BLASTING ACCIDENT AT HARRINGTON POINT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2603, 3 February 1904, Page 24

BLASTING ACCIDENT AT HARRINGTON POINT.

MR F. A. JOSEPH KILLED.

SEVERAL MIRACULOUS ESCAPES.

A particularly distressing accident occurred at Harrington Point, on the Peninsula, near o+ago Heads, on Friday,

the 29th, resulting in the death of Mr

Francis Antonio Joseph, a member of the literary staff of the Otago Daily Times and s 1 .Witness newspapers, while several other )vell-known city residents had a miraculous fcecape from, meeting the same cad fate. Mr

Joseph was engaged in his duties as a

journalist, and formed one of a party who went, down to Harrington Point at the invitation of the Otago Harbour Board for the

purpose of inspecting the protective works

carried out by the board. For the past eight or nine months the Harbour Board has

devoted its attention in the direction of improving the channel at Harrington Point, and with the object of diverting the ecour and straightening the channel it has be&n quarrying metal and constructing a training wall. The tug Plucky was used for the conveyance of the party down the harlxmr, and the gentlemen who made the visit ■were:— Messrs E. G. Allen, M.H.R., J. T. Mackerras, T. Ross, John Watson, G. Simpson, the Hon. D. Pinkerfcon, and the Hon. T. Fergus (members of the Harbour 'Board), Messrs T. H. Rawson (Harbour Board engineer), F. W. Mac Lean (district engineer of railways), A. H. Maclean, J. M. Gallaway, J. C. Stephens (Harbour Board solicitor), J. E. Stevens (Sumner Deaf and Dumb Institute), P. T. Wales, W. B. fVigera, N. Dodds, Captain M'Callum (harbourmaster), and F. A. Joseph (Otago Daily Times), A. Barclay (Evening Star), and G. Hicks (Otago Witness photographer). The party left Dunedin shortly after 2 p.m., and Harrington Point was reached about 3.30. In addition to seeing what progress had been made with the protective works, the party were to witness a large blasting operation at the quarry. For the purposes of blasting a long tunnel, about 40ft in length, had been driven straight in from the faoe of the quarry, and at tte End of this tunnel a transverse drive, about 10ft long, was put in on the upper side, making the drive the shape of the lotter L. The mine was charged with about 8001b cf gunpowder, and everything was in readiness for the explosion whe>n the visitors arrived, the ehot being fired about 4- p.m. All the members of the party, with the exception of Mr Ross, Mr Rawlon, and Mr Hicks — the two latter of whom were taking photographs — took up positions on the jetty, which ran out into the harbour at an acute ungle from the "o!rive in the quarry, while the above-named gentlemen stationed themeelves nearer the drive, but at a greater

i^ngle, and consequently further from the

fcne of fire. All the materials used at the quarry, including a large jib crane, were removed to what was considered a safe dista,nce, and the large tip trucks used for the uaulage of the stone were wheeled down to the wharf. These would have served as a cove* in case of emergency, but those .who were witnessing the explosion scarcely thought of their being called into requisition, as it was confidently expected that the N ltone would be driven away from them. \)f those standing on the jetty the foreman jf the works and Mr F. W. MacLeau wea-e

Mie* nearest to the face of the quarry, and

)he others were stationed at different places, ftll in the belief that they were perfectly .lafe, previous experience having demonstrated that the effect of the blasting was >o throw the stone in the opposite direction —in fact, several of the men remarked that 9n previous occasions it would have been Yuite sat? to have etood on the district iroad, which was not more than half as far jway from the face as the spot where the >isitor« took up their positions. When previous blasts had been fired the stone simply fell down, and neve* had any tendency to

shoot out from the face to any extent, btit 'the unfortunate accident shows that re-ally nothing can be taken for granted. When the shot was fired Mr Hides, Mr Rawson, and Mr Ross were closer to the face than the others, but they were at an oblique angle, though only 32 yards distant from the line of fire, and about 45 yards from where the explosion took place. The remainder of the party were from 100 yards to 150 yards distant, but at an acute angle from the face of the quarry. All the expe-rts present had every confidence that the blast would eend the stone in the opposite direction to that taken by the visitors, and the party were inspired with an additional feeling of safety by the fact that Mr Mac Lean was standing in front of them. Mr Mac Lean was from 100 yards to 125 yards away from the face, and Mr Joseph was some 25 yards behind him, while a further distance of about 25 yards separated Mr Joseph from the outer end of the jetty. When the explosion took place the bottom part of tho face was driven out first, and was ehot in almost a otraight line with terrific force. An enormous quantity of stone was dislodged, and one pile of rock, estimated to weigh about five tons, was thrown bodily a distance of 100 or 120 yards into the channel. Another piece- weighing from 3cwt to scwt was projected down the wharf, and there was a complete chain of boulders of all eizes from the face of the quarry right down to the outer end of the jetty. The projectile whioh struck Mr Joseph was about half the size of a man's head, and it struck ihe unfortunate man on the side of the head, killing him instantaneously.

