The Snow Tiger / Night of Error (18 page)

‘What time was it then?’ asked Harrison.

‘Half past eight, going on nine.’

‘Then it would be light?’

‘Yes and no. In Huka there are mountains on both sides so we don’t get direct sunlight until fairly late in the morning. The sky was light enough but there was a thick mist.’

Professor Rolandson held up a finger and Harrison nodded. ‘You have said that Dr McGill told you the temperature was falling. And that Mr Warrick queried that because of the mist. I must say I don’t understand it myself. I would have thought that, in those conditions, the mist would have frozen out as hoar frost. Was any explanation given for this?’

‘None that I heard.’

‘And was it still snowing at this time?’

‘No, sir, it had stopped. It didn’t snow for the rest of that day.’

Rolandson leaned back, and Harrison said, ‘How was this situation finally resolved? I mean the convincing of the chosen group.’

‘It was Arthur Pye who did it. He listened to the arguments for a while, then jumped in and said it was time to cut the cackle. He was very forceful about it.’

Harrison raised his head and addressed the hall. ‘It is a great pity that Constable Pye cannot be here to give evidence. As you may know, he was killed after the avalanche in a most valiant rescue attempt. Yesterday I was informed that Constable Pye and Mr William Quentin, the union representative at the mine, have been posthumously awarded the George Cross by Her Majesty.’

There was a murmur of voices and sporadic clapping which grew quickly into a storm of applause. The Press gallery bubbled and boiled. Harrison let the applause run its course and then tapped on the rostrum. ‘Let us get on with the evidence.’

The hall quietened, and Harrison said to Eric Peterson, ‘Can you tell us what Mr Ballard was doing at this time?’

‘He used the telephone, and then talked to Mr Cameron for a while.’

‘He did not participate in any of the arguments?’

‘Not then. He took Mr Cameron on one side and they talked together.’

‘You did not hear what they said?’

‘No, sir.’

Harrison looked at Ballard. ‘In view of a certain decision that was made about this time, I would like to hear what was said in that conversation. You are excused, Mr Peterson. Will you step forward, Mr Ballard?’

Ballard was tense. In Hukahoronui he had made a decision, and now he was called upon to justify it. Because of that decision fifty-four people had died who might now be alive and the knowledge lay heavily upon him. He clasped his hands tightly to prevent his fingers trembling.

Harrison said, ‘Can you give us the gist of the conversation you had with Mr Cameron at that time?’

Ballard’s voice was steady. ‘We talked about Mr Eric Peterson’s proposal that the mine be used as a shelter. I had already talked with Dr McGill about what to expect of avalanches, and he said that powder avalanches were very fast – anything up to a maximum of two hundred and eighty miles an hour.’ He paused. ‘That’s the translational speed, of course.’

‘You mean the general speed of the advancing snow mass?’ asked Rolandson.

‘Yes. But inside the mass there would be a considerable turbulence, according to Dr McGill. There would be a swirling action resulting in momentary gusts of up to twice the translational speed.’

Rolandson raised his eyebrows. ‘You mean there could be gusting at speeds in excess of five hundred miles an hour?’

‘So I was informed by Dr McGill.’

‘I see your problem. You were afraid of an organ pipe effect as the avalanche swept past the portal of the mine.’

‘Yes, sir. The suction would be tremendous.’

‘And what of the second type of avalanche?’

‘The wet snow avalanche would come down much more slowly – possibly at a speed of thirty to forty miles an hour. As a result of this relatively slow speed it would tend to pile up before the portal, and Dr McGill told me that snow of that nature sets hard into ice immediately. I was faced with the possibility of having several hundred thousand tons of ice of an unknown thickness between hundreds of people in the mine and the outside world. These were the problems discussed by myself and Mr Cameron.’

‘And what were Mr Cameron’s views?’ asked Harrison.

Cameron was pungent. ‘Jesus!’ he said incredulously. ‘You want to put the whole population into a hole in a mountain?’

‘It’s a shelter.’

‘Okay, it’s a shelter – I know that – but there are problems. So many problems. I don’t know where to start. For instance, when is this disaster supposed to happen?’

‘It may never happen.’

‘Exactly. So how long are they going to sit in there just waiting? They might stand it a day, but when nothing happens they’ll want out. Do you think you can stop them?’

‘The town council might.’

Cameron made a hawking sound at the back of his throat which indicated his opinion of the council. ‘To tell the truth, I’m not too happy about
anyone
being in the mine if there’s going to be a fall. A million tons of snow falling an average vertical height of three thousand feet must set up
some
vibrations.’

Ballard narrowed his eyes. ‘What are you getting at, Joe?’

