A NARROW ESCAPE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 54, Issue 192, 28 May 1934, Page 3

A NARROW ESCAPE

CONTACT WITH LIVE WIRE.

SAVED BY MATE'S QUICK ACT.

(Per Press Association). AUCKLAND, May .27

Saved from a fatal electric shock by the presence of mind of a companion, Mr Frederick Freeth, a sawmiller, aged 46, a married man, was severely burned at Glen Eden on Saturday afternoon, when a guy wire of a radio mast he was erecting came in contact; with a high-tension electric power line carrying 11,000 volts. Immediately the accident occurred a young man, Mr Jack Grahame; who was assisting Fireeth, pushed the wooden aerial mast so as .to break the contact between the wires. He then rushed along the roof and leaped a distance of about 12 feet to the ground to assist Mr Freeth, who had collapsed. Mr Freeth, of the firm of Lang and Freeth and Co., was erecting a new wireless aerial at his residence. He was tightening the guy wire under a high-tension line leading to a sawmill when the two wires came into contact. Mr Freeth was leaning heavily against a piece of angle, iron used as a strut supporting a fencing post, which _ increased his danger, as the metal aided the flow of current to the earth. Mr Freeth was very severely burned on both hands, an arm, and. a leg, and also suffered considerably from shock, /although he did not lose consciousness. Mr Grahame's attention was attracted to Mr Freeth's plight by flames which were shooting from Mr Freeth's body at the points the resistance to the electric power was greatest. Sparks were also emitted at the point where the wires made contact. There is no doubt that the prompt action of Mr Grahame saved Mr Freeth's life. His presence of mind in pushing the mast which, fortunately, was of wood, so as to break the contact, meant that Mr Freeth was receiving an electric shock for only a few moments. The injured man was taken to the Auckland Hospital. His condition, is still serious.