MINER IN PERIL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22206, 8 March 1934, Page 6

MINER IN PERIL

;-•■; Ibapped rescuer warned to escape ,t Hold prisoner by-a -fall'tof stohe which contained a lightM explOflive charge, a thljierat the Waihi' Gold Mining Company's mine last Thursday afternoon was forced helplessly to await the explosion, which he knew must Inevitably occur. Gallantly he . warned a rescuer of the dahgen, ;;Tn«l rescuer escaped just before {the - «pfosipn oc- : curred, the trapped man's left foot : was shattered. ■ The; injured man was Mr John Boggs, who, with another miner, Tsfr IkPotts, was engaged in trucking quarts at the mine, At about' 2 o'clock: the overhead •" pass," .or tha truck/ "Wis" larga, piece. Of- quarts. «rJft4S#*l^jf^fe' ; '' move the' ol>struction, it was. charged i with a portion:^"#'|4^^ ; "^f x J^^^.H* ; ■■% a length of fuse inserted. '-'.: ! After the fuse had been lit, but beior* i the rxplosion occurred, the blockage fcM through the pass and Mr Boggs, who | was' 6tandi.ng;.iri; f 'th : «::;.iiruck,'' was t I up to th*: waist In'stone. His jfontpahiop was sohifejdjiwhee aieay,,Jit^wiia|' ' lpg;''toWther-'.dutie l s, : "^'.. * When he saW '"A/tie' Boggp.'s" plight, Mr Potts 'ihimediate'ly, rushed. to ahd commenced to irejpbye pieces of stone to ■ free * 1 "" wis. warhed by Mr Boggs that' the charge In thfe pile Of;rock had been lit thd ttei Ai :#i- | plosion was irtiminentv Mr Boggs told him, to g° away f)f,oin/ the danger zone. Mr Potts hac> gone o.»lyj;a ahort distance When J the eXpiesionuoccurred. .*. In addition to the shattering of his foot and ankle, Mr Boggs sftffer>4 seve'rel^ ; :.ffOm, sljock. " He extricated from > the, pile : 6r quapt )S|i« was attended at. tlni rAilna b^, VtM»M}. Brldgtnftn. H« * tak«»yib the Waihi Hospital, wherf the injured foot was amputated. . ||r "whiof ls-middle-aged and married, waft reported this ev-eninpr to be in no danper. This is the second esplosiop accident at' the mine:' a week* Last Thursdayy Br mfrleir, -ji/tt. yfxh iiam'6lasgowj married, received fnitiries tb the! legs, thighs, arms, and neck't-when he was struck by flying, of After fixing a number of charges in ho'ea in the floor of a winze in one of the lower levels, Mr Glasgow was making his way lip a ladder to ,tjie leweJL *t>ove i when a charge unexhectediy exploded. , j He also suffered shock, I but'his:cOTditii(m :; wß4''fe6t''B'efiws».' > '