ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1025, 14 January 1911, Page 6

ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES.

ELECTROCUTED. SAD FATE OF A DUNEDIN HARBOUR BOARD EMPLOYEE. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) Dunotfin, January 13. John Burns, employed by the Harbour Board 011 the suction dredgo*, Vulcan, was electrocuted about a quarter past oight this morning. ( The fatality seems to have occurred very simply. Dcceascd and another workman named William Dowcll were engaged repairing a joint in tho line of pipes which convcys the spoil from the dredge to the dumping area. One of the pontoons near tho end of Victoria Wharf had been shifted by tho action of the rough weather, and a joint of tho pipes had been wrenched open. The men were proceeding to repair the joint, and wc-ro erecting a block and tackle. One end of the tacklo had been attached to the pipes, and tho other was to be fixed to a derrick which rested on a pontoon and stood w r ith its top above three wires which convey 3000 volts of electricity to the dredge. Burns mounted tho derrick to fasten the tackle block, whilst Dowell remained underneath. After a moment or so. Dowell called out to Burns asking if he required a hand. There was no reply. The unfortunate man was lying across the wires, apparently dead, smoko issuing from his clothes. Dowell called to tho dredgemen stating that something was wrong with Burns, and asking them to ' turn off the power. The dredge-master, William Reeves, immediately came ashore a distance of some eighty yards and shut off tho power. After the power was off, deceased was taken down. Dr. Evans was promptly on tho spot, ■ and after examination, gavo it as his opinion that death must have .been instantaneous. From tho fact that deceased's left hand and' one of his thighs were badly burned, it would seem" as if he had caught the wire with his hand and then thrown his leg across the wires.. Another version is that Burns stepped on the wires. Deceased made no outcry whatever. Deceased, .who .was twenty-nino years of age, and who had been employed by the Harbour Board, for the last two years, leaves a w r ife and three young children.

■. BURNED TO DEATH. FATHER AND TOO CHILDREN

. . PERISH. Invercargill,' January 13. A sad burning fatality _ occurred at Jlenzies' Ferry , this morning, a small dairy farmer named Edward Sainsbury and two children, one an infant and tho other about two years'old, being the victims. Sainsbury and his wife left tha house at an early hour to■ milk' the cows in the shod a hundred yards away. About an hour afterwards the' house was seen to be on fire. The father hastened to .rescue the'children, and entered a window. Hewas not seen afterwards. The building and furniture were destroyed, and tho charred bodies of the father and children were found in the debris: Sainsbury, who _ was thirty years of age, had been farming at Menzies' Ferry for seven years, and came from the Lakes district, where his widow's relatives are.said.to reside. . Gore, January 13. When Mr. and Mrs. Sainsbury left the house they had given instructions to .their,(adopted . son to start the 'fire in; the-stove and then follow to assist with J the cows, the two children—a boy-agcdifounyears .and a girl eighteen months old—being asleep. When the house was seen in flames. Sainsbury rushed in, and the wife also attempted to enter, by a side window,, but wasbeaten back by. smoke and flames. 1 Tho cottage was' levelled to "the - 1 ground in an incredibly short time, and the bodies were burnt beyond recognition. . FREEZING WORKS FATALITY. Ashburton, January 13. The' adjourned inquest on Walter Edward! Jones, ' wlio was fatally injured at the Fairfield freezing works on December 23 through falling down an open chute, was concluded to-day. The 'Coroner,.Mr.-V. G. Day, S.M., brought" in a verdict that, deceased died from a fracture of. the. base of the skull accidentally received.