BUSHMAN’S DEATH

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 June 1936, Page 4

BUSHMAN’S DEATH

EVIDENCE AT INQUEST

REEFTON, June 11

All inquest was held at the Court House yesterday afternoon before Mr. C. Nevin, Acting Coroner, to enquire ipto the death of John Edward Schwass. Sergt. Hodgins conducted the case for the Police, and Mr. _F. Turley represented the Westland Timber Workers’ Union. Messrs F. Cutbush. P. Slattery, C. Coxall and W. Cochrane were the jury. Mr. C. Coxall was appointed foreman. Edward Schwass. father of deceased, gave evidence of identification. David Ross, leading bushman at the Inangahua Landing sawmill, said he was at work as usual on the morning of the accident, and the deceased was his mate. About 11.30 they were clearing tracks, working side by side preparatory to hauling a log in. The winch was 30 chains away from thenwork. and was in charge of Henry Hannah. At the time of the accident, the winch was returning the rope to the bush. The rope slipped from the block and flew out, striking Schwass 3ii the back of the head. He diately became unconscious. Witness described the method of warning the winch driver if an accident occurred. It was the work of the snigger to blow the whistle if an accident took place, but witness did not hear the whistle. In his opinion the accident was caused by the rope swinging loose through not being stopped in time to stop the rope tripping the block. In the course of one’s work it was at times necessary to work in the loop of the rope, although this was not a safe place to work. Witness and deceased were both working in the loop of the rope at the time of the accident, though they were not compelled to work there. They were not on contract work. When witness noticed the rope swing, he called out to Schwass, but it was then too late. Mr. Turley: If you had been standing when the rope flew, wo.uld it have struck you?—Yes. How far away was the block .from the winch?—Some 30 chains, and it could not be seen by the winch man. Dr. J. L. Wicken, of Reefton, stated he was called to attend Schwass about 12 o’clock on June 1, and met the injured man being conveyed to Reefton by car. He found him suffering from severe shock, and he was deeply unconscious, suffering from head injuries. Witness administered restorative measures, and later at the hospital an X-ray examination revealed a fracture of the shoulder and also of the skull at its base. Schwass recovered from the profound shock, but at no time regained consciousness, and at 2 a,m. on June 9, he rapidly became worse, and died 30 minutes later. Post mortem examination revealed contusion of the soft part of the back of the head, and in the region in front of the right ear, fracture of the base of (he skull and laceration of brain tissues in severe form. Death was caused by fracture of the skull at its base and haemorrhage and laceration of the brain.

Henry Hannah, a bushman of 20 years’ experience, employed as winchman at the Inangahua Landing mill, staled that about 11.30 on the morning of the accident, he was returning the rope to the bush with the winch, when the rope was almost out. He was waiting for the whistle to blow, but it did not sound. He found that something had happened to the rope, which had either broken, or given away at the block. He immediately stopped the winch. Witness said that at odd times the whistle did not blow when the string was pulled. He was quite sure that it did not sound on that occasion. He could not see the block from the winch. Witness considered that the rope slipped from the block because it was not stopped in time, and was pulled too far. . It was not safe for men to work in the loop of the rope, but all bushmen did this- Had the whistle sounded he would have stopped the winch at once. Montague Bransden, of Inangahua Landing, who was the snigger on the day of the accident, stated that about 11.30 he was following the rope into the bush. It was necessary for him to attend to the whistle string when doing this, and to sound the whistle if the rope needed stopping. He was four or five chains away from where Ross and Schwass were working, and he could not see the block. It was the usual practice for the bushman to call out if the rope had to be stopped when near the block. On this occasion Ross called out for witness to blow the whistle. Within, a matter of seconds he pulled the string, but heard no whistle. He heard the block trip and ducked to dodge the rope if it flew. If the whistle string was not pulled strongly the whistle did not sound, but this very rarely happened. He agreed that it was not safe to work in the bight of the rope, but men often took the risk. /

Mr. Turley said that the only verdict the jury could bring in was that Schwass met his death by accident. It was very unfortunate. He was only a young man, and had he not been working in the bight of the rope, would have been alive to-day. He stressed a rope, and yet it was often, done, the danger of working in the loop of This was the second accident which had been fatal through men working in the loop of a rope, and he would like the jury to add a rider to their verdict, stressing the danger of men working in the bight of a rope. The jury returned a verdict that deceased, John Edward Schwass, met his death through accidental injuries received while at work in the bush at Inangahua Landing on June 1, by being struck by a, flying wire rope, and added a rider to the verdict that all bushmen should be warned of the grave danger of working in the bight of a wire rope.