DEATH FROM ELECTRIC SHOCK

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19509, 8 June 1933, Page 4

DEATH FROM ELECTRIC SHOCK

SLIPSHOD INSTALLATION. WARNING TO AMATEUR WIREMEN By Telegraph—Press Association AUCKLAND, June 6. An inquest into the death of Abraham Thomas Cook (19), who received a fatal electric shock at Royal Oak on May 10th, was held at Onehunga before the Coroner (Mr F. H. Levien, S.M.) Frank Griffiths, proprietor of a fish shop where Cook met his death, said he had assembled a portable lighting extension about four years ago, and had frequently used it without harm. It was fixed to a light socket, in a wash-house. Deceased had used the lead hundreds of times, and had never complained of feeling shock. Although witness had joined up the extension lead, he was not an electrician. R. G. Keeling, a registered electrician, said that the covered wire used for the extension was meant to be used only in conduit piping, and not for external purposes such as portable leads or pendants. The lead, which had been connected to the wash-house light, was lying on a concrete floor in a pool of salt water, outside the main building. It was covered with grease and water, and the insulating material was badly perished. There were six joins and fractures in the lead, which had all been bound with insulating tape, instead of with rubber. In returning a verdict that death was due to an accidental electric shock, the Coroner issued a general public warning against the danger of tampering with lighting and power installations. The case under review, he said, served to accentuate the risk of interfering with an otherwise useful commodity. People used it so frequently that it was often treated with disrespect. and they thought they could fit up any kind of apparatus for their use in order to get a job done cheaply, which was contrary to the regulations. Mr Levien pointed out the extreme danger of interfering with the wiring of electric lighting or radio sets. Electricity properly controlled was quite harmless, but in incompetent hands it was deadly, and the death of Cook should be an example to amateurs, who should leave such matters to competent officials.