J. YOUNG.]

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164. Mr. Macassey.] If you considered this mine so dangerous, why did you not report the matter to the Inspector of Mines ?—I was only an assistant. 165. Or report it to the manager ?—"What sort of a time would I have had if I had done that ? 166. So that notwithstanding that the mine was dangerous to your fellow-workmen you did not report it either to the manager or the Inspector ? —No, the manager knew all about it. 167. The Chairman.'] You say that this accumulation of gas measured 33,600 ft. : that was got out of four bords, 14 ft. by 6 ft. Were those bords all connected ?—Yes, they were all connected by cut-throughs. 168. That was one lot of gas ?—ln one part of the mine. 169. And there was another accumulation in another part ?—Yes. 170. Will you describe the effect which this carbonic-acid gas had on your health ?—I consider that I was there too long. After about eighteen months I felt it affecting me; I got a nasty yellow colour ; I could not eat, or sleep, or smoke. 171. Did it affect any other men in the same way ?—Yes, there was a man there before me who got the same trouble. 172. Why do you attribute it to the carbonic-acid gas ?—The doctor told me that was his opinion. 173. Carbonic-acid gas is heavier than air ?—Yes. 174. If you breathe it at the height at which you walk that would indicate that the drive was full of it ?—We have some eminent men who tell us that CO 2 is found in the roof. 175. But it was diluted with gas ?—I would be stooping down—that would be 18 in. or 2 ft. from the ground. 176. How do you account for other people not feeling it ? —There was another man to whom I referred. 177. That is only two ?—We have been doing that work too long., 178. Mr. Dowqray.] I believe you said that you wrote all the reports when you travelled with Mr. Wear ?—That is so, 179. Why had you to write them ?—Mr. Wear is not a very good scholar. 180. Is he altogether illiterate ?—He can sign his name, as you can see in the report-book. 181. So that if you say you found 36,000 ft. of gas in a place, he would have no method of showing whether you were right or wrong ?—I did not tell him. 182. He would not have any method of finding it out ?—No, though he is very good at mental arithmetic. 183. He could have worked out the amount of gas ?—No, I do not think so. 1.84. Owing to his being illiterate you had to write his report ?—Yes. 185. In reply to a question by Mr. Napier you said you got a 2-per-cent. test in one place, and that the manager disputed it and he got a 7-per-cent. test. Mr. Napier put it to you as to whether it was not a sure sign that the gas was being diluted. Would it not follow that they were further in than you ? — That was so. He wanted to say that the gas was moving. 186. You get a higher test by going into it ?—Yes. 187. You suggested that the gas was not moving ?—I said it was not moving. 188. The gas is stationary ?—Yes. 189. There is only one method of shifting gas or diluting it—by ventilation ?—Yes. 190. If precautions were taken to remove that gas by ventilation, on your next visit would you not be able to see the method that had been adopted ? If brattice had been used it would still be there ? —Yes. 191. When you returned was brattice there ?—ln some cases it was just the same. It was old workings, and probably the intakes had been interfered with. A little air might have been taken from the intake airway. 192. But there were no particular signs where you entered that place ?—Yes, I have been there and put it there myself. 193. How would you account for such an amount of carbonic-acid gas in the return airways that it was harmful to your health ?—ln the old workings there were places where the ventilation was not good. There was decaying vegetation. 194. Would there be carbonic-acid gas if the ventilation was good ?—No. 195. If the ventilation was fair would there be sufficient carbonic-acid gas to injure your health ? —No. 196. When you were asked why you did not report this large amount of gas to the Inspector of Mines you said, " What sort of a time would I have had ? " What did you mean by that ?—I would have been exceeding my duty. That was the manager's duty. 197. Do you not go past what is other men's duty to report anything dangerous ?—No. 198. Have you passed as a deputy ?—Yes, but I was acting only as a shiftman. 199. You said, " What sort of a time would I have had 1 " Do you think the manager would have reprimanded you for exceeding your duty ? Would the manager have given you a " hot time " ? —I think I would have been overstepping my duty, and the manager would have been justified in penalizing me. 200. But the manager would not inspect that book every day ?—Yes, his signature is in it. 201. You admitted that you considered the large amount of gas was dangerous ?—Certainly it was. I still stick to my first statement that any gas in sufficient quantity for me to report is dangerous. That is my idea. The fact of my reporting it and of their removing it is also proof that it was dangerous. 202. In regard to that question put to you by Mr. Wilford and by Mr. Napier as to the gas recurring, do you mean that you discovered it in one place and when you returned to it it was there

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