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miners' Belief Fund, in contravention of section 68 and 69 of " The Coal-mines Act, 1891." He was fined £5 for each offence; £10 in all, with costs. Mrs. McPherson's Pit, Coal Greek, Boxburgh. —(29/10/97) : An opencast pit, similar to Jones's. Working about 30 ft. thick , depth of coal not known. Pace in fair order, but more stripping is wanted. Drew attention to this, and requested the men to remove a piece of stripping which looked unsafe. A small engine and boiler is now used for draining the working. It appears to me that a good pipe-drain would answer the purpose at far less cost, if properly constructed. Perseverance Goal-mine, Coal Creek, Boxburgh (James Craig).—(29/10/97): The coal here is almost vertical, and about 100 ft. wide horizontally. It was formerly worked opencast, but is now entered by an adit-level which has been driven about 10 chains in the coal, which took fire some time ago. The pit was flooded to extinguish the fire, and, owing to this, the drive has collapsed for some 2 chains back from the face. Work is now in hand to reopen the inner end of the drive. Alexandra Colliery, Alexandra (W. A. Thomson, owner). —(5/5/97) : This pit is entered by a dip-tunnel, and also by a small shaft about 50 ft. deep, both of which are used (as may be most convenient) for raising the coal, all of which is filled into bags underground. The seam is probably 14 ft. thick. The lower portion only is being worked, on the pillar-and-stall system. The places all in good order, and ventilation adequate. Very satisfactory arrangements are made for fencing both shaft and tunnel. No pumping is necessary, the water being led away by an adit-level. (15/11/97) : Workings in very nice order ; ventilation good. McQueenville Coal-mine, Alexandra (B. Lett). —(16/11/97) : There are two shafts : one, used for winding and pumping, is 70ft. deep; the other is an upcast and travelling shaft, fitted with good ladder-way, and 30 ft. deep. The seam is some 14 ft. thick, the lower half only being worked on the bord-and-pillar system. To get anything like the whole of the coal, the system adopted at Alexandra will have to be very materially altered. Workings in nice order, and ventilation good. Dungey's Pit, Cambrian's (C. Dungey). —(16/11/97) :An opencast pit, containing a thickness of 9 ft. of good lignite, overlaid by 11 ft. to 12 ft. of gravel. Stripping-work now in progress, to expose sufficient lignite to meet season's demands. The lignite is underlaid by a good oil-shale of varying thickness, averaging perhaps 2 ft. 6 in. Place in very fair order. Hughes's Pit, Cambrian's (J. O. Hughes).—(l6/11/97) : This pit is also worked opencast, but it is in a disgraceful condition, and no systematic method is adopted. Considering the heavy stripping above the lignite, lam of opinion that underground mining would be preferable. Oil-shale underlies the lignite, similarly to Dungey's pit. Blackstone Hill Pit (A. Dunsmuir). —(17/11/97) : A face of good lignite is being worked to a depth of 16 ft., but the lessee thinks it may be 30 ft. thick. About 5 ft. of stripping has to be removed. None is taken off in advance, and in one place it looked dangerous. I cautioned Dunsmuir about this, and requested him to remove a reasonable area of stripping in advance of his working-face. Beck's Pit, Idaburn (Charles Beck). —(18/11/97): This property adjoins White's. Seam, say, 35 ft. thick, overlaid by 7 ft. to 8 ft. of stripping. There is not nearly enough ground stripped off in advance. Drew attention to this. Shale underlies the lignite. McLean's Pit, Idaburn (L. McLean). —(18/11/97) : A small opencast pit adjoining White's. Nothing stripped in advance. McLean does very little trade himself, but is mostly employed by White. White's Pit, Idaburn (John White). —(18/11/97): Lignite from 18ft. to 20ft. thick; is worked opencast. Underlying the lignite is a deposit of oil-shale similar to that at Cambrian's, but it appears considerably thicker. The ground is kept well stripped in advance of the working-face. Drainage is effected by a new pulsometer steam-pump. When at Idaburn I learned that nothing had been done at Fennessy's pit for several months ; also that Docherty's pit, at Gimmerburn, was about worked out, and that Docherty" was engaged in prospecting for more coal or lignite. Border Coal-pit, Idaburn (G. Turnbull). —(18/11/97) : Lignite worked opencast. Nobody about. Very little work appears to have been done for some time. Commercial Coal-pit, Kyeburn Diggings (C. Archer). —(19/11/97) : The seam here is vertical, 10 ft. wide, and worked in the same way as a quartz reef. Shaft is 60 ft. deep, the winding- and pumping-power being by water-wheel and endless rope on to a small drum over the shaft. Second outlet is by an adit-tunnel. Pit is in good order, and ventilation satisfactory. McCready and Coombe's Pit, Kyeburn Diggings. —(19/11/97) : This pit is almost worked out, and trade practically nil. Cromwell Colliery, Cromwell (Goodger and Stronach). —(14/5/97): This is practically a new pit. The shaft is 8 ft. 6 in. by 3 ft. 6 in. and 150 ft. deep. The engine is designed for both winding and pumping. Five days before my visit something had gone wrong with the pump, and during repairs an accident occurred to W. G. Stronach, who was acting as engineman. In consequence of this, work came to a standstill, and I could not get below ground, as water was well up the shaft. Eeport of accident under proper heading. Cardrona Coal-mine, Cardrona (B. McDougall).—(ls/10/97): An opencast pit. The coal is practically vertical, the thickness horizontally being about 30ft. Owing to its situation near the snow-line, the mine is only worked about eight months in the year. Another length of stripping is about to be sluiced off to expose sufficient coal for the season's demand. Drew attention to the need of more batter on the sides of overlaying ground. Macule's Coal-pit, Gibbston Saddle. —(l 4/10/97) : The situation of this pit is 2,200 ft. above the Queenstown-Cromwell Boad, and fully 3,000 ft. above sea-level. It is worked opencast, and is in a very rough and unworkmanlike condition; anything but satisfactory. The man at work stated that the water-race conveying the water used for sluicing off for stripping had broken down, but repairs were in hand. When completed, the ground I complained of would be sluiced away.

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