WARONUI MINE FATALITY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21148, 4 October 1930, Page 23

WARONUI MINE FATALITY.

DEATHS DUE TO ASPHYXIATION. RESCUE EFFORTS COMMENDED. The‘adjourned inquest concerning the deaths of James Carruthers, mine manager, and Joseph Morris, miner, who were overcome by a rush of carbon dioxide gas in the Waronui coal mine on September 18 and subsequently succumbed to the fumes, was concluded at the courthouse, Milton, yesterday, Mr H. J. Dixon, S.M., sitting as coroner. Mr C. J. Payne appeared for the owners of the mine (Bruce Railway and Coal Company), Mr M. Rutherford and Mr G. H. Thomson for the relatives of the deceased,, Carruthera and Morris, respectively, and J Sergeant Hall conducted the proceedings on ■ behalf of the police. Mr.G. Duggan, inspector of mines for Otago, represented the Mines Department.' Dr ,T. Mirams etatcd in, evidence that in response to a message 7 he went to the Waronui mine on September 18, arriving there about 1.45 p.m., and treated a man named Robert M‘Donald for gas poisoning and severe burns. About 4.45 p.m. witness attempted restorative measures' on the body of the deceased. Carruthera; which had been brought to the surface, but without success. In witness’s opinion death was caused by asphyxia caused by carbondioxide, commonly known as blackdamp,; When the body of Joseph Morris was brought to the surface about 5.30 p.m., witness also applied restorative measures, but life, was extinct, death "being due to the same. cause. Witness .was sure tliat death was not caused by carbon-monoxide, but by asphyxia, resulting frojri an excess of carbon dioxide in the air. ,

/To the coroner: The deceased could hot. lie for any length of time in such an atmosphere./ 4 Robect Boyd, a deputy at the Waronui'mine, stated that between September 13 and 15 a fall took place in the return air-course at the mine, and it was found necessary to drive a new course, this work being commenced on September 15. The dimensions of the drive were four feet by 20 inches. On September 18; at 12.30 p.m., witness accompanied by the two deceased and another. employee named Henrick Hansen, went to work, at' the' drive. Hansen and CaiTuthers went down, leaving witness and Morris at the top, but a few minutes later, Hansen . returned to the top and Carruthera called to Morris to go down, which ho did. Hansen went down later in response to another call from • Carruthef s -to bring' down some tools, returning agriin to; the surface. From the drive,/which was- 20 feet in length, there was a' drop of. sis feet on to . the ceiling of. the. old air-course. Witness/ heard Carruthera, call out, “ Harry, come down quick,” and Hansen again went down. 'When he canie up again witness realised something waa s wrong and,sent him for assistance. During Hansen’s absence witness made two attempts to get 'Carruthera out, - but although he got: him. by the hand his efforts were, 'unsuccessful. Carruthera resisted him, and : said, “ Poor Joe,” pointing ..downwards. ’ Carruthera and Morris’ had naked carbide / lights when they went into the shaft, but these were out when witness went down. Farther attempts at rescue were made by William Jar dine and Robert M'Donald, both- of whom were unsuccessful, M’Donald being pulled up unconscious after having gone down twice. There was black-damp in any mine, but the Waronui mine had always been free from any trouble arising fronr.it. To Mr Thomson; There had been no work in' the mine between the day the fall, occurred and the morning of the fatality. Prior to the-fall, working conditions in the mine had been good. ' In reply to a question by Mr Payne, witness, stated that on September 18 the air in the mine was pure, probably as there was, a connection between the old and neW airisliafts.

To Mr Duggan : He had inspected the mine, on the morning of the fatality, aid had been able to get within 200 yards bf -the fallvwithout his light .being affected. He did not go further, as he suspected the presence of black-damp. On concluding his inspection, he had ' reported to the manager that everything was all right,. Henrik Hansen, a, jnifier. employed at flie Waronui mine, said that on the morning of, the,'accident; it had been - intended toi lift the ceiling of the bid shaft, but 'witness’s lamp bad gone ont when he' was inspecting die work, arid. Carruthera had said that, they had better , wait until, the afternoon. Witness- had previously cut a small hole through the ceiling of the old air .course. At 1550 p.m. he went down into the drive with Carruthera, but later returned to the top, at the instruction of Carruthera. Shortly afterwards Carruthera called out to witness to come down, as everything was all right, but Morris went down .instead, and witness followed a few minutes later with a pick and tomahawk for Carruthera. The lights of all three were then burning brightly. On his return to the , surface witness heard a sound of chopping in the drive. Later he heard Carruthers call for help, and he went into the, drive/ Everything was dark, but he succeeded in catching Carruthera by the hand. Carruthers, however, pulled away from him, and witknew nothing else until he reached the surface. Witness corroborated the previous witness's evidence with regard to the attempts at rescue.

To Mr Duggan, witness stated that two days prior to the accident he and the other workmen- had been forbidden by Boyd to go into the mine, as the air was not pure. A connection had been’ made between the old and the new shafts, and there was no doubt that on September 18 the air was quite clear.

-William Carson, superintendent and manager of the Kaitangata'- mine, said that'on September 18, as a result of a telephone message from Milton, he, in company with Mr Fred Carson.: and Mr Duggan, went to the Waronui mine, taking. with ; them mine rescue apparatus They arrived about 4 p.m., and witness at once tested the entrance to. the drive with -a, light, which immediately went dull, thus proving the presence -of blackdamp. • Witness then donned a gas helmet, and, attached to a life line, he went along the drive and down the 6ft drop on to the decking of the old shaft, where he found a body -lying face down. This he fastened to the life line, and it was drawn to the surface, where it was found to be the body of Carruthers. - Further search revealed Morris’s body, which was also taken to the top with some difficulty. In the body, of the shaft there was an opening into, an underground shaft.. From the position the body was in it looked as if Morris had been overcome by gas and had fallen. Carruthers’s position seemed' to indicate that he- had been overcome whilst trying to assist Morris.

To Mr Thomson, witness stated that had he been in charge of the mine .and had known that a man’s lamp had gone out asi the witness Hansen’s had done he would have tested the drive with an oil- safety lamp before allowing any further work in it. An oil lamp was much more sensitive to black-damp than a carbide one.

To Mr Duggan: He was quite satisfied that the gas in the drive was blackdamp, and not carbon monoxide. George Duggan, inspector of coal mines for Otago, said that he had not be.ii in the drive since the accident, but he had examined the air in the top of the shaft loading from the drive and had found it so heavily impregnated with carbon dioxide that the oxygen content was considerably lowered.

After reviewing the evidence, the coroner said it seemed, that Morris, by removing a plank from the top of the old air shaft, had allowed a sudden rush

of carbon dioxide gas into the #.ive. The verdict in each case would be that death was due to asphyxia caused hy an excess of carbon dioxide gas in the air of the drive *n which'the deceased were worki’ “ I shoulu like," added the coroner, to commend very highly the conduct of those who were present at the time of the accident —Messrs Jardinc, M'Donald, Boyd, and Hansen—fjll of whom seemed to have risked their lives in an attempt to effect a rescue. The conduct of the deceased Carruthers, who evidently made every effort to save his j s also deserving of the highest oraisc.”