It is estimated that fully 100 tons of stone were hurled over the protective wall on to the eea beach at the edge of the channel. One big piece weighing about scwfc struck one end of the cast-iron bedplate of the steam derrick, snapping off a piece of solid casting about 12in by 4in. This, if it had struck the crane fairly, would probably have pretty well demolished it. Mr George Simpson, who was standing beside Mr Jceeph, received a small abrasion on one of his thumbs, but cannot say whether he was struck by the same etone that killed Mr Joseph.

Mr P. Ryan, a resident of the Kaik, who was present for the purpose of witnessing the explosion, and who was standing on the jetty, was also struck by a piece of stone, the force of the blow throwing him violently against Mr Barclay. Tb.B two fell on the wha.rf together, and it was immediately afterwarcla ascertained that Mr Ryan had had his arm fractured.

Mr E. G. Allen, M.H.R., who was much nearer, was struck on the left ankle by a stone which cut through his boot and inflicted a gash about an inch long and half an inch deep, just missing the ankle-joint. Several pieces of stone went over the end of the wharf, one striking the haweer bridge of the tug, and leaving an indentation on the hard wood, and another piece falling on the captain's bridge.

Mr F. W. Mac-Lean had a v-ery narrow escape, a large boulder striking his overcoat, which he was carrying on his arm, and tearing a great rent in it. Several of the party evaded the flying fragments, and there were quite a number of very narrow escapes.

Telephone messages were at once cent to Dunedin and also to Port Chalmers, the latter for medical assistance, and all haste was made to get back to town. Dr Borne, of Port Chalmers, met the tug off Pulling Point, and attended to Mr Ryan and Mr E. G. Allen. The latter was able to walk home without assistance, and it is not considered that his injury wrii prove serious, though he will probably be confined to his house for a few days. Mr Ryan was taken home after receiving medical attention at Port Ch.ilmers.

The charge of powder ueed was nothing unusual, and on at leaet one occasion double the quantity was fired. As a matter of fact, no smaller charge has ever been used in blasting operations there. The nature of the material blasted was not the usual blue-atone met with, but a hard conglomerate.

The body of Mr Joseph was brought to town, by the Plucky, and conveyed to his residence in Russell street, an inquest being held on Saturday morning in the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel.

By the death of Mr Joseph this journal loses a valued member of its staff. In addition to the position he held as a member of the reporting staff, Mr Joseph was a regular contributor of articles to the leading columns of the paper on educational, scientific, and agricultural subjects. He was a wide reader on matters to which he specially devoted his attention, and had be&n engaged in newspaper pursuits for a great many years. His experience and ripened knowledge were thus made serviceable to the public, and have in marked degree contributed to the sound and beneficial discussion of many important public questions. Mr Joseph was one of the oldest, most valued, and most versatile contributors of the Otago Witness. He began his literary career in connection with that journal over 25 years ago, contributing in the first place a series of interesting " Chats with the Farmers." his knowledge of agriculture, both practical and theoretical, making his description of farming methods and the criticisms he thought fit to make of special value to farming readers. He was for a number of years in charge of the Milburn and other c-cl>oais, a post for which he was specially fitted from hie kindly nahire and his ability to draw out the pupils to the best advantage. During the whole of thai time he not only acted as local correspondent, but he also took a leading part in contributing to the riddlcr column, which was in those days a leading feature of tlie Witness, being contributed to by such well-known citizens as the Rev. A. Don. Mr J. J. Ramsay, Mr W. J. Love, Mr Beverly (mathematical problems), Mr Joseph himself, and many others, to whom Mr Joseph's sad end

