THE MINE EXPLOSION.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 May 1919, Page 7

THE MINE EXPLOSION.

INQUEST ON MAORIS, j In inquest into the circumstances of the deaths of three Maoris who were killed by an explosion on Waikoria Beach, near Woodleigh, last month, was concluded at Glenmurray last week, be--1 fore Mr. Dynes Fulton, J.V., Acting-Cor-ouer, and a jury of four. I A report by Captain Hall-Thompson, Naval Adviser to the New Zealand Government, was submitted by the police. Captain Hall-Thompson said that after ' inspecting the piece of metal which was recovered at the spot where the explosion took place, which probably was one which had broken away from the minefield near Farewell Spit, as recent tests /made by the Navy and Marine Departments indicated the probability of mines drifting in that direction under certain conditions. There seemed to him to be little doubt that the men were tampering ' with the mine, perhaps endeavoring to secure some trophy, such aa a horn, by either unscrewing or knocking on", or perhaps loosening the screw by tapping it with a stone or stick, 'i'hp. result would be to crack the glass cylinder enclosed in the lead horn and cause an immediate explosion. The jury returned a verdict that de- •> ceased met their deaths on Waikoria i Beach on April 21,1919, by the explosion I of a German mine, there being no evii dence to show how the mine was explod- ' ed.