MIRAMAR FATALITY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 838, 9 June 1910, Page 2

MIRAMAR FATALITY.

-* . INQUIRY INTO THE ACCIDENT. INQUEST ADJOURNED. An inquiry was held at the Morgue yesterday afternoon, before Mr,: W. R. Hasekleu, S.M., coroner, into the circumstances surrounding the landslide at the Jliramar Cutting on Monday, which resulted in the death of a labourer named James Phillips, and tho injury of another labourer named John Wilson, who is at present laid up in tho hospital with it fractured leg and other injuries.

Mr. Mentoath appeared for the contractors, Messrs. Sanders "Bros., Mr. O'Eegan appeared for the widow of deceased, Mr. J. Reardbn watched the inquiry on behalf of the General Labourers' Union, and Messrs. C. H. Izard and Jas. Mafchbanks on behalf of tho Harbour Board. Station-Sergeant Darby represented the police.

Robert Sanders, of the firm of Sanders Bros., contractors for the Miramar Cutting, stated that deceased had been employed by the firm for about 21 months, and had held tho position of foreman of the excavating for about a month. Deceased was a married man, 42 years of age. He had to superintend the excavations, and order what material ha wanted, engage or dismiss workmen, etc. Witness spent most of his time on the job, knowing that it was treacherous work, and ho always consulted with deceased, regarding blasting operations, etc. The blasting, etc., was under tho control of deceased. Deceased was a competent man, and had the entire confidence of .his men and of witness. Witness had been told by Phillips that he had been in charge of the Seatoun Tunnel contract, arid .had done the timbering in tho Kilbirnie Tunnel. He had also worked for the .Waihi Gold Mining Co. Witness was present when the. "shot" was' 1 fired in the cutting on Monday afternoon. After the "shot"' deceased went towards the face to examine the ground. On 'his return Phillips said, in reply to a question, that the drive was as "safe as a house," and ho then went right into the drive again, underneath where the fall came down. After about 10 or 15 minutes the slip occurred, falling on the timber of the drive, pushing in tho sides and top, and entombing deceased and a man named John Wilson. Tho slip had begun at the toe of the timbering, and had gone up 59 feet. There was what was known as a "greasy back." This portion of the cutting, had not been examined previous to the firing of the "shot." The timber nsed in the drive was 8 by 8 . white pine. The planks on top of the drive were about 2| inches thick. White pine. was the class of timber usually used in such a job. Phillips had ordered it and witness supplied it. A "powder man" was kept on the look-out all the time. Witness did not .know that he had been on the look-out at the time this particular slip came down. After a "shot" was fired the foreman used his discretion as to when the men should resume work. ■To Mr. O'Regan: He thought the system of working adopted by the foreman was quite safe. The cutting was commenced from the top and worked down by "benches." Bound timber in place of sawn timber in the drive would have made no difference in this case. To Mr. Rcardon: His idea was that the "breakaway" was from the toe. This did not indicate to him that there were not enough "legs" in the drive. Solid uprights all the way along would not have prevented the accident. Witness had not had any previous experience in 6uch a, heavy cutting. Ho was a'builder by trade. Phillips was in entire control of the> job.' There was an accident at the cutting a month 'before. There had been a serious difference of opinion between witness and the previous foreman as to the way they were working, and a slip occurred as witness had predicted to tha foreman. The previous foreman had wanted to excavate from the bottom instead of the .top and witness considered the former method dangerous. A change •had been made in the foremanship after the first slip, Phillip's being put in charge. The trucks, carried about four yards of metal. He did not|know that the trucks were twice the'' size' of the. usual ■ tunnel : trucks, nor did he think smaller trucks would be safer. •

Mr. Reardon: In spite of the two accidents that have oceurredj are you still unconvinced that this place is a deathtrap?

Witness: No, I am hot convinced. Phillips.was a timberman and was employed as such. He said he did not want' gardeners on the job and also said he would do .the timbering himself. After the dispute an alteration was made in the mode, of working, the chutes being done away with and a system known as the "Chinaman" system adopted. Phillips was a practical man and he had witness's entire confidence. ,Wer» you aware the men were talking because they were expected to go back too quickly after a shot, was fired ? —They were not expected to go back after a shot until it was quite safe. ' To the Coroner: Everything, possible was done to rescue the man after the slip. Witness remained oh' the scene for 21 hours on end after the accident. Wilson was recovered alive at 8 p.m. on Monday. The body of Phillips was recovered a little after 3 p.m. on Tuesday. . To Mr. Mciiteath: He never had occasion to interfere with any proposals Phillips had uiado in.regard to carrying out the work. Cameron, who was present when Phillips's body was recovered, said the man's head was severely injured and his neck was probably broken. The injury to. the skull alone was sufficient to cause death, which .must have been instantaneous. Tho man's chest w'as also crushed. Edward Thompson, labourer, Miramar, employed at the cutting, that ho was working filling trucks on tho "Chinaman" chute, together with a man named Cavonagh, . after the , shot - was fired.' Suddenly Cavanagh said he. did not" like the look, of things, as there was a "shelve." They went on working, and witness then noticed a number of small stones coming down the face on to his back. About • half-way up the face ho saw a big stone coming out. He called out to a man named Jas. Reille, the powder man, that "she was dribbling," and almost immediately' a big rock fell. Just then, seeing the position of affairs, Cavanagh gave a warning to the men. Witness had been on the job since it started. He had never had cause to be afraid before. It was > treacherous ground at the best,- and they always had to keep their eyes open. The "Chinaman" method of .working was an improvement on the chutes used before Phillips took charge.- Deceased was a capable and careful man. Phillips went up the face and examined the work after the shot. It was a thing he had never done before, and witness could-'not say why he did it.

lo Mr. O'Regan: The accident ..occurred because- of the way the pressure came, and not because of the weakness of the timbers. Iron would not have held against tlio pressure. It was the "slide" pusliing the timber out ' that caused the accident. He did not blame anyone' for the accident.

At this stage the Coroner suggested that an adjournment might be advisable. • Mr. Koardon suggested that it might be better if the Coroner saw the scene of the accident, and Mr. O'Regan agreed to this suggestion. The Coroner did not think this was altogether necessary. He had had a good deal of experience in this class of work, having been stationed in a mining district for some time.

Mr. Rei'.rdon said that the point ho had been trying to make was that tlio cutting away from the "toe" may.have involved unnecessary risk. In reply to a question by Mr. Mcnteath, Mr. Rcardon said he 'trusted that there would be sufficient information forthcoming from the inquiry to prevent a repetition of such an accident in the. future.

Mr. Haselden said that unless' thero was any objection ho proposed to adjourn the inquiry until 2.15 p.m. on Friday.

Station-Sergeant Darby said he had three more witnesses to call, and they would probably occupy about two hours.

It was eventually decided to adjourn until Friday afternoon, when the inquiry will be resumed at the S.M. Courthouse.

Later in .the afternoon the Coroner took, the opportunity of visiting, the scent of the accident.