"ACCIDENTAL DEATH.”

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 45, 23 October 1913, Page 5

"ACCIDENTAL DEATH.”

THE MOUNTAIN FATALITY.

EVIDENCE AT THE INQUEST.

An inquest was held at the Court-

house this morning regarding the death of Clement John Francis, who j was killed at the Mount Egmont quarry on Tuesday. Mr C. D. Sole acted as coroner, and the following jury was empannelled: Messrs R. D. Lowers (Foremanj, F. W. .Mullen, T. 1. Lamason, E. Brocklebank, J. B. | Crossan and H. H. Edgecombe. I Identification. Deceased’s wife, who lives in New Plymouth, gave evidence of having ' identified the body at the Morgue as that of her husband. I i The Government Engineer. j George William Albertson, assistjant engineer m charge of work at the Mount Egmont quarry, said deceased was working on Tuesday on the top of the quarry. He was stripping scoria. He was working on contract. Witness produced a photograph showing the locality where deceased was work-! ing. The place was not a particularly j dangerous one, but without the pro-j per precautions being taken it would | be so. The Department supplied all | necessary ropes to protect workmen. Every man who went on the works was given the option of working on the low level or of going on the high faces. Whenever witness passed along the works and noticed men on the high faces becoming too confident and not using thojr ropes he always advised them to use them. It was) only necessary to have the rope round \ the body in especially dangerous places. In ordinary places it was only necessary to have the rope lying handy, so that it could be grasped if the man slipped. About a dozen men would be working near deceased. There was no possibility of a stone dislodged by another gang striking Francis. This would have been physically impossible. At present a face was being opened 'up and there would be danger until a ledge was formed. It would be good if it were made compulsory to wear a rope round the body, but the men could not do so much work if they were roped. Sergeant McNeely: Could you not put on men paid by the day to do the work.—Most of the men prefer contract work, as they can make more money.

Sergeant McNeely: These being contract men the Department merely sees to the provision of ropes —Yes.

The Coroner;, Are aU those contract men insured?—Tlie Department is liable under the Workers’ Compensation for Accidents Act. Mr Crossan: Was there a man in charge of deceased or was he able to look after himself ?—There was a foreman in charge. Mr Crossan: Would there be more than three ropes for the use of the men on this day?—There would lie more than a dozen ropes. There were about twenty-iive men working at the place. Mr Lam son: Do you pick the'most experienced men for these places ? f know that usually the most experiened men are picked. Deceased had previousjly worked as a sailor, which would fit (him for the work he had to do at the i quarry. An Eye-witness. William Dolman, laborer, employed at the quarry, said he had been on the work for a little over a month. Deceased and witness started work on the same day. On Tuesday, deceased was pegging down scoria. Deceased was working by himself. Witness was about fifteen yards away and spoke to deceased about a quarter ol an hour before he fell over the cliff, which was from 160 to 200 feet high. Witness asked deceased to shift his I coat from certain scrub so that it could bo cleared away. Deceased shiftled his coat and then returned to his work. A few minutes before deceased fell, witness’s mate, Bissenden, was speaking to him—asking him for a match. Witness afterwards went to get a drink of tea. Witness saw deceased drive in his pick and then lose his hold of the handle. His knees came up to his thin, and he staggered backwards, turning over about six times before he disapeared over the edge of the cliff. If anything had I struck deceased, witness would have certainly seen it. Deceased was quite sober. Witness considered the place dangerous to work in. There were two of deceased’s ropes quite close to him, and one of witness’s ropes was near by. The nearest rope would be about a foot away from deceased. He appeared to roll over the ropes and made no effort to clutch them. At the point where deceased was working it was not dangerous enough to make it necessary for a man to be roped. If a man did not desire to work on such a place the Department would not compel him to do so. : Mates of Deceased. William Cornell, laborer, at the quarry, said he was about two chains away from deceased at the time of the mishap. Witness had had previous experience in working in dangerous places. The safety ropes on this job were good enough in some respects, but they would be of no use to a man who got hit by something coming down the slope As soon as the alarm was raised witness went down to the gully by the shortest route. Deceased’s body was caught in a. forked treetrunk. About twenty feet from the top of the cliff there was a- big projecting boulder. From the condition of deceased’s head it seemed certain that he had struck something during the fall. There was no indication

that deceased had struck the ground before the stump—he seemed to have fallen directly into the stump. The left side of deceased’s head was hat tered in. The face was distorted There was a big wound on the forehead. ' Albert. Bissenden, who was alse working on the place, corroborated the evidence of previous .witnesses. He added that deceased was one of the most careful men on the job. The Police Report. Constable McGowan gave evidence that he visited the scene of the fatality on the previous day, and found nothing inconsistent witn the evidence given by witnesses. The safety ropoi provided were somewhat too thick r,t tie easily. He understood that in fu tore one-inch ropes were to be pro vided for tying round the body, ( In summing up, the Coroner said the case was a clear one of misadventure. The police should be complimented 01 the excellent manner in which the evidence had been prepared. The Verdict. The jurp returned a verdict of accidental death, no blame being attachable to the Department.