BOY’S FATAL HANDLING' OF GUNPOWDER

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 300, 20 December 1945, Page 5

BOY’S FATAL HANDLING' OF GUNPOWDER

EVIDENCE AT INQUEST CHEMICALS MIXED AND THEY EXPLODE DURING HAMMERING (P.A.) Auckland, Dec. 19.

An inquest Into the death of a schoolboy, George Thomas Bruce Orr, agetl 14, who suffered fatal injuries while experimenting with gunpowder at a friend’s place at One Tree Hill, on November 29, was concluded before the city coroner, Mr. Addison. The deceased, who was the son off Mr. G. Orr, of Maungakiekie Avenue, died at the Green Lane Hospital shortly after the accident. Michael Andrews, a 13-year-old scholboy, said he was in the same class at school as the deceased, w’ith whom he had been friendly tor about a year. Some time previously witness learned how to make gunpowder from older boys, who took chemistry at school. On the day of the accident deceased came to witness’ place, bringing several discharged tommy-gun and aeroplane cannon cartridge cases with him. “1 mixed a quantity of potassium nitrate, potassium chlorate sulphur, and charcoal together,” witness continued. He had bought the sulphur and nitrate from a chemist and the chlorate from a firm in Oueen Street. The charcoal was obtained from a fire they had had on Guy Fawke’s night. He had no idea how much of each chemical was required to make the gunpowder. When the gunpowder had been mixed the deceased held a cartridge case while witness filled it with powder through a paper funnel. Witness flattened the open end of the cartridge, after which deceased hammered the detonator end in order to bend the flattened end over to seal the cartridge securely.

“Deceased was hammering the cartridge on a slab of steel lying on a bench.” witness continued. “All of a sudden there was an oxnlosion. I was standing alongside Bruce when it occurred. Nothing happened to me, but something must have hit Bruce iv. the throat, because blood started U gusli out of a wound in his neck.* Witness and the deceas. . intended to take the cartridge case .all of gunpowder to an empty section near-by, lire and m 1 “ cartridge case in it. to see how big an Explosion it would make, he concluded.

Constable Dunean said all cartridge cases produced in Court had been previously discharged, and appeared to be of a type used by the American Armed Forces. Inquiries had failed to trace how they came to be in the deceased’s possession.’ The coroner returned a verdict that the cause of death was shock and hemorrhage from the severing of a main artcrv of the neck suffered while the deceased was experimenting with gunpowder.