FALL OF CARGO SLING.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2112, 1 April 1914, Page 8

FALL OF CARGO SLING.

ON SS MAITAI .

MAN KILLED & ANOTHER bURT.

i- A shocking accident occurred on the i'.'Uiiion Company's steamer. Maitai yes-' ; tc-rday morniug, ; by '■ which a wharf [•■ labourer named Thomas Caldwell, rC- :• /siding at No. 9 Tory Street, Petone, and ; jatq Caretaker of tho Petone School, met I: his death. Another wharf labourer, I nafned B. Bradley, who was also working on board, was ■ badly shaken, ; but after -jiedical attention lio was able i to proceed to his homo in Willis Street. ; The Maitai. arrived at Wellington from Auckland yesterday morning, and !;htrthed at Jorvois Quay. --'A , number, of ' bags of superphosphates wero stored in the forward hold, 'arid, discharge ,Vas i immediately commenced. It proceeded I till' about 11 a.m., when a:ful!y-Ibaded ; slingi' containing : eight' bags or superphosphates,. Weighing labout.lCcwt.',; was '. being hoisted. The lift rose out of the f lipid, and then, without any , ' warning,- ;• the sling carried away, and the eon- ; tents dashed to the bottom of the hold,' . a distance of about 40ft. Caldwell. who ,- happened. to bo directly underneath, ro r ' ceivbd the full force of the falling , and was killed, receiving /.s'vqh severe .;" .'injuries that death must hayo, been inV. stantaneous. Bradley,'who : was standing Jicar, was also struck- by '. some of ; tho contents of tho; sling< and had a ■ very narrow escape. • Work.was imme- : diately: stopped, find .Caldwell and Brad- | ley worb : >ompve2 from tho hold to the ' ii-harf. , ; Subsequently'.the body of doj' ceased wa's'removed to the moYgue. A , reporter was informed that the loiiclin the sling was of the usual size , ; and woight for such cargo) and tho sling : was of apparently.'good Manila ';■ Tope. It is the custom for all rope : used foA sliugsto be thoroughly esam- . iued, and it is well-known on the wator- ' front thai tho men are [; usually chary ■ a bout; working if everything is not.con- : sidefed to ; bo in-.propcr order. It is also'the custom for workers in a ship's ;' hold ! t6, "stand from,under", a sling of : cargo ■ by■ going into the wings and wait- • ing' , thero till all js-'clear. From what could bo gathered yesterday it seems ;• that one of-tho labour foremen told tho ■ men-in-tho Maitai's hold to keep from tinder the slings only 'a short time before the accident occurred. .'.'■■

• '■';■.• Deceased, who was stated to bo 45 • years of age, was married, and leaves a, wifo and sis young children. He ; . joined the new Wharf Labourers 1, Union on November 13, and was looked upon \ as a good worker.. On January 9he ; met with an accident, through which ;■-■• he losfcia portion of one of his fingers. .; Instead of claiming' compensation, he .; "signed off," and* for tho succeeding ;• nine weeks he was unable to do any ; ' work. Ho resumed-work a little over -.;..«' week, ago, and arrangements had '■; been/made by the executive of the ; Wharf Labourers' Union that ho should i obtain regular employment in view of / the fact that ho had had a long run of ! .pisfortuner ,'■-..-' RAILWAY FATALITY. BODY FOUND ON HUTT LINE. ' Another fatality has to be recorded— making the ninth within ,tho last three . day 3.. Eariy last evening the police' received word that a inaii, whoso name is at preseht unknown, had been killed on tbo railway line, at about 200 yards on the Wellington side of tho Ngahau-" .ranga Station. How the accident happened is not at present-known, but it is behevod that the unfortunate /-man fell from a moving train. I The police report that William Ho-t, ,', the driver of: a goods train, which left i Wellington at about 5.35 p.m., saw a body flying nfear tho line, the spot beinz two hundred yards from Ngahauranca station. He stopped tho train, aud, : upon examination,, the man was found '*-- to bo dead, tho injuries sustained hav- ; ing -been very severe. The body was brought -on_ to Ngahauranga . statipn, ■ ana the police wore communicated with 'A goods train from Petone,- which arnvod at Ngahauranga at 8.45 p m ;_ brought 'the body to Lambton Station! and it was subsequently removed to the •..■ morcue. ... ■. ■ • ■ffllforts at identification had.not succeeded up till a late hour last night On searching tho clothes tho police ~ round two envelopes addressed as follows:—''Mr. John Ferguson,' 78 Cam- , BTidso Terrace, City," and "R. H. Wilson. Jackson Street; Potono." When ;:■-tho. police visited 78 Cambridgo Torrace, Mr. Ferguson had just arrived iiomo, but lie could not- throw any li"ht on the subject. Ho did not know any one named Wilson. Amongst pfuor things 'found in tho pockets- -were a copy, of, tho rules of the Wellington branch of the Federated. Senmon's Union, and also a railway ticket'"Lambton to Petono," dated March 31. Deceased was a man of medium build, sft, 6m. in rmight. The hair is dark brown There are tattoo .marks on the . right forearm. He was wearing a navy Wuo 'serge; , suit, and, Weed cap. ".