BIG EARTHFALL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 836, 7 June 1910, Page 5

BIG EARTHFALL.

ACCIDENT AT MIRAMAR CUTTING. TWO MEN ENTOMBED. ONE FREED: BADLY INJURED. WORK OF RESCUE PROCEEDS ALL NIGHT. About half-past three yesterday afternoon a mass of earth suddenly and without tho slightest warning came down upon the- heads of two men who were working in the drivo at the Miramar cutting, and completely entombed one of them. Tht! men—John A. Wilson, 3(i years of age, of G9a 'i'asman Street, and James Phillips, of Onepu Road, Kilbirnie—had just gono into the drive after a "shot" had been fired by another of the men, James Reile. This shot brought down a muss of earth, and Wilson and Phillips had no soouer entered the x drive when a second mass, weighing several hundred tons, came hurtling down from the side of the cutting, and buried both of them.

Strenuous efforts were instantly made by a gang of willing workers to get the unfortunate men out, but it was not till after 8 o'clock that they were able to rescue Wilson from his perilous predicament. He was severely injured about the legs and body, and was immediately conveyed to the hospital, after examination by Dr. Cameron, who had been summoned to tho scene of the accident. Meanwhile, the rescuers redoubled their efforts to get at Phillips, who was in a much more serious plight. The work of the rescuers was hampered in the evening by the darkness, but lamps wove soon brought to the spot, and more system prevailed. By nine o'clock a considerable quantity of the fall had' been removed from the vicinity of tho accident, but there was still no sign of Phillips, who was then,, it was surmiWd, under eight or nine feet of earth. Both men arc labourers. Wilson is a married man with two children, and Ihillips is also married. *

AT THE SCENE OF THE MISHAP,

SECOND HAN NOT EECOVERED. At eleven o'clock last night the contractors, Messrs. Sanders Bros., had aa many men as could work in the cutting engaged in an endeavour to free the unfortunate man Phillips. About twenty men were plying their shovels with feverish energy m the hope that their comrade might still be living, but the watchers gave little hope of such a glad terminavi OU ?L, e lilbm,r *> seeing that something like 500 tons of earth had come down off the nearly vertical face of the hill. Some, ot the pieces of rock were huge unwieldy masses, which one man could not. move, and consequently the work of the rescuers was slow.

It was a cheerless sight that met the eye of a visitor to the sceue of the accident. The toilers worked by the light of flares, and a mournful group of a dozen or more watchers stood on a. high promenade of rock above the spot where Phillips was supposed to be buried. The fall of earth, which is somewhat similar to the fall which occurred on the same contract a few weeks ago, occurred about thirty yards in from the Kilbirnie side of the cutting, and gavu absolutely no warning. As stated above, a shot had just been fired in the drive, which is now half-way through the cutting, and after the'customary few minuies?had been allowed to elapse after the shot went off, Wilson and Phillips went' into the drive to resume work. i -

Just when they had got in, about 500 tons of earth on the southern side of the cutting fell. Phillips, .who was further, up tho drive than his comrade, was completely buried in the mass of rook and clay, but Wilson was only partially buried. Michael Thompson, Thos. Brown, and Geo. Garrett -were also in the drive at the time of the accident, but fortu-_ nately they were not in the immediate' vicinity of the fall of earth.

The shot was tired at 3 p.m. under the supervision of Mr. K. Sanders, one of the contractors. Wilson was extricated at 8.45 p.m., and was attended to by Dr. Cameron and Nurse Everett before he was removed to the hospital. WILSON'S INJURIES. When Wilson was admitted to th« hospital it was found that ho was suffering from a compound fracture of one of his icga and severe about the body. How serious the injuries are likely to prove was not known at midnight.

A PREVIOUS ACCIDENT. Once before has the Miramar Cutting given evidence of the treacherous nature of the hill-banks on either side. I On the morning of May 2 last a heavy mnss of earth—about 1000 tons—came down upon threo men, who had a miraculous escape. One of them sustained concussion of the brain and was injured internally. A trench had been cut to the new level about half-way through the cutting to admit a number of trucks,, which are filled from shoots from the bank on the south side. The men mentioned were working in the truck trench, when a warning was shouted from above that ground above was opening out as a result of a "shot" fired the first thing the previous morning, but before the men below scrambled from the trench_ up to the old level of the road, a section of earth—mostly rotten rook—crashed down into the trench. When alarmed of their perilous position,, the men had rushed towards the Evans Bay entrance of the cutting, but one of them, a man named Porter, was caught by the heavy weight of earth and pinned by some timber, and in that position ho was struck severely on the head and considerably bruised and knocked about. The others found sanctuary in a corner which gave them a certain measure of protection, and prevented serious injury. Theirs was a most providential escape.

THE LATEST. At 2 a.m. no trace had been found of James Phillips. The rescuers were still at work.