WALLSEND MINERS.

Greymouth Evening Star, 22 September 1944, Page 6

WALLSEND MINERS.

[TO TUB EDITOR.] Sir, —The members of my Union employed at the Wallsend State mine desire to place their side of the story before your readers, and show that fchere is something more than a trivial accident behind the stoppage of work. I will be pardoned for taking it for granted that most of your readers know very little of the construction of the shaft at Wallsend, and I think it necessary that before passing judgment they should understand some of the conditions under which the men. travel down the shaft.

At regular intervals throughout the depth of the shaft are horizontal crosspieces passing through the centre of the shaft; to these crosspieces are fastened four perpendicular lines of rails, two rows of rails six feet apart on either side of the crosspieces, with the crown of the rails facing outwards, giving two lines of rails to each cage as guides. To keep the cage running on the guides two short lengths of rail’s are fastened on the cage in such a position that the crown part of the rails on the cage fits in behind the crown of the rails acting as guides. There isn’t a contrivance of any sort, other than the winding rope itself, safeguarding the lives of the men when travelling in the shaft, and the following is a summary of the most defective work that has been done on the shaft and engine in the last few weeks. On Friday, June 16, at the request

of the Union, the timbers of the “poppet heads” were examined, and found to be in such a condition that the mine was thrown idle for a week whilst the most urgent of repairs were carried out. Repairs to the poppet heads are still being carried out as the opportunity offers On or about August 10 the Union had to convince the management that the brake on the winding e® badly needed adjustment, and that the work should be done right away, so that the mine could work the following day. On Sunday August 13, the Union was informed that the winding rope was badly spragged and a new rope, r ®d uire d, and contact was made with the manager immediately so that the rope could be changed and the mine ready for work on the i usua V it required the additional pressure of the Mines Inspector to clinch the argument, and the check inspector assisted by chasing around, for the labour required to do the job. The result was that

the mine did work on the Monday. On Thursday, September 14, the breakdown occurred that kept the men at the shaft-bottom.

On Wednesday, September 20, was what some high authority on mining i gave to the “Grey Star” as a “trij vial accident.” Whilst the second I cage was descending it was noticed . that the cage had becoihe “fast” in the shaft, about 140 ft down. The cage was and the men brought back to the surface. It was apparent that the men had received a severe shock. The men who had been on the cage were asked for details of what happened. It was explained that following two severe jolts the cage suddenly became fast and tilted over on one end, throwing the men almost off their feet, and the end man thought he was going overboard. The rattle of the chains fastening the cage to the winding rope coming on to the top of the cage, and about 540 ft to go to the bottom, and somebody told you, Mr. Editor, it was trivial. An investigation was

called for immediately, and it was found that new rubbing strips fastened to the runners of the cage were too thick and had to be removed. As most of the trouble in. the shaft had been on the side of the shaft, where this particular cage runs, it was decided to request the manager that, as it was the opinion of the men that the cage was the real cause of the trouble, and that there was a cage in the workshop in the final stages of overhaul, the cage giving the trouble should be taken off and the fresh cage put on. It was felt that the men would have more confidence in the new cage. The management refused the request, on the grounds “that the Union was not going to dictate on the running of the mine.” Readers, I ask you. Yours, etc., R. SCOTT, Secretary.