THE DOCK FATALITY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 57, 8 March 1900, Page 5

THE DOCK FATALITY.

THE INQUEST

The adjourned inquest concerning' j the death of James Harris, who died on March 3rd as the result of injuries received at the Calliope Dock on the. same day, was continued this morning, before Dr. McArthur, coroner. Sub-Inspector Wilson represented the police, Mr J. 11. Heed appeared i'or James Harris, the father of deceased, and Mr Hugh Campbell for the Har- . bour Board, while Mr Buddie appearied to watch the case for the Union j Steamship Company. j Mr J. E. Ltmdon appeared for Wesjtou, one of the injured men. Mr .Ferguson, Inspector of Factories, was. also presc-i! 1. Dr. Baldwin, medical superintendent at the Hospital, deposed that when I deceased was admitted to the Hospital on Saturday he was unconscious, and suffering1 from injuries to the head and lace. The post-mortem showed an extensive fracture of the skull on the left side of the forehead, and afracture extending' across the base of the skull from side to side. Death was the result of these and other injuries. -Nothing could have been done to save deceased's life. A fall of twenty to twenty-five feet headlong on .ahard substance would cause such injuries. j'y Mr Tteed: There were no signs; of liquor about deceased.

Charles Lake, labourer, deposed that he was employed at the Calliope Dock on Saturday, :'.rd hist., by Mr Henderson, contractor, a master painter, in painting the starboard side of the vessel (s.s. Manapouri) in dock. He was working on a staging1 consistingl of a Jong' ladder with a six by two plank laid on the rungs. This .stage rested on the shores, which extended from the steps of the dock to the vessel's side. The stage was also fastened by rope to the vessel's side. He thought the shores were also fastened to the side of the vessel.

Witness, continuing1, said they started work at about half-past seven. Witness was on the stage with deceased, Weston, and John Bergman. They had been working lor about 45 minutes when deceased called out. "Look out, Charlie!" Witness then made a plunge for the ship's side, and grasped a hook, 10 which he hung by his hands. On looking round he saw deceased's feet up in the nil". He then heard the stage crash on the bottom of the dock. He saw Weston and Bergman on the bottom of the dock. Witness was then pulled on board the ship by a sailor. He went to the bottom of the dock afterwards and saw Weston being carried up. Deceased was lying with his head against the bottom step. Witness did not notice Bergman. The ladder was broken clean in two. About three inches of slushy mud were on the bottom of the dock, but no water. He noticed the rope hanging- down broken over the side, and identified the one, produced as the same. It was the one that had fastened the shore to the ship's side.

By Mr IJeed: He went to work about the scime time as deceased. The string was already prepared—that was to say, the ladder vested on the shores alongside the ship's side. The ladder was prepared as a platform for the painters to stand on. He could not. say one way or the other whetjier there were more than the shore ropes supporting the ladder. Witness laid the plank on the rungs of the ladder by Mr Henderson's orders. Mr Henderson was yresent at the time. He told witness and deceased To go on the ladder and work there. Some time before the accident, witness saw two men on one of the shores, sitting straddle-legged, pushing a six by two plank along. They were about 10ft from where lie was going io work. That plank was to make another staging. He did not observe anyone crossing on the shores after he started work. He noticed no motion of the plank, or anything peculiar, before deceased called out. It was deceased's cry thai first warned witness. He thought the accident was due to the rope being rol ten. The ladder broke before it reached the bottom of the dock. Witness was not sure whether the shore fell.

By the Police: lie was about amidships, and there was only one row of shores on each side.

By the Jury: He did not. examine the rope produced before going' to paint, but-took it for granted thai everything was "nil right. The shores supported the ladder. He could not say that the ladder broke first and carried one of the shores with it.

• Abbott Taylor deposed that he Avas foreman to -Mr Henderson, painter. On Saturday, 3rd hist., he was engaged in pain/ting the Manapouri in the Caljiopc Dock. On Friday, 2nd inst., witness and Uvo other men were engaged in erecting stages round the vessel. On the Saturday he started to paint at 8.30 a.m.. Deceased, Weston, and Lake were employed by Mr Henderson. They happened to be placed together on one stage. Altogether there were about forty men employed. Witness had sole charge of i the job. The stage consisted ■of a kauri ricker, 30ft long, split in two. These longitudinal pieces were eon-[ nected together by five cross pieces | of wood. " This staging was about j Ift 10in in the centre and lft Gin at i each end. The greatest measurement | of each half of the ricker ■would be, 4^in by 2 3-Sin. The stage was new. In the first place it was laid on top of two shores, and there was a new j line from the centre of the stage to the ship's rail, and fastened tight, j There was no other fastening- fromJ the'ship's rail to the stage. The stern end of the stage, where the injured men were working-, was lashed to the! shore to keep the .stage from sliding away from the ship's side, as the shore on which the stage rested was on an incline. The other end of the ' stage was lasted down to the shore, further forward. The point of the stern shore was resting against the j vessel's side about 18in under the I ■beam. It was not resting flat against! the' Ship, but -was catching on the! top side of the end. No wedges were j placed between the shore and the! ship's side. In-the position-in; .which ■it was placed it could not have been wedged from the top side against the ship. The end of the stern shore was suspended by a rope from the ship. This rope, -witness said, was passed through a linkl about six inches from the cud of the stliure, under which a knot, was tied. The rope produced was the one used for suspending the shore. Witness saw the accident happen. He was standing on the top of. the dock, about nine feet away. He heard no one call -out before the accident. He saw the shore, the staging and the men falling to the bottom of the dock. The staging broke iii two •before it fell; It broke aj;-the;cen'tre bar-aiid the stern half of ii-fell-, t'rtk--ing deceased and Weston with it. Bergman wns on the shore at. the time 'of the accident. Lake wns on the half jof the staging- that did not fall. It

