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40.
The foreman reported it to me and I went down in the mines and dismissed him myself; sent him home.
Q: Do you know of any prosecutions for this kind ofthing in this Province?
A: Yes. They have prosecuted quite a number in the Fernie.
Q: For opening lamps?
A: For carrying matches, tobacco, and pipes. They will do it.
Q: Do you know anything at all about the mule driver?
A: No, I don't know anything about him.
By a Juror:-Where was the lamp found marked "A"?
A: In No.6 near the face, very near the seat of the explosion; I would say about nine or ten yards from the face.
Q: The Chinaman a few minutes ago said that the lamp was handed to him unlocked by his boss. Was that boss a Chinaman?
A: Yes.
Q: Do you suppose a whiteminer woud do the same thing?
A: Yes.
Q: Hand a lamp to a Chinaman, unlocked?
A: Yes, he would do the same. That man Law may have handed the lamp to his helper unocked after he opened it himself.
Q: It is not against the Rules of the Coal mines Regulation Act to have those lamps down the mines unlocked?
A: No, not along the shaft except gas is expected. It is all open lamps used along there.
Q: Can these lamps be unlcoked with a nail or a piece of wood?
A: Yes. I tjhink so; two nails if you press them tightly.
By Mr. Hall:- About that open lamp. Mr. Matthews, to whom do you suppose that would belong?
A: I couldn't tell.
Q: The driver wouldn;t have an open lamp?
A: Oh yes, the open lamp belonged to the driver .
Q: I suppose you know the driver?
A: No, I didn't know him.
Q: I suppose you know that he died between two and three o'clock that morning after leaving the mine?
A: He died the next day, I think.