THE OAONUI FATALITY.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 November 1915, Page 6

THE OAONUI FATALITY.

A DANGEROUS PRACTICE. An inquest into the circumstances attending the death of Tlios. Vincent was held at the residence of Mr. R. Malcolm, senr., Oaonui, yesterday, before Mr. T. P. Hughson, J.P., Acting Coroner, and the following jury: Messrs E. Reynolds (foreman), Jas. Young, J. Kirkwood, senr., S. P. Julian, R. McFie, and R. P. Malcolm. Constable O'Neill represented the police. Evidence of identification was given by R. S. Gilmer, brother-in-law of deceased. R. D. Shirley, a youth employed by deceased, deposed that at breakfast on Tuesday morning deceased said that as it was too wet to go discing he would go down to the beach and get some herrings for fishing that evening, and would prepare some explosives for the purpose. Vincent then went into the harness shed and witness, who was washing cans near by, later saw him alongside i.lie bench with a plug of gelignite in his hands. He next beard a terrific explosion in the shed, and he shouted out, ''Tom! Tom! Are you in there?" Getting no reply he looked in, and saw deceased on the floor. Witness then informed Mr. Malcolm, senr. Witness had once previously seen deceased handle explosives, making a hole in a plug of gelignite with a pocket knife and inserting the cap. Dr. R. Dunlop Barron, of Opunake, who was soon on the scene of the fatality, deposed that with Mr. Malcolm, senr., he visited the shed where the explosion had occurred. On the door were pieces of flesh, and blood, and inside lay the body of a man quite dead. Witness described the injuries. The left side 1 from about the fifth rib to the groin was blown away, the left hand was blown off at the wrist and the index linger and thumb on the right hand were lacerated. There were marks of the explosion on the left side of the face. These injuries would correspond with an explosion of gelignite, or dynamite, or an explosive of a similar nature. Death must have been instantaneous. Constable D. J. O'Neill (Raholu) gave evidence as to the position of the body and the force of the explosion. The windows of the harness room were broken and part of the bench had also been broken. He found on the bench the remains of a pocket knife, which had been shattered, also a damaged detonator tin. He also found sawdust, similar to that in which detonators are packed, strewed on the bench and sill. On the floor near deceased's left foot he found a wrapped up parcel containing five plugs of dynamite. Outside the window, six feet away, he found the lid of the detonator tin. On searching deceased's pockets he found a parcel of fish hooks and a tin of tobacco, and he also picked up a parcel of small fish hooks on the floor. He could not find any fuse. To the Coroner: He did not find any pipe. He found a cigarette butt on the floor, but this may have been there some time. He did not think that a spark from a cigarette would cause the explosion. The foreman said that he understood that a spark would explode a detonator, whereas a blaze would not. Without retiring, the jury returned a verdict of accidental death by an explosion of gelignite, no blame being attachable to anyone " ,