PAPAROA MINING CASE.

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 February 1911, Page 8

PAPAROA MINING CASE.

ONE BOY CONVICTED AND DISCHARGED. A WARNING AGAINST INTERFERFERENCE WITH APPLIANCES At the Magistrate’s Court yesterday afternoon the further hearing of the charge against three lads named Thomas and John Stevens and Arthur Olham for removing a clamp chain from one of the coal trucks on the flat near the top of the incline, at the Paparoa mine was resumed before Mr Crooke, S.M. At the appointed hour for resuming Mr Guinness called William Burns, who did not appear, so Mr Guinness recalled Mr Patterson, who gave details of the measurements of tension wheel to the turntable 165 feet and from the tunnel mouth to the tension wheel approximately 60 feet and from the turntable to the top of the incline 120 feet. At 2.30 p.m.. Burns turned up after keeping the Court waiting a quarter of an hour. On February 2nd he had been at work at the mine, having gone up the steps. He saw James Irvine when he was filling a bag of coal. He drew witness's attention to a chain on the truck at the brow of the incline which had been removed. In consequence of what Irvine told him he saw Oldham Senr and Tom Stevens and told the former what had happened to the truck and when he told Oldham this Tom Stevens said that Irvine could not prove it and Oldham Senr sent the boys up to the mine to see Irvine. To Mr Joyce.—He resided at. the middle camp and when he went down and had some tucker and a smoke he went up to the trucks for a bag of coal. He heard Oldham tell the hoys to go up and they went to see Irvine. THE DEFENCE.

Mr Joyce submitted that they had heard nothing whatever of the turntable till that morning. The boys had finished their work at Blackball and had gone up to the middle camp to get some jam jars for Mrs Stevens. Thomas Stevens, one of the defendants stated that they went to Oldham’s place and alter he had given them some tea they went up to David Irvine to get some coal for Oldham. They went uc the incline and saw him send out three trucks, two of coal and one of dirt. After leaving him at. the turntable they went to the incline and filled the bag of the coal that was on the incline. He never saw the clamp and swore that none of them touched it. He saw Birins who said they had been accused of taking the clamp off hut when they went back witness denied having touched the truck and said that Irvine would have to prove it. To Mr Guinness. —Mr Irvine did not threaten to report them and no one said they would stone him if he did. Witness asked him if he could prove that witness had taken the clamp off and he answered that he could not prove it. Witness absolutely denied having touched the turntable. Irvine was blaming them for touching the clamp and he asked Irvine if he had seen anyone do it and if he could prove it but Irvine said he could not. John Stevens, brother of the previous witness stated that they had gone up to Oldham’s to get some jam jars for their mother. He confirmed the evidence previously given by his brother. He emphatically denied having taken the clip off the cramp.' They returned to Oldham’s down the steps. They were all three together the whole time and as far as he was concerned he had never seen the clamp.

To Mr Guinness.—-Irvine did not say that he would report them to the Manager. ’They were about there for about twenty minutes. His brother and Oldham filled the bag down the incline. Arthur Oldham, a rope boy, aged 14, working at the Blackball mine, said that on February 2nd they had gone to middle camp to his father’s camp and they waited at the boarding house till his father came home. After having some tea they went up the incline to get some coal. Irvine was taking off the trolly and sent two trucks of coal and one of dirt out. He asked them all to help him to turn the truck and they all did. They then left him to get some coal for his father and lie and Tom Stevens filled the bag and carried it down to his father’s camp. He lived at Blackball with his mother and his father lived in the camp. They had some more tea with his father after they came back to the camp. George Arthur Oldham living at Middle Camp said his wife and childfen lived at Blackball. Remembered February 2nd when the two Stevens and Arthur, his son, came there. S.iibsequently Einns came down and said the boys had been in mischief. They denied it and said that Mr Irvine did not accuse them of it. David Irvine recalled said that there was no dirt sent out of the tunnel that night. To Mr Joyce.—The dirt came out in the night shift therefore there were only two trucks left. But before the boys left the fiat there were twelve trucks and they had all gone in the run. They went down one at a time. There might have been two or three trucks come out during the night shift. This was all tiro evidence and the Magistrate said that the evidence was very conflicting. The men swore that the clamp was on the truck and the boys denied having- touched it. As for the hoys’ statement that they had helped David Irvine to shift a truck on the turntable there was total contradiction. It might have happened that Irvine had not put the clamp on but he was very emphatic on that point. Ho was not altogether satisfied that some tampering had not been done and the eldest hoy should have seen that nothing was done wrongly. He would be convicted but he would impose no penalty. He honed the case would act as a warning to others not to interfere in any way in such a case. Mr Kitchingham (who had relieved Mr Guinness who had to leave by train) asked for costs. The Magistrate: ‘'Who’s to pay them?” He would make no order for costs against a lad of sixteen.