM 'HANDYSIDE, , Managing Director the Nightcaps Conl v Company, Limited. Invercargill, November 21.