was not the stage, in witness' opinion, that carried away the shore. The length of tlit; stern' shore which carried away was 31ft lOlin of 8 x S kauri, and would be of considerable weight. Witness had had considerable experience as a, painter. The Union Company employed men to shore their vessels, and tlie painting contract had nothing to do with thatwork. The painting- coiitractortisually supplied and erected staging-. By Mr Heed: The shores were for supporting- a vessel in dock in an upright position. That was the sole purpose for which they were originally placed there. He could not say that they were placed there for any other purpose. Trouble was avoided in painting a ship by laying the staging on the shores.

Witness said he supervised the erection of tlie staging, and while placingthe end of the stage on the stern shore he noticed that only the upper edge of he shore was resting- on the ship's side; The shore on. the Saturday must have been practically supported by the rope. The particular shore of the shore was resting1, on the ship's weight. There is supposed to be the same pressure on all -the shores. On fixing the staging the precaution was taken of examining the rope above the shore. This was the only precaution he took, and the only one he thought necessary. He did so because the shore- was placed in an awkward position, and if it had slipped onesixteenth of an inch it would have become dependent on the rope,

By the jnry: It had been customary for the last ten or twelve years for docking contractors at both-'docks to use shores for supporting staging. He did not know the owner of the rope produced. It was customary for Mr Henderson to supply ropes and stag-ing-for painting purposes only; he did not supply the one produced.

By Mr Lundon: In witness' opinion the shores.were not bearing tin even weight, and the or.c that fell was bearing less weight than it would have done if fiat against the ship's side. There was no discussion as to whether the shores had been properly j fixed. He did not examine the shore 1 rope on Saturday. He did so on: Friday, but did not test its weightcarrying capacity. By the'size of the rope it should have stood double the ' strain. The men were not to blame. He had not permission from the,, dock-" | ing1 contractor. Harbour Board, or ship's authorities to utilise the,shores for supporting the stage. He did not know whether his employer had permission. Had the shore rope not been there he would not have rested the stage on the shore until he had attached a rope to it. He had placed ship's ropes in similar positions of the same or stouter size. With no rope ou the shore the staging would not have been .safe on this occasion. Weston was perfectly sober when he started work, ■ . . By Mr Ferguson: There was a similar shore, on the port side of the ship fixed in the same way. By Mr Lundon: The shore went down solely because it was not squarely against the ship's side, and was consequently dependent on the rope. There was no support to the ends, of the stage other thau the shores. . -

Edwin Stribley, wharf labourer, deposed that on Saturday last he was employed in erecting- a trestle in the Gal* Hope Dock for the painters. He witnessed the accident. -The shore came down first, then part of the staging on tine shore. He also saw Weston fall. The height of the fall was about 26 to 2£ feet. Witness identified the knot on the rope produced. Witness walked over all the stjiging on Friday. Tie noticed rhe shore that fell. It was against the vessel's side, braced up with a rope and wedged from the top against the ship.

By Mr Keed: He had nothing to do with the erection of the shoring.

Charles Bailey deposed that he was the shoring contractor for the Union Company. Last week he.-was engaged in shoring the, s.s. Manapouri.' This was finished tvbout midday on Friday. The shores were.for the purpose of keeping the vessel on an even keel. The line at the end of the shore next the ship is used to swj.ng the -shore into position. After the ship is on the blocks, the ropes a-re/ieft on the shores mid made fast ion board as a preventative against slipping. If. a shore is placed against the stern or bow of a ship, wedges are used to "fix the shore 10 the ship. The Auckland Harbour Board owned the shores and'ropes attached to them. On this particular occasion the'ropes came fnom the dock shed. Painters might: use the shores but at their own risk. >.Places where the shores had been ag-ninst the ship's side were painted after the ship was floated out of dock. ■'•■' '

By Mr Reed: In fixing the shores the painters were not supposed to be considered. Downward pressure was not necessarily provided for.

By Mr Campbell: Special ropes were provided for staging by the Harbour Board if required. Witness had seen these. These ropes consist of a chain on the lower part and a rope on the upper part. The chain part is slung around the stage. He; had never seen this tackle used by painters, but always by shipwrights. In witness' opinion it was not a reasonable act to attach staging to that particular shore. That.shore had no wedge on the top. He did not caution the workmen against putting the stage on the .shpres. Shoring contractors ailways took the ropes as given to them. Witness did not know whether they Were ever tested. He thought a sound rope of the size of the one in use would have carried the weights of shore, staging, and men. '

By -Mr Campbell: The broken rope lifted the shore into position.

By Mr tteed: The -shore weighed from six to seven cwt,, and it "took four to six mento carry one of them.

By the Police: He was n,ot present on Friday when the painters were erecting the staging-. By Mr Lundon: The.work of a shoring; contractor is not passed by an ins^etor. Witness had to supervise. On this occasion he heard no complaints as to the shoring.

(Continued on page 2.)