DETONATOR IN WIRELESS

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 August 1927, Page 12

DETONATOR IN WIRELESS

EYE AND HAND INJURED. AUCKLAND, August 10. An electric detonator has cost a young many of 18, Sam Beresford, his left eye and probably the use of his left hand. The tragic accident is another proof of the danger of leaving detonators lying about where they can be found by people who are unaccustomed to using them.

On Thursday evening Beresford fixed the detonator, which he thought was quite harmless, to a wireless set. It exploded in his hands with the force of a bursting tyre. The force of the explosion tore the palm and part of the wrist away from the left hand almost to the bone, and the flying pieces of the detonator embedded themselves in both eyes and his face, which was terribly lacerated. His right hand was also badly cut. Beresford was employed in Rushton’s Garage, Albert Street. He had been on duty in premises in Queen Street after the sale of some motor cars last week. While waiting for the carpenters to leave the building, Beresford picked up an electric detonator on the floor. It was cased in wood and was only a few inches long with two wires protruding from one end. That evening Beresford took the detonator home with him to 6, Esplanade Road, Mount Eden, where he is staying with Mr R. H. Spinley. Unfortunately, Beresford did not ask Mr Spinley’s opinion of the detonator. He thought that it was a harmless electrical device and that he would try it on his crystal set. Mr Spinley immediately applied a tourniquet to Beresford’s left arm, and hurried him away to the Auckland Hospital, whete he is still a patient. The doctors have hopes of saving his left hand, but they cannot save the eye.