‘Well, you know we’ve been cutting a few corners.’

‘I’ve seen some of the corners that have been cut. In fact, I’ve written a report for the board. I’ve not been here long, Joe; not long enough to put things right. I’m telling you now that it’s got to stop. Why, in the name of God, did you let them get away with it?’

‘I wasn’t high man on the totem pole,’ snapped Cameron. ‘My immediate boss is that spineless lump of jelly, Dobbs – and above him was Fisher with one leg in the grave and incompetent in the first place. And the men were just as bad. That production bonus you’ve been handing out is goddamn near criminal. The guys are only human and if a shot-firer, say, can earn a fast buck by ignoring a regulation he’ll go for the dough every time. And Dobbs looked the other way because he got a piece of the cake, too.’

‘And you?’

Cameron looked at the floor. ‘And maybe me, too.’ He looked up at Ballard challengingly. ‘I’m not justifying it. I’m just giving you the facts. I’m not like Dobbs – I didn’t do it for the money. I did it for the job, Ian. I had to hold on to the job. This is the last job I’ll hold as chief engineer. If I lose it I’ll be on the way down – I’ll be assistant to some smart young guy who is on his way up – and when you get to my age you can’t afford to take chances like that. If I hadn’t played along I’d have been fired.’

He laughed humourlessly and tapped Ballard on the chest. ‘But don’t tell me you haven’t had your worries already. I did my best, I tell you I really did, but those business sharks in Auckland are a tight-fisted lot of bastards – all take and no give. I pleaded with Dobbs – I pleaded with Fisher – for more money to go into safety, to go into supporting structures. All I got was the one answer – ”Make do.”’

Ballard rubbed his eyes. ‘All that’s water under the bridge. What’s worrying you?’

‘I’ll tell you. If that lot falls off the mountain – wet snow or dry, it doesn’t matter – it’s going to make a hell of a big thump. Now, maybe we’ve been interpreting the rules a mite too freely but I wouldn’t want to be in there when it happens. I don’t think the supporting structures will take it.’

Ballard drew in his breath. ‘That’s a hot one, Joe. Anyone in the mine now?’

‘Sunday maintenance crew. Half a dozen guys. Engineers and electricians.’

Ballard’s voice was as cutting as a knife-edge. ‘Get them out. Get them out now. And bloody well jump, Joe.’

He turned on his heel and went to the noisy argumentative crowd near the door. Arthur Pye raised his voice in a bull bellow. ‘Quiet! Let’s hear what McGill has to say about that.’

McGill turned as Ballard arrived at his elbow. ‘We’ve been discussing Eric Peterson’s idea of using the mine as a shelter. I think it’s not such a bad idea. I think we can discount the suction effect if Joe Cameron can put a stopper at the entrance. And it will easily hold everyone.’

‘No,’ said Ballard. ‘Nobody is going in. I’ve just ordered the men who are already in the mine to come out.’

There was a babble of voices, cut short again by a blast from Pye. He said, ‘Why not, Mr Ballard?’

‘Because I don’t think it’s safe. Mr Cameron has just pointed out that a million tons of snow hitting the valley bottom will make quite an impact. I don’t think the mine is safe.’

Pye frowned. ‘Not safe?’

‘It’s my decision, and I’ve made it,’ said Ballard. ‘As soon as the men are out I’m having the entrance sealed.’

‘Well, that’s it,’ said McGill. ‘No need to argue any more about it.’ He looked curiously at Ballard before he turned to Pye. ‘I want four men, experienced in the mountains if possible. They’ll need ropes and ice-axes, if you have them.’

‘Some of the scouts are good climbers.’

‘They’ll do,’ said McGill briefly. ‘Where’s the secretary you promised me, Ian?’

‘And that’s how it was,’ said Ballard.

Harrison opened his mouth and then closed it. He leaned back and said to the assessor on his left, ‘Do you have any questions, Mr French?’

‘Indeed I have.’ French drew his chair around so that he could get a good view of Ballard. ‘You know that I am from the Department of Mines, Mr Ballard?’

‘Yes.’

‘I have followed your evidence with great care. Are we to believe that you ordered the mine sealed because you thought there would be a danger of tunnel collapse in the event of an avalanche?’

‘That is correct.’

‘Are you aware that because of the particular nature of this country the mining regulations are framed in such a way as to take account of earthquakes?’

‘I am.’

‘And so, even if a large quantity of snow did come down the west slope above the mine, there would be little or no damage providing the regulations had been followed. Do you believe that?’

‘Yes.’

‘And so, by pursuing the course of action which you did, you evidently believed that the regulations, as laid down in law by my department, had not been followed?’

