PREVIOUS DISASTERS

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 134, 3 December 1926, Page 8

PREVIOUS DISASTERS

BRUNNER THE GREATEST.

Records of accidents in mines have been - kept since 1878, and up to the present,' the total number of lives lost in and about collieries is 387.

The greatest mining disaster in tho history of New Zealand was that of the Bunncr, at Brunnerton, eight miles north-east of Greymouth, close to the scene of the present disaster, which occurred on 26th March, 1896. This disaster was caused by an explosion, by which 65 men lost their lives. After the disaster, steps were at once taken to get the mine thoroughly examined by competent experts to ascertain the cause of the explosion, and a Royal Commission was appointed to inquire into all the bearings of the case in order to recommend such steps as might be deemed necessary to prevent a like occurrence in the future. The report of that Commission showed that the explosion was caused by a blown-out shot fired by someone on the morning of the disaster, but as all the men who were in the mine lost their lives, further details could not be ascertained. The evidence of all the experts who were mine managers of high standing, as well as that of the Inspector of Mines, was unanimous, that a blown-out shot was the cause of the disaster, and that the explosion was not due to an outburst of gas. The report of the Commission showed that no blame was due to tho management, and that there was passing through tho mine double the quantity of air required by the Act. In connection with that disaster, a relief fund of £29,000 was raised. THE HUNTLY DISASTER. The most recent disaster was that which occurred on 12th September, 1914, in Ralph's Colliery, Huntly, the property of the Taupiri Coal Mines, Ltd., when 43 lives were lost. The cause of this disaster was also investigated by a Royal Commission, who found that it was due to an ignition of fire damp by a naked light carried in the old workings of the mine by a miner when proceeding to his work, the ignition of gas causing a concussion which raised a quantity of fine inflammable lignite dust by which the explosion was intensified and carried to the top of the upcast shaft, a distance of about threequarters of a mile. The Commission considered the management of the mine, speaking generally, good, but in certain respects, e.g., the prompt carrying out of the inspector's orders, the precautions taken against danger from

gas, the ordering of safety lamps, and the examination of tho old workings— it was lax and unsatisfactory. KAITANGATA DISASTER. Thirty-four mon lost their lives as the result of an explosion of gas which occurred in the Kaitangata mine, near Dunedin, on 17th February, 1879. Such was tho force of tho explosion that a boy named Edward Dunn, who was entering the drivo with his horso, was blown about fifty yards clear of the pit mouth, and was instantly killed. When the mine could bo entered, it was found that thirty-four men were dead. Not one of those who went into the workings that morning was alive. To all appearances, tho greater number of tho miners were not killed by the explosion itself. They had escaped the firedamp, and were making for the mouth of the mine, when they were overpowered by the after-damp, as tho men call fhn foul atmosphere which remains after . n explosion. Some of them must have run from one to two hundred yards before they fell. At ono point, thirteen bodies were found in a heap. The gas had been increasing in the mine for some time before the disaster. All tho men worked with naked lights, but although there had been several small explosions of fire-damp, these were liable to happen at any time, and no fear of general danger was apprehended. It was believed, however, among •those who best knew tho mine, that the light carried by a man who was inspecting a portion of the property, where thero was a fault, caused, the explosion. The Kaitangata disaster was tho first grave colliery explosion in Now Zealand.