THE TERRIBLE EXPLOSION NEAR KIAMA. Fourteen Killed, Two Others Seriously Injured.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 266, 23 May 1888, Page 6

THE TERRIBLE EXPLOSION NEAR KIAMA. Fourteen Killed, Two Others Seriously Injured.

Tlic accident at Hill and Co '- liomlw Quauy, ai)out one nulc noiih of Kinin.i, wa<- of a shocking ehaiaclet. About four o'clock (wo men were ehaiging a hole with " lack-a lock," which hud been put, down into the basalt .some 20 feet for bla-ting. Tlie foieman, Fai-qubai-on, wa-> pieparing the carti idge--. and liis mate, R. Wiseman, was lamming the^e home with a tamper. The chaise wa- not complete, nor had an) fuse been put down. Suddenly, however, a -\ iolcnb explosion occuned, Whcman receiving a pnrt of the bla->t in his face, and Faiquharson ni the c\\e», both men bein<_r inn led to the giound with <jreat -wolcnre, though a«. it turns out b'aiquharson is the least in pired of the two. At the time tlic-ic v. eio only some half a do/en men at work in the quarry below. These men heard the ev-plo-ion and made an elfoi t to escape from the liufjtj ina- s of falling rook dislodged by the blast, -which ; seems to ha\e brought down 1,000 tons of .stone. One man only managed to e-cape. An old man named William Hammond hod both his legs cut ofl, and was found in thiee pieces. Hi-< .son, Timothy Hammond, was buiied beneath tne ma.-, of rock and was not gob out till only thif morning, and when found hi-3 body was terribly manjrled. An old man named John Hughes was killed, and another poor fellow was pinned down beneath amassof rock, lying on his back, simply caught by his foot. His name is W. Myers. He remained in this position for some three hours, when it was found impossiole to extricate him without amputating the foot, which wa.s done by I)i. -Bacot, who, with Dr. Wilson and Ashe, had hpecdily arrived on theground. Onedray \\a j smashed, the hor.se escaping. Another hoive and d lay were smashed, the hor.se lying under an immense block of .stone. Far-qnhar-son and \Vi«.cman were taken to their homes and attended to by the medical gentlemen, and Myers was carried at once to the Kiatna Hospital, where the left leg, fiom which the foot- had been severed, was further treated by Dry. Terry, Ashe and Bacot. It was there found necec-sary to amputate the right foot, which was done. The poor fellow lingered through the night till about 6 o'clock this morning, when he died. The four men killed were buried alongside each other at the public cemetery.

The Emperor of China has commanded all pawnbrokers to pay in advance 100 fcacls each towards the Yellow River Floods Relief Fund. " VceniV Rachel ! What do you tinkofdat?"