Terrible Tunnel Tragedy At Mangahao Works

Shannon News, 4 July 1922, Page 3

Terrible Tunnel Tragedy At Mangahao Works

mm MEN SUFFOCATED, BY DEADLY ENGINE GAS INCLUDING ASSISTANT ENGINEER MILLER

THE RESCUE PARTY SUCCUMB FOUR MARRIED MEN VICTIMS

Tiie terrible disaster at Qua Arapeti Camp early yesterday morning completely-overwhelmed the Magahao hydro-electric works in the toll of hie exacted, and, indeed, shocked • the whole ol tiie Dominion, as the calamity is the worst that has taken place in tunnelling work in this coutiy lor a period or 17 or 18 years. The derails di the tijagedy show that on Sunday evening the only man on shift in No. 2 tunnel was the pump

attendant, Mr B. Butler, it being necessary to keep the pumps working to clear the tunnel of water makingits way through the. workings. During the evening the tunnel foreman,

Mr A. E, Maxwell, went up to the face, (apparently to see that everything was all right for the shift coming on at midnight. A breakdown in the power station at Mangaore, or No. 1 camp on the Shannon side, threw the electric fans in the Arapeti tunnel out of gear, and the fumes from the oil engine working the pumps accumulated in the workings and creat-' ed .the deadly carbon monoxide and dioxide gasses. The pumping plant and engine are situated 27 chains in from the entrance. The presence of the fatal gas must have been detected by both Maxwell and Butler, who had traversed four chains towards the tunnel mouth, when they collapsed.

The men on duty at the sub-station at the Arapeti Camp became uneasy at the prolonged absence of their two comrades, and three o! _ the men, Messrs. P. and F. Graham, and W. Birss went down to the tunnel to see what was wrong. They went in 20 chains but could get no further owing to the presence of gas. There was also a large quantity of water on ;the tunnel flo-ory and they donned gum boots and essayed another attempt to penetrate further. MR MILLER JOINS PARTY. At this stage the little party ol three were joined by Mr W. R. Miller, the engineer in charge at Arapeti, and Mr F. Birss, a tunneller. The five men then entered on what proved to be a forlorn hope, for not a man returned alive. They struggled on for nearly 20 chains, where they were found by later rescuing parties, being still about three chains away from Maxwell and Butler, whose bodies were recovered later.

FIRST NEWS OF TRAGEDY. The first news of the tragedy was made known by Mr C. Trigg, who was also on duty at the sub-station. As . soon as he was relieved about midnight he made his' way to the tunnel, and seeing no sign of his mates, entered the tunnel mouth. He fought

liis way in until he reached the first four of his comrades, who were lying in the tunnel. He found he could do

nothing for them, and only struggled out himself to fresh air and safety. After recovering he gave the alarm. the whole camp roused. The dread news of what had occurred spread like wildfire through the camp, and soon men were rushing from all quarters to assist in the rescue. The fumes were now very

REMOVAL OF THE BODIES.

dense, and it w as advised that only the most experienced men were to be permitted to undertake the rescue , of the bodies. There was no lack of volunteers, however, and offers of workers came from all sides.

GALLANT RESCUE WORK. The first p'arty formed consisted of A. and J. Quinlan, J. Sinclair, T. O’Halloran, H. E. Kinzett and C. Trigg. The first body they recovered was that of F. Birss, which they placed on a truck, and going a chain further found Mr Miller, Birss jun., and F. Graham. The rescuers got Mr Miller’s body partly on to a truck when they got tlje fumes. J. Quin-

ian was overcome and only staggered out, whilst T. O’Haliagan collapsed on the line and was got out by J. Sinclair.

Another party was got together, including S. Nash, E. Madden, J. Shaw, J. Olson and G. They succeeded in getting the bodies of Messrs. Miller, Birss jun., Birss sen., and F. Graham on the truck and rushed them out, picking up Kinzett on the'way. The latter had collapsed when apparently attempting another entry. Trigg was also lound incapacitated and was carried out by McSeveney. Both Kinzett and Trigg were found to be in a bad way after their heroic exertions ,and had to be removed lor medical attention.

Mr R. Brown, one of the icscuers, performed a particularly.fine piece of work. He came across Kinzeit lying in the tunnel and got the unconscious

man on his back, when his light went out. Putting down his burden lie re-lit. his lamp arid struggled on, when the bottom of the lamp dropped out into

the water, but Brown went on in the dark and got his man out safely. LAST THREE BODIES RECOVERED. At 1.45 a.m. the electric fan was restarted, and at 2.10 the third party under Overseer Hjorth started in. They sent out the remaining, bodies, that of P. Graham being recovered first, and then those of Maxwell and Bujtler. The two latter were found together the greatest distance in the tunnel. The rescuers, as the fatal fumes were now being drawn out, were able to follow in safety as the tunnel cleared. The last rescue took place at 2,30.

j Mr Dinnie, Engineer-in-chicf, and j Mr Davis, of the engineering staff at j No. 1 camp, lost no time in getting I on the scene, and' a medical practij tioner from Shannon also arrived to render whatever assistance was possible.

