SERIOUS STREET ACCIDENT IN MELBOURNE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIV, Issue 92, 20 April 1893, Page 12

SERIOUS STREET ACCIDENT IN MELBOURNE.

Australian files to hand contain the details of a very seriousaccident in Melbourne by the collapse of a winch at the corner of Elizabeth and Collins streets, where some new buildings are in course of orection. for the Equitable Insurance Company. It appears thab a donkey engine was usod on" the top of the scaffolding in connection with bhe hoisting of huge blocks of granite, and shortly before halfpast 1 the winch collapsed, sending the cogwheels and fragments of corrugated and other mobal in all directions. Tho engine was situated about 100 feet abovo the pavement, _ and the collapse created a terrißc noise. The engine-driver, Harry Rogers, was attending to the brake at the time, and his head was struck clear off and lodged on tho pavemenb on the opposite side of the stroob, while his brains were scattered over tho road. The streets in the vicinity were crowded with pedestrians at tho time, and several ladies fainted at the horrible spectacle. One of the fragments struck a boy in Elizabethstreet, and another hit a man on the arm, bothsustainingsliarht injuries. Tho windows of the Federal Bank buildings wero also smasSod. Tho cause of the accident is not quite clear, bub, as the winch was hauling a stone weighing soven tons, ib is tkou-ht that somo of tho machinery must" have slipped as the stone thon began to descend rapidly. It is surmisod that Rogers suddenly applied tha brake, which caused too great a strain on the wheels, and the whole of the gear was sent ilying through tho air. Rogers was a sin„lo man, 25 years of age, and his life was insured in the' Guardian Accident Company for a considerable amounb. A man named Ellis, who was injured by being struck by a tailing piece of a wheel died next day from internal injuries.