SHOCKING FATALITY

Otago Witness, 1 June 1910, Page 64

SHOCKING FATALITY

MAN ELECTROCUTED IN CUMBERLAND STREET. CONTACT WITH A LIVE WIRE. ANOTHER MAN NARROWLY ESCAPES. A shocking affair occurred in Cumberland street, opposite Messrs A. and T. Burt's foundry, at about half-past 2 o'clock on Wednesday afternoon. A man named James Henderson, employed by the electric power and light department of the City Corporation, was preparing to put in a cross-arm on a pole supporting the low-tension wires which distribute power to that area, when his hand came in contact with one of the wires, and he received the full force of an alternating current equal to 400 volts. Death must have been instantaneous. James Kinch, who was assisting Henderson in the operation, saw his mate's plights arid going up the. ladder with the intention of rescuing him, if possible, —although it was actually too late,— caught hold of two of the wires, one in each hand, and hut for the timely assistance of a third person would have shared the same dreadful fate as the unfortunate man Henderson. He sustained a very heavy shock, and was rescued wth difficulty. He was immediately removed to the Hospital, but some two or three hours later had so far recovered as to be able to leave for his home.

When the accident occurred Henderson was perched on two wooden cross-arms, both supporting low-tension wires, and fixed a few feet from the top of the pole. He was engaged in preparing to put in position a third cross-arm, and was being assisted in the carrying out of this work by Kinch, who was really there to attend to Henderson's requirements. Suddenly there was a loud report and a flash, and Henderson was observed to be tightly grasping one of the live wires. In less than a minute his head began to droop, and in a few seconds more his body was lying motionless, stretched across the supports, his face resting on another wire. He uttered not a word, and it was quite obvious from his appearance that the moment he caught the wire he was undergoing electrocution, which must have been accomplished in a very few seconds. Kinch immediately slid down the ladder and rushed into Messrs A. and T. Burt's to request some one to telephone to have the power cut off. The loud explosion that occurred immediately the contact took .place, and the accompanying flash, attracted the attention of several people in the locality. One of the first of these was Mr R. Brinsley, whose place of business is situated on the opposite side of Cumberland street, and who was presented with the horrifying spectacle of a man undergoing electrocution. Another person whose attention was attracted was Mr J. Highley. Mr Brinsley's workshop foreman, who, by his prompt and clearheaded action, prevented what might have resolved itself into a double tragedy. Rushing across the street, he quickly ascended the ladder that stood against the pole with the object of doing something for Henderson, who was then lying motionless, but, seeing that the wires were uninsulated, and knowing them to be live ones, he hurriedly descended again. Kinch then ascended the ladder, and the people who had gathered round, viewing the victim of a grim tragedy above them, and dreading a second tragedy, warned him to be careful of the wires. This warning he appeared to have completely disregarded, for the very first thing he did on reaching the point where Henderson was lying, in order to raise himself above the body, was to take hold of two wires above his head, one in each hand. His head immediately fell back, although he retained his hold, his feet on the ladder and his hands, on the wires. He was groaning horribly, and his face had turned a corpse-like hue. Mr Highley immediately ascended the ladder again, this time with the object of rescuing Kinch. He first of all lashed the man's feet to the ladder, and then catching hold of a of his clothing, sue-

ceeded in separating his hands from the wires. It was an exceedingly risky operation, but it was accomplished without mishap, and, with the assistance of Constable Hodgson, Kinch was removed to the ground. He was then in a very bad condition, and was promptly removed to the Hospital. Mr Stark (city electrical engineer) arrived on the scene in response to an urgent call, and as it was seen that it would be useless to attempt to rescue Henderson without cutting off the power, Instructions to that effect were hurriedly, despatched to the converter station in Cumberland street per Constable Hodgson. When this had been done Mr Highley again went up the ladder. Henderson was stretched across the* two wooden arms, still grasping the wire which had caused his 3eaJ-h. Mr Highley freed his hands from the wire by means of a stick, .and a start was then made to lower the body. It proved no light operation, for Henderson was a big man. When he was lowered to the ground the work of the deadly current was all too apparent. The flesh of the hand which had grasped the wire was burned through to the bone, and his face, which had come in contact with another wire when his head dropped, was deeply scarred across the cheek. His ghastly appearance indicated that death must have been practically instantaneous. The body was removed to the Hospital, where life was pronounced to be extinct. The whole spectacle was a horrifying one to those who observed it. Henderson lay lifeless out of reach with high-power wires all around him, and to have rescued him before the power was cut off would have been an utter impossibility. No sooner had Kinch grasped the wires when he ascended the ladder in an endeavour to free his mate than everyone below was convinced that a second tragedy was aJbout to be witnessed. S It is very doubtful if he could have remained in the position he was for many minutes longer. It was only promptness of action that saved him, and great credit in this respect must be given to Mr Highley. Neither man was wearing rubber gloves —an ordinary precaution in work of this dangerous nature. The necessary cutting off of the current resulted in an interruption in the <supply of light and power to all private consumers in the city for about 40 minutes.

