SABOTAGE AT STATE MINE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 118, 22 May 1939, Page 11

SABOTAGE AT STATE MINE

HOT WATER TAPS DAMAGED MATTER REPORTED TO POLICE ( Ter Press Association 1 WELLINGTON, May 19. Cases of sabotage at. the Liverpool State Coal mine, on the West Coast, on two successive nights, were mentioned by the Minister of Mines, Hon. P. C. Webb, in an interview this evening. Because of unauthorised interference with a tap, the hot waler supply was cut off at a bathhouse. As a re'sult of this the mine was closed for It wo days this week. The matter has I been reported to the police. Mr. Webb i said he had been immediately inform--led by the superintendent of State mines that deliberate sabotage had been done, the damaging ol taps thus preventing heat going into the bathhouse. The result was that when the men arrived at. the bathhouse to change, their clothes would be wet and the bathhouse would resemble a freezing chamber. On the second night, said Mr. Webb, engine-drivers inspected the pipes frequently and on the last visit they made found everything in order. However, soon afterwards tampering was again done, the taps being found destroyed and the bathhouse cold. "I immediately sent the Labour Department inspector to investigate and also advised the mine manager to place the matter in the hands of the police,” said Mr. Webb. “If the guilty person or persons are found they will be instantly dismissed from ' the mine, if employed there, and prosecution proceedings instigated. The Minors’ Union is co-operating with the authorities to put an end to this obnoxious practice.