FATAL ACCIDENT.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 8652, 22 April 1890, Page 3

FATAL ACCIDENT.

A man named Frederick Hnmsbar was killed at the breakwater works yesterday, Hamshar, in company With several othei laborers, was working at filling trucks when the fatality occurred. The mode of work adopted, an understanding of which will throw a little light upon how the accident happened, is somewhat as follows !— A quantity of stuff is brought down from the top of the cliff, sometimes by blasting and at others by quarrying, Until a small mountain of debus lies slop'ng out at the base of the cliff. A line of metals is laid at the edge of the slope, and the laborers work on the debris, pitching it into trucks to be taken away. Under this mode of procedure the men have to be betweea the trucks and the face at which they work. To facilitate the work this face is worked from the bottom upwards, so that gravitation brings down the stuff to the trucks as the face is undermined by the men below. It i« obvious that if more stuff falls than is designed or expected, the trucks may prevent the men escaping, and so an accident happens. Frim what we can gather there is room to fear that poor Frederick Hamshar met his death in this manner. A number of men were at work on the face, Hamshar being with three others engaged in filling one of a row of trucks. Three of the men, including Hamshar, were shovelling the debris into the truck, aud another man was working above them picking at the face with a crowbar to bring the stuff down. The face itself was about sixteen feet high, pretty straight up and down, and at the top of it projected part of an immense boulder, weighing about a couple of tons, which had been brought down in a big fall from the top of the cliff. Suddenly a slip occurred, the loose mullock forming the face giving way tinder the weight of the boulder. Somebody engaged about the work saw the earth giving way, and shouted out ' loudly. The two men working with Hamshar jumped aside, but be was caught by the falling earth and wedged against the truck, being covered almost to his head by the debris, nnd while in this position the huge boulder crushed down upon him. His mates quickly set to work to get him from this horrible position, and the fact of the accident was telephone- to the Harbor Board ollice, and Mr Pair caused Dr. de Lisle to bo sent for, and had preparations made for conveying the injured man to the hospital. Hani'-l'.ar was taken to the diver's shed, where he was seen by Dr. de Lisle, who ordeied his immediate removal to the honpit.il, but the tinlortuuate man died on the way. Ile was ciushed in a most dreadful manner, his face being smashed, his chest and ribs all bioken in and his legs fractured. Arrangements have been made by the coroner to open an inquest al the hospital at 9 o'clock this morning, but it will then be adjourned till to-mnirow, probably at the Court house. The jury will he called togethei this morning, so they may view the site where the accident occurred, and >ee Ihe body, so that the <lecease.i\ relatives mnv be able to arrange to-day for Ihe interim-lit. Deceased, who was a native of England, was about 33 years of age. He w.-t - „ boiler maker by trade, and formerly V' ; i -I f.ir Messrs Galloway and Niven, lilt '•iii-rly lie had worked as a laborer. He b'.ive- a wife and one child, aud we belir " he also has a cousin tending at the Spit.