Henderson was about 45 years of age . and single, and resided at 117 Forth street. He has been in the employ of the City Corporation for about five years, and during that time has had considerable experience in this olass of work he was - yesterday engaged in. Kinch is a married man, and has not been employed by the corporation for any length of time.

j INQUEST ADJOURNED. ! On Thursday afternoon, at the Hospital, the coroner (Mi- H. Y. Widdowson) commenced an inquiry into the circumstances surround* ing the death of James Henderson, who was accidentally electrocuted in Cumberland street on Wednesday afternoon. Stationsergeant King represented the police, and Mr W. C. MacGregor the City Corporation. Mr E. E. Static (city electrical .engineer) was also present. Archibald Henderson identified deceased as his brother. The latter was a lineman in the employ of the City Corporation, and was a single man. Ho was 42 years of age, owned no property, and his life was not insured. He was a strong, healthy man, and not subject to giddiness. Dr Falconer, resident medical officer at the Dunedin Hospital, eaid that deceased was brought to the HosnitaJ about 3 p.m. on Wednesday. Attempts were made by witness and Dr Butemcnfc to resuscitate him, but these were discontinued at 3.15 as pest mortem rigidity bad' set in. The hands were clinched and burned, and one cheek was burned. The aDpearance of the body was compatible with the statement that death was due to contact with live wires. In his opinion the cause of death was asphyxia, due to a shock by electricity. Witness had examined the deceased clothing, and among 1 it was a pair of electric linesmen's rubber g-loves. He thought that deceased had been unconscious almost instantaneously, and death had occurred within two minutes of his receivinsr tfco shock. Letitia Campbell, nurse in the Dunedin Hospital, said that she. with Nurse Moore, was present in the out-natients' room when Drs Butement and Falconer were trying to resuscitate deceased. She took charge of the clothing of deceased, and in one of the Dockets of his coat she found a pair of mbber g-loves. The inquest was then adjourned. INQUEST CONTINUED. ACCIDENT EXPLAINED BY EXPERTS. INSULATION AND OVERHEAD SYSTEM DEALT WITH. i The inquiry surrounding the death of Jamea Henderson, at) electric linesman in the employ of the City Corporation, who was accidentally electrocuted in Cumberland street last Wednesday afternoon, was continued in the Magistrate's Court on Monday, the coroner (Mr H. Y. Widdowson) presiding. Mr W. C. MacGregor appeared on behalf of the City Corporation, and Mr A. C. Hanlon for the relatives of the deceased. Station-sergeant King led evi- ., dence on behalf of the police. ; MR HIGHLEY'S STORY. John Highley, foreman for Messrs Brinsley and Co., said that at the time the accident occurred (about 1.30 last Wednesday afternoon) he was outside his employers' premises, and he noticed a man on the cross-arms of one of the electricwire poles. He seemed to have been en-

gaged in working- at the wires. This .nan had apparently been crippled Off badly injured, being; in a stooping position alongone of the cross-trees. Witness crossed tho road and ascended the ladder underneath the man, when he saw that deceased had his right hand on a bare wire,, and apparently his head was resting- on his arm, his hand en the wire. Believing the wives to be " live," witness descended the ladder and asked some people to ring- up tho oovver-housa and out off all the currents. He returned to the ladder, and, looking

up, attracted by the crowd's cry, ne saw another man within two or throe steps of

