FREEMAN'S BAY EXPLOSION

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 177, 26 July 1913, Page 5

FREEMAN'S BAY EXPLOSION

j AN INEXPUCABLE HAPPENING. THE ENGINEERS' OPINION. An inquiry into the circumotances attending tho death of William B. Massey, through injuries sustained in the explo--ion at tho "Soltar'' works in Freeman's Bay on Thursday afternoon, was held by -Mr. E. (_'. Ltitten, S.M., at the city morgue to-day. Sub-Inspector Johnston represented the police, Mr. M. G. McGregor appeared for the relatives of the deceased, Mr. A. M. Could for the company, and Mr. Newton for the Labour Department. James Branton Massey. father of deceased, and an engineer by occupation, said he erected the plant at the work., and although not completed, it wa<s in a sufficiently advanced stage for operations to be safely started. The plant was not an extensive one. He was not familiar enough with the working of the machinery to express an authoritative opinion as to whether anyone was to blame for the m : ,iadventu-e. Questioned by Mr. McGregor, thwitness staled that a modification of the original plans was made by permitting thinner, and consequently cheaper, covers on the tanks, which were the usual 400-ga'lon variety, lie could not say whetlior the accident, occurred through tho tanks not being strong enough to withstand the pressure from the inside. Replying to Mr. Gould, the witness said he bad inspected the tank since the accident, and it did not look as if it had burst. There could not have- been any pressure under the covers, and therefore the alteration in the thickness of them could not have been a factor in the explosion. The covers did not appear to be displaced, and it would take considerable force to shift them. The plant, so far as witness knew, was not defective. Herbert Avery, an employe,- at the "Soltar" works, iu describing the accident, said the attention of deceased and witness was attracted -bv storm arising from the vicinity of the boiling tar tanks. The steam, he explained, should have passed through a funnel, so an investigation was made, as it was feared there was a blockage. Massey went up the ladder to see. and called 'witness to go up also. Witness saw Massey unscrewing the lid of a naptha. tank, and. the explosion followed. Instantly the place vvus in flames, and when returned with help t-he building was full of dense smoke. Witness' opinion vvas that the condenser tanks were overfull of g.is, duo to tho means of escape being blocked. lie had not seen *M:i-;sey.smok-ing anywhere near the tanks. " There was no exposed flame iu the vicinity. The witness, replying to Mr. McGregor. said Thursday was the first day on which the furnace vvas used. They started at 4 a.m. Mr. R. F. Moore, the company's engineer, was present up to about threequarters of an hour before the explosion. The lid of the naptha tank had been taken off twice during the day when Mr. Moore w.-.s there. Massey' seemed to understand it. Massey had specially warned visitors about smoking near the tanks. Coke was used in the furnace, and he had not noticed anv sparks. Questioned by Mr. Gnu'ld. the witness said ho did not. see Massov strike a match or use a naked light ;it the time of tho explosion. All was going well till the ste.im was observed rising over the tar tanks. Dr. William N. Abbot, here snrgeon at the Hospital, said deccas-d was unconscious on admission to the institution, suffering from extensive burns practically over the whole of the body, as will as from fracture of tho skull and a wound over the rieht eye oxtendincr to the bone. Ho died carry tho following morning without recovering consciousness. Death was due to one of throe causes—hemorrhage from the forehead wound, fracture of the skull, and shock from burning. Robert Forbes Moore, engineer to the 'Soltar" Company, said' he was at the works all day. nnd everything was going well up to the time be left. Massey was loft in charge. Witness could not say how tho ni-.'idont occurred, and could only theorise. Tho gases arising from the distillation of the tar wore convhns- j tihlo only by ignition. There was nothing : in tho works to give a flame that would ignite the gases. Coke was used in place of coal to minimise the risk of a flame ; passing under the tar tanks. No (lame : from the furnace could roach the con- I denser tanks where the explosion hap- j pened. There could have boon no pros- j sure in the tanks, and if there had boon j j spontaneous combustion it must have' ; occurred elsewhere than in the condense'.- i tank?., and no explosion of the gases j I vvas possible without the removal of the j | lid and contact of the gases with a naked i light. The only conclusion he could come ' to was that some form nf light was ap- , plied to the gases after the fid wis taken o;r the tank. Do could not understand why Massey. who was most careful and I intelligent, interfered with the lid of the \ tanks. Mr Cuttcn returned a verdict that "Death was due to injuries, received in tho explosion, ahout which there was no evidence to show how it took pl3ce. or to .-how that blame vvas attachable to anyone.*'