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Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 891, 22 February 1879, Page 2

St'AftPKt.T a mail arri?(»s from the OM Woetd tliat dues noli tidings of some .Semite disaster, which shock.-* u* and arouses our warmest sympathies. At such time* we {"set grateful that thuseaccidents, 'hurrying front the- world It.wrn.ipt?ti* of human being* at otic stroke, have «t>t <-h> curred nearer home. But we-are- becoming civilised now-. Imputation U rapidly in* and industries necessary to- the' ; maintenarww ef out population are feeing multiplied. Gar progress is s«> rapid that we have scarcely awakened t» the realisation of ear actual position. But a few ! years ago railways were m*, and it is but a lew days since we- were- first possessed of anything tike a railway system. Our ■ coal mines axe no longer holes scratched ; on the surfaes— they penetrate the bowela ; of the earth, are- dreadfally dark and unhealthy, and breed ctangernrts gases. Yes, we are fceeoming civilised. The i i shocking casualty that happened yesterday 1 I'at the Kaitangata nunc unpleasantly f this truism, upon as. Abo at forty, : pooe fellows were suddenly, through anj 'explosion of thff dangeruu* gases which : usually lurfc is such places, locked in a ! tomb-, and doomed to suffer a too. sW: and horrible- death. This is fead enough, '■ I but it l* not all. What about the hundred land twenty Hives that were dependent' lap«ffi these poor unfortunate fellewa for ! their bread t Of worse the people that sent assistance to the starved ones nf iChina and India, will not see the widows ( and orphans of the deceased workmen: Mtfier wast. But thisi »a poor consolation. and will not recall to "fe much-prized father* acd husband*. The aßair »

eminently startling, and will, unless we are greatly mistaken, point to the necessity for prompt and decisive legislation to regulate the management of our mines. An embargo should be placed upon the foolish practice of using naked lamps in mines. It may be clone with impunity for numbers of years, but it may at last end in a calamity such as that of yesterday. Again, mining companies should not be permitted, on account of the expense, to neglect the precaution of effectually ventilating their mines. These things could be provided for by Act of Parliament, but they could not be enforced except under the advice of a competent authority. The fact is, there should be an Inspector of Mines, as there is an Inspector of Machinery. One is cjttite as necessary as the other, and we recommend the matter to the serious attention of the Government.