the top of the ladder, with his arms extended upwards, grasping two wires. He was leaning outwards from the post at an angle of about 60deg from the perpendicular. Witness ascended the ladder, and, catching a rope which was hanging down, began to tie the ' legs of the second man to the ladder. Witness did this to prevent the man from falling from the ladder if the current were switched off. With the aid of this man's weight, and by pulling at his clothes, witness succeeded in pulling him off the wire. The man (Kinch) now hung head, downwards, and Constable Hodgson coming to witness's assistance they got him to the ground. Witness again ascended the ladder, and, obeying instructions from Mr Stark, pushed Henderson's hands off the wire. Then, receiving Mr Stark's assurance that all the currents were off, witness went up to the side of the man and passed a rope round the top arm of the post. Another man came to his assistance, and the rope was secured round deceased's waist and tied behind his back. They pushed deceased over the end of the arm, and he was partly lowered and partly carried to the ground. In reply to the Station-sergeant, witness said deceased had no gloves on. Witness asked Mr Drew to get the power cut off. and it was probably within 15 seconds of this time that Kinch ascended the_ ladder. TO CUT THE POWER OFF. Ernest Henry Drew, chief draughtsman for Messrs A. and T. Burt, said that either Mr Highley or Mr Kinch came in to him, and, stating that a man was either electrocuted osr in danger of electrocution, asked him to ring up the power-converter station. Witness rang- up the power-house at ,once, and asked them to turn off all the current, stating that a man was dead, or in danger of being killed. Witness received a reply that the power was all off, to which he replied that that could not be so, as some of their machines were still running. Witness added that the thing was serious, and he hoped that they would see to it immediately, to which the person at the other end replied " All right." Almost immediately after that their machinery stopped. He then told either Highley or Kinch (he could not 6wear which) that he had the assurance that the power would be cut off. Witness then went out, and the first thing he saw was Kinch's head fall back. He went back, and again rang up the power-house, telling them that a second man was killed. The reply he received was that the power was eff. To the Coroner: He thought that the machinery was stopped when he went into the street. Mr MacGregor explained that the high tension current (on the top wires) was turned off first, and the low tension when the second message was received. The Coroner: Then Kinch was caught by the low tension current. Mr MacGreger: Yes; so was the other man. Witness added that he saw deceased's head lifted from the wire. There was a flash and a report,' showing that there was still current. The Coronor: If the current was cut off at the power-house would there still be eleotricity on the wires? I venture no opinion on that, sir. AN UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE, James Albert Kinch, a labourer, in the employ of the electric department of the City Corporation, said that When the fatality occurred he was at his work of assisting to fix cross arms to a power pole in Cumberland street. Deceased and Jamieson Were working together at the next pole. At half-past 2 witness was on the ground near Burt's, getting a new arm ready for the next pole, when he heard a short circuit report, and then heard Jamieson shouting to him. Witness saw Henderson in an upright sitting position on the arm of the pole. Witness ran up the ladder and looked at him. Henderson had evi- j dently received a severe shock. Witness went at once to Messrs Burt's office to the •! telephone. There was a man at the telephone already, and witness demanded of him to ring up the test room, giving the j number. (He could not remember the | number of the converter station.) The man | did so, and passed the reoeiver to wit- , ness, who spoke thus to a man in the test I room " Cub off ail power in Cumberland street section —there's a man electrocuted." The man asked who was speaking. Witness i said "Kinch," and rushed out and ascended the ladder with a rope. Deceased had by this time fallen forward on to the low ten- ; sion wire, and was in a stooping posture, I still sitting on the arm. One hand was j grasping the wire—witness ' saw sparks . coming from it. His head was drooping. ' Then someone ran from Burt's office and shouted that the current was all off. Witness then went up through the two low tension wires and received a, shock which rendered him almost unconscious. He had caught the wires in both hands to draw himself up. \ King: Would you have j taken hold of these wires had you thought the cnrent was Hot off? Witness: Certainly not. I thought it was cu f off. He hfld been workinsr with Henderson for about three weeks, and had not seen him wearinf insulntinc tlovfs. Witness did not carrv glows: he did not do any dnngerous work, and had taken instructions from the linesman whom he was assisting. Deceased was supposed +o "se gloves when doing dane-^rou' o work. He had never seen men s'loves when •doin"' cross arm worV "T'h.ft etlo->'"« were very clumsy and would t.harn. w*ve oloves when hand I '-- lire wiV* s . TTa hnrl t>c«m assistJr.~ 1-"---.:--""vi a ■=,hov+ +,im<». SOME CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE. John Jamieson, a labourer, in the employ of the corporation, said that he was assistincr deceased in fixing cross arms to power poles in Cumberland street when the latter met his death. Witness had nothing to do with the real work of fixing. He was not eunposed to go near live wires. He heard Henderson shout. He looked up and saw a flash. Deceased was sitting on the lowest arm with his right hand on the wire next the pole. Witness shouted to Kinch that Henderson was _ cauorht on the wire. The only change in Henderson's ■position then was that his head drooped. One of Burt's men came out and said that the power was still on, and Kinch told witnes to go on to the power house and tell them to cut off the low tension current. Witness went, but before arriving there he saw Mr Stark and othei-s coming from the power house, and he naturally thought the power had been cut off. and he turned back. He arrived back inst as Kinch was i being brought down the ladder. Deceased .

