THE DEBORAH BAY TAIPO WORKS BURNED DOWN.
TWO MEN SEVERELY BURNED.
At 8.15 this morning a serious accident occurred at the explosive works at Deborah Bay, by which the building was burned to the ground and some of the workmen severely injured.
It appears that at the time mentioned Mt Johnston, the engineer, accompanied by Me Fraser, went into the factory for the purpose of mixing chemicals for the day's work. Suddenly the materials ignited, and despite the efforts of the workmen and Mr Smith, the manager, who had just arrived, the flames spread, and the building was burned to the ground.
Johnston and Fraser, who did their utmost to extinguish the fire, were severely burned, and Drs Hodges and Borne were called in to attend them. Their wounds were found to be so bad that the doctors refused to permit any person to hold communication with them, and the unfortunate men were sent to Dunedin Hospital.
It was lucky that the materials of which the explosive is composed will not explode in the open; it simply burns, with an intense heat. Had the mixture been compounded in a confined space the result of the explosion would have been terrible.
A visitor who accompanied Mr Smith to the works, and was a witness of the fire, speaks highly of the bravery of all the workmen.
There were some tons of the Taipo explosive in the factory at. the time, and this merely burned in the ordinary way, thus confirming the contention of the company as to its absolute freedom from danger of explosion unless closely confined.
The factory buildings will be rebuilt at once. The boiler house, office, mixing room, and magazines are intact. The building and plant were insured for £750, and the stock for £800, all in the North- Queensland Office,
On inquiring at the Hospital this afternoon we were informed that Johnston was badly burned, principally about the face. Fraser was chiefly burned about the hands, arms, and back of the neck. The condition of both men is serious. -Evening Star, 2/9/1904.
Mr Robert Johnston, the engineer at the Taipo Company's explosive works, died at the hospital last night from the injuries he received at the fire last week. Deceased was twenty-eight years of age, and married. An inquest will be held on the body tomorrow. -Evening Star, 5/9/1904.
INQUEST.
An inquest was held at the Hospital this afternoon on the body of Robert Johnston, who died from the effects of injuries received through the fire at the Taipo Explosive Company's factory on Friday last. Inspector O'Brien represented the police, Mr Stephens the Taipo Company, and Mr Macassey the relatives of the deceased.
Dr Hotop, house surgeon at the hospital, said the deceased was admitted to the hospital on the 2nd inst. suffering from severe burns. He was attended to under the care of Dr Closs. The burns had been dressed by either Dr Borrie or Dr Hodges at Port Chalmers. The burns were very extensive, and deceased was in a pretty weak state. He gradually got worse, and died on the night of the 4th inst., the cause of death being shock following on the burns.
To Mr Stephens: Deceased was burned about the face, back, and forearms, besides being severely burned all over his body.
To Inspector: He was conscious most of the time, but witness did not disturb him by asking him how the accident occurred.
John Frank Fraser, laborer, employed at the Taipo Factory at Deborah Bay, said that he was in a separate room to Johnston on the morning of the fire. The first thing witness saw was the flames going past the door of the room in which he was working. The wind was blowing from the south-west. Witness sprang out into the centre passage and ran against Johnston in the doorway of the mill room. They both fell. Witness got up and ran out on the dark side of the building towards the creek. His coat caught fire, so he threw it off. Afterwards he went up to deceased, who was a little higher up the creek. Witness helped to pull off what little clothes there were on him. His clothes were on fire. Witness then took him towards his home, where ho was attended to by Dr Borrie. Witness did not see what caused the fire. He heard no report or explosion. Before going to get his wounds dressed witness went back to the factory, but could do nothing on amount of the heat.
The inquest was proceeding when we went to press. -Evening Star, 6/89/1904.
THE FIRE AT THE TAIPO FACTORY
THE INQUEST.
The inquest on the body of Robert Johnston, who died from the effects of the injuries he sustained through the fire at the Taipo Company's factory last Friday, was concluded yesterday afternoon. Mr Stephens appeared for the company, and Mr Macassey for the relatives of the deceased.
The witness John Fraser, who was also badly burned, continuing his evidence after our last message left the hospital, said, in answer to Inspector O'Brien, that he knocked against deceased in the passage. The flames at that time were very dense, and he could not see Mr Johnston. He saw that his clothes were on fire when they reached the creek. The flames were going straight through the passage, and followed them as they made their way out of the building. Mr Johnston did not tell him how the fire occurred.