‘I believe, with Mr Cameron, that the regulations had been rather too freely interpreted, largely in the interests of economy. It was not a thing I would have relished arguing with an Inspector of Mines, had there been one there.’

‘That, Mr Ballard, is a very damaging admission,’ said French coldly.

‘I admit that, sir.’

‘And so, believing this, you had the mine sealed. In the ensuing disaster fifty-four people were killed. After the disaster the mine was unsealed and the supporting structures had, in the event, proved to be equal to the shock. Nothing had collapsed in any part of the mine. If the whole population of Hukahoronui had sheltered in the mine, as was proposed by Mr Eric Peterson, they would have been all safe. What do you say to that, Mr Ballard?’

Ballard looked troubled. ‘It has weighed heavily on my mind ever since the avalanche. It is evident that I made the wrong decision, but it is only evident in hindsight. I was there and the decision was up to me, so I made it on the basis of available evidence.’ He paused. ‘I must add that were I placed in the same position again I would not vary my decision.’

There was an uneasy rustle from the public gallery and the floor creaked. Harrison said gently, ‘But the mine
should
have been safe, Mr Ballard.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘And it was not?’

‘It was not.’

Rolandson leaned forward, his elbows spread wide on the rostrum, and looked across at French. ‘Was the mine unsealed by a member of the Inspectorate of Mines, Mr French?’

‘Yes, it was.’

‘What were his views on the supporting structures that he found?’

‘His report was unfavourable,’ said French. ‘I might add that he made a verbal report to me immediately after his inspection, and his remarks were unprintable.’

Ballard said, ‘I made a similar report to the board of the company. I request that it be introduced as evidence.’

Harrison leaned forward. ‘Mr Rickman, can that report be produced?’

Rickman conferred in whispers with Crowell for a few minutes, then he looked up. ‘I am instructed to inform the Commission that no such report has been received from Mr Ballard.’

Ballard was pale. In a controlled voice he said, ‘I can provide the Commission with a copy of that report.’

‘With respect, Mr Chairman,’ said Rickman. ‘The fact that Mr Ballard can provide a copy of a report does not necessarily mean that a report was sent to the board of the company. In point of fact, any report that Mr Ballard may present to the Commission may have been written
post facto.’

Harrison looked interested. ‘Are you seriously suggesting that the report Mr Ballard has offered to me has been fraudulently written after the event?’

‘With respect, I am merely pointing out the possibility that it could have been written yesterday.’

‘An interesting suggestion, Mr Rickman. What do you think of it, Mr Ballard?’

Ballard looked at Rickman who looked back at him blandly. ‘Mr Rickman is imputing that I am a liar.’

‘Oh no!’ said Rickman with an ingenuous air. ‘Only that you very well could be.’

‘Mr Rickman is also not improving my present frame of mind,’ said Ballard. ‘I would delight in answering any questions concerning the safety of the mine from Mr French, from Mr Gunn, who represents the General Mining Union, or from any other interested person.’

The smile disappeared from Rickman’s face as Gunn seized upon the offer. ‘Mr Ballard, you have said the mine was not safe. Apart from this disputed report, did you mention the matter to anyone else at that time?’

‘I did. I talked about it in conversations with Mr Dobbs, Mr Cameron, and Dr McGill, both before and after the avalanche.’

‘Had you taken steps to right matters?’

‘I wrote the report and was preparing to follow it up.’

‘How long was it before the disaster that you took up your position with the company?’

‘Six weeks.’

‘Only six weeks!’ echoed Gunn in well-simulated surprise. ‘Then Mr Rickman, or even Mr Lyall, can hardly suggest that you were responsible for the state of affairs in the mine.’

‘I had no intention of suggesting it,’ said Lyall drily.

Rickman remained silent.

‘But someone must have been responsible,’ pursued Gunn. ‘What, in your opinion, was the reason for this scandalous state of affairs?’

‘The mine was teetering on the verge of profitability. If it was not to make an actual loss all margins had to be shaved. Any money that went into the mine went towards productivity – towards profit. Anything that did not conduce towards productivity went to the wall – and that included safety margins.’ Ballard moved in his chair and looked towards Rickman. ‘Now that a rich vein of conglomerate ore has been struck one hopes that more money will go to safety.’

Rickman leaped to his feet. ‘Mr Chairman, I must protest. The witness is giving away the very secrets of the company – secrets he acquired in the course of his duties. Is this the conduct of a responsible managing director?’

Pandemonium broke out in the Press gallery. Lost in the uproar was Ballard’s retort, ‘Don’t you mean ex-managing director?’