REPORT. 
To the Honorable J. F. Levien, M.P., Minister of Mines for Victoria , fyc., $c., Sfc. 
Sir, 
Although this is the eleventh Annual Report on the operation of the Statutes 
1 elating to the regulation and inspection of mines and mining machinery, it is the 
first Report of the kind I have had the honour to submit. It will he observed that I 
have ventured—not, I confess, without much hesitation—to make a few alterations 
in the fonn of issuing it; and, in palliation of what may seem rashness on my part in 
making this departuie fiom the beaten track of my predecessors, I mav perhaps lie 
permitted to state the considerations which actuated me in doing so. It appeared to 
me that the object in issuing these Annual Reports is not merely to afford the statis¬ 
tician or the average stater data for his theories, but to bring home to the every-day 
miner a knowledge of the dangers attending his calling, of the precautions which 
expei icnce has pio\ed necessary to be taken, the appliances invented to reduce 
the risks of accidents, and the means which science has provided to enable the 
precious metal the object of all the miner s toil—to be more easily, economically, 
and effectually won from its natural hiding places, and subsequently separated from 
its ores. 
Bearing this in mind, I have ventured to omit from their customary places in the 
Report the numerous tables giving averages and statistical information, and I have 
devoted moiO space to descriptions of new safety appliances and mining machinery, 
and to the reports of the Inspectors of Mines on the actual state of these latter on 
the gold-fields of the colony at the present time. The information hitherto contained 
in the tables referred to, and usually inserted in the body of the Report, will be found 
in separate tabulated statements at the end of this publication. 
It affords me considerable pleasure to be able to state that the number of 
deaths which occurred last year through mining accidents is very much smaller than 
for several years past, as a glance at the comparative Statement No. 2 null show. 
Indeed, the number of fatalities is less than for any previous year since the Regulation 
and Inspection of Mines Statute came into operation, with one exception, namely, the 
year 1878, when the number of persons killed was 40, as compared with 41 last year. 
The list of persons injured (Statement No. 5) reveals also a great diminution, as 
compared with the two previous years. “This,” writes the Senior Inspector of 
Mines, “ 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.” 