! had been working among wires for ohe past ' fortnight, but they were dead .wires. At the time of the accident deceased was tying 1 the lew tension wires to the insulator with ! wire. Deceased was not wearing glomes. : Richard Brinsley, ironfounder, said that ! at the time of the accident he heard one loud report and two smaller ones, and then a flash of light came across the I window; his boy drew his attention to the plight of the man on the pole. j Constable Hodgson said that when he ! knew of the accident he galloped back to I the power house and saw the engineer in I charge, who at once went to the switchI board and said he would out the current i off. Witness returned to the scene of the I accident. To King: Mr Scott (engineer in charge of the jpower house) had received no word of the accident before witness arrived there. Then he immediately shut down the power. POWER PROMPTLY SHUT OFF. .James Hugh Scott, electrical engineer, in charge at the converter station, said that at 2.35 Constable Hodgson told him of the accident, and he shut off the power. The constable said that there was a man on top of a (pole in Cumberland street tangled up in the wires, and he was afraid he was killed. Witness immediately cut off the whole of the high tension circuits throughout the town. He had not cut off tihe low tension circuits. Within the next five minutes he received a telephone message asking why the power was not cut off, as another man had been caught on the wires. Witness said the power was off, and went -' and looked at the switchboard to make sure. Immediately on that he received another message from one of his staff (Lithgow) saying that the newer was not off. Witness said: "What do you mean? The high tension is off. Do you want the low tension off?" Lithgow said: "You'd best cut off the whole lot." Witness thereupon shut off the low tension current. He had not cut off the low tension because it was not considered dangerous. SOME FURTHER ILLUMINATION. Station-sergt. King: But it proved dangerous this time, Mr Scott.—Yes; and yet I have often had shocks myself from greater voltages than that. How do you account for it killing Henderson ? —I cannot say; I do not know the circumstances. Witness had encountered the current from 550 volts —which was higher than deceased had had —and' had got no more than a severe shock and his hands burned. But if j'ou were to grip the line- with your hand and could not let go, would you not get a greater shock?—Witness said he did not think so. A man should be able to get clear of the wire. To Mr Hanlon: In the event of a man gripping a wire with 400 voltage that man should be able to wow himself back and clear himself. He had .seen men clear themselves from such a current. He could not account for decased not letting go. It might he that he did not free himseilf because he could not. To Mr MacGregor: The message he got from the constable was the first he had received. The telephone had not rung —and a. special apparatus made the telephone in his establishment ring until answered. He was close to the telephone for nearly 10 minutes before the constable arrived. MR STARK EXPLAINS. E. E. Stark, city electrical engineer, said that had he been asked before this accident whether there was any extreme danger from a shook from 400 voltage he would have said " No." He accounted for this fatality by the very exceptional and perfect contact deceased had made by gripping the wire with both hands, and by the position he was in. When he received the shock he was absolutely unable to extricate himself, and. it would have been difficult for any one else to have extricated him. I The Station-sergeant: Can you offer any i theory to account for the contact? t ! Mr Stark: The evidence shows that there was an exrjlosion and a flash. There remains on the wire ' now a blister. A number of burned bits of copper wire were ! found below the pole after the. accident. i The evidence of the two helpers is that deceased was tying with a tie wire the line on to the insulator. This tie-wire must have touched the opposite low tension wire, making a short circuit. His face being over the flash, it would naturally startle him. His first impulse would be to grab something. He grabbed the low tension wire. In doing such work as this a series of precautions are necessary, these being outlined in rules and regulations which the department had issued and ■ which have been approved by the Board <ji Control. All men engaged by the department who are liable to be working among live wires are required to familiarise themselves with these rules. James Henderson did so, and signed a certificate to that effect. By the rules, linesmen were required to use gloves, and properly insulate themselves and exercise care so as to prevent contact. Henderson, had ueen over five years in the service, and had done much of this kind of Work. He was regarded as a careful, capable man. Henderson was not putting up new arms. He was engaged in shifting old crossarms, with wires attached, to a lower position. He was in among the wires, and should, when doing this particular work of tying wires, have insulated his handis. There was no more danger in working among overhead wires than among those underground. The danger of overhead work was in falling: in underground work a man dare not handle live wires and stand on the bare earth, as the earth was a ready conductor of electricity. " All the high tension wires in the city were insulated, and a large portion of those of low tension. It would take very little to complete the insulation of the low tension circuit. He had been in the test room when a. message came from Burts' to M'Carten. The latter borrowed witness's keys in order to go to the converter station, telling witness as he did so what the trouble was. Witness and M'Carten wont to the scene of the accident. Witness, before receiving the message, had seen the constable going to the converter station. M'Carten got to the door of the latter place, and found that the currents were already off. MR HANLON AND MR STARK. Ma- Hanlon: So you know now, Mr Stark, that a 400-volt line may be dangerous?—Yes. And you say that a shock from these low tension wires will be fatal.—No, I don't. I will go now and touch it with you if you like. Oh, no, you won't. Take the sergeant with you. Will you say that to grasp a 400-volt line will not be fatal. —It will be '

