17 
GENERAL REPORTS. 
At my request, the Mining Inspectors of the principal gold-fields have each 
furnished a general report as to the working of The Regulation and Inspection of 
Mings Act during the year 1884. The Senior Inspector (Mr. H. Boyns Nicholas) 
writes as follows :— 
At no period since the passing of the first Regulation of Mines Statute , in 1873, lias so muck useful 
work been done by the Mining Department as in the year just closed in stimulating managers of mines and 
their employes to a more strict attention to the requirements of the Act, and in supporting the inspectors in 
the performance of their duties. 
Copies of the Regulations have been supplied to the mining inspectors for gratuitous distribution to 
managers and miners, so that the plea of ignorance of the law is now seldom made. Circulars have been 
issued to mining managers, instructing them in the use and storage of explosives. Placards* have been 
posted up at the mines cautioning miners against charging more holes in proximity to each other than are to 
be blasted at the same time. Circulars have been sent out enjoining upon engine-drivers the necessity for 
retaining control of their engines on starting to wind with “ men ou/' and suggesting the adoption by mining 
managers of gates or bars at all entrances to shafts. Detailed descriptions of the whole of the machinery on 
the mines of V ictoria have been collected from the managers, and registered by the inspectors. The infor¬ 
mation thus collated of the age and condition of boilers and engines is most important, and will be perma¬ 
nently valuable for reference. Copies of the annual report of the Inspector of Explosives—replete with 
notes of practical observation—were forwarded to all managers, mine-owners, and dealers in explosives. 
Every description of safety cage, with its appliances, has been practically tested by the inspectors, under 
your instructions, and the results of the trials recorded. Sittings of a board of examiners for engine-drivers 
have been held at all centrally situated gold-fields, and the vast majority, if not all, of our engine-drivers have 
thus been enabled to attend the required examinations, and to obtain their certificates of “ service,” or of 
“ competency.” 
In addition to the above-mentioned measures, initiated during the past year to ensure greater safety 
to our miners, aud protection to mining property, the staff of inspectors was increased by the appointment 
of an inspector who possesses special knowledge of mining machinery, and of an inspector to take charge of 
the Maryborough mining district. 
I have had occasion to refer in my periodical reports to the regular decrease which has taken place in 
the annual accident rate, and it affords me great satisfaction to close this report by stating that the notable 
decrease in the number of serious accidents in the district under my charge during 1884 is not a fortuitous 
occurrence, but is the outcome of a better observance of the regulations by all concerned, and that better 
observance has been fostered by the constant attention paid by the department during last year to the 
administration of the Act. 
Mr. Inspector Grainger (Sandhurst) writes:— 
I may begin by stating it is very gratifying to see there is a considerable reduction in my district in 
the number of accidents, both fatal and lion-fatal, compared with 1883. This, I have no hesitation in 
stating, has been greatly duo to the steps taken by the Mining Department, to the practical supervision 
and inspections of the mines by the inspectors, and to the general compliance with the Act on the part of 
mining managers. The circulars issued by the department have aimed at attaining these results :—1st. 
The putting ot gates or bars at all entrances to plats. 2nd. The prohibiting of charging a greater number 
of holes than is intended to be fired at the time. And, 3rd, The instruction of engine-drivers to keep hold 
of the handle of the engine while raising or lowering men. It is a noticeable and praiseworthy feature 
that, in all the accidents which occurred in my district, there was only one instance in which blame could 
be attributed, and in which I had to prosecute a mining manager for a contravention of the Act. He was 
not fined heavily, as the case was not at all of a serious or gross character. 
I regret, however, that in several instances, I have had to prosecute miners and engine-drivers for 
carelessness, and in some cases for gross negligence, whereby men have been injured and property damaged. 
In all those cases fines (some of them heavy) have been inflicted, which it is hoped will have i*i deterring 
effect. Accidents, such as those referrod to, are the more to be deplored, as they could all have been pre¬ 
vented if the men employed had only exercised the forethought aud carefulness which the nature of their 
calling demands. 
In dealing with the question of safety appliances, I desire to specially notice the good effects arising 
from the use of Middleton’s safety hook. It has beeu the means of preventing injury to property iu many 
instances, and is, in my opinion, the best one iu use. 
The cages have been better looked after than hitherto in the way of oiling and cleaning, which 
keeps them more effective. The ropes also have been tested periodically. 
In concluding this report, I may add that it is very gratifying to obsorve, on the whole, the way in 
which mining operations have been carried on, especially with regard to the precautions taken for the safety 
of the miners, from whom very few complaints have been received by me. 
* For copy sec Appendix G. 
C 
