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10. How are you paid ?—Fortnightly, per skip. Now we get lOd. per skip, but there will be a rise of 2d. to make it Is. per skip. That starts on the Ist February. 11. What does the present rate amount to per man ?—Taking the whole of the miners, I do not know that it would amount to more than 7s. a day. 12. What would it average a week?—l do not know that it would amount to quite that a week. The pit does not work full time. I should think it would amount to from £1 153. to two guineas a week, taking the whole of the men together. 13. What do the truckers get ?—At present 7s. They will get 6d. rise. 14. What do the surface-men get generally ?—I have heard it is from 7s. to 10s. That is, from the engine-driver to the men tipping the coal. 15. What is a day's work?—At present we start at a quarter to 7 and knock off at half-past 3. When the award conies into force the men will go into the mine at a quarter to 8 and leave the face at 4, with half an hour for dinner. 16. That is seven and a half hours' work?— Yes; that is what we call eight hours underground 17. How many men do you reckon are employed at the present time in the mine?— About forty-five. lam not certain to a man or so. There may be fifty altogether. There are thirty-nine in the union. The surface-men are not in the union. 18. This lOd. or Is. per skip : does that include the whole of the labour of driving the heading? —No ; for every place driven 6 ft. wide you get Is. a foot—that is, 3s. a yard—at present. The extra 2d. will come into force on the Ist February, and the yardage will not be altered with regard to the 6 ft. heading. The extra money will be on the coal in filling the skip. 19. All the appliances used in that mine are, in your opinion, satisfactory? —Yes. I think in one or two places there might be a jig to relieve the truckers of some of the heavy labour. 20. Is there anything else you can tell us about the mine?—l do not think so. 21. the roads all good?—I have seen better roads, but they are pretty fair. I have seen worse and I have seen better. 22. Mr. Lomas.] Do you get anything at all for breaking away bords?—Nothing. 23. You start at what width? —Bft. . 24. At what width are the bords supposed to be when you are working them ?—8 ft. ; but you crib a bit. Just now they are all broken off at 8 ft. Some time ago they all broke off at 6 ft., and you got 6s. Now they mark them off at 8 ft. and save the yardage. 25. How often do they drive stentons ?—The crosscuts run about 6 yards apart; in some places less. 26. In your opinion, could not these jigs work two bords at a time, the chain going across the stentons, and so save the trucking ? —lt certainly would save the truckers. 27. Would it cost much to do that?—l do not know the price of the wheels, but it could be done with advantage, though it has never been tried in these parts. 28. Could the coal be worked more advantageously and with equal safety if the bords were wider? —It would take more timber to set in. Whether it would be of any advantage to the company I do not know. 29. I am speaking of the miner ? —lf the bord is driven wider you have more face to work on. 30. And less cutting?— Yes. 31. In driving the stentons do you get the same price as for the bords ?—There is to be 4d. a foot for driving stentons when the award comes in. We get nothing now. 32. What difference is there for working in the end of the coal instead of the face of it ?—We ask 6d. per foot. 33. If you got 6d. would it be equal to a man working in the bord ?—I do not think so. The man in the crosscut would be a little deficient. 34. Do you find the crosscuts more difficult to work than the bords ? —Yes. 35. Is it the custom in every place in the mine to cut the coal in the head ?—Yes. 36. It is not optional whether the miner holes it first ?—You are supposed to cut and hole it in the hard places. 37. It is optional ?—Yes. Some of them do hole first, I think, and some cut them first. 38. What is the rise?—l think it is fully 1 in 6. 39. Has one trucker to push up the truck ? —At present I think there are two. 40. Do you think it is quite enough for two men to do ?—Yes. 41. How many iron spraggs do you put in ?—Two. 42. And lock all four wheels ?—Yes. 43. And that is the reason why you think they should jig them ? —Yes ; it would be better for themselves and the men. 44. Do you think it would be safer than lowering them down with spraggs in the wheels ?— Yes. 45. How many men does one trucker truck from ?—On the top of the hill I think there are three truckers for six men. 46. What number of trucks does one man hew in a day on the average ?—A man finds out that he has done a good day's work when he has filled eleven skips. 47. How many days do you work in a week on an average?— For the last twelve months I think about from nine to ten days a fortnight—about five a week. 48. Do you lose any time through bad weather causing delay in shipping?— Yes, often. 49. What season of the year is that most frequent ?—When the equinoctial gales are on, and often when it is stormy from the north and north-east. 50. I suppose the men are quite satisfied with the new arrangement as to price both for headings and in the bords ?—Yes, I think so.