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.