ACCIDENT AT CALLIOPE DOCK. AUCKLAND, March 3.

Otago Witness, Issue 2401, 8 March 1900, Page 50

ACCIDENT AT CALLIOPE DOCK. AUCKLAND, March 3.

A lamentable accident occurred at the Calliope Dock this morning. A large number of men were engaged painting the Union Company's Manapouri when one of the .stages broke, owing to a defective rope. N. Western and James Harris, painters, and John Burgoyne, sailor on the Manapouri, fell down some 40ft to the bottom of the. dock, which is of concrete. Harris was the most injured, and is still unconscious. It is thought that his lower jaw is fractured. Western received a compound fracture of the left leg and a dislocation of the right ankle, besides some slight cuts on the face. Burgoyne was at first stunned, but subsequently was able to walk. He had received only an injury to the wrist and a shock. Harris and Western were brought over to town in a ferry steamer on a stretcher and conveyed to the hospital in an ambulance. The sufferers were attended to by Dr O'Reilly at the dock and by Dr Parkes at the wharf. Charles Lake was working also on the stage, but he cleverly grabbed an overhanging boathook on the Manapouri, and, after swinging in the air by it, was pulled' up by one of the crew.

R. Taylor, the foreman, witnessed the accident. He was walking on the edge of the dock towards the men when it occurred. He states that the two painters, Nat. Western and James Harris, were painting the top sides near the stern on the starboard side. They were working on a stage consisting of a ladder lashed horizontally to the shores used for keeping the ship upright, with 9in by 2in planks covering the ladder rungs. While they were thus engaged John Burgoyne, a lumper, employed by the Union Company, walked along the "shore" nearest them towards the vessel with a rope, with which he intended to upright the larger trestle to be used in painting the bottom of the ship. Burgoyne had got about halfway along the " shore " when it suddenly fell, carrying the staging with it, and breaking one of the ladders in half. The men on the staging, Western, and Harris, together with Burgoyne, were precipitated on to the concrete sill of the dock, the height of the fall being 26 feet. The other painters at once ceased work and carried the injured men to the top of the dock, and a doctor was sent for. Meantime brandy and water was given to Harris, the most seriously injured of the three, no stimulant being given to the others. When the doctor arrived he at once attended to their injuries, and ordered their removal to the hospital. It is not certain what caused the fall of the "shore." The rope supporting it was a 2in hemp, and had been iised for some time. The immediate couse of the accident may have been Ihe additional weight put on the " shore " by Burgoyne, or It may have been caused b}some " drawing " wedges and loosening the "shore." Taylor was on the "shoreyesterday, and it was then perfectly sound and secure.

March 4.

James Harris, one of those injured in the accident at the Calliope Dock, died this morning at the hospital. He was 22 years of age and single.

Mr J. A. Asher, late of Gore, has been appointed moderator of the Presbytery of Hawke's Bay for the ensuing term. From Greymouth last week the Blackball Coal Company exported 2123 tons coal, and the Brunnor Company 2267 tons.

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