FAULTY VACUUM CLEANER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19888, 6 March 1928, Page 10

FAULTY VACUUM CLEANER.

AUSTRALIAN WOMAN'S DEATH DANGER EXPLAINED BY EXPERT. An inquest was held at Wagga, New South Wales, recently,, regarding the death of Mrs. McNicklo, wife of Mr. D. W. F. McNickle, who was found dead with thtf" tube of a vacuum cleaner across her leg 3, which were ' severely burned. . , , . <, William Forbes, electricity expert to ,liho Wagga .Municipal Council, who tested the vacuum cleaner in Court, said that there was no insulation ,of the metal parts .which the. user of the machine had to handle, with the result that in the case of a leakage of current there was no protection. On the cleaner used by Mrs. McNickle electric current was reaching the main frame, and thence extending along the flexible metal tube connecting the frame with the metal handle "held oy the woman, who was working without shoes and , stockings, and, had walked on thq bathroom floor of concrete which was damp. Everything combined to make conditions favourable: for such a -mishap, -and Mrs. McNickle received the full of 240 volts. . Forbes received a, violent, shock when he .was testing the machine. The coroner recorded a finding that death was accidental, and was due to an electric shock from a faulty yacuum cleaner.;