I iatal if you stay with it long enough, if you got into a position from which vou cannot extricate yourself. I have cleared myself often from a wire carrying that current. Mr Hanlon asked whether, when a man grasped a live wire, the muscles of his hand did not contract, and he found it impossible to get away. —Witness said that a man should be able to kick himself clear of any current of that voltage. What about Kinch? His muscles contracted and he could not get away. —If he had not been pulled away he would probably have kicked himself free. Yes, if he had not died in the meantime. Don't you think now that it is desirable that these low tension wires should bo insulated '{■ —Witness said that in some respects there were no objections to insulating them. But he pointed out that ordinary rubber _ insulation, being acted upon in a considerable degree by the weather, was always attended with a certain amount of risk. The current often leaked considerably and constituted for workmen a hidden but very serious danger. vv itxi the bare wire they knew with what they were faced. When you hire a man and put him to work on those lines, you know there is always a certain amount of risk?—Most assuredly. He is hired with that understanding. Yes, and gets about 8s a day. Mr Hanlon went on to inquire as to whether the underground system would be safer. Mr Stark said the cost of underground wires would be enormous. It would be better to do away with the electrical supply altogether. Mr Hanlon (sharply): Perhaps it would from what we know of it here. Mr Stark (indigaritly): You have not got it into your house, then? Mr Hanlon: No, no, I am not going to tell you that. Mr MacGregor: I have it, and would not be without it. How long would a man have to work among- electric wires before signing that certificate? —As scon as a man becomes a linesman he ha 6 to declare that he has read and understood those rules. He has got to know enough to under-"••"-and this rigmarole (tapping the rules); — That's right. Mr Hanlon proceeded to ask further questions about the street circuits. " What I want to get at concerns generiia said, •" wnetner it is all rignt or not." Mr Stark (briskly) ■ Come on down and I'll show you. Mr Hanlon (hurriedly): No, no—no you won't. Proceeding, witness said that deceased was an extremely careful man of long experience, and would thoroughlv understand any risk that he ran. He would know that low tension wires were not considered extremely dangerous, but he would be very careful all the came. He had reprimanded linesmen severely for failing to obey the ■ ■--■'r 1 .-r.,-J,«- vn ordinary precautions to be observed, and suspended one man for a week. If he had eausht Henderson doing that work without gloves he would have reprimanded him. '■i ■- ''-.*'• '-Kom, men disobey you?—No, T don't know it. Is it a fact that rne.n who wear gloves cannot k"©p pace with the linesmen who don't?--There has never been a man censured in thia.t respect.

Is it not a fact now that these men never o*o wear gloves?—No, it is not. I know these men. ?>nd they would not disobey orders and tak-ft thr.se risks. HIS OWN FAULT.

