C.—2,

11. PERSONS EMPLOYED. The following statement shows the number of persons ordinarily employed in or about the metalliferous mines* of the Dominion during the year : —

III. ACCIDENTS. During 1934 six fatal and eleven serious but non-fatal accidents occurred in or about metalliferous mines, at which 6,542 persons were ordinarily employed.

An account of the fatal accidents follows :— In 1934 four men were killed at alluvial gold-mines and two at quartz-mines. At a sluicing-claim at Punakaikai, near the Grey mouth-Westport road, logs of wood were used for crib-logging. A son of the deceased on the 28th February, 1934, was placing logs in a groove in a steep clifl above the claim and they were allowed to fall down in the groove to the claim below. One jumped out of the groove and struck the miner, who was working about a chain away, on the head, fracturing his skull. He died two days later. On the 24th March a miner was " blocking-out " a strip of wash in an underground alluvial mine at Orepuki. He was assisted by a seventeen-year-old youth. The nearby tunnel was supported by sets of timber, and the ground being blocked out was supported by props and headboards, the nearest prop being 6| ft. from the face of the wash. The youth took a load of the wash out of the tunnel, and on his return found the miner buried under blue pug which had fallen between the prop and the face. He had been suffocated by the fall. Since this fatality additional regulations have been gazetted under the Mining Act stipulating the maximum allowable distances between the timber supports in alluvial workings. A prospector, who worked alone, was suffocated on the 16th October, 1934, by a fall of soft sandstone in a cutting 12 ft. deep at Ahaura. Three days before the accident heavy rain had caused a slip in the '■.)!tin..; about half a chain from where the fatality occurred. That, and further heavy rain, should have warned the prospector of the danger of working in the cutting. He was found at 4 a.m. on the 17th October under the fall. At a small sluicing-claim on the Wataroa River, in Westland, a miner was fatally injured on the 4th December, 1934. He had been picking out the dirt from the front of a very large stone, which was standing on its edge, when it fell over and pinned him against another stone, rupturing the left bowel. He died five hours later. Previous to the accident his mate had suggested the packing of smaller stones under the front of the larger boulder to lessen the danger of its toppling over. On the 18th October a miner was killed instantly in the Big River Mine by a lump of rock, weighing about two tons, falling from a " greasy back "in the hanging wall. The lump of rock was feather-edged at the bottom and 2 ft. thick at the top. That morning he and his mate had tried for some time to lever the rock out with a pick, but could not do so. A trucker was killed in the Waihi Mine on the 29th October, 1934. He climbed into a pass and had been there only a few seconds when the quartz, which had been hung up, came away, crushing his head and chest. Evidence was given at the inquest that the company's officials had issued instructions that workmen were not to go into a pass in which the quartz had been hung up.

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Inspection District. Classification. j Total, 1934. Northern. West Coast. Southern. Gold, silver, and tungsten .. .. .. .. 1,271 2,951 2,318 6,540 Cinnabar .. .. .. .. • • •• j 2 .. .. 2 Totals for 1934 .. .. .. .. | 1,273 2,951 2,318 6,542 Totals for 1933 i 1,195 2,332 2,685 6,212 I ; * In addition ten persons were employed in oil-boring operations.

Fatal Accidents. Serious Non-fatal Accidents. Cause. Number of of Number of Number of Separate "-S";?!,' Separate Persons Accidents. JJeatns. Accidents. injured. Falls of ground.. .. .. •• j 5 5 2 2 Explosives .. .. • • • • • • • • • • • • f Miscellaneous, on surface .. .. • • ■ • 1 1 •' Miscellaneous, underground .. . ■ ■. • • • • • ■ 2 2 Totals .. .. .. •• •• 6 6 11 11