LYTTELTON GAS EXPLOSION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 9092, 1 May 1890, Page 3

LYTTELTON GAS EXPLOSION.

THE ACCUSED IN COUBT< COMMITTED FOB TBIAL. At the Lyttelton Resident Magistrate’s Ibnxt yesterday, before B. Beetham, Jaq., E.M., Edwin Orpin, Frederick lharles Page and George Menzies, the nrmar a seaman, and tbe two latter pprenticea belonging to the barque vanhoe, were charged under Section 51 of The Malicious Injuries to Property Act, 867,” that they unlawfully and maliciously id commit damage to personal property, 3 wit, the gas holder and meter house of le Lyttelton Gas, Coal, and Coke Company, iie said damage exceeding £5. Mr Pender appeared to prosecute, while ae accused were defended by Mr J. Joyce. Considerable interest was manifested in ae proceedings, and a large number of aectators assembled in Court to get a iimpse of the accused, who had been on »il since they were first before the Court, he two apprentices did not appear more tan sixteen or seventeen years of age, bile Orpin’s appearance stamped him as rnan of about thirty. Mr Pender opened I calling Henry Wales, carrier at Lyttelton; emembered Sunday, April 20. Was i the hill above Mr Nalder’s house King the afternoon. My wife was Lth me. Previous to 3 p.m. I saw some en going up the hill. Was sitting down id heard a crash, and upon looking round saw a few small stones rolling down, then heard a noise as if something as breaking through the fence above, and 'terwards saw the large stone come rollig down. Managed to get out of the way, id the stone went down the hill irough Mr Nalder’s garden, when I lost ght of it. Immediately after that I saw one smoke come from the gas works, and pon looking up the hill I saw some men l the top. They remained a few seconds, id then shortly after the smoke made its jpearance they went over the hill. Canat identify the men in Court as the men i the hill.

To Mr Joyce: Have not been on to the »p of tbe hill. Cannot say if there are a >b of large stones lying there. John Toomey, signalman, employed by te Harbour Board at Lyttelton: The ation is on the hill over the Sumner road, was on duty on Sunday, April 20, in the Iternoon. I heard a stone bounding jwn the hill between 3.30 and 3.45 p.m. puld not see the stone for the trees, pon looking up the bill I saw three en. They were immediately above where ie stone went down. Two of the men ere in uniform and looked like apprences. All three were standing on some ticks looking down the hill. I was looking i them through the telescope and could ie them very plainly. When the stone id passed down, the men went over the »p of the hill and I lost sight of them. %\r the flames rise from the gas works, he men had gone over the hill then and iout ten minutes or a quarter of an hour ,ter I saw them coming around the umner road. Saw Constable T. M'Cormack crest the men. On Sunday evening I went jth Sergeant O’Malley, and traced the iarks of the stone down the hill as far as Cr Haider’s back fence. Saw the beds of >ur stones, which had recently been lifted. Can identify the accused as the ten 1 saw on the hill. To Mr Joyce s About ten or fifteen dnutes elapsed between the time the men sft the top of the hill and when they came round the road. The hill is pretty steep t the top. Do not know the grade. There re a large number of rocks on the topofthe ill, but a good deal of force would be equired to move them. The men were alking slowly along the Sumner road, coning towards Lyttelton. To Mr Pender : The beds of the stones rhich had been recently removed were on he top of the hill. The stones from these «ds had been sot rolling, but had run gainst other stones and been stopped.

G. E. Collins, stationer at Lyttelton, ild t^aa.ofttiio^aiuaew<)«d.oß^uaday,,

April 20, and hearing a noiae looked up jhe mil above Mr Haider’s house, aud saw a large stone coming down. The stone came across the road and went into the gasometer at the gas works. . o S j < ? n 1 e going at a great force, and immediately it struck the gasometer names rise up to a great height. i nomas M'Cormaok, constable, stationed at Jjyt d elton : Recollected arresting the three defendant sat about foir o’clock iu the afternoon on April 20. They were coming towards Lyttelton. I charged them with rolling a stone down the hill, and doing a lot of damage. Orpin replied, “ A stone rolled from where we were standing on the hill, but we never touched it.” Took the men to th • notice station, where Orpin told Sergeant O’Malley that they were sitting with their backs to a atone, smoking, when it rolled away from thorn and went down the hill.

To Mr Joyce : Meuzies did not explain how the stone started. They did not ask what damage was done.

