BLACKBALL STRIKE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 178, 22 April 1908, Page 6

BLACKBALL STRIKE.

, ; THE MINE KAMACEn'3 CHALLENCE. ' 1 REPLY BY MS. PRITCIIARD. (BV TKLSCItAI'tl —ri'lX'i.U, rniIIUiSI'ONRENT.)! CrcynioL'th, April 21. Mr. Loitch's challenge'in reference to "t!:« ventilation of.tho Blackball mine and the reply of Mr. D. K. Pritchard thereto is the chief item of interest in connection, with •the dispute. i i . In opening his reply, Mr. Pritchard says: "I desirp to state that ft is with c.onsiderablo' reluctance and regret th.it I am compelled to' tako-this action in self-defence, because of tho admiration I have for Mr; Leitch as a clever and capable mine manager, and one withj I sincerely hope, 'a brilliant future before ,him 'in mining cireks. On every platform from; which I delievercd addresses during my tour in Hihe South-Is-land I specially.-referred to the fact' , that anything I might say.' concerning Mr. Leitch would riot be the outcome of,, any personal enmity existing between him aiid myself, as, prior to the present dispute, wo ircco tno best of friends, and when work was resumed at the mine I hoped /that good friendship would continue." -.. , , "

As to Mr; Leitch's challenge, Mr. Prit> chard says" Here is the statement referred. to, and the "one on which. the challenge, so' far as it concerns me, is based upon, and is from an address I delivered in Christchurch: 'Why,.then, had he allowed men to work for years amidst danger, among ■ gelignite, smoke and. black damp, etc., etc. i need not quote the, remainder, which is a misreport ; ,doubtless caugcd by a lack of mining technical knoivlodge. I plead guilty to the above, but it was not inado when speaking of Mr. Leitch, • but -when criticising tlje- Inspector of'Miues, and was based on tho tacit admission, of,,that, gentleman to Mr. Hallj'n: the,;courea',pf 'the.yisHr he made to the mine which Mr. Leitch refers to in his challenge, and. the one he abovo referred to was the. Inspector of' Mines; Mr. R. Terinent. But- Mr;' Leitch, hp .put a construction upon the. sentence whiclii; 'infers' that his reputation was'being assarted by :me. I will take him. at his word. Ho does, not mention the danger; tha,t,' 6f;;epurso, is an accepted condition'of a miner's: work, nor. doc 3 he . mention- v 'the. : .gelignite smoke,. which'.is- an unexpressed..aaimssioii that. that also exists iii certain plaoos in' the mine, ; so there: is only the black ■ damp i to deal . with. -;. As'; to. prove 'its present. existence in' tho Blackball Mine is the condition, upon which the Greymputh Hpspital would benefit to the extent of £25, haß Mr. Leitch ' not sufficient intelligence. to :uud<h'stand;'or is he intentionally attempting• to obscure,the actual meaning -of what I said ? The assertion was made'on a knowledge of conditions existing prior to the present- dispute, and not on : conditions whiclr might'obtain three' months later. Mr. Leitch .'"knows" a 'thousand times better than I do that conditions which.'existpd in "a mine yesterday may not exist "to-day, and are -liable to reappear agaiii at any time. : For instance, .the day before the/ late.'regrettable explosion.;.at. Brunriev, we must infer that the mine in which the explosion occurred was workably, safe," yet in less than twenty-four hours these existing, conditions of safety had undergone'such a transformation' that the miners,. when attempting to ,get to their working' faces, werb^-well,' the result is a matter of history, and the - gentleman who WSS general iiitiinagpr of that mine holds a very responsible position to-day,, and is, to say, the lpast, as clever a mining expert; as Mr. v Walter Leitch,: and . thus; Mi> Leitoh challenges me for a wager of £20 to foreeast ■ the condition of the Blackball Mine three/months ahead of a given date;, for that in truth is the real' context of his challenge. Thore may bo no''black damp', in tho Blackball. Jfine■ I am willing to attempt to prove that it contained 'black damp' prior to the present dispute', and it was that period' I .was referring to when I mentioned-the 'black damp.'