The Mount Kembla Disaster.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 35, 28 August 1902, Page 18

The Mount Kembla Disaster.

The Mount Kembla Colliery explosion iB the most serious of its kind that has yet occurred in Australia, aa the number of lives lost was not less than 87. In the Bulli explosion, 15 years ago, 83 lives were lost. That calamity excited such wide-spread sympathy that a fund amounting to a little over £43,000 was raised all over the oolonies for the relief of the bereaved. The money was invested nnder the hands of trustees, but the administration of it did not give unqualified satisfaction, though an honest attempt was made to provide for the widows and orphans. As a matter of f aot, the administration of such fnnds never does meet with universal approbation, and this may arise, not from any fault of the trustees ohoaen for the unenviable position, but from their excessive desire to make ends meet and dole out the fund so as to cope with the demands upon it. When these demands spread over a series of years, and embrace the fluctuating needs of families of all sorts and ■lies, the tnutees may well be pardoned if at the end of the stipulated period there remains a surplus — locked up it may be in investments in real estate, but still a surplus, and therefore to some extent a negation of the wishes of those who subscribed when their hearts were full of sympathy. The Eaitangata fund in this Colony was a case in point, and the trouble over the adjustment of the Brunner fund is another. In New South Wales, what seems a Buooessful attempt has been made to systematise relief in such oases, and provide that women and ohildren in acoidents whioh do not attract public attention shall not be passed over. Under the provisions of ithe Miners' Accident Belief Aot every mine-owner employing 15 or more men annually pays 10s per employe into the fund, A sum of 4}d per week, or 19s 6d a year, is deducted from the earnings of the men. And a contribution equal to that of the mine-owners is made from the public revenne. The Aot only cam c into force at the beginning of last year, but the fund already stand B at over £43,000. A fund of this nature, available for those widowed or orphaned by minor mining accidents, hardly heard of outside the immediate localities, as well as for the sufferers by appalling calamities, is I the right thing.