A NAKED LIGHT

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue LXXXVIII, 30 October 1914, Page 2

A NAKED LIGHT

PROBABLE ORIGIN OF A DISASTER GAS IN OLD WORKING AT HUNTLY WAS IT INSPECTED, TESTED, AND PROTECTED?

Yesterday's summary of evidence concerning the Huntly disaster dealt specially with th© supposition that gas (appearing in a supposed gas-free mine) acted as the medium between, a, naked light and the highly explosive coal-dust. It was shown that the manager of Ralph's, Taupiri (Mr. James Fletcher), and the Inspector of Mines for the district (Mr. Boyd Bennie) knew of some of the gas discoveries, but Qid not apprehend a disaster involving forty-three lives; the Inspecting Engineer for Mines under the Mines Department (Mt. Frank Reed) did apprehend such a disaster, and. repeatedly reported hie apprehensions in alarming terms to the Undersecretary for Mines, and recommended tho use of safety lamps. Mr. Reed cays he had. no authority to take any further step. Mt. Reed alleges, and Mr. Fletcher denies, that some of the gas discoveries were concealed from the Mines Department. Those ware the main points in yesterday's summary. TESTING FOR GAS DANGERS. Ordinary practice in dealing with the gas danger is to tost regularly and thoroughly for the presence of gas. If the gas-testing showed gas in dangerous quantity, then safety-lamps would be used, at any rate during euch time as the danger existed, aiid within the limits of its influence. Ventilation would play a part in removing gas or in diffusing it to a non-dangerous percentage. Gastesting and ventilation are, therefore, vital. An attempt will be made to-day to group the evidence in relation to these points. It may be focuseed by means of the following questions : — Were gas-testing and inspection regularly and efficiently carried on, and to a. sufficient height, in (a) working places and (b) old workings? Did the explosion originate in old workings, which are specially liable to gas-accumulation ? If so, was the place of origin pro-* perly inspected and tested on the morning of the disaster, and was it properly ventilated ? Were the old workings properly provided with doors and locks? OLD WORKINGS. Each morning, within a period of two hours prior to the majn body of miner* commencing work, "the whole of the working places were examined by three competent persons." In making this statement to the Coroner, Mr. Fletcher, manager for the Taupiri Coal Mines Co., • said that on the morning of the disaster, 12th September, three deputies (underground officials, with some responsibility, employed by the company) made the examination, and he produced their reports, indicating good ventilation and general safety. Deputies always carried safety lamps on their daily inspection. This inspection applied to "working places," not to old workings no longer in operation. Mr. Fletcher told the Commission that there was nothing in the present Act to compel the company to employ special officers to inspect tho old workings ; but on his recommendation two §uch officers were appointed by the company. The last report on old .workings stated that all was well, there were no falls, and the ventilation was good. That report was dated 11th September, the day before the disaster. No watering (of coal dust) was done in the old workings. Mr. Boyd Bennie, Inspector of Mines for the District, expressed the opinion that the explosion ocourred inside old workings, near No. 5 bond. He referred to gas as an "ever-present danger" in old workings, and said the men were not supposed to go there. THE UNLOCKED DOOR AT No 5. ' Gas emissions are often associated vrith falls. After the explosion, a fall was found in No. 5 Bord, and in the adjoining bord, No. 6, was found the body of a miner named Martin. The theory was offered that Martin, carrying a naked light, caused the gas explosion which initiated a coal-dust explosion. There was some doubt as to whether Martin's body was found where he stood at the moment of the explosion, or whether it was hurled some distance ; consequently, some doubt also as to whether the explosion was initiated in No. 5 bord or in No. 6. It waß suggested that in No. 5, where the fall was, the gas emitted therefrom would probably be pure ; in the adjoining bords, Nos. 4 and 6, it would be more or less diluted with air, and therefore might become explosive Mr. William Wood, manager of the Taupiri Extended mine, at Huntly, said that from the position of the body of Martin, " Martin had evidently opened a door leading into the old workings, and his naked light immediately ignited the accumulation of gas there, which in turn ignited the coal-dust." The door referred to connected No. 5 bord with No. 6. Five days after the explosion witness tested for gas, and estimated the quantity at about x 100,000 cubic feet. There was, he added, an accumulation of gas in No. 5 section, which was later cleared away by ventilation. Joseph M. Browniee, horse-driver, deposed to the absence of leeks on doors connecting with old workings, • In €ne course of his evidence, Mr. Reed, Inspecting Engineer for Mines, gaid : "The old workings should be provided with locked doors to keep people out. Each door should have ventilation spaceg at the top, and a danger notice threatening prosecution of men passing through." In answer to Mr. Wilford, 1 Mr. Fletcher said that under the Act, witness ought to have kept the door between No. 5 and No. 6 bords locked. He did not do this. DID MARTIN PRECEDE THE INSPECTOR? Deputy Magill, one of the last witnesses called by the Commission, offered the theory that on the morning of the explosion, Smith (who was killed) was on his way to inspect No. 5 bord for gas. Witness believed that Martin was going to No. 5 bord to remove rails from it, and that Martin got into the bord with s\ naked light, before Smith had had time to inspect it j hence the explosion. In reply to Mr. Wilford, witness said that he was positive that there was no lock on the door leading to the old workings. Mr. Wilford: "You know that one was required by the Act?" — Witness: "Yes." Mr. WiHord : "Why was there not one?" — Witness : "That is not in my line at all." .... Mr. Wilford : "If that door had been locked, Martin could not have been killed? — Witness: "Well, I don't say anything about that " Mr. Reed, Engineer for Mines, deposeS that ho was satisfied that Martin started the explosion. Six days after the disaster, witness examined the mine. At that time, in the bord above where Martin's body was found, there was a dome containing 68,000 cubic feet of gas. In the locality witness measured 350,000 cubic feet of gas. There were about 40 chains of bord full .of this mixture. There was no ventilat-

