SHOCKING ACCIDENT AT THE GREYMOUTH QUARRY.

Kumara Times, Issue 1747, 6 May 1882, Page 2

SHOCKING ACCIDENT AT THE GREYMOUTH QUARRY.

[GREY RIVER ARGUS.]

A terrible accident occurred at the quarry yesterday afternoon, by which two men were seriously if not fatally injured. The circumstances of the distressing affair, as picked up amongst those who were close by, are something as follow :—About half-past two, as Patrick Fogarty and Richard Owens were at work in the lower quarry at a lofty and very steep face, a large flake of stone that had bee,n cracked by some previous blast, scaled off without warning and fell upon the two men at work below it. When their fellow workmen, who saw that something unusual had occurred, ran to the spot, a pitiable sight met their eyes. A piece of stone had struck Owen on the left arm, near the elbow, and cut it in two, leaving a ragged and unsightly wound. The poor fellow received other injuries, but the nature of these could not well be ascertained then. Fogarty looked to be severely injured about the head and face. He has a dangerous looking cut on his head, basides showing a number of other contusions. The alarm was soon given and messengers hurried away for medical aid, and it was not long before all the medical men in the town were on the spot. The poor sufferers had in the meantime been removed from the quarry to the engine shed. As there was some fear that Fogarty was fatally injured and might not long survive, Father M‘G inness was sent for, and was promptly in attendance. In the meantime the bleeding stump of Owen’s arm was attended to in a temporary way until he could be taken to the Hospital. Fogarty’s injuries though very serious could not well be ascertained nor anything done to alleviate his suffering until he was removed to the Hospital also. With as little delay as possible a railway car was brought up, the injured men placed inside and taken off to the Hospital as fast as the engine could take them. Both men appeared to he suffering great agony, as their moaning was piteous to hear. Both men are married. Fogarty, we believe, has a wife and family of 4 or 5 childred, and Owens a wife and two children. They are both old quarry hands, and being industrious and intelligent workmen, were regarded as superior workmen who could be always safely entrusted with responsible duties. The latest that could he ascertained last night as to the condition of the two was that no hope was entertained of Owens’ recovery. It appears that the blow he received on the side of the head was much more serious than was at first thought. The brain appeared to have been violently excited, as from the time he received the hurt until being attended to at the Hospital, he was raving about the work in the quarry the whole time. Fogarty, it appears, after being taken to the Hospital, exhibited more favorable symptoms, and hopes are entertained that his injuries may not prove to be as serious as was supposed. Since the above was written, we have been kindly furnished by Mr G rdon with the following particulars, which of course are absolutely correct Two men, Richard Owen and Patrick Fogarty, got very badly hurt yesterday afternoon in the lower quarry. They are the two leading men for conducting the blasting operations in this quarry, and it was their province to charge all the holes with whatever explosive was intended to be used, and to clear away the, stone loosened by the blasts, and make the benches ready for further

drilling operations. They bad fired two charges in the afternoon about 2 o’clock, and were clearing away the stone so loosened, and whi'e trying to bar a loose block down a thin slab of stone weighing about 15cwt come off the face about Bft above where they standing, and knocked them down among the loose atone they had been cleaning away. Owen got jammed in between two loose'stones, and the stone that fell struck him slightly on the side of the head, but came with full force on the left arm, completely severing it between the wrist and the elbow. The blow on the side of the head was suffix cient to render him quite insensible, Fogarty was struck in such a manner as to make him fall backwards, and as his head came in contact with a sharp point of rock he received a large gash in his head, rendering him for a short time perfectly insensible and to all appearance dead, Drs. Smith and Acheson were immediately sent for (Dr. Morice being out of town at the time), who ordered both men to be taken to the Hospital, where they now lie in a very dangerous state,