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List of Seeious Accidents. 15th February.—Coalbrookdale : Thomas Clark; taking out truck, it ran over and broke his leg. Ist May.—Coalbrookdale : John Pollock ; killed by fall of stone. 18th May.—Coalbrookdale : Mark Dixon ; seriously injured by fall of prop and stone. Died on 20th May. 3rd July. — Ooalbrookdale : Alexander Hunter; fatally injured by runaway truck. 18th September.—Brunner : William Maddox ; burned by slight explosion of firedamp.

No. 4. Mr. J. Gow, Inspector of Mines, to the Undee-Seceetaey of Mines, Wellington. Sib,— Dunedin, 4th April, 1894. I have the honour, in compliance with section 67 of " The Coal-mines Act, 1891," to report as follows, for the information of the Hon. the Minister of Mines: — My remarks on the several mines will be found to follow my list consecutively, commencing at— Canteebuky. 1. Springfield Mine. —(23/6/93) : The old shaft is closed, the poppet-head pulleys taken down, and the engine-boilers stripped of the brickwork. The old company no longer exists. Previous to closing the old shaft, a sufficient quantity of fireclay was hoisted to the surface to keep the pottery-works going for about two years. Since then, a 2ft. seam of coal has been opened from the outcrop, quite handy to the pottery-works, where nearly all the output is used. The new discovery dips in the direction of the old shaft, and is being opened on a small scale only at present. 3. Sheffield Mine. —(23/6/93): Examined the mine and the two working-faces, and found fault with the insufficient current of air passing through them. The air was so sluggish in one part of the mine that I had to request the men to at once improve it. A dip-drive is now being put down to the coal at a spot a little to the westward of the old shaft. The dip of this tunnel is lfft. to the yard, and it has already been driven 180 yards. The coal is expected to be reached in another 40 yards. The tunnel is 6ft. by s|-ft. A portion is timbered, but other parts are yet to be done. A horse will draw the coal. 4. Snowdon Mine. —(l 9/6/93) : This seam is probably 15ft. thick, and stands nearly vertical. It is opened from a nearly perpendicular face on the east side of the Eakaia Gorge. A tunnel was driven in some distance, and then a shaft was sunk on the terrace to a depth of 70ft. on to the tunnel. Up this shaft all the coal is hoisted by a horse, and then carted to the station for home use only. The mine is in good order. 5. Lake Coleridge Mine. —(2o/6/93): There is about 4ft. of coal, with a stone roof and good floor; but the coal does not appear to maintain the above thickness any distance under the terrace. There is an outcrop of coal a short distance higher up the creek, where the coal-hewer intends to put in a tunnel at an early date to test its value. 6. Mount Hut Mine. —(21/6/93) : This mine is situate on the south side of the Eakaia Gorge, and a little west of the Snowdon Mine. It is very clear the seam of coal on the south side of the river is not the same as that on the east side. In lieu of the large seam, there are a number of small ones standing at a different angle, and all very friable. They range from a few inches to 2ft. thick, and the coal is bagged as it is hewn out of the open workings. A tram-line from the top of the terrace leads down the cliff to the coal at an easy gradient, all things considered; a horse does the haulage. The coal is used on Mr. C. P. Murray-Aynsley's station only. 9. Homebush Mine. — (17/6/93): Examined all the working-places. The top one of all, near the outcrop, is being blocked out toward the main heading, where there will be nearly a solid chain of coal left for some time yet. The roof is generally very good, and, where it is inclined to flake off, timber is at once put in to prevent a fall by which men are likely to be injured. The air is good throughout the workings. 10. Whitecliff Goal-mine. —(l 6/6/93) : The pit from which the coal has been taken for the past two years is considered about worked out. A fault was met with at a distance of about 3 chains down the main dip-drive from the surface, by which the coal was cut clean off at a right angle to the dip of the drive. Mr. Leeming intends, at at early date, shifting his engine and plant about 10 chains south of the old pit, where the same seam of coal crops out on to the face of the terrace, and apparently dips at about the same angle into the hill as at the old workings. The men are now working toward the pit mouth, removing the pillars as they work back to the engine-plane. They expect to get out all the coal that can be removed with safety in about three weeks, and it is thought the engine and plant can be removed and refixed in position at the new place in about ten days. 12. Mount Somers Mine. —(l 2/6/93): Mr. Harris is now hewing coal from the east and west side of the old workings, and apparently shifting about from place to place in search of a pillar that, in his opinion, could stand reducing slightly. All the coal in the pit has bands of stone in every 3ft. or 4ft. of its thickness. These bands vary in thickness from 2in. to 2ft. I think the mine is nearly worked out, and have therefore requested Mr. Harris to get a survey of the mine made, and to furnish me with a tracing of the plan of workings up to date. The air is good. 13. Eakahu Mine. —(9/6/93) : There was no one at the mine, or any appearance of any work having been done for some time past. The mouth of the adit was filled up and covered with a slip from the hill-side. The mine is evidently abandoned, as there is no indication of any carting having been done from the pit mouth for a year or more. It is said the coal is not of good quality.