ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 48, 25 August 1904, Page 5

ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES .

FATALITY AT NGAftAURANGA. The man Arthur Finlongw, reported yesterday as having been seriously injured by ;ir> explosion nt the Wellington Meat Export Compuny's works nt Nga,hiiuninga yesterday, died in tho lloapitnl at a Into hour last nij^ht. It appears that he was an employee of tho contractor installing a new refrigerating plnnt at the Moat Works. Two weeks ago, whilst boring two holes in a barrel eontaiuing a composition for painting freezing pipes, he lost tho bit out of his bmco. The barrel was emptied of its contents, and yesterday deceased and a lad proceeded to examines the bariel with the object of recovering tho bit. Deceased struck a match and placed ifc over one 'of the holes whilst the lad looked down into the barrol. Suddenly an explosion occuricd, and the end of tho barrel was blown out with such force that,, etriking deceased, it fractured his hkull. Tho lad, who had his head close to the lid of the barrel, escaped -with no other injury than a slight scorching of his hair. It is surmised that the explosion was caused by the ignition of gas which g«nonUcd in tho band from Iho residuo of the composition. Deceased was a married man from Richmond, Victoria. Ho had no relatives in Wellington. The Coroner was holding an inquest at the Hospital concerning the death as we went to press. Thos. Brocker was admitted to tho Hospital yesterday, suffering from a biokqn thigh, caused by a heavy caso falling on him at Tingey's warehouse.