NAPIER.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3354, 22 September 1879, Page 2

NAPIER.

Saturday night. A fatal accident occurred a little before soon to-day to three men working at the reclamation works. There were a lot of men engaged in Chaucer road, commonly known as " Soapsuds Gully," and fife of them were inside a tunnel filling the trucks, wheu a large landslip occurred, stones and earth falling on the roof of the tunnel with such force and weight that the top timbers of the tunnel could' not resist it, and the whole would have utterly collapsed but for the trucks that were on the rails. Two of the men managed to get out by crawling under the* trucks and getting out at the mouth of the tunnel. One of them had, a narrow escape, by being caught on the leg by the descending mass of earth. Hl, managed, however, to extricate himself. After a while it was found practicable to ascertain by crawling under the trucks how the poor imprisoned fellows fared. Two appeared as being dead, but one was alive, and brandy was passed to him in a sponge. Belays of as many men as could work together were put on, but it was past two before the bodies were got out* all three being then dead. It is supposed the third man (John Quiun) was suiTocatei by the fine sand that filled the space in which he was. He was heard to ask a little before how long they would be getting him out, and then when he was called to there was no answer. Quinn was a young fellow of 21, and leaves a wife and child. The other- two were James Clarke, 36 years of age, who leaves a wife and seven children, and Bartelleto Taravero, an Italian, unmarried.