Coroner’s Court Man Killed By Circular Saw Which Disintegrated

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30294, 21 November 1963, Page 17

Coroner’s Court Man Killed By Circular Saw Which Disintegrated

The blade of a circular saw, which was in a dangerous condition, disintegrated and a large piece inflicted fatal injuries to the man using it, according to evidence given in the Coroner’s Court yesterday. A factory inspector of the Department of Labour told the Coroner (Mr A. T, Bell) that under the Machinery Act the Department had no great hold over a person using such a saw on his own account. He agreed to take the matter up with the department's head office in Wellington. The Coroner found that John Scott Thomson, aged 42, died on September 25 in the Spencerville plantation, the cause of death being shock and hemorrhage associated with gross internal injuries, consistent with the passage of a large fragment of the blade of a circular saw, George Edward Thompson, aged 15, said he was employed by a firewood supply firm. On September 25 he was working in the Spencerville plantation at Chaneys. About 3 p.m. he took some wood to the saw which was being operated by Thomson. The saw had been playing, up and it stopped because the belt came off. Thomson swore at the saw and kicked it before replacing the belt. Witness had walked about five yards away when he heard the motor start up. Thomson got seven slabs of wood, He was in a

temper and pushed more wood than usual into the blade. All of a sudden a car tube attached to the saw snapped and flew in the air. It struck Thomson on the right side and the blade broke into three fragments. One piece flew back towards Thomson and hit him on the right side near the ribs, another piece flew into the bush and he did not know where the third piece went, said Thompson. Thomson fell to the ground and witness went to get help. He did not know why the rubber tube was attached to the saw. They had been working in this plantation for about three months. Thomas Stephen Kotlowski, a factory, inspector employed by the Department of Labour, said he inspected a portable firewood cutting saw bench. It was powered by a fourcylinder petrol motor and had a 30in blade. The bearings were badly worn. The teeth on the saw were blunt and poorly set and it cut un. evenly. The spindle was wrenched from its mountings. "Thomson was operating an unguarded saw which was in an unsafe and dangerous condition,” said Kotlowski. To the Coroner the witness said that the saw had never been inspected by the department. Regular inspections of such saws were not carried out. They were very difficult to, trace as they were moved about a good deal. CHILD RUN OVER A young girl had been lying on her stomach on a drive behind a car, playing with stones when the car. driven by her unde, was reversed and one of the back wheels went over her head, according to evidence. The Coroner found that Stephanie Dawn Price, aged 15 months, died at her home at 47 Pembroke street on September 29, the cause of death being lacerations and hemorrhages of the brain associated with gross fractures of the skull, suffered when a car being backed out of the drive ran over her head.

Eric George Clifford, a driver, said about 1.30 p.m, he went to his brother-in-law’s place. He had been playing with the children on the back lawn and went to leave about 2 p.m. Mrs Price had called the family into" lunch. He got into his car and was looking out the back window as he reversed. He had gone a few feet at about two or three miles an hour when he felt a bump as if he .had run over a brick. He got out and found the child lying under the car. She was unconscious and was taken to the hospital. Constable N. A. Galbraith said that the only witness to the accident was a six-year-old boy standing on the opposite side of the road looking up the drive. He questioned the boy in the presence of his parents and he had said that the child had been lying on the ground behind the car. George McDonald,. a vehicle inspector employed by the Transport Department, said Clifford’s car was mechanically sound. WALKED INTO CAR

An elderly man, who appeared to be in a trance, stepped Off a traffic island in Moorhouse avenue, near Manchester street, without looking to either the right or the left, Allan Edwin Elsom, a company director, told the Coroner.

