C.— 2.

In the main south area two main headings have advanced in highly-inclined country at the inbye side of the main fault for a distance of 12 chains. A split in the seam occurred in this area, the lower portion of the seam thinning from 8 ft. to a few inches within .1J chains ; the upper portion, however, maintained a uniform thickness of 10 ft. and consists of clean, hard coal. A stone drive, 3 chains in length from the right companion heading, has been completed and provides an ample waterway from this area. Some further development work was carried out in the west dip to the right of McCabe's dip in very good coal. In old Nos. 1 and 2 West a few pillars were extracted, and in No. 2 a small amount of development work was carried out. Boring operations carried out during the year proved an area of approximately 30 acres of coal-bearing land west of the No. 2 pillared area near the main locomotive roadway. Watson's Mine, Karamea. —The main tunnel subsided a few weeks after the commencement of the year. The scam was again tapped by a stone drive at a point 4 chains to the north of the original mine entrance. No coal was produced during the year. Comet Mining Party (J. Strang and Party), Inangahua. —Production at this mine at Flaxbush Creek, about four miles from Inangahua Township, commenced on the 2nd December. The seam is lignitous and has an average thickness of 10 ft. Nelson Distbict. Puponga Mine, Puponga.—Operations during the year wore confined to pillar-extraction in the horse level and the old dip area to the north of the horse level. Mount Burnett Mine, Collingwood, North Gape Syndicate's Mine, Onekaka, and Abbotsford Mine, Takaka. —These mines did not operate during the year. Owen Colliery, Owen River, Murchison.—The output for the year was won from the stalls which, on the western side of No. 3 dip, were stopped on account of the thickening of the intervening stone bands and a general thinning of workable coal. In the latter half of the year work was commenced in Nos. (5 and 7 East stalls and No. 0 West stall, while a small amount of coal was also being recovered from upper stall barriers. O'Bourke's Mine, Murchison.- —This mine remained closed during the year. Six-mile Mine, Murchison (J. Gillespie and Party).—Operations commenced in September on a vertical seam located approximately 30 yards to the east of the old Wynndale Mine, and at the end of the year prospect drives had proved the existence of coal, 5 ft. in thickness, on the northern side of the Six-mile Creek for a distance of a chain. Prospecting was also proceeding on the southern side of the creek, but coal had not been located. O'Bourke's Mine, Ariki.—Development of a coal-seam outcropping in a subsidiary creek to the south of Maruia River was commenced in August, and at the end of the year coal of good quality, 4 ft. in thickness, and dipping towards the north-west at the rate of 1 in 3, had been proved by drives for a distance of a chain. Westhaven Mine, Mangarakau.—The outcrop for the year was obtained from development work in the main dip and areas to the east and west. A total distance of 8 chains has been advanced in the main dip, and on the strike of the seam a width of 12 chains has been carried forward to the present position of the main dip. Olenhope Mine, Qhnhope (Biggs and O'Brien). —A prospect drive has been driven 180 ft. in a vertical seam outcropping on freehold property approximately three-quarters of a mile to the north of Glenhope Township. Rescue-station. During the year an additional five brigades completed the course of training, the total number of trained rescue men on the station register being seventy-five at the end of the year. Fatal Accidents. Three fatal accidents occurred during the year, as follows : — On 10th January, J. Mansell, coal-miner, was clearing loose coal from the outer rail on the main dip of the Owen River Mine, when he was struck by a large flat stone, 9 ft. in length and 3 J ft. in width. He sustained a fracture of the skull and brain injuries which resulted in his death eight hours later. E. W. Cutbush, a trucker at Peerless Coal-mine, Reefton, was fatally injured on 6th August when he was severely jammed against a prop in the main level by a runaway truck, which knocked him across a flat-sheet and crushed his head against the prop. The injury sustained was an extensive fracture of the vault and base of the skull, and the cause of death, laceration of the brain and hEcmorrhage. Fatal injuries were sustained by W. R. Martin, platelayer on the surface loco, track, Westport-Stockton Coalmine, Stockton, on 17th October. Martin was attempting to remove some planks from the line as the train was coming towards him, but, being between plank and rail, he was swept on to the track before the train, with the plank on top of him pinning him down to the track. Serious head and back injuries were inflicted, and death was instantaneous. Sebious Non-eatal Accidents. On 19th February L. Porter, rope-boy at Strongman Colliery, sustained a compound fracture of the right foot when caught between the buffers of two moving trucks. R. Hodgson, miner at Liverpool Colliery, was injured on sth March when a small piece of coal fell, inflicting a fractured forearm. At Denniston Mine on 7th April A. Filer, miner, was struck on the legs by approximately 10 cwt. of coal which fell from between two slippery "backs " when he was assisting to tamp up a shot. He sustained a compound fracture of the right leg and dislocation of tho left ankle joint. R. Little, miner at James Colliery, was injured on 22nd April. He was replacing three props which had been knocked out by two shots when a slab of stone fell from tho roof, striking him on the head and coming to rest on his right leg. He sustained a fractured right tibia in two places. At Liverpool Colliery on Bth May V. Fenton, trucker, was injured when his right leg was caught between a flatsheet and tho bottom of a truck. Fenton forgot to attach the jig rope to an empty truck, and was struck by the full truck on the flat-sheet. He suffered a fractured right leg. On 14th July A. Carson, rope-road worker at Wallsend Colliery, was seriously injured. He stopped tho haulage rope to take off the chain when a box on the empty side became detached and ran down the incline, striking him. His left foot had to be amputated above the ankle, and he sustained a compound fracture of the right leg, internal injuries, and a slight scalp wound. At Denniston Colliery on 10th July R. Kay, rope-road boy, sustained a fractured right wrist when he was caught between two boxes whilst taking off tokens at the brakehead. On I9th July J. Parker, deputy at Denniston Colliery, received a fracture of the patella of the left leg. Parker was travelling out of the mine when he slipped on a pieoe of board. J. S. Senior, trucker at Dobson Colliery, on 14th October was seriously injured when ho slipped and fell whilst twisting a box on a flat-sheet. He sustained a slight fracture of the pelvis. On 28th November J. McKoarnan, miner at Coalbrookdale Mine, was struck on the left ankle by a piece of coal weighing about J cwt. McKearnan was preparing to drop 8 ft. of top coal whilst extracting pillars, when the piece fell, rolled downhill, and struck his ankle. He received a fracture of the tibia and dislocation of the ankle. At Paparoa Mine on 19th December J. U. Fielding, miner, suffered fracture of both bones in the left leg when a piece of coal weighing approximately 1 ewt. parted from the roof, rolled forward on a heap of loose coal, and pinned Fielding's left leg against the coal-rib. On 22nd December T. Budd, miner, Millerton Mine, was injured whilst dropping top coal and robbing the adjoining pillar in an old roadway in the sixth west section, Mine Crock Mine. A fall of coal knocked out a prop which struck an empty truck and broke, the upper part striking Budd, who sustained a simple fracture of the right forearm.

5—C. 2.

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