THE ACCIDENT ON BOARD THE BLACKWALL.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1257, 9 August 1872, Page 2

THE ACCIDENT ON BOARD THE BLACKWALL.

fLYTTKLTON TIMES.] Abont eight o'clock on Saturday morning last, ' great consternation was caused in Kaiapoi by the report that two men had Wn suffocated in the cabin of one of the vessels then lying in the river. A general rush was made to the river, and on arriving on board the ketch Blackball, the stern fact; was soon realised that the report of the melancholy occurrence was only too true. The captain and owner of the vessel, Mr E 'ward Balaton, was found dead in his bed, and William Hunt, mate, the only other occupant of the cabin, just showed signs of life. Upon investigation, the cause of the suffocation was easily traced ; it was as follows :— On Friday last, the captain had the hold of the vessel washed out prior to loading her for the outward trip, and with a view to drying up the moisture as expeditiouslv as possible he had lighted a fire in an njA t.ii tin, mail r ln«a»t-Ujo_i3»n voagpj'o hold. lne fuel used was Grey River coal. Towards evening the fire appealed to have burned itself out, and the hatches were put on. Shortly afterwards the men employed in /working the vessel, including the master, mate, and a seamon named T. Pepper, went ashore, and the latter, who is aman residing at Kaiopoi, went home, whilst the other two went t» the Kaiapoi Hotel, where they re- ■ mained till about 11.30 p.m. They then went on board, and retired to bed in the cabin, after having previously closed the hatch to within a space of about three inches. ■Before "turning in" they must have observed the smell which arose from the carbonic acid gas, and sulphur emitted from the fire in the hold, and communicated to the cabin through the openings in the partition ; • : but the only possible assumption is, that toey were ignorant of the deadly effects likely to bo produced by inhaling the poisonous gases. About 7.40 a.m., on Saturday, the seaman, T. Pepper, went on board to his work as usual, and he was rather surprised to find that neither the captain nor the mate were on desk. Thinking that they had overslept themselves, he opened the hatch and went down into the cabin, but he was horror-stricken at the spectacle which presented itself to him; when laying his hands upon the captain, he found him quite dead. The mate, although breathing with great difficulty, appeared to be sound asleep, and the seaman immediately ran on deck and called for assistance. The men at work upon the other craft promptly responded to the call, and both bodies were carried out of the cabin and laid on the deck. A messenger was despatched for Dr Trevor, who arrived in due course, but Mr Pinching, chemist, was among the first upon the scene, and he rendered valuable assistance to the survivor of the two, William Hunt. On the arrival of the doctor, the unfortunate master of the vessel was pronounced to be beyond the power of human skill, and the whole of the doctor's attention was directed to the mate, who only at intervals showed signs of life. Bleeding, and the other modes of medical treatment in such cases, were instantly resorted to, and the patient was then carried to the Kaiapoi Hotel on a stretcher. He did not show any signs of recovery, and Dr Trevor considered it necessary to call in another medical opinion. Dr Dudley arrived, and he in connection with Dr Trevor and Mr Pinching, watched the patient very attentively during the day. Towards evening a special messenger was despatched to Christchurch for Dr Campbell, who arrived at Kaiapoi about 9 p.m., but some hoars previous to his arrival the patient had to some extent recovered consciousness, and exhibited symptoms of recovery. He had considerably improved last evening, and though not altogether out of danger, the medical gentlemen were very sanguine that he would recover. A subscription list was opened in the hotel, on Saturday evening, to cover the expenses of medical attendance upon' the patient, and upwards of Ll3 was subscribed in a few hours. While the captain and mate of the Blackwall were at the Kaiapoi Hotel, on Friday evening last, the former had been, telling the captain of another vessel that he had that day lighted a coal fire in the hold, of his vessel. The captain thus addressed, cautioned Captain Balaton not to close tie hatches when he went to bed, and told him that two mates of his in Australia had been suffocated by the smoke which had been confined in the vessel after it had been fumigated. The fatal occurrence has cast quite a gloom over Kaiapoi, and on Saturday last the flags on the vessels in the river, ami the principal ■tores in the town, were half-masted, the deceased heinggreatiy respected and esteemed by his fellow seafaring men. Captain Balaton was a married man, and his wife and family are at present living at the Boiler, on the WertCoast,