C.—l 3.

encountered an upthrow fault, the displacement being about 60 ft. The main return airway on the south side of the fault is connected with the continuation on the north side by a shaft shown on the plan, which will be referred to during the description of events in this report. The main haulage road has been graded up to overcome the displacement and this grade is shown on plan, and referred to as " J hill." The travelling road is not driven through the fault, but is continued at the higher level on the north side. The ventilation of the No. 1 Mine is produced by means of a 72 in. double inlet Sirocco intake fan of (SO,OOO cubic feet per minute capacity. The Mac Donald Mine is also ventilated by a Sirocco fan, and ordinarily with both fans working, the Glen Afton Mine receives a portion of its intake air through the connection to the Mac Donald Mine. Apart from this, the two ventilation systems are separate and distinct. The ventilation in the Glen Afton Mine is assisted by two booster fans placed underground The evidence before us shows that with the fans working the ventilation was adequate and satisfactory. The power for the pumps, underground haulage-motors, booster fans (and for coal-cutting machines when used) is conveyed into the mine by an electric circuit consisting of 37/-083 cables laid in ordinary 3 in. galvanized-iron water-pipes, and there are substantial and roomy inspection boxes with tight-fitting covers every hundred yards. Running parallel with the pipe is an earth cable 19./-064, and the pipe itself is also earthed by attachments at the joints. This installation has been in use for sixteen years, and had given no trouble prior to the disaster on the 24th September, 1939. It had been passed by inspectors as being fully up to the standard of the Coalmines Regulations, and, further, has been approved by electrical experts who gave evidence before the Commission, and who examined it subsequent to the disaster. The haulage system of the mine is an endless-rope system operated by fixed motors. There are, therefore, no exposed power-wires required in the mine. There is a telephone system installed in the main haulage-way, with instruments at points shown on the plan, and this is connected with the deputies' cabin at the mine-mouth, with the mine office, and with the mine-manager's house. These facts as to the layout, method of working, ventilation, and power-supply of the mine, together with the plan of the workings, are recorded to assist in the presentation of a clear picture of what happened in the mine on Sunday, 24th September, 1939. It was the custom of the Glen Afton Mine to stop the running of the fan every Saturday, upon the cessation of the work for that day, and for the examining deputies on entering the mine on Sunday mornings to restart the fan immediately prior to their entering the mine, and to stop it again on their return to the surface. There was some conflict of evidence as to the practice at the Mac Donald Mine, but we accept the statement of Mr. William Wood, former deputy, and now manager at the Mac Donald Mine, that the same custom applied there as at the Glen Afton Mine—namely, that the fan was stopped over the week-end when men were not in the mine. No inflammable gas has been reported in the Glen Afton Mine since the very early stages, when the development headings were being driven and before they were connected. Inflammable gas has not been reported as having been found at any time in the Mac Donald Mine. In order to ascertain the facts of the unfortunate occurrence it was necessary for us to call and consider an unusually large volume of evidence. This was due to several causes. All the persons who could give direct evidence of the happenings on the fatal Sunday unfortunately lost their lives, and consequently we were forced to sift a large volume of indirect evidence in the hope of finding the essential facts. Then there was a not inconsiderable divergence between the evidence of the two principal witnesses as to the events of the Sunday morning. This was understandable, as both had at the time undergone severe emotional shocks, and, in addition, Thomas, the mine engineer, had been affected by carbon-monoxide poisoning, which is known to impair judgment and affect memory. Unfortunately, this also resulted in our being compelled to consider additional evidence. A further factor which lengthened our task was coincidence of the mine fire and an electrical fault in the mine installation which rendered it necessary for us to consider lengthy technical evidence so that we could be reasonably certain of the exact bearing the one had on the other. After careful consideration we have reconstructed from the evidence the story of the tragedy, which is as follows :— On Saturday, 23rd September—the day preceding the disaster—the mine work was in charge of William Wilcox, underviewer, who was one of the eleven men who lost their lives the following day. He had men at work in various places. In connection with the events of the day preceding the fatalities, the Commission was concerned, firstly, with the evidence of T. H. Jackson and M. Robinson, who were employed repairing timber in the main intake airway, James Harlock, who was employed at the stopping known as " F wall," in the travelling road, and J. Weir, who was cutting timber in the haulage road. Jackson and Robinson state that at about 10 a.m. on Saturday they detected a smell of fire, and on investigating they found an actual fire burning in the return airway about 6 ft. from the bottom of a CO ft. shaft, at a point shown on the plan just on the outbye side of the main entrance to the J section workings, which have been entirely sealed for some years. This shaft has a grade of approximately one in one, and forms the return airway at a fault which caused a difference of 60 ft. in level between two portions of the coal seam. The description of the fire given by these witnesses differed in some small details, but they all agreed that a leg, being one member of a set, was burning, as was also some waste timber stacked between the leg and the rib. They also speak of a patch of dust on the floor which had the appearance of having been burned. This patch of dust extended from the set to the conduit pipe. The witnesses were more intent on getting the fire extinguished immediately than observing the details of the fire and its possible origin. The following is the description given by Jackson of the measures taken to extinguish the fire : — " Having sent Robinson for a can of water, Jackson doused sufficient stone-dust on the flames to extinguish them. He then got a stick and scraped all the charred embers off the timber. After doing this he himself went for a can of water, which he knew to be handy. On his way he met Harlock and Wilcox, the underviewer. All three of them returned to the scene of the fire, when they doused further stone-dust on to the fire, and gathered the scraped embers in a heap. When Robinson returned with his can of water Jackson doused the burning timber with it and threw water into the crevices of the timber with his hands. The remaining water was used to mix the embers, scraped from the timber, into a dough with the coal and stone-dust."

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