CAUSE OF THE KAITANGATA CATASTROPHE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 642, 5 March 1879, Page 2

CAUSE OF THE KAITANGATA CATASTROPHE.

The special reporter despatched by the Lyttelton Times to Kaitangata on Saturday morning, has forwarded the followidg report concerning the accident : — I learned from the men at the pit mouth that the Kaitangata Railway and Coal Company had only been successfully at work for about two years, but before referring to the mine, I may briefly describe its position. The hills m the background bear a striking resemblance to those about the Heathcote Valley. To the rightward is a river, and on the left is Kaitangata Lake. Close to the foot of the hill nestles the township. It consists of about 100 houses, all of very neat appearance, with a pretty Presbyterian Church, Railway Station, Post and Telegraph Office. A large hotel nearly completed stands at the back of the Presbyterian Church, and a little to the right is a broad gully, into which the railway extends ; and here at some little elevation are clustered three coal mines. The first of these which is worked by Messrs. J. Winter and Co., is on the shaft system, and they only commenced to send up coal m payable quantities about two months ago, their shaft running d»wn to a depth of 400 feet. Just at the back of this, and only about 50 yards away, is the entrance to the tunnel mine, m which the accident occurred. The workings penetrate to a distance of about 45 yards m a direct line from the main drive. There are numerous branches right and left, and these have been subdivided by other drives so as to form a complete network. As the workings rise from the distance — there is good natural drainage, and no pumping necessary. For ventilating the mine a furnace is used. Air enters at the mouth of the main drive, and by doors placed here and there, it is made to travel round the workings until it returns to a point comparatively near

the entrance. There a furnace is placed, and a shaft penetrates the' roof and rises m the form of a large woodeti chimney above the ground. It will be.) understood the success aud efficiency of the ventilation current depends upon the doors across, various parts of the workings which direct its course. Necessarily they have to be opened and shut very frequently since niett" and* trucks are constantly moving about and on every occasion there must be a certain amount of interference with .the. due ventilation, m fact, some of the men tell me that the place has been feirfully close, and the bad air affects them far more than the work. Now that this fearful blow has " come, they say more than they would probably have done before. They have described to me how small explosions have occurred from time to time m this mine, and how, a short time ago, a poor fellow, one of the dead, was so badly burned that he was laid up for a month. The very evening before the accident, so two of the men say, the flickering of the dreaded gas about them was plainly visible. Some say that the subject has often been mentioned to the manager, and all I have spoken to are unanimous upon one point, j which must be stated, however unkind it may now appear, it is that the deputyengineer never ought to have • been allowed to go about the mine as he did. He was noticed for his eccentric ways, and for poking about m all parts of the workings, night and day, and ao far as the men had seen, invariably with a I naked light. When the matter was mentioned to his brother William, the manager, he would reply that he could not keep the old fellow out. Here then, upon the freely given testimony of the miners, who naturally chat more at their ease when unfettered by the formality of an official inquiry, there was to all intents and purposes an inadequate Bysleni of ventilation. There was but one way by which the men could get m or out m case of any accident m the main drive. Even if there was no damp they would be entombed alive. There were disused Workings which, instead of being nailed up and placarded as m English mines, or blocked up by more solid material, could be entered by anyone who chose to open the door. Through them the ventilating current did not pass, and they became reßervoirs of the frightful explosive. There was the system of naked lights the men have hooked to the front of their hats, a simple tallow lamp, and, finally, there was for deputy manager a strangely eccentric man, who, m all human, probability, carried his flaring light into a disused working, and m the act destroyed the township..