15

C.—2.

VI. STONE-QUARRY INSPECTION AND STATISTICS. By section 2 of the Stone-quarries Amendment Act, 1920, the application of the Act was extended to include every place, not being a mine, in which persons work in quarrying stone and any part of which has a face more than 15 ft. deep, and also in any tunnel in the construction of which explosives are used. The Act, however, does not apply to any Government operations, or any road or railway cutting, or excavations for buildings. The following is a table showing the number of quarries under the Stone-quarries Act, also the number of persons ordinarily employed thereat, and the annual output and value of crude stone during 1925 : —

There were 29 more men employed than during the previous year, and the value of the stone produced was greater by £89,840. Quarry Accidents. The following is a summary of serious accidents during 1925 at quarries under the Stone-quarries Act:—

Of the fatal accidents the following is a short description On the 30th July Rehu Ngarimu, employed at the Hemo Gorge Quarry, fell over the face of the quarry and received serious spinal injuries, from which he died in hospital on the 18th August. He had been engaged stripping back overburden, and had discarded the life-line, when a small fall occurred, in getting clear of which he fell over the edge of the quarry. On the 7th December Edward Long, working in Whitney's quarry, received serious injuries to his head, and died in hospital three days later. The cause of the accident is somewhat uncertain, as deceased was working by himself, but it is probable that he was struck by a stone falling from the quarryface. On the 15th December Edward Sparks, employed as foreman at the Cobden Quarry, received serious injuries to his head, and died in hospital on the same day. Deceased was assisting in the shunting of some trucks when a piece of stone slipped off one of the trucks and struck him on the forehead, causing him to fall and strike his head against a rail.

VII. STATE AID TO MINING. (1.) Subsidized Pkospecting. Upon subsidized prospecting operations 106 persons were intermittently employed during the year. The following is a statement showing the results of prospecting operations as reported by the Inspectors of Mines.

ai! §« Output of Stone. Ofe $■§, 1.3 g g | sk ° o Oaj 2 PrnTinnioi Name and Address of S § £ g £j S a ®ai ©, © ® h Pistriit Government Inspector of "g °£? S „f gs go « 3 g 3 stone -~- si 4 Mi s* }i -:| *« \n i « 1° hi |i |I 3* a|j »| I ! em fq kI k! P* ;§ >. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. £ Auckland .. James Newton, Mines 138 887 476,997 8,746 6,720 20,865 222,670 .. 1,520 204,330 Dept., Auckland M. Paul,Mines Dept., 22 175 148,566 350 623 .. .. .. .. 47,104 W a i h i (Hauraki Mining District only) Hawke's Bay James Newton, Mines 17 78 19,401 1,803 400 10,692 .. .. 1,886 9,709 Dept., Auckland Taranaki .. Ditto .. .. 14 65 21,382 6,844 .. .. .. .. .. 8,910 Wellington „ .. .. 36 219 95,981 15,670 2,300 8,689 .. .. .. 33,813 Canterbury J. F. Downey, Mines 14 112 88,378 7,502 2,593 4,885 .. .. 438 36,960 Dept., Reefton .. Nelson 1 Westland !> Ditto .. .. 12 136 3,084 47 279 2,601 36,418 .. 1,184 11,813 Marlborough J Otago \ A. Whitley, Mines 36 300 104,333 11,287 14,708 86,957 46,394 .. 617 111,028 Southland f Dept., Dunedin Totals 1925 .. 289 1,972 958,122 52,249 26,623 134,689 305,482 .. 5,645 463,667 Totals 1924 .. 260 1,748 855,958 103,781 19,174 138,734 260,957 1,575 1,150 373,827

Number of Accidents. Number of Sufferers. Cause. Fatal. Serious. Killed. injured* Explosives .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. 1 Falls of ground .. .. .. .. .. .. 2 1 2 1 Miscellaneous .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 3 1 3 Totals .. .. .. .. .. 3 5 3 5