To Mr Stephens: The practice was to change in the change-house before going on duty. Mr Johnston changed at the same time as witness, and then went on duty. The fire broke out in the incorporating room. It was a rule of the factory that all doors and windows were left wide open. This rule was adhered to on the day in question. Behind the building there was a bank 9ft or 10ft high. Mr Johnston was the engineer, and had oiled the machinery, which had only been started six or seven minutes when the fire broke out. The incorporator was not at work. Deceased was an extremely careful man.
To the Inspector of Factories: Witness could not say whether the windows in the incorporating room were open. Deceased's practice was to open them first thing every morning.
To Inspector O'Brien : No fire was used in the building. The boiler-house was outside and apart from the building altogether. Deceased never smoked. They had no pockets in their clothes.
William Aitcheson Smith, manager at the works, said that he was at Port Chalmers when he heard the first news of the fire. He hurried to Deborah Bay, and when he got there he found the building practically demolished. He went over to Mr Johnston's place, and there met Dr Borrie, who told him that deceased was badly burned, and that he preferred that no one bothered him.
To Inspector O'Brien: Material almost completely manufactured was kept in the incorporating room. It simply had to go through one more process. Witness had been connected with explosives since 1879. He had never known of spontaneous combustion in such material as that used in Taipo.
To Mr Stephens: The boiler was situated over 100ft away, on the harbor side. Mr Johnston's duties that morning would be to oil the bearings and see that the machinery was in running order. He had nothing to do with the mixing, and did not even know the process. He was an experienced man, having been engineer in the Torpedo Corps and Submarine Mining Companies. There was no raw material in the incorporating room. That was only brought in in the presence of witness or his assistant (Mr Fox). Taipo was not an explosive unless confined. It was totally insensible to shock and friction. One could bang it with a hammer and that would have no effect on it. When the workmen came in in the morning they had to change their clothing under the supervision of the search officer. As soon as the latter was satisfied that they contained nothing on their person contrary to the factory regulations they were allowed to pass over the barrier and into the factory. The clothing worn had no pockets. There were special shoes called magazine shoes. Lights about the factory were absolutely prohibited. There were no matches about the building except safety matches, which were only allowed in the boiler-house, and when the engineer had no further use for them they had to be returned to the change officer. All windows and doors were opened as soon as the factory was opened. Their rules were the same as those adopted in the Royal Laboratory of England. There was an apparatus in the incorporating room for coping with any increase of temperature or of fire. The factory was visited by the Inspector of Explosives only two days previous to the fire, and he expressed himself as quite satisfied as to the state of affairs generally.
To Mr Macassey The safety matches were only used in the boiler-house. Deceased had had a good many years' experience with explosives. Witness held a very high opinion of deceased, who was always very careful and painstaking. He was not a smoker.
Robert Fox, foreman at the Taipo Factory, said that as he was approaching the factory on the 2nd inst. he saw a crowd at the bottom of the hill, and saw smoke issuing from the direction of the factory Witness asked what had taken place, and was informed that the factory was on fire and two men had been badly burned. After giving instructions to ring up the doctor and the manager, witness went to the factory and got as close to the building as he could. The heat was too fierce to allow witness to get to the building, so he went over to see how Johnston was getting on. When witness returned to the factory the flames at the back were not so fierce as previously, so be got some of those present to get buckets of water from the creek and throw them over the store to prevent risk of fire from flying sparks. Witness then met the manager, and the fire was put completely out afterwards. The night watchman (Andre) came on at four o'clock and witness returned to Dunedin.
To Inspector O'Brien': Witness first visited the place that morning at twentyfive minutes to nine.
To Mr Stephens: Witness was formerly a student at the Royal Laboratory, and had passed examinations relating to the manufacture of explosives. He thoroughly agreed with what Mr Smith had said regarding the characteristics of Taipo.
To Mr Macassey: Witness had known the deceased for a number of years, and he fully agreed with what Mr Smith had said regarding his character.
The Coroner, in addressing the jury, said that the duty before them was very plain. There could be no doubt as to the cause of death, which was duo to shock resulting from burns received. The origin of the fire seemed to be a mystery, and he did not suppose there was a likelihood of much light being thrown on that matter. The Taipo explosive was supposed not to be subject to spontaneous combustion, and was non-explosive except when confined. The only thing they could say was that the cause of death was shock resulting from burns caused by a fire, the origin of which there was not sufficient evidence to show. No one seemed to be in the room at the time except the deceased. Fraser was in the adjoining room, and only saw the flame. The deceased did not appear to have spoken to anyone, even if he knew the cause of the fire. He did not see that the jury could return anything but an open verdict regarding the cause of the fire.
The jury returned a verdict to the effect that death was caused by shock resulting from burns caused by a fire, the origin of which there was not sufficient evidence to show. -Evening Star, 7/9/1904.
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