DEATH-GRIP WITH OIL FUMES.

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 3, 4 July 1922, Page 6

DEATH-GRIP WITH OIL FUMES.

So indefinite are-the details to hand that it is not possible to reconstruct with complete accuracy the events at Arapeti (Mangahao hydro-electrical works) on Sunday night, but the following statement seems to be sufficiently near the mark: The tunnellers in the tunnel section concerned lived in Arapeti, and were driving from Arapeti towards Shannon. The power station on the other (Shannon) side of the hill, some miles distant by road, operated the ventilating fans in this tunnel section, and, according to the Press Association, a break-down in' this station " threw the electric [ventilating] fans in , the, Arapeti tunnel out of gear." The,fans create a draught that brings pure air into the tunnel and removes impure, air and dangerous gases, among the latter being- the fumes of what is called " an oil-engine," which is located inside the tunnel 27 chainß from its entrance.- This oil-engine appears to have nothing to do with the ,; ventilating machinery, nor with the supply of compressed air to air-driven drills, but to be used entirely for driving pumps to expel the water from the tunnel. It appears, then, that as soon as the fans and their ventilating draught fail, anybody working at the "face " (inner end) of the tunnel would, in his retreat, be compelled to " run the gauntlet " of any fumes arising from the oil-driven pumping engine. His chance of escape would be in proportion to the speed with which he retreated after the failure of the ventilating draught, and his speed would partly depend on the distance ho had to go before entering the fume-zone and the length of the fume zone itself. If the face were:a long way farther in than the oil-engine, and if the man or men working at the face received no warning of danger until the fumes reached them, their retreat might become impossible. How the alarm reached the only two men in the tunnel at the time of the breakdown (Messrs. Butler, and Maxwell) is not clear, but evidently they struggled past the oil-engine (27 chains in) and then fell, for the Press Association states that their bodies were ultimately found 23 chains from the entrance. '■'

We cite these particulars not as bearing upon the cause or circumstances of the accident, but in order to emphasise the tremendous task of the rescuers and the magnitude; of their courage. By the time when they arrived, the wall of suffocating fumes between them and their fallen mates would probably have thickened, and it was their task to face in a confined space, a gas as deadly, if not as torturing, as any employed by the Hun enemy. They knew the exact nature -of their task, knew that they were entering a death zone, sbut they went in, hoping every yard to find a comrade whom they could rescue and rush to safety. Vain hope. Thei. bodies were found later 20 chains from the entrance, and still three chains away from the place where Messrs. Maxwell and Butler : had collapsed. Measured in casualty statistics, the rescue effort of these five men increased the death list by-250 per cent,, but the measure of the loss is also the measure of the heroism that marked their self-sacrifice. They failed by three chains, but, in the sphere of moral endeavour and human attachment, what words can adequately express their dazzling success! And in the already brilliant records of human bravery in' peace time and underground, this feature will add to the achievement of Arapeti—that, as in the war, officer and private died together. In Mr. W. R. Miller, Assistant Engineer' of the Public Works Department, the country KM fla_v.-d lay a ate. lias mu__.

New Zealander, of character and talents, one who had been a good soldier, and one who had gathered competence in a splendid profession. He was just such a New Zealander as New Zealand can 'ill afford to lose, but, for the same

reason, he was just the man to be found in the thick of the battle. In this mutual devotion of rank and file and staff, some consolation may be found for the loss of seven of the " useful people" of the country—men whose death is a welcome counter-blast to sectional selfishness and class war. -But, apart from the national interest, stands the claim .of dependents, and this is by no means the least aspect of the tragedy. It is a time to pay as well as praise.