To Mr MacGregor: If deceased had kept his tie-wire coiled up as usual the short circuit could not have occurred. In other words, deceased failed, for some reason, to observe a whole series of ordinary precautions. If he had observed the rules he would have kept below the live portion of the circuit, and could not have fallen across the wire._ It was an open question as to whether insulation was an advantage. UmW* it was kept perfect it. was a hidden danger. To the Station-sergeant: Some men —fire much more readily affected by shook than others—and the difference wias not apparent -in the general health of. the individual. This was all the evidence called. Mr MacGregor said that it was fairly evident from what had taken place that the death of the deceased man was due to a breach by the unfortunate, man' of the rules that had been made for the safety of himself and fellow workmen. He was no doubt familiar with those rules, and probably familiarity with those rules had made him careless. He. had failed to coil his tiewire, he neglected to put on gloves, and he had nut himself into such a bad position that he could not be extricated. There was a suggestion that there, had been a lack of promptitude in cutting off the power, but in any event the medical evidence" made it quite clear that death occurred almost instantaneously, and that no matter how nmmptly the currant wa<* shut down the unfortunate man's life could not be saved. UNDERGROUND WIRES. In a further statement, Mr Stark said that to the workmen immediately concerned there was more danger in underground wires than in an overhead system. And certainly the underground system was much dearer. Overhead the wires were supported every 200 ft, while underground practically every inch had to be supported. The cost of an underground, line was seven to 10 times the cost of an overhead line. If underground wires were insisted upon in Dunedin it would simply mean that the business would be burst up. The Coroner: That is from a money standpoint—not from the point of view of the safety of the public. Mr Stark: That is from a point of view of utility. The Coroner: They have the underground system in London. Mr Stark: They've got many things in London they have not got here. A portion of our lines is already underground. Tc put the trolly wires underground would be a terrific expense. As far as the delay in turning off the low current was concerned, he would point out that Mr Scott received a message that a man was on top of the pole. Therefore, he cut off the high-tension wires ; he would not, in any ease, have expected trouble ftom the low-tension wires. THE CORONER'S VERDICT. The Coroner said that it was fortunate that cases such as this, where the circumstances were so terrible, were very infrequent. Everyone must regret that that accident had cut off a man in the prime of

life, and their sympathy would go out to his relatives.

! He expressed his admiration of those ! who had so j-_ /.iptly and usefully atI tempted to aid the unfortunate man on the pole—particularly Mr Kiiich, Constable Hodgson, and Mr llighiey. it wa-> patent to aii that when among-st these low-tension wires the men were engaged in a most dangerous operation, which called for the utmost steadiness and care. In. order to minimise the risk the men were required to make themselves acquainted with certain rules and regulations, were required to have a cettaiii amount ol instruction, and were expected to insulate themselves in the manner provided tor. .Rubber gloves were furnished by the corporation, and it was the duty of the employee to see that they were m gocd condition. Deceased was a careful, capable man, had worked amongst those wires for a number of years, and must have known the risk he was taking. There was a suggestion that deceased omitted to take proper precautions in doing the work he had m hand, and it was quite clear that he had neglected to wear his gloves. They had it in evidence that death must have ensued within two minutes of contact. Apart from the question of whether delay occurred in cutting off the current, he thought it was abundantly clear that those about at the time of the accident did Ttieir best for the unfortunate man, and it was admitted that it was impossible to cut the power off in time to save him. Owing to the excitement of the moment some of the evidence was not very clear, Jrut he did not think that any blame could be attached to the power-house officials. They had naturally enough interpreted the message they received as a man in the high-tension wires, and had cut off that circuit. Now, they knew that there was danger in the low-tension wires, and would in case of alarm act accordingly. In the circumstances, he was not prepared to say more than that it was unfortunate that the low-tension circuits were not sooner cut off. In regard to the question of whether overhead or underground carriage of wires was desirable, they had heard in evidence that overhead insulation might be a hidden danger to workmen, owing to the bad effect of the weather on the rubber coat- ' ing allowing the current to leak out in unexpected places. Further, it had been shown that the danger to workmen was as great underground as overhead. The question that concerned him at present was in regard to insulation —to see that the public was properly protected against heavily loaded overhead wires. In his opinion all these wires should be insulated. It had been shown that all high-tension wires in the city were already insulated, and a portion of the low-tension ones. The condition of the insulation should be kept good—that was, the insulation should be kept j up and leakages prevented. j He found that deceased died as the result ■ of asphyxia, due to electric shock, caused i by deceased coming into contact with certain live wires when working on a lowtension circuit in Cumberland street. A RIDER ADDED. And now, said the Coroner, I intend t\» add a rider to my verdict. Steps should be at once taken by the corporation to completely insulate all electric lines controlled by it. Mr Stark: Outside the city, or inside, or The Coroner:-I shall leave it at that, Mr Starrk. Mr MacGregor: I may take it that no blame is attachable to anyone in connection with this death? The Coroner: Oh, yes! I thought 1 made that quite clear. j