will come as a great shock. He was subsequently appointed editor of the Tuape-ka Times, a position which he held for some years, only so\enng his connection with that paper on account of a difference in political views v itli the then proprietors. He then assisted in starting tho Clutha Free Press, of which he became editor and manager, running the paper in the interests of tho Liberal party. After a connection with that journal of some years' standing a desire for a w ider horizon induced him to rotire and settle in one- of the cities. He visited the North Island, but finding nothing to induce him to tako up his permanent residence there, he returned to Dunedin, and ultimately joined the staff of the Daily Times as Dunedin shipping reporter and contributor to its leading columns on spcowl topics which his practical knowledge rendered him specially fitted to deal with. During his connection with tho Witness ho contributed numerous foilcs of ai tides on agricultural, mining, and health subjects, tho latter over tho «ignatur.. of " l'\ A. .). Do Comic." His nlcabaut stylo of writing rendered his articles interesting to a laigt number of Witness re^dors, and many of these- made a point of cutting out \iis contributions for bcrnp book purposes. In addition to this ho contributed during his lengthened connection runny capita! short, Etories, at least one- lc-nglhy serial, and numbers of poems which posscs=od considerab'e literary merit. His capacity for work was very great, and no ta-J-c: was too much for him to cheerfully undortiko. Ho was a regular contributor to the Dafly Times and Witness Christmas Annuals, and for tho forthcoming annual he had already in hand a contribution on Maori history which would have been a valuable addition to Maori historical literature had he be-wi spared to complete his work. Personally he was a favourite with all his brother pressmen, his ngreeable manners, utter want of selfthought, and* willingness to oblige on every occasion being proverbial among those who knew him best.

The deceased gentleman, who was 50 yearg of age, was the eldest son of Mr Antonio Joseph, of Taieri Mouth, and was born at Macandrew's Bay, Otago Peninsula He> was educated in Dunedin, and after a course, at the Otago University took up the duties of schoolmaster. He had charge of schools at Akatore, Waipori, Waiareka, Milburn, and Temuka, and eventually relinquished teaching to enter into journalism. His journalistic career, a= mentioned above, praeti cally commenced when he was a youth, for he had been a contributor to the Ola go Witness when quite a lad. Mr Joseph, who ma-ried a daughter of Mr Andrew Chapman, of Balclutha, is survived by his widow and two children — a daughter nine years of age -and a son 15 months old. Mr Joseph's mother died on tho sth of January, 1903, but his father, who cam? to the colony in an American whaler before th?> arrival of the first emigrant ship, is c till alive. Deceased is also survived by six brothers and two sisters, one of the latter residing in Now South Wales.

THE INQUEST.

The inquest concerning the death of the late Mr F. A Joseph, who was instantaneously killed in the blasting explosion at Harrington Point on Friday afternoon, was commenced at the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, Russell street, on Saturday morning before Mr C. C. Graham, coioncr, and a, jury of six, of whom Mr L. Clancey was chosen foreman. Sub-inspector Green was present on behalf of the police, and the relatives of deceased ■uere represented by Mr A. C. Hanlon, the Otago Harbour Boaid by Mr W. A. Sim, and the Otago Daijy Times and Witness Company by Mr W. C. MacGregor.

The Coroner intimated that it was the int&ntion to call evidence as to the identification of the body, and then to adjourn to a late. date. John Silvester Joseph, the only witness called, said he was a farmer residing at Taien Beach, and a brother of deceased. He identified the body shown to the jury as that of his late brother Francis Antonio Joseph, who was a journalist in the employ of the Otago Daily Times and Witness Company. Deceased was a married man, and was 50 years of age last November. AVitness knew nothing about the circumstances connected with his brother's death.

Sub-inspector Green applied for an adjournment to some day in the following week — possibly "Wednesday. Mr Sim asked what witnesses the police wanted.

Sub-inspector Green : "We want all those who can throw any light upon the blasting operations. Mr Ra-wson (secretary and engineer to the Haibom Board) said he and the foreman were present. Sub-inspector Greer : "Who put in the blast ? Mr Rawson . The foreman, and he is here. Sub-inspector Green: I think v/e had better have someone else.

Mr Rawson ■ This man actually sees the work done. I don't know that anyone can throw any more light upoi it than he can. Sub-inspector Green: I think we might have someone else. The Coroner: You can ascertain what -witness.es you want, and they will be brought up. You can go on on Tuesday. Mr Sim said the sergeant at Port Chalmers could go over 'o the place, and the Haibour Board would bring up any witnesses the police wanted on Tuesday. He did not suppose there was any question about the circumstances. It was agreed that the inquest should be adjourned to Tuesday morning at 10 30 at the Supreme Court. Mr Rawson : Mr Crow (the foreman) says he actually caused the charge to ba put in himself, and that two other men were there.

The juiy wero bound over to leappear on Tuesday at the Supieme Court.