CAUGHT IN THE COILS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 973, 14 November 1910, Page 6

CAUGHT IN THE COILS.

SHOCKING ACCIDENT ON THE GLASGOW WHARF.

STEVEDORE'S DEATH

KILLED BY A REVf CAPSTAN.

At about 4.30 p.m. on Saturday the .Glasgow, W'h'arf was the scene of a shock- . ing accident, in which . a man . named ■John P. Baillie, employed by the New Zealand Shipping Company as foreman 6tevedore, met his death under most distressing circumstances. At that time the Buahine was being loaded with frozen meat and general cargo for Home, and :fi'ye large "V" wagons, in which the ■frozen meat is brought alongside tho vessel, had to be shifted. The GlasgowWharf is equipped with several capstans, driven by hydraulic power, atcouvenient distances, for this purpose, and (Baillie, it is said, was told to move these trucks. A man named,P. Euddy was assisting him, and had. attached a rope to the' trucks, .while the deceased was to work the capstan. Baillie had taken a turn w;ith the rope round the capstan, and had started the machine in the usual manner for tho purpose of taking in the slack of the rope before getting the full strain upon it. 1 Jit is not quite, clear how the accident happened, but the unfortunate man got his left leg caught in tho rope, and,.be* fore he could- release, it, he: was dragged tight into the capstan and held as in a. vice by the tautened line. Realising his dreadful plight, Baillie called out to his mato Euddy, "Cut the Tope!". Euddy-heard the call, saw the man's plight, and at once ran to the rope, some twenty-five yards away, and cut it through. Unfortunately this ready action did little good, as-the capstan was still revolving rapidly, and whirling the man Ironnd with it, and inflicting terrible injuries. .Mr. Neilson, the engineer in charge of the station at the time, who happened to be looking from a window, heard someone call out: "We can't stop the capstan!" Seeing that something untoward had happened, he leaped for the stopvalve wheel and -stopped the engines. It was some four or five minutes before the pressure had become sufficiently reduced tn the pipes to stop the capstan. Death must have been instantaneous,, and eyewitnesses state that the unfortunate man B-as 'literally torn to'.pieces..

Work on board the Kuahine was stopped for the day, and flags were flown at half-mast. '. ' .

Mr. Baillie was a married man, living it 285-Adelaide" Koad, and has been in the New Zealand Shipping Company's employ for over 20 years. Previous to that: lie was employed on various coastal sailing vessels' trading out of He was about 56 years of age, and leaves a wife and grown-up family of two sons and two daughters. He was well known and liked by all his comrades on the wharves, one and all expressing deep sorrow for his death and sympathy for his, relatives. ,' ' THE INQUEST. HOW THE ACCIDENT HAPPENED. VERDICT OF ACCIDENTAL DEATH. The Coroner, Dr. A. M'Arthur,' S.il.', held an inquest at the morgue yesterday afternoon concerning the circumstances surrounding the accident.. Sub-Inspector Norwood represented the police, Mr. E. J. Fitzgibbon watched the proceedings on. behalf of the relatives of the deceased, Mr. : M. Myers on behalf of the New Zealand Shipping Company, and Mr. C. H. Izard on behalf of the Wellington Harbour Board.

Patrick Ru3dy, wharf labourer, residing at Tennyson Street, stated that he had.known deceased for several., years. Witness and deceased were in the employ of the New Zealand-Shipping Company, and they had been engaged together on jobs ;on Saturday afternoon. After 4 p.m., they were preparing to haul some trucks, witness placing the rone on ( tho truck and deceased fixing the other end on to the capstan. They had instructions from Mr. Jellie, stevedore, to shunt the trucks over'the crossing. After the rope was attached to the capstan, witness was walking towards the deceased, and when about 25 yards away he saw deceased being whirled round the capstan, and he shouted out to witness: "Cat the rope." Witness.did so, but deceased still continued to be whirled round, because the water could not be shut off. The capstan was worked .by hydraulic pressure.,. There was a pin or pressure bulb which regulated the pressure of the water. This pin was so placed in the wharf as to be worked with the foot. In ,the ordinary course, . when the- foot was. removed it should spring back into place, and automatically shut off pressure. On Saturday it:jammed. Witness could not get at it while deceased was being whirled round. A Harbour Board °?°ii arrived and ttt «n the capstan shortly after, ceased revolving, pressure having ■ apparently been cut off at. the power house. Baillie was freed; but he was then dead. The pin when examined was below the level.of the wharf. To Mr. Myers: Witness said as far as he was aware, the capstan was part of the Harbour Board equipment, not the JNewj Zealand .Shipping Company. . «. ?■ J£ r - Fi tzgibbon: It was his opinion that the pm could not have been working properly. It was examined immediately after the accident and found' to bo below the level of the wharf. ■ Re-examined'' by ' Sub-Inspector Norwood: Witness said he was of opinion that deceased's legs had become entangled first. He. did not notice, exactly' how the rope had coiled round the body. Deceased must have been whirled round for four or five minutes. ■'.''" -James Gregory, chief wool clerk in the employ of. the Harbour Board, said he was walking from the Railway Wharf to the Glasgow Wharf at the timo of the occurrence, when ho was asked by someone if he could stop the crane on Glasgow Wharf revolving. Witness discovered it was the capstan that was revolving, and rushed to the power-house to get pressure .turned off. .When witness got back to the capstan deceased was still being "whirled round, and one of the Harbour Board men, Mncaulay, was in the act of cutting oft" the water. When the capstan ceased revolving, witness cut the ropes which held deceased and removed the body. Immediately after this witness examined the iron plate through which the pin or pressure bulb works, and found the lover jammed..This was due in witness's opinion to exces-' sive pressure in working the bulb. If the bulb had been worked with the ball of the foot it would not have gone bellow the'level of the wharf. ' ■

To Mr. Izard: He formed the opinion that .deceased had accidentally got his foot inside the first coil round the capstan, and had it drawn tight before he realised it. This would probably throw him, and in.trying to get his leg free his hand had probably become entangled. The pin or pressure bulb had probably been pressed down with the heel of the foot and not the ball of the foot. t That would account for it being beloiv the level of the wharf.

Constable Cox gave evidence as to being summoned to the sceno of the accident, and finding the body in one of the shipping company's sheds. Witness described the nature of the injuries.

Norman Macaulay, crane attendant at' Glasgow Wharf, in the employ of the Harbour Board, said he examined and tested all the hydraulic gear on Saturday morning. This capstan was working satisfactorily. At the time of the accident, witness was looking at tho fires in the ,power-house. He heard of tho accident, and rushed to the scene. Finding it impossible to get near the pressure bulb ho went to turn off the water at another place. Before he succeeded in doing this the capstan slowed down, as power had been shut off at tho power-house.

In answer to Mr. Myers, witness said it was quite proper for deceased or any membsr of a private firm to work thocapstan without the attendance of a Harbour Board official. When a company was, paying for the use of tho cranes they had free use of the capstan. When they were not using the cranes they paid a special fee for the capstan. The Coroner said that it was evident from what the witnesses had said that the valve had been pushed too far, and got below its usual level and jammed. .The evidence also pointed to deceased's foot being first entangled, probably in the first coil of the rope, and then a few turns later his hand. A verdict, of accidental death was returned.