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George William Horn sworn and examined. (No. 13.) 1. The Chairman.] What are you, Mr. Horn?— Mine-manager of the Kuranui-Oaledonian Mine. 2. What certificates do you hold?—A first-class mine-manager's certificate by examination. 3. How long is it since you obtained your certificate? —I think it was in 1891. 4. What experience had you had prior to that?— Principally in battery and mining work for about ten years. I have hud thirty years' experience altogether, mainly in this district. 5. Have you a decided opinion on the matter of ventilation? —1 might say that 1 am also a member of the advisory board with Mr. Warne, and it was principally on our suggestion that the present system of ventilation was adopted for the Deep Levels. After yery careful consideration we came to the conclusion that it was the best method to adopt. 6. So far as the relative expense of installing and working, how do the blower and the. exhaust compare?— The exhaust could not be adapted for that place. 7. You made full inquiries as to their relative suitability?— Yes, in my opinion it requires two shafts to work the exhaust satisfactorily. 8. Have you any opinion to express on the question of sanitation : are you in favour of sanitary appliances being provided, and their use being made compulsory?— Yes, I think it would be advisable to have sanitary conveniences and that sort of thing where there are a great number of. men employed, and where they are working some distance from the surface. Otherwise it is not necessary, particularly in the smaller mines. 9. What is your opinion in regard to the necessity for change and bath houses? —In some mines it might be advisable to have them, but generally the men are in such a hurry to get home after coming off shift that the bath-houses and change-houses, if provided, would not be used. 10. Have you any opinion to offer as to the cause of accidents? —No, sir, I have not had any accidents of consequence in any of the mines I have been connected with. 11. What is your opinion as to the number of shots which could be fired safely with the fuse? —Where the men are working with the hand-steel, I think that six or seven shots are quite sufficient to discharge at once by that means. 12. Where more than that number are being fired do you think electrical appliances should be adopted? —Yes, 1 think it would not be unreasonable to ask that. 13. Have you any opinion to offer as to the necessity for a second engine-driver being present when men are being lowered? —I do not think that is necessary. I think that engine-drivers, if they were feeling unfit for duty, would say so. I have never known of a case of an engine-driver fainting while on his shift. 14. Have you any opinion to offer as to a standard temperature? —I do not think, myself, that a standard temperature would work very well on a changeable field of this kind. The Thames field is perhaps an exception to any other mines in the world, and you cannot work them by the same rules as others, because the conditions vary so much. We are troubled more with gas than about the heat. The gas is really the bugbear of the mine-managers on this field. 15. Mr. Cochrane.'] You heard Mr. Warne give his evidence? —Yes. 16. Do you corroborate it in all respects in regard to the Deep Levels? —Yes, I do; but I would like to add a little more. I was rather surprised to hear some of the statements made the day before yesterday. It is only fair and loyal to the managers, when the men have complaints to make, that they should be made to the management. If they thought that the blower was not ventilating the Deep Levels sufficiently they would be warranted in approaching the manager on the subject. It is simply a matter of increasing the capacity of the blower, which can be easily done. 17. Is it a mattei , of expense which causes you to run the blower at less than its full capacity? —No, we do not consider the matter of expense, but only whether a greater quantity of air is required. That can be provided if necessary. I would like to point out that at 120 revolutions per minute the blower is forcing in about 3,000 cubic feet of air. The maker's catalogue states that a blower of 24 in. can be run to force air in at the rate of 15,650 cubic feet per minute. Ours is a 24 in. outlet blower, but owing to want of space in the shaft we had to reduce our airpipes to 22 in., so that we can onh T consider it as a 22 in. blower, which, according to the maker's catalogue, will deliver 12,625 cubic feet of air per minute. 18. How far?—At the outlet from the blower. It does not state how far. 19. Then, do you know that it would deliver a great deal less at a distance of 500 ft. I —Yes, that is so; but, still, there is the other side of the question —namely, if it is delivering that quantity when working at 120 revolutions, what will it deliver at 255 revolutions? Those men should have gone to the manager in the first place. 20. Have you had any experience of blasting accidents? —No, I have never had any accidents of that nature in the mines of which I have had charge. Might I state here that we found that 2 ft. of fuse will burn out in one minute, and in one minute a man could comfortably walk 300 ft. 21. The Chairman.] How long would it take to light six holes? —That question refers to having manholes for getting away. 22. What is your opinion as to these chambers? —Where you have a long tunnel it is advisable to have a lay-by here and there. If the men have to get out of the way of the shots I should say that the manholes would require to be 500 ft. apart. 23. Mr. Cochrane.'] How far are the pieces of rock thrown?—lt varies very much according to the country. 24. Can you give us the variations? —No, I cannot. 25. Have you any recommendations to make as to the better ventilation of, say, winzes and risas? —No, I do not think we can make any improvement on the present system. 26. VTfe«t is the praeent system?—-We have the box system.

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