SEVERE ELECTRIC SHOCK.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 14, 7 May 1914, Page 6

SEVERE ELECTRIC SHOCK.

DISTURBANCE IN AUCKLAND. .. IPbb Paras Association. ] Auckland, May 6. For a short time this afternoon there was a period of excitement and eonfusion in the city. A. number of railway workmen were .engaged on the telephone lines near the Newmarket railway station, when a telephone wire came into contact with a wire carrying the high voltage of.the city electrical power house. Wires in the, railway telephone exchange immediately fused, putting all the railway telephone, telegraph, and tablet signalling systems out of operation for about fifteen miles south of the city. This disorganised the train services, but a pilot system was quickly'established, and two hours later the trains were back to schedule. A considerable amount of damage has apparently been done to the electrical system, and it will be some time before they are in proper order again. When the wires fused a fire broke out in a box fixed on the polo in front of the post office, where the railway wires are gathered into a cable. This blazed fiercely and a fire alarm was sent from the post office to the brigade station. The fire in the post office brought the motor engine into Queen street, which was crowded, at 30 miles an hour. Just as the motor was approaching the Wellesley street intersec. tion a tramcar began to swing round the corner. ■The"?driver of the big 45-horse-power motor feared a collision with the car and trie\l to cross to the other side of the street to avoid, it. He failed, however, to clear the, tramway standard in the centre of the street and struck the pole a violent blow. All the men were thrown off the motor, on to the street, and Fireman James Maekay was severely injured and now lies in the hospital in a serious condition. The other men. had a miraculous escape. The motor was severely damaged. The tramway poles in the centre of Queen. Street are frequently referred to as a graVe danger.