C—2a

Days Worked.—-The colliery worked 219 days 1 hour out of a possible 242 ordinary working-days. The difference between the ordinary days worked and the possible number of working-days is accounted for as follows : 1 day, death of workman ; 5 days 1| hours, disputes ; 4 days 2£ hours, union meetings ; 4 days 3 hours, drive unworkable ; 4 hours, bus breakdown ; 1 day, late payout; 1 day, no miners ; 4 hours, bus strike ; 1 day, deputies' strike ; 6 hours, power failure ; 1 day, aerial under repair ; 5 hours, machinery breakdowns ; 1 day, no backshift; 1 hour, licensing poll. Employees—-In connection with coal-winning the average number of men employed in and about the mine was 92 men and 2 boys, made up as follows—Underground : Hewers, 19 ; deputies, shiftmen, and truckers, 36 ; others 6. Surface : 31 men and 2 boys. Total, 94. Coal-hewers' Daily Average Earnings.—The coal-hewers' daily earnings were (gross) £4 Os. 7d., and after deducting stores (explosives) their net return was £3 12s. 2d., a decrease of Is. 7d. per day when compared with the previous year. Daily Output— The average daily output was 140 tons 5 cwt. and the average daily output per coal-hewer was 8 tons 12 cwt., compared with 158 tons 13 cwt. and 9 tons 7 cwt. respectively for the previous year. The total number of hewer shifts for the year was 3,592. Deficiencies. —The total amount paid under the minimum-wage clause was £lOB. Accidents.—During the year there were no serious accidents, but there were 41 minor accidents. Workings.—Throughout the year the main South headings were driven in goodquality coal parallel to the Victory Fault, making the length of the main haulage road 60 chains. Operations ceased in the Barrier section, where working conditions were very difficult because of floor heave and a tender roof. Pillar-extraction ceased temporarily in No. 2 Rise panel where an accumulation of black-damp took place, this section being sealed off until the main return airway is connected up, when pillar-extraction will be resumed. Approximately three-fifths of the pillars in this section remain to be extracted. Development work proceeded in No. 3 Rise Panel, which is being developed up to the Cunningham Fault. A pair of exploring headings have been started in coal from a point near the end of the South headings. They will ultimately cross the Cunningham Fault to recover the' seam on the downthrow side. The main return airway has been driven a distance of 280 ft;., and should require about 20 ft. of driving to hole through. An 8-chain section of the airway previously driven still requires cleaning out. This work has been delayed through shortages of labour and mine skips to handle the debris. Floor heave necessitated the brushing of a section of the main haulage road to make sufficient head room. During the Christmas - New Year holidays a new aerial rope was installed and, after adjustments to the clips, has given satisfactory service. Considerable trouble was experienced, however, with the aerial towers, particularly Nos. 5 and 6, where some sole-plates and legs required renewing. These towers were out of alignment through the timber-work rotting away, and the mount beams were off the level to the extent that the buckets were striking the towers. Difficulty was experienced in dealing with water during the wet weather with the existing pumping systems, but it is expected that the installation of the new 6 in. centrifugal pump and the excavation of a new sump will overcome the difficulty.

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