A CHILD KILLED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22710, 24 October 1935, Page 12

A CHILD KILLED

OLD SHELL EXPLODES

ACCIDENT AT DEVONPORT

(Per United Press Association)

AUCKLAND, October 23,

The accidental explosion of a 61b shell, estimated to have been about 15 years old, resulted in the death of John William Boswell, aged eight years, at his home at Devonport this afternoon. The injuries to the victim, who was the second son of Mr J. H. Boswell, were caused by the charge of powder and the fuse which were blown from the interior of the projectile when the boy was playing with it. His chest was shattered, his right hand practically severed and he was injured about the face and on the upper part of the right arm. In spite of his terrible injuries the child ran from the back of his home, where the explosion occurred, out to the street, where he collapsed on the footpath, his death quickly resulting. Believed to have originally been brought from Rangitoto Island, the projectile was brought by the boy from Torpedo Bay, a short distance from his home. Its dangerous nature was not suspected, as the boy had possession of the projectile for about a year, using it as a mooring for his model yacht and otherwise employing it in the course of play.

Playmates of the victim said after the accident that the shell was familiar to them, and only a week ago several boys had dropped it repeatedly on to the ground. The boy returned to his. home from school about 2.45 p.m., and within a few minutes, he was seen by his father to be playing on the back door step. Mr Boswell, who was inside the house, momentarily turned his back and then there was a deafening explosion which some of the neighbours thought was the beginning of a battery practice at the fort. The boy had evidently banged the shell, which was corroded to an extent eloquent of its.age, on the concrete step, and the concussion had caused the charge to blast from the end, the whole contents of the shell striking the victim. The explosion also drove the pointed end of the projectile about two inches into the concrete. The case remained intact. Mr Boswell and neighbours strove to tend the victim, but the case was obviously hopeless, and death had occurred when a doctor arrived. The explosion blackened the wall of the house and broke three windows. Articles in neighbouring houses were rattled. A singular circumstance was the survival of some budgerigars in a cage suspended immediately above where the boy was playing the game which ended fatally. In his boyish manner, the child had been in the habit of gathering varied articles, which now comprise a pathetic collection in his home, during his rambles about the beaches. The shell was one of his treasures. Occasionally it was kept at the back door and the boy and his playmates had also used it to crush sea shells. Investigations were made into the accident by the military authorities, and they served to show that, the projectile which may have been fired from a Nordenfeldt gun, wae very old. According to a military expert, the shell was of a type once common in the service and of a type known for as long as 40 years. From its rusted and pitted appearance, it was judged that the shell was probably 15 years old and had been subject to considerable weathering and immersion in sea water.