41

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Southern Inspection District. Castle Hill Mine, Kaitangata. Birchwood Mine, Oliai. Kaitangata No. 1 Mine. Linton Mine, Oliai. Kaitangata No. 2 Mine. Ohai Coal Company's mine, Ohai. Wairaki Mine, Ohai. (c) List of Mines required by Law to use Safety-lamps. The following is a list of the mines as at the 31st December, 1928, required by law to use safetylamps : — Northern Inspection District. Pukemiro Collieries, Pukemiro —Main north heading section (now abandoned). Rotowaro Colliery, Rotowaro —Throughout No.' l and No. 3 Mines. Glen Afton Colliery, Glen Afton—No. 1 heading section. West Coast Inspection District. Westport Coal Co.'s (one section, Millerton Spark's, Rewanui. Mine). State Mine (Liverpool No. 2). Dobson, Brunnerton. Paparoa, Roa. Hunter's, Dunollie. Wallsend, Brunnerton. Manderson's, Runanga. Southern Inspection District. Castle Hill Mine, Kaitangata. j Birchwood Mine, Ohai. Kaitangata No. I Mine. ■ Linton Mine, Ohai. Kaitangata No. 2 Mine. Ohai Coal Co.'s mine, Ohai. Wairaki Mine, Ohai. (d) Dangerous Occurrences reported. (Regulation 82.) A full list is contained in the District Inspectors' reports. The most serious was a fire in the Ironbridge Mine, Denniston Colliery. It began with a heating in Kruger's section on the 13th December, the heating being on the edge of pillared ground. In this section two seams have been worked, the bottom seam being approximately 20 ft. thick and the top seam 9 ft. thick. The return was on the far side of the goaf. When the heating was discovered an attempt was made, without success, to dig out the heated material. When that failed water was laid on and efforts made to isolate the heating, which had now become an active fire. The fire gave off a large amount of black-damp, with some carbon monoxide, and to keep the approaches to the fire clear a strong aircurrent was required. From the position of the return this air-current had to pass through the fire area, and so fanned the fire into greater activity. Eventually the area had to be sealed off. To do this effectively thirteen large stoppings were required, as well as a concrete wall 3J chains long fronting a line of pillars which were too crushed for stoppings in the boards to be airtight. The stoppings had to be erected a considerable distance back from the actual seat of the fire, so that a large area was shut off, in all probability permanently. This fire cost the company several thousand pounds to cope with, and resulted in the abandonment of half a million tons of first-class bituminous coal; there is also some danger that the fire will affect old workings on the return side of the pillared ground. (e) Electricity at Collieries. (Regulation 243.). The following is a summary of the annual returns, in accordance with Regulation 243 (c), regarding electrical apparatus at collieries: — Number of collieries at which electrical apparatus is installed . . . . 36 Number of continuous-current installations .. .. .. .. 11 Number of alternating-current installations .. .. .. . . 28 Number of collieries electrically lighted .. .. .. .. 25 Number of collieries using electrical ventilating-machines .. . . 26 Number of collieries using electrical pumping plants .. . . . . 25 Number of collieries using electrical haulage plants .. .. .. 24 Number of collieries using electrical screening plants .. . . . . 12 Number of collieries using electrical miscellaneous plants . . .. . . 18 Number of collieries using electrical locomotives .. . . . . 1 Total horse-power employed from motors on surface .. .. .. 5,523 Total horse-power employed from motors below ground .. ~ 4,005

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