FALL OF EARTH
ACCIDENT AT PALMERSTON NORTH MAN KILLED AND ANOTHER INJURED By Telegraph.—Press Association, PALMERSTON N„ June 23. Shortly before midday today a fall of earth at a cutting on the side of the Palmerston North railway deviation at Milson caused the death of one public works employee and serious injury to another. The victims were: — Killed. Mr J. B. Blinkhorne, a married man with four children. Seriously Injured. Mr J.‘Chapman, married, with three children. In the vicinity of the accident three gangs, each of ten men, were engaged in widening cuttings, the victims being part of the middle gang, which was excavating at the bottom of a tenfoot bank. An exceptionally heavy fall of earth, involving many tons and extending back ten feet from the bank under which the men were working, caused consternation among the workmen of the gang, all of whom, with the exception of the victims, succeeded in getting clear. The heavy clay soil, which came down in solid lumps, many weighing several hundredweight, had to be broken up with picks before the victims were freed. It appears that the subsidence took place behind Mr Blinkhorne’s back and that he was completely enveloped by the soil. Mr Chapman was more fortunate in that the weight of the falling earth, while it crushed the lower portion of his body, pushed his head and shoulders away from the subsidence. EX-RESIDENT OF MASTERTON The late Mr Blinkhorne was a son of Mrs J. K. Blinkhorne of Masterton. He was born in Masterton and went to school here. Subsequently he was employed at the W.F.C.A. Later he joined the Railways service, and was stationed at Palmerston and Carterton, subsequently being re-transferred to Palmerston North. Besides his mother, he leaves four brothers (Messrs W. J. Masterton, Rupert and Cecil, Ohakune, and Archer Blinkhorne, Auckland), and one sister (Mrs Napier, of Newtown, Wellington). The funeral will take place at Palmerston North tomorrow afternoon at 2 o’clock.
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Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 June 1938, Page 7
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325FALL OF EARTH Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 June 1938, Page 7
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