2186
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 79

(e.) No cartridge shall be used unless it is marked in the
manner set forth in the Third Schedule to the British
Home Office Explosives in Coal and Mines Orders,
from time to time issued in addition to any marks
required by the First or Second Schedule thereof.

(f.) (i.) No shot shall be fired except by a shot-firer.
(ii.) No shot shall be fired unless the shot-firer
has examined with a locked safety-lamp or other
apparatus approved for the purpose by the Minister
the place where the shot is to be fired and all con-
tiguous accessible places within a radius of 20 yards
from the place, and has found them clear of in-
flammable gas. This requirement shall not apply
to mines in which inflammable gas is unknown.
(iii.) No shot shall be fired unless a shot-firer
has examined the floor, roof, and sides of all con-
tiguous places within a radius of 5 yards of the place
where the shot is to be fired, for coaldust, and has
taken efficient steps to render any dust within that
area harmless.

(g.) Except in a stone drift or in sinking pits two or more
shots shall not be fired in the same place simultane-
ously, and the shot-firer shall make an examination
immediately before the firing of each shot, and shall
not fire the shot unless he finds the place where
the shot is to be fired and all contiguous accessible
places within a radius of 20 yards free from gas and
in all respects safe for firing. In stone drifts the
number of shots which may be fired simultaneously
shall not exceed three unless fired electrically in
series.

(h.) No shot shall be fired except by means of an efficient
magneto-electrical apparatus so enclosed as to afford
reasonable security against the ignition of inflam-
mable gas.

(i.) Each explosive shall be used in the manner and subject
to the conditions prescribed in the Schedules to the
British Home Office Explosives in Coal Mines Orders
from time to time issued.

130. In the main haulage-roads and main intake-airways,
     and any place immediately contiguous thereto, in any coal-
     mine which is not naturally wet throughout—
     (a.) No explosive shall be used other than a permitted
     explosive as hereinafter defined, and in accordance
     with the conditions prescribed by Regulation 130.
     (b.) No shot shall be fired without the special permission
     in writing of the manager or underviewer.
     (c.) No shot shall be fired unless the workmen have been
     removed from the seam in which the shot is to be
     fired and from all seams communicating with the
     shaft on the same level, except the men engaged in
     firing the shot and in addition such other persons,
     not exceeding ten, as are necessarily employed in
     attending to the ventilating-furnaces, steam boilers,
     engines, machinery or ventilating appliances, signals
     or horses, or in inspecting the mine:
     Provided that in mines where mechanical power
     or gravity is used for the purpose of haulage from
     the face, and the movement of the strata renders it
     necessary to maintain the height of the roads by
     ripping, the foregoing provisions relating to the re-
     moval of workmen shall not apply to men who may
     remain in the mine for the purpose of carrying on the
     ripping within such distance of the face as may be
     fixed by the manager with the approval of the
     Inspector, or for the purpose of repairs.

*Part III.—Supplemental.*

131. The foregoing provisions shall apply in the case of
     sinking operations, with the following additions:—
     (a.) No explosive shall be taken or sent in to the shaft
     until immediately before it is required for use.
     (b.) No shot shall be fired except by means of an efficient
     magneto-electrical apparatus.
     (c.) The firing-cable shall not be coupled up to the fuse
     or detonator wires until the kettle, kibble, tub,
     bowk, or hoppet is conveniently placed for the men
     in the shaft to enter, and the chargeman shall re-
     ceive a signal from the surface that the engineman
     is ready to draw away on receipt of the signal to do
     so, and the cable shall not be coupled to the firing-
     apparatus until all persons are in a place of safety.
     (d.) After a shot has been fired the chargeman shall not
     allow any person to descend until he has descended,
     accompanied, if necessary, by not more than two
     other persons, and has examined the place and found
     it to be safe in all respects. If the place is one in
     which inflammable gas has been found or is likely
     to be found, the examination shall be made with a
     locked safety-lamp of a type which will indicate the
     presence of such gas,

132. Where a mine contains separate seams, all regulations
     regarding explosives shall apply to each seam as if it were a
     separate mine.