RESUSCITATION EFFORTS FAIL, The only man who appeared to show signs of life after the rescue was F. Birss, but although artificial respiration was tried for an hour and a-half on all the unfortunate men, it was unsuccessful ,and the tragic fact that the disaster had claimed ad seven victims forced itself upon the un-

happy assemblage. When resuscitation commenced Mr E. Finlayson, who is experienced in this work, took charge of the operations and was instrumental in bringing Kinzett and Trigg round so quickly. Mr Finlayson continued with relaysof ready helpers on the bodies of the other men until his experienced eyes could see that their efforts were vain. Mr Finlayson paid a tribute to

his fellow workers, who, he said, did wonderful work. “It was glorious to see the way the men toiled for the lives of their comrades in the face of hopeless odds."

In the meantime, Mr E. L. Wain, local secretary of the Y.M.C.A., and Messrs. E. Finlayson and P. McGill, organised stretcher parties, and had the victims removed to the Y.M.C.A. hall, where the bodies were reverently prepared for burial. During yesterday all the works were closed down, and the miners came iff from all quarters to pay their last respects to their former comrades. The. sight of the seven corpses was a heartrending one, and brought home the grim penalties man pays in the struggle for the betterment of his conditions.

TWO MEN* SENT TO HOSPITAL. After being medically examined, both Kinzett and Trigg were found to be suffering severely from the effects of the poisonous gas, and were dispatched to the Palmerston North Hos-

pital. Both'are single man, the lastnamed being a recent arrival from England. THE DEATH ROLL. - Mr Miller has been on the works for two years and three • months, practically from the commencement of the undertaking, and was a most popular officer, as well as one of the highest ability. He came from Dunedin, and was single. Mr F; Birss was a tunneller from Arthur’s Pass, where he had long been engaged in the hig undertaking which in a few months will be brought to fruition by the trains' running through the big tunnel, and connecting Canterbury With the West Coast. He (had been but three months at Arapeti, his wife and family being still in the South Island. Mr W. Birss is a son, and also hails from Arthur’s Pass, coming to Arapeti with his father three months ago.

Mir >P;. Graham was another Arthur’s Pass tunneller, with three month’s service .at Arapeti. His family are still residing at the Pass. Mr F. Graham was a brother of Mr Mr P. Graham, and was a tunneller from the Hastings district. His family reside there.. The tunnel foreman, Mr A. E. Maxwell, was a well known Wanganui resident, and was the contractor for Dune's Hill lift in that town, besides being responsible for several other big works there. He leaves a wife and family of five. Mr B. Butler was a young man of only 20 years, a son of v Mrs W. Butler, of Shannon, and was popularly known throughout the district. A DEADLY GAS. The death agent that overtook tiie unfortunate victims was a mixture oi carbon monoxide and dioxide, produced by the fumes from the oil engine working the. pumps. This engine is only worked during the weekends, when the main power-produc-ing plant is not used. This gas takes instant effect, and anyone unfortunate enough to inhale it is liable to collapse at once. This was evident irom the posture of the bodies in the tunnel. The gas is or such a penetrating nature that the clothes of the men reeked.with it, and in attempting to remove the clothes, several ot the {helpers were overcome temporarily, and for hours afterwards its presence could still be detected. Being heavier than air when it cools, the gas gradually settles down to the earth. It penetrated every nook and cranny in the tunnel, and killed large numbers of rats which were harbouring there, the bodies floating out in the drainage from the tunnel yesterday;

toll In human life. A bright spot in

A touching sight yesterday were the groups of miners and other workers quietly discussing the disaster at the camp. What on ordinary days, is a busy, stirring scene, with machinery pounding and workmen moving busily about, was instead one with the industrial forces stilled, and in that fact alone the visitor almost sensed the presence of some untoward happening. The tragedy will be deplored, not only by the unfortunate relatives, but by the country as a whole, that many of our largest and finest undertakings often demand a

the dark cloud, however, is . the heroic and, self-sacrificing conduct of the fellow-workers of the victims, and the men of Arapeti in the dark hours of Monday morning showed no lack of the spirit of which heroes are made.

When his body was recovered, Mr Maxwell’s watch was still going and was ticking as usual yesterday afternoon.

i he inquest on the victims commen-

cedat Arapeti this morning,