IMPORTANT MINING CASE.

Inangahua Times, 22 January 1915, Page 2

IMPORTANT MINING CASE.

i j " THE MIS-USE OF THE

POPPER."

-At the Warden's Court this ( afternoon there was heard a I charge against G» Proctor, of neglecting to adequately' usewater spraying appliances provided for him. contrary to the provisions of the Mining Act, j 1913, Clause 256. Mr Isaac Patterson appeared for the defendant, while the In- > spector of Mines conducted the i case for the Crown. ! Mark Fagan, Workmen's Iri- : spector, deposed that.on the 15th December last, he visited the j Energetic Mine. At a point in '■ No. 11 level he came upon a man i roctor (defendant) who was engaged in drilling a hole (up), singlehanded, and "misusing the appliances for laying down the dust." The water fmm a

hose was resting upon a set of timber ten feet away from the face at the side of the hole. The spray, by no means, was keepI ing down the dust—on the coni trary—the current of air caused by the jet was increasing the dust nuisance by blowing the dust in Proctor's face, Witness . called the underground foreman, - Metcalfe, to see the effect of the spray, and called his attention to the quantity of dust on Proctor's face and hair. Witness then insisted on the drill being run for three minutes under the conditions in which he found the defendant working, in order to demonstrate that the spray was inadequate. Proctor's mate was then called and he began spray- .! ing the hole in the proper way.

j lo Mr Patterson—l he appliance was misused. Proctor's mate, Wicken, was in the upper stope doing some timbering. The Arbitration Court Award states that two men shall work together. Defendant was misusing the water appliances. His face was covered with dust showing that the manner in which the water struck the face, had reallyaggravated the position. To Mr Bishop—The jet was entirely misused.. C. J. Metcalfe, underground manager of the Energetic Mine, deposed ff that on the occasion mentioned, he went down with the previous witness, and there in No. II found Proctor working a drill single-handed, 'while his mate was in the stope above doing some timbering. Witness noticed dust on Proqtor. Fagari then made the work start as it was, and during its progress, he' saw dust lifted and went on to the man. The mine always allowed two men to work the drill. '

To Mr Patterson—Saw Proctor Wffrthr r lnacliffier-*i^^ i - tift® m dust undoubtedly. By running the spray with the aid of another man there would be much/ less dust. Dust would only come from drilling. Proctor had the water at half pressure, which was adequate for all that Proctor required had it been sprayed on in the right position. Had found men working without the nozzle spraying. Had not spoken to them as he did not know if he were entitled to object. i The water sprayed by Proctor was reaching the hole and some of the dust, but he saw dust escaping on to Proctor. To Mr Bishop—He, himself, was often gravely inconvenI ienced by the dust allowed to escape, owing to the inadequate manner of water spraying. For the defence, Mr .Patterson called James Wicken, miner, who deposed he was mates with the defendant. Remembered the visit of Mr Fagan into the mine on the 15th December. Was occupied that day in timbering with Proctor. During the day Proctor went down and commenced working the drill. Proctor fixed his spray and commenced work. The ' water was fully turned on to the hole. Indeed, it went better. The Bench'""No, no. You can't say that. It had a stick behind it without intelligence, and if .you had been behind it there must have been some intelligence, I

hope. G. Proctor, defendant, stated he had the water turned on to the hole. There might have been a , little dust come round by him. He and his mate used it generally together except when they were pushed for time. The Bench—That. is. just it. Except when they were pushed for time. Then they could make dust and cause trouble. . Mr Patterson having addressed the Court on the legal side, of the question, Mr Bishop stated that the matter was a very serious one. It meant the health of a great many men. During the three years of the Miners' Sick and Accident Fund he had had to report to the Minister the deaths of no less than thirty-one miners from miners' phthisis. His Worship, in delivering judgment, stated that the. offence was not a light one by any means. He had once before marked his sense of its seriousness by imposing a fine of fifty millings, and as that seemed to lave no effect, he could' not do ess in this instance that fine the lefendant the sum of £5.