TE RORE SENSATION.

Waikato Times, Volume 99, Issue 16335, 25 February 1925, Page 8

TE RORE SENSATION.

MR HENDRICKSON'S DEATH EVIDENCE AT THE INQUEST. ACCIDENTAL DEATH. The inquest on the death of the late Mr Llewellyn EavOld Henrickson was held at the residence on Tuesday before Mr S. H. Dunkley, J-P-. Coroner, and a jury of four, headed by Mr W. J. Alcock, foreman. Mr H. Swarbnck appeared on behalf of the Te Awamutu Electric Power Board, and Constable Doyle on behalf of the police. The evidence was as follows: — Sarah Elsie Henrickson deposed: "I am the wife of the deceased Llewellyn Eavold Henrickson. Deceased was 33 years of age. At about 8 a.m. on February 23, 1025, my husband was removing his cows from a paddock near the house to one on the other side of the Te Rore Road. I noticed some confusion among the cows; some appeared to be running up and down the road, and one cow appeared to be down on the road fence. I went over to the spot and I noticed my husband lying on his back under the wire fence. I went to his assistance and found when I lifted him up that he was dead. I was then under the impression that the bull had attacked him. When I picked him up I did not notice he had burn marks on his face and hand. The body was right under the wire fence, but I cannot say if the body was actually in contact with the wire. I noticed a cow lying dead in the fence a few yards away. I called for assistance, and William McKinnon and Herbert John Goxhead came to my aid. I did not have the slightest suspicion that the electric wires were broken overhead, and that electrocution was the cause of the accident until I saw a man named John Carruthers attempt to get through the fence from the paddock on -to the road, and he received a shock which caused him serious injury- Deceased was a returned wounded soldier. He was in bad health for some time after his return, but was in good health at the time he met with the accident which caused his death." Medical Evidence.

George Joseph Hall said: "I am a duly qualified medical practitioner at Te Awamutu. In response to a telephone message received about 8.10 a.m. on February 23, I hurried to Te Rore, arriving there about 8.40 a.m. I found the body of deceased on a sofa at his wife's home. I examined the body and found that death' had taken place at least half an hour earlier. The index finger of the left hand and the. right side of the neck bore marks of recent burning. The marks would indicate that deceased hud received a double contact with electrically charged wires and death would be instantaneous. Death was due to electrocution. I have known deceased for six or seven years. He was not of robust health. The fact that deceased was not of robust health would not contribute towards his death, as the burn marks on his face and hand clearly indicated that he was electrocuted, and the voltage was so strong that death would ensue to any person coming in contact with the fence wires in the manner the deceased had done."

Frank Patrick Meyer deposed: "I am electrical foreman in the employ of the Te Awamutu Electrical Power Board. I arrived at Te Rore about 10 a.m. on February 23, 1925. I .went there in response to 'a call that the wires had fused and a man had been killed. On arrival I made a thorough examination of the Te Rore electrical system on the road frontages of Ilenrlckson's properly. I found the centre and inside phase wires broken on the front of Henrickson's farm. The defect took place at a spot 26 yards from the second pole from the deceased's gate entrance. Immediately under the broken wires was the dead body of a bird known as the "Bittern." In company with Constable Doyle we examined the bird and found that one leg was completely burned off and was lying alongside the body. This in my opinion was caused by the bird flying into the wires and causing contact between the two phase wires. The wires would burn through and fail down, and in doing so came in contact with the wire fence dividing deceased's property from the Te Rore Road. The fence consisted of posts and barb and plain wire. One end of the live centre wire falling across the top wire of the fence, which is barb wire, and not having uirect connection to earth, would not allow the circuit brake on this circuit to disengage. The effect of this would electrify the fence. Fence Electrified. The top and bottom wires of the fence would be charged by broken electric wire and probably the other fence wires would be charged. Anything, or any live person coming in contact with the electrically charged wire fence and the ground would receive a shock of sufficient voltage to cause immediate death. The fence .was electrically charged for a distance of ahout 300 yards, and portions of the posts and grass showed signs of burning as a result. I saw the spot where deceased met his death. It was nine yards from the gate entrance to the farm. Twenty-six yards away on the fence was a dead cow with severe burn marks on the neck. The dead cow .was in the paddock, but on the road immediately outside the fence vyas a dead dog, and at the other extreme end of the electrically charged fence on the roadside was a dead horse, all due to electrocution. Had the broken electric wires fallen to the earth instead of the fence they would be immediately cut out and become harmless, but in fact the wires fell upon the fencing wire, the posts acted as an insulation against conducting current to ear,th. The circuit at Te Rore is controlled automatically from Paterangi sub-station. The fact that the live wire had come in contact with the fence prevented the automatic brake to act. Te Awamutu main sub-station was not aware that a break in the wires at Te Rore had occurred until we received a telephone message to that effect at about 8.30 a.m. on February 23. A man was immediately dispatched to attend to the matter. At this time no notification that a death had taken place had been received. Had we known that a deatli had occurred in the manner deceased met his death, we would immediately have disconnected the whole power system. I have no doubt that the bird (bittern) in its flight into the wires caused the wires to connect and burn. On three previous occasions similar birds by flying into the wires have caused the points of supply to disconnect from a similarly automatically controlled oil switch to the Te Rore one. That happened at Te Rahu and Ohaupo road in the Te Awamutu district. I find on further examination that the distance from deceased's gate entrance to the other extreme end of the electrified fence is not 300 yards. It would be about 230 yards. Where the horse was killed was due to a return through the transformer opposite Mr Garrett's house, a further 300 yards away. There was a break in the fence be-

tween where the horse was killed and where the dead bird was found. I 'examined the electrical system at Paterangi sub-station from where Te Rore is controlled. I did this in company with the Public Works electrical engineer from Hamilton. I failed to find any defect in this system that could have led to the accident, apart from the bird, the bittern. The bittern was the sole cause of the accident. The examination took place on February 23, 1925, after the accident. It was about 3 p.m." By the Coroner: When there is a break in the wires both ends of the fence would bo alive.

Corroborative evidence was given by William McKinnon, Herbert John Coxhead and Constable Doyle. The Coroner pointed out that he thought the Power Boards should print leaflets pointing out what would happen if a break occurs, as in this case Mrs Henrickson and also Messrs. Coxhead and Carruthers might very easily hata been killed. He thought if the Boards annually distributed such leaflets to their consumers it might help to eliminate such cases in the future.

The jury found as follows: "That the deceased met his death by accidentally coming in contact with the fence wires that were electrified by the main line being broken by a bittern flying into it."