The Coroner reserved his decision in the inquest into the death of John Robert Halliday, aged 77, until the evidence of a police sergeant is given this morning, Frederick Robert Fleming, a wholesaler, said about 7 55 p.m. on September 19 he was driving west along Moorhouse avenue at 25 to 28 miles-an-hour. There was noone on the pedestrian crossing to the railway station. He was passing ■ Manchester street when he suddenly felt a bump as a pedestrian must have walked into the left side of his car. The body landed on the bonnet and he stopped. The pedestrian was an elderly man and when he felt his pulse there was none. Fleming said. He had no chance of avoiding the accident which occurred in a line with the western footpath of Manchester street. The man

was not on the pedestrian crossing. The lighting at this intersection was not good. Elsom said he was driving behind Fleming’s car and the man had walked out into the road heedless of traffic. John Lawrence Wright, a vehicle inspector employed by the Transport Department, said Fleming's car was in good order. Denis James Hogan, a senior scientific officer employed at the Dominion Laboratory said specimens from Halliday's body contained a mild amount of alcohol which were not sufficient to affect his judgment FELL OVER CLIFF When James Hindhaugh. aged 68 years, also known as Geordie Bush, retired in May of this year after working for the Lyttelton Harbour Board for many years he had complained of having nothing to do, according to a Witness. The Coroner found that Hindhaugh died at Lyttelton on August 1, the cause of death being fractures of •the skull and lacerations of the brain, suffered when he fell over the steep face at Sticking Point; Mary Ann I.urse Barnes, a widow, said Hindhaugh had boarded at her home for 30 years. When he went out on August 1 about 1 p.m. he appeared to be in good spirits and he had given no indication that he might take his own life. When he failed to return she informed the police.

David Gordon Miller, a watchman employed by the Lyttelton, Harbour Board, said he had known Hindhaugh for 29 year;. He was driving home to . Lyttelton from. Christchurch with his wife on August 1 when he saw Hindhaugh walking on the side of the road. They waved to him but he did not acknowledge their greeting. His wife had remarked to him that Hindhaugh appeared to be lost. It was his opinion that Hindhaugh had fallen over the cliff.

Donald William Spain, a deputy foreman employed by the Lyttelton Harbour Board on the extension works, said about 8.30 a.m. on September 21 he saw the body of a man under some boxthorn at the quarry. Constable N. F. Smith, of Lyttelton, said Hindhaugh had been a seaman bn tne tugs at Lyttelton. When he had purchased a double whisky at the Empire Hotel on August i he appeared to be distressed. After he was reported missing an extensive search was carried out. At 9.15 a.m. on September 21 the body was found below the Windy Point car park on the Sumner road, beneath a 70ft cliff. It had been there for some weeks. There was nothing to indicate that there had been any foul play. ARM AMPUTATED

While cooking breakfast an elderly man suffered a blackout, and received burns to the arms and hands, according to evidence. The Coroner found that Fred Welsby, aged 77, died at Burwood Hospital on October 4, the cause of death being pneumonia, after amputation of the left arm because of extensive burns received from an electric range.

Constable F. T. J. French said that Welsby was a personal friend of his and had suffered from indifferent health. On the morning of September 2 Welsby beckoned some neighbours to his home at 25 Grafton street. Linwood. He was suffering from bums and was taken to hospital. He told a doctor he was making breakfast and had turned on. a ring on the stove when he suffered a black-out. When he came to he saw flames and tried to put them out. Constable French said it was his opinion that the accident was caused by Welsby’s age and ill health.

Dr. G. B. Blake said Welsby was admitted to the Burwood Hospital on September 2 with burns on the hands and wrists. He was operated on but died on October ,4. DIED AFTER OPERATION The Coroner found that William David Kennedy, aged 61, died at the Christchurch Hospital on October 6, the cause of death being acute heart failure, associated with severe intestinal hemorrhage after an operation for a bleeding ulcer.

Plans for two off-street parking buildings were considered by the City Council last evening. A building of five storeys to accommodate about 360 cars in the public area and another 60 in the Municipal Electricity Department’s garage on the ground floor was approved, and the calling of tenders authorised. Various alternatives had been considered for development of the Lichfield street site, the off-street • parking committee said, and the most suitable was for a five-storey building to accommodate 440 cars. The cost was estimated at £210,000 I The Plymouth lane right-of-

way would need to be diverted along the west side of the building, and negotiations had begun with interested parties for consent to the diversion, the committee said. If consent was withheld unreasonably. the committee recommended that steps be taken under the Public Works Act for the diversion. The council agreed. It also agreed to take steps to obtain the sanction of the Local Authorities Loans Board for a loan of £210.000 to cover development of the site. The committee said £140,000 had been pledged by the Lichfield Street Carpark Action Committee. The balance was not expected to be difficult to raise.