'could in the bords. If there was gas on the lower end of an inclined bord, it was certain the gas went right up to the top. The gaseous mixture was well above the explosive point, 5.6. Samples taken en the floor were up to 3.7 per cent. At the level of his cap 9.4 per cent, was the most explosive mixture. He did not go near the roof, only feeling his way around the foot of the borde. Had he gone further he would nothavo survived. He could have got 10 per cent, anywhere by climbing a few feet. NO DISASTER IF ADEQUATE TEST. Mr. Wilford : "If there had been a pro>per inspection of No. 6 bord on the morning of 12th September (day of the disaster) by a competent man with a safety-lamp, would any lives hay© been lo&t on that day?"— Witness :' ' "No. Most decidedly not. An adequate- test, made sufficiently high, would have revealed the gas." v On the question of height of workings, and of testing them at height, Mr. Reed eaid that some of the bords were the highest ho had seen., and probably the highest in the world. That made them difficult to test for gas. On© of his reasons for writing six times warning the Mines Department concerning Ralph's tnine was that it contained a large area of high workings, and that, owing to the lack of facilities in New Zealand for instructing colliers regarding the dangers of gas, examination for gas was being carried out by inexperienced men. At th 6 gas-testing examination at the Auckland Exhibition less than thirty miners attended, and only one man from Ralph's mine passed. Mr. Fletcher considered that his un-der-viewers, deputies, and other responsible officials were competent gas'testers. Daniel Weir, deputy in Ralph's mine, deposed that in testing for gas it was iiot the practice to examine every bord ia the mine. Some places were missed because there had never been indications of gas there. His instructions were to look for fire, not for gas. When he found a fall, however, he generally went to the top of it and made teets for gas. There was no one whose duty it was to test for gas in the old workings. Such tests as were made were quite voluntary. Wherever witness thought there was likely to be gas he tested for it. Weir also stated that he had never passed an examination in gas-testing. His method was to test lot gas by holding the lamp as high as he could reach. In that way he could not teat » bord higher than 7ft. There were four or five ladders in the old workings for inspection purposes. On« ol the charg«a brought against the company by Mr. Wilford is the nonprovision of sufficient ladders to test high bords "for gas, VENTILATION CONDEMNED AND DEFENDED. Ventilation, as a means of removing gas, was considered from various points of view. Mr. Reod stated that one of the causes of his premonitory fears was the difficulty of maintaining in Ralph's mine ventilation sufficient to prevent an explosion of gas. He bracketed this difficulty with the amount of "fearfully inflammable" dust present. Ventilation was most important. It was the accumulation of gases that led to the death of the men. Mr. Reed stated that under the Act— which was, however, obsolete — the fan at Ralph's mine was up to requirements as to capacity; but he thought that, to ventilate such a difficult mine, a larger fan, such as that at the Taupiri Extended coal mine, should be used. Questioned as to why he did not report to the Under-Secretary for Mines the need for a better fan as well as the need for safety lamps, witness said : " I drew attention to the main dangers. The fan was one of the lesser of these dangers." It was. however, a danger, and, if the new