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the rope capping broke, and the full race struck the empties and uncoupled two, which ran back. One of the empties jumped the curve at the foot of the jig and crushed deceased against the rib-side. An examination of the rope capping showed that it had broken at a faulty weld. The verdict at the inquest was that no blame was attachable to any one. In the Blackball Mine, on the 17tli August, James Outram, a miner, was killed by a fall of roofstone. Deceased was greasing rollers at the top of No. 9 dip under roof, which had been timbered and was thought to be safe. A large stone dropped from between two greasy heads and crashed through the timber under which deceased was standing. At the inquest the verdict was that all the usual precautions appeared to have been taken to make the place safe. At Linton Mine, on the 2nd October, Anthony F. Francis, a miner, was asphyxiated by firedamp. The deceased left his own working-place and wandered into some old workings. It was some time before he was missed and a search made. His body was found a short distance up an overcast from another section, and the overcast was full of firedamp. At Kaitangata Mine, on the 15th October, George White Hosking, a miner, was killed by a fall of stone. Deceased and his mate were taking a lift off a pillar and the roof became unsound, so the deputy ordered them to leave that place and commence work on a pillar on the low side. This they did. Some four hours later the whole roof in both places collapsed without warning and buried deceased. The place was well timbered prior to the fall. The verdict at the inquest was that no blame was attachable to any one. At the Liverpool State Mine, on the 17th November, a miner, John Birch, was struck by a jigprop which had pulled out while a truck was being run. He died on the 26th November, as a result of the injuries received. The jig-prop had been sunk in the floor a short distance, but the stone in front of the hole had broken and so freed the jig-prop. The verdict at the inquest stated that all the usual precautions had been taken and that no blame was attachable to any one. In the Dobson Mine a violent explosion occurred at 3 o'clock on the morning of the 3rd December. At the time of the explosion nine miners were working in the mine, and all of them lost their lives. Their names were James Richards (Deputy), Robert Hunter (winchman), John Lindsay (Miner), Eric Ashton (trucker), Thomas Black (miner), James Marshall (miner), Ernest Brammer (miner), Alfred Noakes (miner), Edward Partington (miner). Soon after the explosion a rescue-party, headed by the mine-manager and the president of the union, went down the mine in an endeavour to rescue the men in the mine. They found four men in the winch-house at the top of No. 1 dip, three of whom were dying and one was dead, and they brought them to the surface. A second rescue-party, in charge of the Inspector of Mines, made a further attempt, but were unable on account of smoke and fires to reach the parts of the mine where the remaining men had been working. The rescue-party found there was no hope of these men being alive, and that it was impossible at that time to recover their bodies, also that any attempt to do so would almost certainly lead to further loss of life. It was then decided to seal the mine by means of stoppings. Two further explosions occured, one at 3 p.m. and another at 9 p.m. which blew out the stoppings. The mine was now burning furiously, so there was no alternative left but to flood the workings. This was done. It was not till February of this year that the necessary plant for unwatering the mine was procured and erected, and the last body was not recovered till the 17th May. After the mine was reopened a thorough examination of the workings was made with a view to determining the origin and cause of the first explosion, but it was found that the second and third explosions and the subsequent flooding of the mine had destroyed practically all the evidence. A large outburst of gas had been known to occur some months earlier in the Dobson Mine. The roadways of the mine were practically all damp, and nowhere was there dry coal-dust in sufficient quantity or fineness to originate an explosion. It is therefore practically certain that the first explosion was originally an explosion of a large body of fire damp, accompanied with sufficient violence and heat to enable the explosion to be carried on as a dust-explosion by means of the coarse dust and small coal present on the roadways. The few facts observed by the rescue-parties who entered the mine after the first explosion point to the explosion having originated in the rise workings. But no men were at work there, and it is very difficult to see how an accumulation of gas in the rise could have been ignited unless it was by means of a flame safety-lamp left behind by the previous shift. It is now known, however, that the issue and return of safety-lamps were not properly checked, and that on at least one occasion prior to the explosion a flame safety-lamp had been left behind by the person using it. All the men at the time of the explosion were working down the dip, and clear evidence of a blown-out shot was found after the explosion, in one of the dip places. But if this shot was the cause of the ignition of gas it must have been fired by the miner working in the place and not by the shotfirer, as the body of the latter was found in the winch-house, about 1,000 ft. away, where he had evidently gone to have his " crib," and in addition the handle of Ms shot-firing machine was found in his pocket. The Department at various times had had trouble with the management over the ventilation of the mine, and had successfully prosecuted the manager on two occasions for not complying with the requirements of the law regarding ventilation. But for some months prior to the explosion the ventilation had been improved greatly, and an inspection made just prior to the explosion had found all the working-places well ventilated. The coal-dust danger was recognized, but the condition of the roadways was such that the regulation in operation at that time did not require the mine to be stonedusted. Before the explosion it was decided to drastically amend the stone-dusting regulation, and the proposed amendment has since been effected.