C.—2.

ANNEXURE B.

STONE QUARKIES. SUMMARY OF REPORT BY INSPECTOR OF QUARRIES FOR THE NORTH ISLAND. (R. H. Schoen.) I have the honour to present my report for the year ending 31st December, 1935, covering quarries worked under the Stone Quarries Act, 1910, with statistics in connection with the output of stone of various classes, men employed, quarries worked, values, &c. Working of Quarries, A noticeable feature of the working of the larger quarries during the year has been the extended use of power shovels and dragline excavators for the removal of heavy overburden from the tops and for the handling of material on the quarry floors. The use of these more efficient methods has been forced on quarry owners by the largely increased demand for metal during the year. This has been met from existing quarries, but has necessitated their being worked by better methods than formerly in order to give the output. Several tunnel shots have been fired during the year with good results. Where the height of the face is great and the class of rock is suitable, these, when properly prepared, produce a maximum amount of broken rock for the explosive used. After the shot safe-working conditions are ensured in the quarry, as the face can be properly trimmed during the loading of the material. Though, a large number of the quarries worked have, faces of 40 ft. or over, the men in charge are fully aware of their responsibilities as regards safe working, and in comparatively few cases has it been necessary to point out serious defects. Output of Stone. A further large increase of output is shown for the year. The total output is 1,044,927 tons, an increase of 295,242 tons or 39 per cent, of the previous year's total. The great activity in roading during the year is reflected in the largely increased output of road metal, the increase being 235,326 tons or 45 per cent, on the previous year's total. Harbour works show a total of stone used of 7,976 tons. Some 7,000 tons of this were used for the construction of training walls. Agricultural limestone shows a small decrease of 878 tons, with a total output for 1935 of 114,994 tons. The tota value at the quarries of the stone produced in 1935 was £161,394, an increase of £29,780. Men employed. The number of men employed during 1935 increased by 137, the total number employed being 1,397. The number of quarries working increased by twenty-nine. Accidents. The folio wing accidents occurred in quarries during 1935 : — Fatal Accidents. On 22nd January, Stanley Alfred Dryden, employed at Dimmock's Quarry, Maramarua, was killed by a fall of clay while assisting to construct a new access to the quarry. On 12th March, Kenneth Alexander Copestake, farmer, was killed by a fall at Kiore Quarry, Stratford. He was preparing to obtain some material from the face, which had not been worked for some months, when a fall of sandstone pinned him against the back of his motor-truck. On 4th June, John Wheeler, quarry man, employed at the Harbour Board Quarry, Kaiwhaike, Wanganui, was killed by a small quantity of papa which fell from a height of 40 ft. On 11th July, George McKay, labourer, was killed at the Te Kawa Quarry. He was assisting in shunting some empty railway-wagons into position at the hoppers, and was crushed between a wagon and the corner of the hopper building. Serious Non-fatal Accidents. At the Devonport Borough Quarry, Church Road, on the 17th February, Alonzo Byzantson, labourer, sustained a fractured right ankle due to being struck by a spall while loading a truck. On 27th February, Clarence Stokes, quarry foreman, received injuries to the right eye, due to a premature explosion while bulling a shot. On 21st March, L. Turchi, labourer, employed at the Auckland City Council's Quarry, Mount Eden, was barring down at the foot of the face, and received a fracture of the left leg when trying to avoid a moving boulder. On Bth June, James William Dunsmuir, winchman, employed at Dawson's Quarry, Raglan County, received a fracture of the left upper arm and head injuries when his oilskin coat became entangled with the moving parts of the winch. On 16th November, at Pukeora Quarry, Wanstead, Hawke's Bay, George Proudfoot, quarryman, received severe burns to face and chest and loss of right eye, due to premature explosion when charging a shothole with gelignite. On 23rd March, at Takapuna Borough Quarry, C. Brunton was crushed against the quarry buildings by a horse-drawn truck, and sustained a fractured pelvis. Prosecutions under Stone Quarries Act, 1910. A quarry foreman was charged with a breach of Regulations 1 and 2, and an acting foreman in the same quarry with a breach of Regulation 2. The foreman was convicted with costs £2 lis. 6d., the charge against the acting foreman being dismissed. The occupier of a quarry was charged with a breach of section 4 8 (1). Convicted, with costs 10s. The same man was also charged with a breach of section 4 (2). Convicted and fined £1 and costs £4 13s. A quarryman was charged with a breach of .section 4 (1). Convicted and fined 10s. ; costs 10s.

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