FATAL ACCIDENT AT THE RAILWAY RECLAMATION WORDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5632, 4 December 1879, Page 5

FATAL ACCIDENT AT THE RAILWAY RECLAMATION WORDS.

Yesterday forenoon a fatal accident occurs 1 at Fort Britomart, whereby a man narncd James Boyle, of Papakura, lost bis life. The circumstances, so tar as could be gathered, are as follow : —A li'.tle before noon a party of labourers were working at the f:icu of theciitf. near the railway nt.itinn. some shovelling the earth into the drays, and two about fit teen up the face of the cliff were engaged in drilling r hole for a " shot," when a crack opening at the top of the cliff caught the eye of a man named Hone, sitting on a log cn the opposite side of the street, and lie immediately sioated, " Kun, boys, the stuff is coming down The man ran outwards, but the deceased tripped on some of the loose clods on the slope and fell, and the mass of earth ia falling split on a projecting ridge, half falling in the dirtction of the railway station, ami the balance towards Boyle, who was struck on the back and legs with the boulders, and the nest moment partially buried with the flrbrif. His mates released him as speedily possible, but he was past all earthly aid, and died almost instantaneously. On the occurrence of the accident, Dr. Haines was sent for, bat his services, of course, were unavailing. The workmen, at once, left off work for the remainder of the day. An inquest will be hel l to-day, to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the death of the deceased, which certainly demand rigid inquiry, as the dangerous method in which the excavations have been executed has been a subject of public comment for some time past. Boyle, we regret to learn, leaves a wife and three children indifferently provided for.