AN INQUEST

Hokitika Guardian, 27 March 1933, Page 6

AN INQUEST

FATALITY AT CALLAGHANS

THE H)ISARING COMPLETED

The adjourned inquest on the body of Frederick (Maries Stoop whoce death, occurred oil the afternoon of March 3rd., in a- tunnel at the Callaghans Gold Mining Coy.’s claim at Callaghans, was resumed this morning i&t the' Magistrates’ Court before -Mr A. E. Benjamin, coroner. When the inqikst was called on March 3rd, Charles William Stoop gave evidence that he was a miner residing at Riniu, and at that time was a contractor working at tlie Callaghans Gold Mining Coy’s claim. He identified the bony as that of his son Frederick Charles Stoop, who would have been 20 years of age on March 16th. He was a single, man, and was workj iug at the claim for witness. Saw his son alive at 3.45 p.m. on the day of the accident. He was then in. his usual health. The inquest was then adjourned sine die, and was resumed to-day. Mr Murdoch appeared for Callaghans Gold Mining Coy. Ltd., Mr J. Hannan for Westland Power Ltd., and Mr geohle, Inspector of Mines, was also present. S'erot. King .represented the police. Charles'William Stoop continued.—• My son was working in the face 'and trucking on the day of the accident. My son used an iron truck in the main, drive. The body part was of steel and the trolly of wood and ran on iron rails. The tunnel w'.&s lighted with electric light. The permanent | lights were into the sump, and from the sump to the 'face, a distance of ISO feet was Hex. Bulks were connected to the flex. The flex was , fixed to* the wall of the drive by dogs and iron nails, and made as permanent as possible.. The loaded truck would he pushed by the trucker to the foot of the incline. The loaded truck would weight about 3 of a ton. It took a good push to move the . truck, using the two hands on the I truck. George Morris called to witness, * stating the truck was alive, and lie i switched off the lights for 'a second or j. two.' A few moments after went down i the tunnel and saw Morgan . and Hogarth' were! - working at his son. ! The lights were then on. There was no response from his son. His son was then : carried out to the surface..- ~ As far ah- witness knew his son was.;-,, then dead. -4

To Inspector Scoble. There were nine men working, three in a shift. •Preparations were made to put in a conduct from the sump to the jumpup a fortnight before, but this had not been effected.. ioT lii a blue reef tunnel the sleepers; work down' with the water : and the. truck sruntimes - sways across to .strike, the wall of the tunnel. .r.i Stephen Havill in his evidence said—1■ am an employee, of the Callaghans Gold Mining Gov., parrying on operations at' Callaghans. I knew the deceased, who was-a worker on the claim. On the-day—of the, accident the. de.cfhsed was •.engaged in trucking. He was a strong able bodied young man. At the end of an eight hour shift a. trucker working as hard a« tffe de■ppWied was- that day, would be fatigued. The deceased would be. outride the tunnel about one third of the day in the course of his .work.

Had not heard the deceased complain of illness when working,. Saw the deceased at noon who appeared as usual. On hearing of the accident sent for a doctor and went down to the tunnel where deceased was, with Morgan and Hogarth attempting to revive him. I go through the- tunnel regularly. Was ill the tunnel that morning about 11 o’clock.. The lights were on. The air wag as usual.

To InspectorjScoble. I am overseer of the working of the claim or virtually manager. They had been working with the electric light >ance the tunnel was ujtairted. .1 .sent notice to the Inspector of Mines of the installation of electric power in the tunnel, but not separately for lighting. The dogs- used were to support the flex.

Just before the accident preparations

' were made to extend the conduit. Elee- ■ trie light was used for convenience. The main tunnel was driven 250 feet. They started off from the first with •electric light'and the voltage was 230. Mr Stoop senr. had the contract for. working the mine. Had an improvised fan for the tunnel for improving the air and did not think there was ally black damp. Every morning J went into the face with a candle. Do not know who .substituted a fuse in the .switchboard. John Ba s il Page, saic!—l am a duly qualified medical practitioner .residing at Kumara. On the 3rd March received a message and event to Callaghans Gold Mining Company’s claim. There found Frederick Charles Stoop on the outside of the tunnel. One man was performing artificial respiration. <1 found that 'Stoop, had been dead for some little while. The body w. s still warm, the face' was grey | rather inclined to he bluish, his pupils were about half diluted, his fingers were half contracted. The backs 0 I j both hands and wrists were discoloured, j | practically a blue colour. Th e < ; nly j other mark wag png at the back of I i neck, just below the hair line. Do j not think that, had anything to do wiUi.j his death. It wu s not a burn mark, j more like a pressing mark. His body and clothe,? were , damp. I came ‘to the conclusion that he had been electrocuted and (hat, ho 'had been dead .for about half an hour or a little more. I am quite ,definite that the deceaseddid r_ot die 0 f asphyxiation. I have not . the slightest doubt that deceased was j electrocuted. His condition was con- f

iistentl with th e breathing of ' bad tiir but not sufficient • to cause death. Deceased was of quite good physique, <d a muscular type. 230 volts 0 f ..electricity would have fatal results under certain conditions. These conditions would 'he that deceased was practically wet, and the other th e length of time i n which the deceased \va s in contact with it. Fatigue would be a contributing factor, but not to the extent of other two reasons. To the Inspector; I do not think any., foul air at the time of the reception of the shock had any effect on the death of deceased; that lie did not breathe any. Working in foul air of 3.1 density would not be .good for anyone.

