MINER KILLED AT WAIHL

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12239, 7 April 1903, Page 5

MINER KILLED AT WAIHL

STRUCK BY A FALLING BUCKET. < [by telegkaph.—own* correspondent. J Waihi, Monday. Soon after going on day shift this morning, a miner named Jonathan John Landrigan was killed in the Waihi mine. Deceased and a mate were engaged sinking a winze j from No. 6 to No. 7 level. No. 2 shaft, the former being down below. The wire j rope on the windlass broke, letting down I the bucket, which struck deceased on the j head. At the time of the accident the winze was sunk to a depth of about 32ft. This morning, at eight o'clock, Thomas Lindsay and deceased relieved the night j shift, who, just prior to knocking off, had j fired some shots. In order to allow the i smoke to clear, the oncoming shift, Lindsay j and deceased, waited a Utile time at the top of the winze, in No. 6 level, after which deceased elected to attend to the | filling of the buckets with the loosened j dirt, and Lindsay remained on top to work the windlass. Four buckets had been j hauled up, and when the fifth had been drawn to within about 2ft of the top of the winze, the rope (wire) broke, and the bucketful of dirt shot to the bottom, striking deceased, who was apparently in j a stooping position, on the back of the_ head. Lindsay then ran along the level j and informed some of the men of the oc- j currence, and then hastily returned and | descended the ladder to the bottom of the winze, when he found deceased in a huddled position breathing heavily. He . raised him in his arms, and meanwhile preparations were made for bringing deceased to the top of the winze, whence he was transferred to the surface, where Dr. Guinness, who had been summoned, was waiting. On a hasty examination the doctor found that life had been extinct some few minutes. There was a deep gash on the base of the skull, and the neck was apparently dislocated. .-Deceased was married in Waihi a little over two years ago to a daughter of Mr. A. Trembath, of this town, and was about 32 years of age. He was well known in Waihi and other parts of the district, being a resident here for three or four years, and was highly esteemed by all who knew him. He leaves a widow and a little son about 12 mouths old.