"A TON OF POWDER."

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 441, 25 February 1909, Page 6

"A TON OF POWDER."

c ' — AND 3000 TONS OF EARTH. : i. FATAL EXPLOSION. AT PENCAHROW. THE INQUEST. : An. x inquest :wn3"heid'*by. Mr. W. G. -Riddell, j 5.M.,• yesterday.into ' the circumstances"; surroundingtho; death of Wm. Henry Massey,;.whOi \ was killed at the Pencarrow'Quarry'on i?ebru- ' ary 12.; vVV ! John Loughlin, quarryman,-employed afc.Pen- > parrony stated that deceased was aa electrician, i and Had been sent over-to : the quarry incon-" ; nection/.with the blasting operations.: On Febi ruary -12, there was : an ..unexploded charge' in i the face of the drive, a ton of gunpowder form- .. ing the charge. Deceased was testinganelectric' wire;■ which ".connected . the' shot with'."the', j blacksmith's shop,;and was. using :a galvaiiometer and dry. well, which, h'e said, wouidnot ' explode -a oap.- ..Morgan;, foreman of works, and ". witness warned him .that he was taking a risk, p.- witness. .was[(oh;hisc , way , "ito'' : the black-.', f, siiiith's shop; for a cap he heard the explosion.'

John Lee, inspector.;'of .-permanent way : .'for the Railway Department, stated " thai heknew. Massey,,, who had; only;/;beeri.',ont..' from iEngland about ten. weeks, fie ,had: been; employed in the railway elcctrical workshops!. in the first place, and had later been employed laying a mineat tlio Pencarrow Quarry., Ha went .to the.quarry on February 8 to lay a mine for exploding a' charge ,of one . ton of . blasting powder.' The wires running into the .drive - wentthroughpipes for safety, and-connected with another: wire, running to the blacksmith's shop; "which was 300yd's'.. away. ' - Oh February 11 ■ two' attempts were made to fire the charge, , but . they both failed. The ; .same day Massey wanted -to test his inside wires at: the drive, but'witness would-not-allow .him to do so. .On, : February 1 12 .witness wns' within -a: 'few chains of ,'r the quarry," following.;. Massey; : ;w"heh -he : saw: the 'snot;go off. Hurrying to. the quarry he that , the whole face of the'■ quarry' had come away bringingprobably - 3000 . tons' of earth down.-" The: cause,,-of', the delay 'in recovering the"body tof deceased - was, on "accounti- of 'the dangerous nature'of the work. The body, when recovered, .was about 12ft. .from the mouth of the tunnel, 'righf in. ; the centre 'of the' fallenearth and,, rock.; - Deceased , had relatives-in England. ' V, •;- ..-'lo the Coroner:;lt was-dange'rous to attempt to test the wire or fire-the-shot in' the way Massey intended'doing. ' JChos.: Morgan, railway , , employed at - Pencarrow; Quarry, , stated - that ;he- : was/-with , deceased when he came ;up'. t6; explode ; a charge '. in, a tiinhel in No. 3 drive. An "attempt had 3 been made to explode the chargb. the ;day :be--5 fore: the * accident, ;but without /success.'.Next y morning Massey came 'along;' and said that' he would test: the outside -wires.' s , -He put,.a.cap "oh tho ) wiros ,at the blacksmith's shop ana | said to witness: "We will, go up. to. the other j end near the drive and try' and explode the 1 cap at the blacksmith's shop.'' : : Massey: took 3 the . battery ■ with. him.' suggested that iit was not-a;safe'thing to do,;and Massey.; then : said that he would- put the 'cap-on thu end, of 'the ; outslde wires; near.'the'drive,'and :.try : to I explode it from-the blacksraithVshop. 'He was also going to test the wires'in'the drive; and uncoupled the inside'from the outside wires. | Witness told Massey; he should riot test the v wires in the drive. Before witness left Massey he warned him:that.-if he ihterferedljWith the ; wires iii the. drive'-it was. at his own -risk and' responsibility. : Witness : picked up theex- - plbder; and walked towards the blacksmith's f shop, and had gone about .11 or 2 chains'when there was a loud explosion behind him. Look- . ing back he noticed that the charge had gone l off and buried Massey., ■' f-';; .. /. JolmT. Fahy, electrician to tho New Zealand. ' Railways,, stated .that .Massey joined /the ; Department, as a casual hand on December. 8,, and [ was subsequently promoted to be a linesman.' ' He was 'sent, to I'encarr'ow to lay. tliß wire's for > the'blast in question'.' ; Witness' was 'satisfied i from the papers produced by deceased that he '• was quite competent: to" do the' l work hbwas . required to perform. There..was nothing techL hical in the -w.ork,. the only .thing needed, being , 'extreme ;care. : : It was dangerous to interfere with the : wire, -as deceased , had done...-,,Mas-sey was a single,roan,: 10 years of age. .' .. .. ; Constable Simpson stated 'that. ' very much knocked abont/ hoth tho' legs arid . the neck being broken. Every effort. had:'beeh ) made by the Department, to recover the: body, ' but the work 1 was , delayed by 'the. dangerous ; nature' of the ground, that Had; to; be ■ worked." : His Worship held that' it-was : ble,w;. from tho evidence thati deceased' was- qualified todo' the work which he-was sent ;to do. -He must have Known that 'the work. 'was dangerous, not. only from his own ..knowledge, but from 'the 1 warnings of the. 'witnesses: Morgan. lee;;- ,nhd ' Loughlin. Despite the warnings .deceased tested i the wire at a dangerous . place -at thV mouth i of the tunnel. -As a consequence' there was a sudden explosion, as..the - result of'.which' ,deceased was buried in the .fall of-rock , and earth. The verdict.would, be.that.'deceased met his death at Pencarrow Quarry on February 12. The cause of death ,was a fall of rock' and earth due-to a sudden explosion',; caused by deceased testing the wire in a dangerous spot.: W Mame ' was attachable to anyone working ,in or -about the quarry at tho time. ,

The funeral of the "deceased took place at Karon yesterday afternoon.- The Amalgamated Society, of Engineers,- of which deceased was'a member, was represented by JrK :Frauk ChaElin. president, Mr. W. tf. D. Evans,'sfcerotary, and a large number of members'. ' 'Inspector lea and a detachment of ni6ri-represented the -Bailway' Departments " The funeral service was'impressively read by tlio Rev. H. do Robinson, of St. Paul's. ■: ' K ■