MR. JOHN SAWERS'S ACCIDENT.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 302, 15 September 1908, Page 3

MR. JOHN SAWERS'S ACCIDENT.

LEC AMPUTATED. 1 — i FULLER DETAILS. , Groat regret will have been felt among all 1 men associated with tho dairy industry at the accident by which Mr. John Sawers, of ] Edendale, the champion cheese-makor of New i Zealand, has lost a leg. Tho "Wyndham : Farmor" gives a detailed account of the cir- 1 cumstances as follows : —On Wednesday after'■noon the Edendale Dairy Factory was the scene of a highly distressing accident that befel its ablo and popular manager, Mr. John Sawers. It occurred just after 3 .o'clock. Iho working staff, under Mr. Sawors's'supervi- : sion, had been breaking up a yat'of curd m i the curd mill, and, this'operation completed, tho driving belt had. been thrown out of action by slipping it off .a cone pulley on tlio ■ main shaft. As it was thus, hanging loose i and i'dlo, Mr. Sawers, in stepping past, put i his left leg within the loop of the belt, and i just at that moment:.the belt somehow must i ■have been jerked back to the edgo of the | cone—for it was- caught on tho two bolts •screwed'into the ond .of the cone, and thus i was immediately'put' into action again, at i the same time winding up round the . bolts, j • Mr. Sawers's left foot-was entrapped around 1 the ankle by the' belti 'and in an instant the 'tmfortunato man was drawn up against tho shafting, his leg being dashed against it with terrible force. In .his awful predicament ho , had the presence of mind to grasp hold of an iron bar within reach, 2nd to which ho clung ■as for dear life; and at the - same time he called on Mr. E obert Marshall, • an' employee, .who was an eye-witness of what; had happened, to shut off steam in the engine-room. His behest;was 'obeyed "iit a twinkling by 'Marshall, who* at', the same moment slipped the main driving belt out of. play.' - But-for this alacrity .and coolness-on the part of Marshall, the.injuries.to Mr. Sawers, dreadful.enough as they proved to bo, would probably have .resulted in. his being killed out-., right, as thero otherwise would'have been - several revolutions of the belting after tho steam was cut off. The doctors, called in decided to. amputate the leg about midway between the knee and ankle, and the operation was performed the samo evening. ' The accident is'of considerable concern ,to the directors of Edendale Dairy Factory Co., as the factory has just commenced its new season to which they were looking forward with much hopefulness, in'.this being in a measure assured and fortified by the complete i confidence which they reposed in the skill and ovorsight of Mr. John Sawers, as manager of the largest,cheese factory in the South Island. In their dilemma they wired to Dairy ■ Commissioner Cuddie, and that officer, recognising the urgency and reasonableness of . their request,' promptly replied that Instructor. James Sawers, of Invercargill (a brother of the injured man, and formerly manager of Edendale D.F.), had been told off to assume temporary' command at Edendale. Mrs. John Sawers was the recipient of a sheaf of - telegrams ,of : sympathy, sent from all parts of the Dominion, in the sad misfortune that had befallen her. husband.