James O’Malley, Sergeant of Police, stationed at Lyttelton: .Remembered the three prisoners being brought to the station on Sunday, April 20. Constable M'Cormack brought them in and said they were the men who had rolled the stone down the hill. Orpin then said, “We wore sitting with our backs to the stone and looking ouc to the bay. We were smoking, when the stone rolled away and went down the hill.” I then took the accused Menzies on to the hill to see where the stone came from. He pointed out a place on the top of the hill where a stone had recently been removed. Ho showed how they were sitting, and I said, “Then you had your hack to the hay, and were not looking at it.” Ha said nothing. I found a place where another stone had recently been dislodged. It had been in the ground a foot deep. The stone was found fourteen yards lower down the hill, and had been stopped by a large rook. I should say it weighed 6ewt. I said to Menzies, “This stone came from the bed I showed you.” He said nothing. On the Tuesday following I went to the hill with the witness Toomey. I found a place, lower down, the hill, from where a stone had recently been dislodged. The stone was lying sis or eight feet lower down the hill. This stone was about 2?ft wide by three feet long. Traced a stone down the hill to the gas works. The stone which was taken out of the gasometer weighed 9cwt 2qra 211 b. Accompanied Mr Ellis on Tuesday last, and showed him the place where Menzies said the stone came from. Witness found a stone a chain distant down the hill from the spot where it had come from.

To Mr Joyce : Cannot say how the stone was lying. When going up the hill with Menziea, witness said the Borough Councillors should go up and see if there were any loose stones. At that time really thought it was an accident. Menzies did not say he bumped against it and it commenced to roll. Ee-examined: Was sure that it toot more than a bump from a man to sot the stone rolling. To the Bench; Found no stones likely to fall, unless set rolling by someone. H. Ellis, Surveyor to the Eiccarton Eoad Board: Had a great deal of experience of the hills, and at one time worked a quarry. Examined the stone outside the police station. Made the plan produced of the course of the stone down the hill, and the bed in which it is said to have lain on the top of the hill. The bed was twenty-seven links from the edge of the hill, and was on a slight incline. There were other rocks close by. From the position of the bed he was of opinion that a certain amount of force would have to be applied to start it. The one lift from the bed would bo enough to start it down the hill. This could not have been done by any one man without the help of a lever. Saw two other places where stones had been removed. The distance from the Sumner road to the bed is twenty-five chains. To Mr Joyce: The other rocks dislodged were nearly in a line with the one which came down the hill; the stone could not have removed them. Could not say how long the rock had been, away from the bed which he was told it came out of. There was no grass or anything else growing on the bed. Made a survey of the vicinity, and noticed several rocks situated in a dangerous position, and only needed very little to shift them. It is only a matter of time for the earth to be washed away from a number of rocks, when they will gome down.

To the Bench : The rock which came down the hill could not have been one of those which only wanted the earth washed away to set them rolling. To Mr Pender: It might ho a thousand years before sufficient earth is washed away to bring the rocks down. H. F. Arnold, Manager of the gas works at Lyttelton : Heard the explosion at the worku, and went down to the yard. Found a largo hole in the gasometer, and flames were issuing from the meter. The water was pumped out of the gasometer. The damage,done to the works amounted to .£144 3s 4d.

This closed the case for the prosecution. Mr Joyce addressed the Court, and called, Edward Orpin, who said: lam an A.B. on board the Ivanhoe. Have been in ber five months. On Sunday, April 20, I came ashore with Menzies and Page, and went to the hill for a walk. Got on to the top of the hill and sat down by tbe stone now in the police station. Menzies got up to light his pipe in a sheltered position. Upon coming hack Menzies sat down alongside Page and witness, and knocked his back against the stone, when it commenced to roll down, and Menzies narrowly escaped going with it. Watched the stone rolling down, but lost sight of it at the wire fence, and thought it had stopped. Then went over the hill and on to the road to come back to Lyttelton. On the road met Constable M/Cormack, who was nobin uniform. After asking what ship they belonged to the constable arrested them, and when I asked him what for, he replied for rolling the stone down the hill. I then said that it came down of it its own accord. The stone was on the side of the hill, and not on a ledge.

To Mr Pender: Saw the smoko from the gas works. Wo were sitting with our backs to the stone, and our legs up the hill. Did not push the stone down j had enough to do to get up the hill. F. C. Page, an apprentice on board the Ivanhoe: Arrived in Port on Wednesday, April 16, and on Sunday, April 20, left the ship to go on the hill. Got to the top of the hill and sat down, where we remained about fifteen minutes. I was sitting in tbe middle, half-facing the bay and halffacing tbe harbour. Menzies got up to light his pipe, as the wind was blowing in our faces. When ho returned he sat down with a jerk and the stone rolled away and went down the hill. Saw the fire, and then went over the hill and on to the road. There they met a man who took them in charge for rolling the stone down the hill. Touched no rocks to roll them down. To Mr Pender; The stone was on a slight slope, and we were sitting on the side, not behind it. Menzies was in the middle, and nearly rolled over with the stone. George Menzies, an apprentice on hoard the Ivanhoe, corroborated the evidence of the last witness.

TTin Worship said it must ho borne in mind that he was nob trying the case. It was his duty to say whether or not there was sufficient evidence to go to a jury, and he had no hesitation in saying that. They would be committed to take their trial at the next sitting of the Supreme Court to ho held at Christchurch. Bail would bo grauted, each accused in one surety of .£SO and themselves in £SO each.