SEPT. 6.]

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

sible for the appointment of a sufficient number of competent
persons to carry out the requirements of the Act and the
special rules, and also to see that the working of the mine is
carried on with all reasonable provisions for the safety of the
persons employed.

2. In addition to and without in any way restricting his
   general duties, the manager shall examine all parts of the
   mine daily, and also all the air-courses of the mine, and all
   stoppings and brattices connected with the same, and cause
   remedies to be provided immediately for all defects that may
   be found on such examination.

3. A safety-lamp shall be used in making all such examina-
   tions as aforesaid.

4. He shall see that a sufficient quantity of timber for
   props and other purposes is daily supplied to the workmen,
   and cause the same to be cut in proper lengths and laid down
   in the working-places, it being the earnest desire of the com-
   pany that every proper protection shall be afforded to the
   lives of the workmen. He shall see that all the roads and
   tramways throughout the mine are kept in a safe and work-
   able state.

5. He shall give all necessary instructions to the men or
   boys in the mine respecting their work, and shall see daily
   that these rules are observed.

6. He shall daily make a correct entry of the readings of
   the barometer and thermometer in the Mine Registry.

Overmen.

7. The manager may appoint one or more overmen to
   assist him in the performance of his general and the above
   special duties, subject, however, to his own general super-
   vision and control.

Firemen.

8. The manager shall appoint one or more competent per-
   sons to act as firemen of the mine.

9. Before the time appointed for any shift commencing
   work in any part of the mine, the firemen appointed to
   inspect the mine for that shift shall inspect with a safety-
   lamp the whole of the workings in which such shift is to be
   employed and the roadways leading thereto, and shall make
   a true report of the condition thereof so far as the ventilation
   is concerned. Every such report shall be recorded without
   delay in the Mine Registry, and shall be signed by the person
   making the same.

10. In making the examinations provided for by the fore-
    going rules the fireman shall mark with chalk the day of the
    month upon the face of each working-place, as 1, 5, 10, 25, or
    other numbers, as the case may be. He shall be careful to
    ascertain that every part of the mine and roadways so to be
    examined are free from fire-damp, choke-damp, or other im-
    purities, and are safe for workmen to enter and work therein;
    and, in case fire-damp or other impure air shall be dis-
    covered in any working-place, road, or level, the fireman
    shall, in the first instance, thoroughly clear the same of such
    impurity if that can be done easily, and shall thereupon
    report to the miners and other workmen that the same are
    safe; but, if the impurity cannot be readily or at once cleared
    out, the miners and workmen shall not be permitted to enter
    such working-places, roads, or levels until the impure air
    shall have been, by further appliances, entirely dispelled. He
    shall prevent miners or other workmen entering the roads or
    working-places until a report shall have been made that they
    are safe. If no fire-damp, choke-damp, or other impurity
    shall be discovered or suspected to remain after such
    inspection, the fireman shall so report to the miners and
    workmen, and allow them to proceed to work, and shall
    thereupon without delay enter such report in the Mine
    Registry.

11. In case, from any cause, the operations of the mine
    shall have been discontinued for an unusual length of time
    and thereafter resumed, no workman shall be allowed to
    enter the mine until the manager or fireman shall have first
    entered and reported on the state of the workings, and in
    discharging this duty the manager or fireman must proceed
    with great caution, and shall not go further into the
    workings than he, from his own experience, shall deem safe;
    and, in case there are reasonable grounds for apprehending
    the presence of impure air, he shall return to the mine
    mouth and remain there until precautionary measures shall
    have been applied to restore the proper ventilation of the
    mine.

12. All entrances to any place not in actual course of
    working and extension shall be properly fenced across the
    whole width of such entrance, so as to prevent persons
    entering the same.

13. He shall report to the Manager--
    (a) Any deficiency in the amount of ventilation.
    (b) Any violation by workmen of the rule as to entering
    the mine before inspection.
    (c) Any use or attempted use of gunpowder or other
    blasting material without permission.
    (d) Any damage done to fences, signals, or marks in
    the mine,

Roadsmen.