133. A copy of all regulations regarding explosives shall
     be supplied to every shot-firer, and shall also be kept posted
     up in some conspicuous place at or near the mine where it
     may be conveniently read or seen by the person employed.

134. (1.) In all regulations regarding explosives—
     The term “permitted explosives” means (a) the ex-
     plosives in the Explosives in Coal-mines Orders from
     time to time issued and enforced by the British Home
     Office; and (b) for a period of five years from the
     1st January, 1915, the non-detonating explosives named
     in the Second Schedule thereto.
     Provided that the use of the explosives named and
     defined in the said Second Schedule is permitted only for
     the purpose of bringing down coal (whether by shots
     placed in the coal or by shots placed in the stratum im-
     mediately above or below the coal), and only in the fol-
     lowing class of mines—that is, mines which are not liable
     to blowers or sudden outbursts of firedamp, and in which
     firedamp does not exist in the coal at a pressure which
     makes the use of such explosives dangerous, and in
     which the dust on the floor, roof, and sides of the
     roads in neither naturally so largely composed of in-
     combustible matter as not to be dangerous or has been
     rendered so by artificial means. If any question arises
     as to whether a mine is a mine of the aforesaid class
     or not the decision of the Inspector shall be final,
     subject to an appeal to the Chief Inspector of Coal-
     mines.
     Provided further, as regards the explosives named
     and defined in either the First or Second Schedules,
     where the composition, quality, or character of any
     explosive is defined in those Schedules, any article
     alleged to be such explosive which differs therefrom in
     composition, quality, or character, whether by reason
     of deterioration or otherwise, shall not be deemed to
     be the explosive so defined; but an owner or manager
     shall not be responsible for the composition, quality,
     or character of an explosive if he shows that he has in
     good faith obtained a written certificate from the
     maker or his accredited agent that it complies with the
     terms of the said Schedules, and that he has taken all
     reasonable means to prevent deterioration of the ex-
     plosive while stored.
     The term “road” includes all roads of any description
     extending from the shaft or outlet to within 10 yards
     of the coal-face.
     The term “main haulage-road” means a road which has
     been or for the time being is in use for moving tubs
     by gravity or by mechanical power.
     (2.) Permitted explosives shall be used only with a detonator
     or electric detonator of not less strength than those specified
     in the schedule to the Home Office Orders.

*SAFETY-LAMPS.*

135. Wherever safety-lamps are required by the said
     Act or these regulations to be used, no safety-lamp or lamp-
     glass shall, after the 1st day of January, 1916, be used by
     any person employed in a mine unless it is of a type for the
     time being approved by the Minister, and as named and
     described in the current Home Office Safety-lamp Orders,
     and the schedules to such Orders.

136. The underground use of apparatus for the relighting
     electrically of safety-lamps is authorized, provided—
     (a.) The apparatus complies in all respects with the re-
     quirements of any regulations in force for the time
     being with respect to the use of electricity under-
     ground, and is in accordance with the provisions of
     such regulations and of the Coal-mines Amendment
     Act, 1914.
     (b.) The station where the apparatus is used shall not be
     within a distance of 200 yards of any part of the
     working-face.
     (c.) When not in use the apparatus shall be kept securely
     locked, and no person shall be given or have in his
     possession any key or contrivance for unlocking the
     apparatus, other than a person appointed in pur-
     suance of section 8 (46B) (i) of the last-mentioned Act.

*MANNER OF SEARCH OF PERSONS EMPLOYED BELOW GROUND
FOR PROHIBITED ARTICLES, BEFORE THE COMMENCEMENT
OF WORK.*

137. The manager of a mine in which, or in any part of
     which, safety-lamps are required by the Act or the regulations
     to be used shall for the purpose of ascertaining, before the
     persons employed below ground in the mine, or in such part of