The Brunner Disaster.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7663, 23 June 1896, Page 3

The Brunner Disaster.

iff REPORT OFTHEROYAL COMMISSION. £\' v - ' " ' Wellington, to-day. >.'■ ; The report of the Royal Commission on I.v.the Brunner disaster has been published. V After relating instances connected with the . disaster with which the public is already .?' acquainted, they say: The number of men L employed at the time of the acoident was PT 202, and since 260, or an increase of 58. The Commissioners consider it fortunate : that a portion of the property known as the r "Coolgardie" mine has an entry distinct • from the other mine, othei wise the miners working there may have, shared in the disaster. . . „ ; The coal in the Brunner mine is highly bituminous, yielding from 12,000 to 15,000 cubic feet of volatile gases when distilled at a high temperature. The coal is not liable to spontaneous combustion at an ordiuary temperature. Fire damp is occasionally met with, but never in such quantities as to oaase a serious acoident. The mine is not one in which fire damp is likely to occur suddenly. The ventilation was ample, and the machinery perfeob and sufficient for the " requirements. The mine too, was under | efficient' management. The Commissioners express an opinion that the explosion occurreoVin the eastern part o£ the dip workings andlsxtended to the weßt dip, and from the TOjwner in which the rescuers suffered from oxide, the fire damp contained an unusual proportion of carbonic oxide gas, or white damp. The preliminary cause of the explosion, they aay,' was a blown-out shot, fired by a person unknown, contrary to the rules of the mine, iv a part of the mine where no work • Bhould have been in progress ; secondly, by the ignition of coal gas, and the spreading of the flame through the dry portions of the mine ; thirdly, by an explosion of coal dust raised by the conoussiou ; fourthly, that there is no direct evidence that the explosion was commenced by the accumulation of fire damp mixed with coal dust. The theories of the miners were that the explosion was due to the gas which issued from the working faces in the eastern portion of the mine, but aa the men had been working there for an hour and a half that morning the Commissioners consider that indicates the mine was in a safe condition ; secondly, that gas suddenly came in large quantities from the deepest miuo. The Commissioners consider that by a blown-out shot about a ton of coal must have been affected ; that 12,000 to 150,000 oubio feet of gas was set loose. The quantity of gas and dust produced was in all probability greatly in excess of the amount which the air in the mine was capable of consuming, bo that the resultant of damp would be formed largely of white damp or carbonic oxide, of which two per cent., if breathed, wonld cause a severe effect. The characteristic of this fire damp is that while the lamps burn urgently in it it is fatal to life. Most of the men in the eastern workings, the Commissioners believe, died from the sudden explosion, and those in the western from fire damp. The Commissioners regret that the coroner's jury was not composed half of miners, as prescribed by the Coal Miners Act, and attribute the error to the coroner, who, however, explains that no minera were available except those working in the mine and others engaged in rescue work. The Commissioners find that the lighting was sufficient, and all the necessary precautions were taken in the use of powder, which was the only explosive used in the mine. The stoppings, too, were satisfactory. The general and special rules under the Act were also complied with. The Commissioners, in conclusion, make a number oi suggestions for future legislation, chief of which are that there should be three mine inspectors, one for tho North Mand, one for Westland and Nelson, and one for Canterbury, Otago, and Southland, no one to be a coal mine inspector who has not qualified as a colliery manager, such inspector to be authorised to introduce into each coal mine speoial rules which. the Commissioners set out, and to have discretionary power as to prosecutions for breaches of the Aot ; that samples of coal dust from all coal - mines be analysed to determine the amount of inflammable gas contained ; that underviewers and firemen undergo an examination, and road men and other officers be required to show that they have a thorough knowledge of their duties ; tbat every coal mine be tested to \ per cent, every week ; that no ' more than 411 bof powder be taken at any one time into any part of the mine ; that a report of the presence of gas be entered and signed by the manager making the report; that inspection of the mine by a miners' representative be made compulsory ; thai the Government invite suggestions as to alterations necessary in the Coal Mines Act, and then convene a conference of mine managers and miners working in different kinds of gas to go through the Act,