KAWARAU GORGE.
(from our own correspondent.) November 24, 1873.
FATAL MINING ACCIDENT.
It is my painful duty this week to record an accident which took place at the Kawarau Gorge on Friday morning last, by which Mr Joel Chapman, a miner well known and respected in this neighbourhood, lost his life. From the evidence which was given before Dr James Corse, Coroner for the District, at the inquest held on Saturday, it appears that the deceased, with his mates, Thomas Trevathan and William Trudgeon, had only been at work for a few minutes when the accident occurred. They were working with three hoses, Trevathan directing one and deceased another, while Trudgeon was engaged about ten feet beneath both of them in the tail race. The top ground, where Trevathan and deceased were standing, had been stripped. back a good way, so that apparently they were in the utmost safety. Deceased was directing his stream of water upon the ground in the middle of the paddock, and consequently his back was turned to the face, where the boulder which caused the unfortunate accident was seemingly securely bedded. They had scarcely been more than five minutes at work, when Trevathan saw the stone rolling towards the deceased, and he at once called out to him to look out. Deceased dropped his hose, and made a jump to one side to get clear of the stone. He would in all probability have succeeded in so doing had the shingly bank upon which he was then standing not given way, and carried him into the bottom of the paddock, about ten feet below, and probably right in the track of the rolling stone. Trevathan at once ran to his assistance, but before he could reach him Trudgeon (who up to this time had noticed nothing of the accident, a thing easily understood by those accustomed to sluicing operations,) had pulled deceased out from the rush of water. Trevathan then supported the deceased, while Trudgeon turned off the water and gave the alarm to some of the neighbouring miners. One of them, Mr Tait, immediately rode into Cromwell for Dr Corse's assistance. The Doctor was in attendance within an hour of the accident taking place, but deceased was long before beyond all earthly assistance. Trevathan, indeed, says that Chapman only gave one slight shiver whilst he was holding him (probably the last effort of expiring nature), and that he never otherwise showed the slightest symptom of consciousness.
No blame can be attached to any person. The ground is worked in the safest manner, the surface being kept well back from the working face, and the hose perfectly secure. It may also be mentioned, as a fact which added not a little to the affecting nature of the scene in the claim on Friday morning, that Trevathan and the deceased have been mates and companions for the last eleven years. The accident has cast a gloom over the district, as the deceased was well-known and respected, particularly among his fellow miners. As a mark of respect, no work was prosecuted in the Gorge during the remainder of the week. Mr Chapman arrived in this Colony in 186i9, and has been a resident at the Gorge for the greater part of the time since. He was a native of Koch in Cornwall, and was only twenty-six years of age.
The funeral took place on Sunday, and was one of the most largely attended that has occurred in the district, — as was to be expected from the high character Mr Chapman has borne amongst all classes, and the hearty good-feeling always exhibited for those who suffer from mining accidents. About two hundred people altogether attended on the melancholy occasion. The verdict returned by the jury was that "deceased met his death accidentally while engaged in mining in his claim." -Cromwell Argus, 25/11/1873.
Joel Chapman's gravestone is a rare example of a mistake in its inscription. Although it states his year of death as 1875, the 1873 date is that found in all newspaper references to the event.
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