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The Sydney Morning Herald,
Saturday 9 October 1875 FATAL MINING ACCIDENT.—The correspondent of the Dunedin Evening Star writes from Arrowtown on the 22nd ultimo:—An inquest was held at Queenstown on the 20th September, on the body of Thomas Hancock, a miner, 30 years of age, a native of Cornwall. He was suffocated in a drive at Arthur’s Point, Shotover. Samuel Edwards deposed: Deceased was one of my mates; we have been driving a prospecting tunnel into a landslip at Arthur’s Point; the tunnel was in thirty-two feet, and close timbered up to the face, the sets being four feet apart, and close lathed; as I was going the second set of timber from the face gave way and a large stone and a quantity of earth fell into the drive, separating me from deceased, who called out to me to extricate him; I ran out to get a “spreader” to secure any more sets from giving way, and, having done this, gave the alarm to my neighbours, and in half an hour twenty men were on the ground, and remained there working for twenty-seven hours without intermission until the body of deceased was recovered; deceased was heard moaning up to 5 a.m. on Saturday Morning, but not afterwards. A verdict of “accidental death” was returned. Contributed by Bob Bolitho |