FATAL ACCIDENT AT ONEHUNGA. Man Crushed to Death in a Quarry. Auckland, April 28.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 48, 3 May 1884, Page 6

FATAL ACCIDENT AT ONEHUNGA. Man Crushed to Death in a Quarry. Auckland, April 28.

This morning, an accident, which resulted in the death of one man and serious injury to another, occurred in a quarry in the Onehunga district. Two men, named respectively Robert Pollock and Joseph Hastie, were working in a quarry for Mr Millar, of Mangare, when an enormous " slide " of gravel took place, overwhelming them before they were able to escape. The weight of the mass which came down is estimated at 100 tons. Pollock, who had been engaged picking in the quarry, was buried beneath the rushing mass, while Hastie was knocked down helpless. A lad named Shaw, who witnessed the occurrence, being unable to render any aid, ran for Dr. Scott, who with Sergeant Green, was promptly on the spot. It was found that Pollock was buried eight feet beneath the gravel,and it took fourteen men an hour and a quarter s labour to dig him out. Of course they worked carefully, so as not to injure him, but when extricated he was found to be quite dead. His body, however, shows but slight marks of injury, death having apparently resulted from suffocation. Hastie was found to have sustained serious injuries to his chest by being crushed by a portion of the mass, but his condition was not deemed to be dangerous. He was carefully attended to by Dr. Scott. The deceased man Pollock was about 40 years of age, and unmarried. He was formerly in the employment of Major Walmsley, and for the last six years has been a total abstainer. Hastie is, we are informed, a son of Mr Hastie, the Borough Councillor at Onehunga. The injured man is married and has one child. We are led to believe that quarrying at Mangere and other places here is carried on under rather dangerous conditions, and it is time that the authorities gave their attention to the matter. If something is not done in the way of forbidding the working of unsafe quarries, another shocking accident of this kind is certain to happen one of these days.