Bill passed, the company would be "pulled up over it." When witness visited the mine after the explosion he did not think there was ventilation in No. 6 bord. With regard to the burning cases before the explosion, " whenever a man was burned there would have been inadequate ventilation." The old workings were just the place for gas to accumulate. To the company's counsel : "I do not think this disaster would have happened if you had had a decent fan and decent ventilation." Mr. Boyd Bennie, Inspector of Mines for the district, considered the ventilation of Ralph's mine effective. As to old workings he was satisfied that the ventilation was sufficient to carry off ordinary accumulations of gas, though the air in isolated corners might have been warm. Mr. Daniel Weir, deputy, declared that Ralph's mine was very well ventilated and that the air was good. VENTILATING CURRENT "TOO COLD." Mr. James Fletcher, manager, stated at the inquest that fire-damp, or gas, had on several occasions been found in' small quantities in RaJph's mine, in pockets. The last occasion was on 17th August, when Inspector Weir reported that he found diluted gas in No. 4, which gas was dispersed by the air current. Gas of this nature was usually caused by a fall. Witness explained that a, strong current of ventilating air was sometimes objected to by the miners as being too cold. He^ believed that in July last,- because of the cold, they blocked the pipe, and that this led to an accumulation of gas and to the burning accident to Kelly on 9th July. Before the Commission Mr. Fletcher said that the capacity of the "fan at Ralph's mine was quite adequate. Up till the morning of the explosion 'he considered the mine a safe one, but, in view of what had happened, he now thought it would be better to use safety lamps, at any rate until further ventilation was provided. On 26th August two men failed to report an escape of gas to him. At present (at the time the evidence was given) there was no largo accumulation of gas in the old workings. "Have you," asked Mr. Wilford, "put in special air currents?" "Yes," answered witness, "we have been doing so for eight days past." Witness, in his final examination, did not admit that the portion of the mine where the explosion originated was not properly ventilated. There is not space in this article to deal with the coal-dust danger, the risks of explosives used by miners, the advisability of installing rescue apparatus at mines, and the defects of the law. The question whether the Miners' Union at Huntly was a "creation" of the employers and "the agents of the company" (as alleged by Mr. Boyd Bennie), and whether the union inspectors and members therefore neglected their duty as against the company, was excluded from consideration by the Commission, but it has got to be faced. The following suggestions appear in the evidence' of the Director of the Geological Survey, Mr. P G. Morgan: (a) Strict and frequent inspection of old or partly abandoned workings; (b) increased ventilation; (c) watering dusty roads and places ; (d) use of inert dust (as a diluent of explosive dust) ; (c) use of "permitted explosives" only ; (f) use of safety lamps — oil or electric. Every year it grows more and more popular ; the value of a medicine is reckoned by the result it gives and not by the quantity you can get for your money. Baxter's Lung Preserver is the most effective cough or cold mixtureyou can obtain in New Zealand, and Is lOd buys a big bottle of this pleasant tasting remedy. It attacks the ailment by toning up the system generally and tlatuxa furnishes $ie KWie,— Adlit