Frsak Morgan said—l am a shift bor,3 at' the “Callaghans Gold Mining Company’s claim ,at Callaghans. I . knew 'the deceased. At the time of the fatality he was a trucker underground. Witness was relieving the dece sed at 4 o’clock, the latter’s shift ■ being 8 to 4. A few minutes to four started to go down the tunnel. When at the top of t'h e tunnel heard the truck below moving. Continued on down the incline till I got to the truck. The lights were burning. The truck had stopped at the foot of the incline. It wa s loaded. Did not s ce any one there. Had to go between the truck and wall to, go past. I put one hand on the truck t 0 do so. I got a ] d’loek that nearly knocked me over. Saw th e flex was caught on corner of the truck on the right hind side ot the truck coming out. The flex was tight. Tol'd (Morris to 'go (and /turn the light off. When he did so I freed the flex. Waited till the light s c ame on agaiji. Then /went to pass the truck. It was free from electricity then. -After passing the truck, my foot struck something in the. shadow. It was the deceased °n the floor °f the tunnel. 'He was face downwards, stretched full out: Felt his heart j no movement, spoke to him ana got no answer. Then called out to Morris stating there had been an accident and to send for a doctor and the police. It was a minute after I heard the truck moving that I touched th e truck. Hogarth and Reedy came from the face and they attempted to revive the deceased, but had no result. The body wag then carried out to the top of the tunnel, when their efforts were continued until the arrival, of Dr Page, about half an hour after the accident. Trucking was hard work, but deceased was capable 0 f doing his work and showed no 'ill effects, from it. I was dry when I received the shock. Had "hot received a '.shock on thin truck tiefoi ; e,j but had received a couple of lighter shocks from the flex near the jump-up. I presumed the truck being “alive” was caftsed by the flex being

| on the truck. ; To the Inspector; Went down the dip without a light? Placed one hand on 'i'the;' -truck ;«,«<!••;g°t ■av shock, . tnq "other; hand. being.: cn • the wall of the tunnel.! -Had never noticed tnc flex caught -oil the teuck before. The truck was ’'abbut'W f e dt 6;- iftohe s - high,, end. 'the cable 10 indhes jabo.vt>_.tJtijit, and the i -roof a foot .highgr.trrWhe-iv-Jrgpt a buock "at the r iump-up it was caused by a bit ,of bare' ;;Did- not , report having* the shock. -.gAt -tinies the alr r tlieic •was bad/’ but light a candle. When' a ma^H‘^as‘stfttclt“£it"-'thhe.S it would fizzle away. William Hoggart-h said—l am a miner employed on; the Callaghans 'Gold Mining Company’s claim. Wa s at work on the afternoon of 3rd March at the face, th e deceased being trucking. Deceased left the face with ttm last load at about five minutes t 0 four. Saw him then;' He w»s in his usual health. Wa s at th e face when I heard a shout, and went, to the mouth of the tunnel.: There saw deceased on the ground behind the truck. There was no movement at all in deceased. I •attempted to restore deceased ;out without success, at the 'bottom of the

tunnel. The Inspector stated in all cases it was advisable to take the patient into the open air. ' Charles John King said—l am Sergeant of Police stationed at Hokitika. I took charge of the body of deceased about 6 p.m. on 3rd March and took it t 0 the morgue at Hokitika. The clothe,s wore saturated with water. Stripped the body. Found* a mark across the back, of the neck and also a small skin abrasion on the right hand side of th e r/os, a superficial scrape. There were no other marks or. the body. The finger's of both hands were half contracted- I was called t u the winch room at) the claim on March 4Hi by M,r 'Sampson and was there shown a piece of copper wire of the ordinary fus e that had been substituted for -the regulation fuse in the fuse holder. I have been unabl e to ascertain who substituted that copper wire or when, it

was done. Edward Johm Seob’c said —I am a duly appointed Inspector of Mines for the district. On March 4th about 2 tb 3 p.m. visited the scene of the fatality. Certain • tests were carried out by Messrs Langford and -Sampson. Both expressed satisfaction at the results. Examined the cab! e that bad fouled the truck and with- Mes s vs ■'.Uihgford and Sampson found a slight puncture in. game. This evidently allowed contact to take -place between the copper wire and the truck. The puncture had- • practically closed up at the time of thp inspection and a tn'r amount of force had to be used to open it. As a result of the examination Mr Sampson and I came t 0 the conclusion that a small current- only had paused •through the lighting cable, in '.fact

sa small that it does mot appear as if it would have blown the ordinary lighting circuit fuse. I examined the pump and found that machine was sufficiently earthed'. The presence of carbon dioxide wais' noted ' liy me at the time. ' This was at the place where the deceased was found. A sample of the air in this locality ; was taken by myself and an analysis 'at the Dominion Laboratory gave the following result:—Carbon, dioxide C. 0.2, 3.10% ; oxygen 0.2, 17.04% ; carbon monoxide •C.o. nil; sulphuretted hydrogen H. 5.2, nil; nitrogen and inert gasses '(by diff.), 78.86%. Total lOC .00. There were no men working in the mine when the sample of air was taken. The section of damaged cable flex was removed in my presence and was taken charge of by Mr Sampson, Engineer of the Public Works Department, who also took the fuse and fuse holder. THE VERDICT 1 . The Coroner returned' the following verdict: —That Frederick Charles Stoop came to his death in a tunnel at Callaghans Gold Mining Cby.’s claim on March 3rd., 1933, by electrocution, as the result of coming; in contact with the electric power used for lighting the tunnel, through a truck he was pushing, when an electric (lex wa,s' punctured.