STRUCK BY HAWSER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21326, 29 October 1932, Page 8

STRUCK BY HAWSER

STEAMEIt MASTER KILLED WAIKATO RIVER FATALITY ACCIDENT IN HAULING LOG [from our ovv n correspondent! HAMILTON. Friday A blow on the body from a hawser which snapped during the remova.l of n log from ii bank of the Waikato River'shortly before noon yesterday resulted in the death of Mr. Leslie Gordon, aged 58, a river steamer master employed by the Boose Shipping Company, Limited. The accident, occurred near the Narrows, a point, on the Waikato River half-way between Hamilton and Cambridge. Mr. Gordon was assisting in the removal of a poplar tree trunk from a property on the river bank to the river. A wire hawser ran from a winch on the river steamer Iron Duke through a pulley attached to the log and was fastened to a stump. Mr. Gordon was guiding the log down the hill when the rope snapped between the log and the stump and the loose end flew back and struck Mr. Gordon below the chest. He did not appear to be seriously injured at first and was brought to Hamilton by the Iron Duke for medical attention. He collapsed and died shortly after arriving. Mr. Gordon, who lived at Mercer, is survived by his wife and 10 children. He had been in the employ of the Roose Shipping Company, Limited, for a number of years, and had been in charge of the various steamers owned by the company.