C.—2

ANNEXURE B.

STONE QUARRIES. SUMMARY OF REPORT BY INSPECTOR OP QUARRIES FOR THE NORTH ISLAND. (R. H. Schoen.) The following is my report for the year ending 31st December, 1936, covering quarries worked under the Stone Quarries Act, 1910, with statement showing number of men employed, output of various classes of stone, quarries worked, value of stone at quarry, &c. Output of Stone. Although there was again great activity in roading during 1936, the output of stone for this purpose from quarries under the Stone Quarries Act showed a decrease of 55,830 tons, the figures being 756,681 tons and 700,851 tons for 1935 and 1936 respectively. In all other classes of stone, however, large increases were shown, the total output for the year being 1,079,652 tons, as compared with 1,044,927 tons in 1935, an increase of 34,725 tons. A particularly large increase is shown by the two quarries producing limestone for cement, the combined output rising from 126,356 tons to 165,675 tons, an increase of 39,319 tons, or 31 per cent. Lime for agriculture, with a total of 132,766 tons, showed an increase of 17,782 tons on the previous year's total. Stone for harbour works, building and construction, and miscellaneous purposes all showed heavy increases. The total value at the quarries of the stone produced during 1936 was £206,501, an increase of £45,107. Quarries worked and Men employed. Although 314 quarries Were worked during 1936 as against 279 during the previous year, the number of men employed decreased by fifteen, from 1,397 in 1935 to 1,382 during 1936. Owing to a larger amount of work, on back roads during the year, a larger proportion of experienced quarrymen have been employed in working the smaller quarries. The occupiers of the larger quarries have made increasing use of mechanical means for both overcoming the shortage of experienced quarrymen and lowering the cost of " dead work" in the quarries. Close attention to improvement in crushing plants has also been noticeable. Quarries generally have been well and safely worked, and in the few cases where defects in safety have been pointed out no difficulty has been made in getting them remedied. Another large quarry during the year adopted tunnel shooting with great success. Accidents. The following accidents occurred in quarries during 1936 : — Fatal Accidents. On 24th August, Thomas Charles Oates was run over by a loaded railway-wagon at the crushers at Te Kawa Quarry, and died later from his injuries. On Ist September, George Lipanovich, employed at Amner's Lime Quarry, Napier, was tripped by a small fall of elay from a face 9 ft. high, fell against a loading machine, and sustained injuries which later proved fatal. Serious Non-fatal Accidents. On 20th February, William Cox, employed at Waipu Gorge Quarry, Maungaturoto, sustained injuries to both eyes and left arm, due to a premature explosion while " bulling" a shot-liole. Prosecutions undek Stone Quarries Act, 1910. The occupier of a quarry was charged with a breach of section 9 (a) (iv) and section 4, subsection (2). Convicted on both charges, and fined £4, and costs £1 10s. A quarryman was charged with breach of section 4, subsection (1). Convicted, with costs 10s. The occupier of a quarry was charged with bleaches of section 8, subsection (1), and section 4, subsection (2), and his foreman with breach of section 4, subsection (1). Charges dismissed, the material quarried being held by the Court not to be " stone."

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