14. The roadsmen, in their different divisions and shifts,
    shall daily make careful inspection of the whole drawing-
    roads and headings from the mine mouth and throughout
    the mine, and shall keep the same free of all obstructions,
    and of the fixed height and width necessary for proper
    passage and ventilation.

15. They shall repair and remedy all damages and defects
    in the roads, and shall examine, put, and keep in proper
    condition all trap-doors, and shall see and enforce that the
    same be kept close, and, wherever practicable, shall make
    and keep all trap-doors self-acting.

16. They shall report daily to the mine manager at the
    termination of each shift. They shall also report daily to the
    mine manager any instance of neglect on the part of the
    miners in not carrying on their coal faces or walls in
    accordance with the plan pursued in working the mine, or in
    not propping up and securing the roof of the superincumbent
    strata in those parts of the workings under their care.

17. As removing falls from the roofs of drawing roadways
    and air-courses, repairing defects, and supporting loose
    strata are within the roadsmen's duties, and as they are
    charged with the maintenance of all drawing-roads and
    passages in the mine, they are enjoined to proceed with the
    greatest caution, both for their own safety and the successful
    execution of their duties. In their operations they must
    exercise the greatest care, and are required to prevent all
    other workmen coming near any defective places, or inter-
    fering with them when at work; they are required to under-
    take no repairs of unusual magnitude or danger without
    sufficient assistance, and until provided with every necessary
    material, which will be supplied to them by the company on
    application to the mine manager; the progress of their work
    must be reported at the termination of every shift to the
    mine manager.

Miners and Workmen.

18. Every workman now or hereafter employed in any of
    the company's works or workings, whether on surface or
    underground, shall be subject to these rules, a copy of which
    he will be required to sign on entering the company's employ;
    and shall obey the commands or instructions of the manager,
    or of the overman, if any, in charge of the mine or part of
    the mine in which he is working.

19. Miners and other workmen are expressly forbidden to
    proceed towards or into their working-places at the com-
    mencement of any shift until it shall have been intimated to
    them by the foreman that the travelling roads and working-
    places have been examined and are apparently safe to enter.

20. Till such intimation of apparent safety shall have been
    made, miners and workmen shall either remain at the pit-
    head or mouth of the mine, or at some other place assigned
    to them for the purpose. If no such place shall have been
    assigned at which to remain, they shall always understand
    that the pit-head or mine mouth, whichever it may in their
    case be, is the proper place at which they are required to
    wait the requisite intimation.

21. On beginning work at every shift miners and others
    shall be bound to satisfy themselves concerning the safety of
    their working-places, independently of such intimation as
    aforesaid, and they shall thereupon work at their appointed
    coal faces or other work continuously, industriously, and
    without unnecessary intermission while the shift continues,
    and shall obey the orders applicable to the safe and proper
    prosecution of the colliery works given them by the mine
    manager, overman, or other person for the time being placed
    over them.

22. If while at work, or at any other time, miners shall dis-
    cover or be informed of the existence of any obstruction in
    the ventilation, or stagnation, or impurity of the air of the
    mine, or of the existence of any defects in the walls, roofs, or
    any other part of the mine, they shall be bound to give instant
    information to the mine manager, overman, or the person in
    charge of the mine for the time being, so that these defects
    may be remedied and danger therefrom averted.

23. Miners are expressly forbidden to go into or improperly
    near any place throughout the whole mine where danger is
    known or supposed to exist, except for the purpose of effect-
    ing repairs or other necessary work directed by the manager
    or his overman. They are forbidden to continue working in
    any part of the coal-face where a sudden outburst of fire-
    damp shall happen, or where danger from any cause shall
    apparently threaten, until the same shall have been examined
    by the manager or overman in charge and reported safe or
    the impurity obviated.

24. The common but highly dangerous practice among
    miners, of testing-fire damp escaping from a blower by igniting
    it with their lamps, is peremptorily forbidden.

25. The company will supply all timber required for the
    proper working of their mines, and deliver it in suitable
    quantities near the working-faces. Miners shall be bound to
    secure the roof and also the working coal-faces, subject to
    the approval of the manager or overman, who, where the