THE BLAST FATALITY IN DUNEDIN.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXV, Issue 7863, 19 May 1886, Page 6

THE BLAST FATALITY IN DUNEDIN.

(From the Otago Daily Times.)

The blasting operations which are being carried on at the Dowling street cutting were the cause of an accident yesterday afternoon which threw quite a gloom over the city. About 5 o’clock a number of people had congregated in Princes street in order to witness the firing of a large blast in the rocky side of the cutting, for which preparations had just been completed by the men employed on the works. The fuse having been fired, the workmen on the hill in the vicinity of the blast dispersed as quickly as possible to be out of danger. They had barely time to accomplish this when a great mass of stones and of timber which had apparently been placed on the top of the material to be operated on, shot rapidly into the ' air in the direction of the Princes street block known as Farley’s Buildings. It was apparent to everyone who witnessed the shot that serious results would follow; and when the immense mass of ddbris showered down on the tops of the buildings amidst the crash of breaking skylights, it was manifest that not only damage to property, but injury to the inhabitants of the buildings, was almost a certainty. This opinion turned out to be only too correct. The crowd of onlookers quickly made their way along Princes street in the direction the stones had taken, and in most of the business premises there were some hairbreadth escapes to chronicle. In the general confusion and block of foot passengers and vehicles that ensued, it was not easy for sometime to arrive at an adequate idea of the mischief done, but it was quickly known among the crowd that at least one life had been lost in the catastrophe. This sad fatality occurred in the London Portrait Rooms, where Mr F. H. Irwin has for many years past been carrying on a photographic business. Mrs Finch (Mrs Irwin’s sister) took an active part in the business, and at the time of the accident she was sitting in the front room on the first floor at a little table near one of the windows overlooking Princes street. Mrs and Miss Vivian, two ladies who had called in to speak about some matter of business, were sitting at the table with her, and Mrs Pinch was at the moment showing Mrs Vivian a piece of knitting she was engaged upon. Mrs Irwin was also in the room. Mrs Vivian states that suddenly a frightful noise was heard, and Mrs Finch was struck down before their eyes, and never uttered a word. She sustained fearful injuries to the head and face, and died in a very few minutes. Mrs Irwin was not seen at once to be struck, and when people began to enter the room she was enquiring confusedly as to what was the matter and why the crowd had assembled. But the unfortunate lady was immediately found to have fared little better than her sister. She was struck on the head and between the shoulders, and has sustained a fracture of the skull and other injuries that make her recovery very doubtful. Miss Vivian, who sat at the table beside her mother, was also struck on the head and shoulder, and fell on the floor, but was able to recover herself. Mrs Vivian and her daughter were of course terribly frightened, and the latter sustained serious injuries, while Mrs Vivian marvellously escaped. Miss Vivian was taken to Dr Hocken’s house, and thence home. The doctor describes her injuries as a large wound on the head (exposing the skull), concussion of the left eyeball, and severe contusions of the shoulder and wrist. Meanwhile the police had some difficulty in keeping the crowd from flocking into the London Portrait Rooms, where the scene upstairs was a very painful one. The ceiling in the right hand corner of the room showed a large rent a yard or more in length and of nearly equal breadth, where the mass of rock had crashed through, and the stones were scattered about the floor. One of them was 301 b or 401 b in weight, and there were several of smaller size lying near Mrs Pinch, one of which, from the traces it bore, was evidently the one that struck her. Medical assistance was soon on the spot in the persons of Drs de Zouche, Wanless and Maunsell, and after the lapse of an hour or so, the new ambulance waggon was brought from the Hospital, and Mrs Irwin was conveyed to her residence in Cargill street, where, at a late Hour last night, she was unconscious and in very serious danger. Mrs Finch also resided with the Irwins, and her body was conveyed to the house. Her skull was completely cut from the forehead to the back of the head, and she can happily have suffered very little. The first of the outside public to enter the room, Mr Pleury, an insurance agent, states that she was struggling slightly, but died within three or four minutes of his entrance. Mrs Pinch was without children, and she had chosen to reside for a long time past with her sister’s family. Mrs Irwin on the other hand is the mother of a large family, several of whom are young children. Deep and general sympathy was felt throughout the city for Mr Irwin, an old and respected resident. Another large aperture was made in the ceiling of the adjoining room in Mr Irwin’s establishment, and large pieces of rock fell through, but the inmates fortunately were not hurt. The only other case of serious injury that has to be recorded is that of Charles Millier, the driver of one of Tilbury Brothers’ expresses. He was driving along Princes street at the time of the accident, and did his best to dodge the hail of stones that were falling around him. One, however, struck him on the thumb, breaking it, and others inflicted serious injuries upon his leg and arm. He was attended to by Dr 'Wanless, in Mr Marshall’s

chemist’s shop adjacent, and his hurts, although severe, are not dangerous. The particular door at which the blame for this terrible mishap is to he laid is a question which will he decided after the, searching enquiry which is certain to be held, but the facts, so far as they have transpired, are as follow:—The men employed upon the Dowling street cutting are those mis-called the “ unemployed.” Mr William Barnes is superintendent of the works, under the Corporation, at a salary of 8s or so a day; and he and three of the men under him were the only ones who had anything to do with the blasting operations. One of these men, Jeremiah Rogers, had charge of the powder, and is stated to have been entrusted with the duty of making the blast. He, in consequence of his qualifications for this skilled and responsible work, is paid Gd per day above the wages of the other unemployed. He is said to have been a practical miner. The other two men who assisted in blasting were Peter M'Ewan and John Rohan. In firing this charge, Rogers states that the hole drilled was five feet deep, and that two feet six inches of blasting powder were put in, 16 or 17 inches of which were put in before the fuse. It will be for expert opinion to say whether a grave error was not made in both these respects. The statements of Rogers and Mr William Barnes as to the responsibility of each are, as might be expected, contradictory. Mr Barnes states that only two feet of powder was ordered to be used, and his subordinate asserts the contrary. The evidence of both these employees, and also of the other two men who assisted in blasting, will, of course, be carefully sifted at the inquest, which is to be held (• day.