THE QUEENSCLIFE DISASTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8539, 13 April 1891, Page 5

THE QUEENSCLIFE DISASTER.

FULL PARTICULARS. From our Australian newspaper files, received yesterday, we extract the following particulars of the fearful accident at the Queenscliff Fort, which was briefly reported in our columns at the time :• — A fearful accident occurred at the Queenscliff Fort yesterday, Corporal Charles Brearly and Gunner Donaldson, Doth of the Geelong Battery, being blown bodily from the breech of a six-inch" central-pivot gun, and killed instantly. They, were shattered and burnt beyond recognition, whilst seven others were injured. Corporal Brearly was laying the gun and Donaldson was No. 2. Both were standing shoulder to shoulder upon a little iron platform behind the gun. and were in the act of closing the breech-block when the explosion occurred, Practice was being carried on during the morning from the forts at the Heads, reduced charges being used. Only one rolled ordinary plug shell had been fired from this particular gun, an Armstrong, which was of the approved pattern, and was supposed to be in perfect order. It had been properly sponged out, and the sponge, still wet, was found after the accident. On the order being given to load shell the charge was rammed in from the breech in the usual way, but it is supposed, from the difficulty afterwards experienced in adjusting the cartridge, that in consequence of the fouling which always follows the discharge of a gun, the shell had not been forced far enough in, and when the cylindrical-shaped cartridge of powder, a reduced charge of 431b, was placed in the breech and the breech-block swung to, the latter would not close. Lieutenant Munro, in charge of the gun, stepped up to Captain Uinphelby, who was standing on the parapet close by, and reported that the oreech would not close. The captain said, " Take out the cartridge and cut a choke at the end of it." This was not done, but another from the magazine was fitted. It was no easier than the former one, and the first attempt by Brearly and Donaldson to close the breech was again a They swung it open again on its "carrier," working like a hinge, and once more brought it round with a violent swing, when instantly the explosion occurred, blowing a cylindrically-shaped mass of steel 2001b weight, against which both men were pressing, 60 yards back into the fort, where, after ricocheting three times on the turf and gravel, it rested on the central pathway. Brearly was blown 20 yards directly in the rear of the gun, where he lay against a picket fence, mangled beyond all recognition. Donaldson was blown right to the rear of the gun, striking the masonry of the emplacement, and falling at the corner of the embrasure in a similarly mangled condition. Both men were stripped instantaneously of every particle of clothing except their boots and a few sheds of material left smouldering upon the charred bodies. The other men of the detachment were reeling about in blinding smoke, their faces streaming with blood, and all baaly scorched and half suffocated. They were Lieutenant Monro, Bombardier Highton, Gunner Duggau, and Gunner Notts, of the Geelong Battery; Armour-sergeant Turnbull, Gunner Benbow, and Gunner Mcrson, of the V.A. Colonel Price, Captain Umphelby, Colonel Goldstein, and other officers dashed into the smoke and led away the wounded men to the hospital, and water was thrown over the smouldering bodies. The cause of the explosion is not known. One cause suggested was that some lire had been left in the breech from the previous charge ; but had there been any it could not huve withstood first the sponging of the gun, then the passage of the shell, then the insertion of one cartridge, its withdrawal, and the insertion of a fresh one, besides which cartridges are encased in a packing of silk cloth, most difficult material to burn. Another theory was that the impact of the heavy breech-block upon the powder caused the explosion, but the large _ square pebbles of which the powder is composed cannot be exploded that way. Still another theory is that the screw of the breech-block was perhaps not exactly adjusted and came into violent impact with the metal of the breech, striking a spark. This is considered highly improbable, and is rendered almost impossible by the fact that the steel screw had been properly tallowed after the previous shot. The military authorities have not arrived at any conclusion, but their attention will be chiefly directed to the possibility of accident through the exposion of the percussion tube through the shock produced by the violent closing of the breech block, but such a thing would prove a surprise, for no such danger has ever been apprehended. The accident occurred shortly before noon. The men were dismissed from their stations, and they gathered in camp, over which there was great gloom. The bodies had been removed to an outbuilding, and the wounded men were being attended by surgeons. Most of the injuries were caused by burns and pellets of unexploded powder being driven into the flesh. Lieutenant Monro was bruised on the left shoulder. Bombardier Highton and Gunners Notts and Duggan were burnt, hut not severely, about the face and arms. Gunner Merson is the most injured ; his faco was very severely burnt and cut by powder pellets, out his eyes are not injured. He is swathed in cotton wool, and is doing fairly well. He is in no danger, but will bo permanently marked. An inquest was held on the bodies, and a verdict of accidental death was returned, no blame being attached to anyone. Brearly was a foreman at Humble and Nicholson's Iron Foundry, Geelong, and leaves a widow and eight children. Donaldson was employed at the same foundry. He was not married, but was the sole support of his widowed mother. The bodies will be interred in the Geelong Cemetery to-morrow.