The Miramar cutting. You know that area you drive through to get into Miramar, Wellington? Many people go through it every single day. They originally made the cutting to improve access to Mirarmar. It was a booming little suburb and the cutting facilitated the development of the area, allowing for the construction of the wharf and gas works.
During the early 1900s they began a lot of work to lower and widen the cutting. At roughly 3:30pm on the 7th of June 1910 a large party of workers were excavating the cutting. One man, John Wilson and another James Phillips were just entering the drive (a tunnel or horizontal area next to the cliffs they were working on) when James mentioned to another worker that he was sorry the shot (explosion to clear earth) had not brought down a big piece at the top.
John and James entered the drive. Shortly after they entered a cracking sound was heard and suddenly a mass of earth weighing several hundred tons came hurtling down and buried both men. Four other men were also partially buried but they were able to free themselves.
Several other workers immediately jumped to John’s and James’s aid to get them out. It did not take too long for them to find John as he had been jammed up against a truck with his head and shoulders exposed. He was conscious, however he was firmly pinned down by his legs and it took five hours until they managed to get him out. He was quickly examined by a doctor who had arrived on the scene and then taken to hospital. John was severely injured about the legs and body but was considered to be as good as can be under the circumstances.
Other workers continued their efforts to try and find James Phillips. They directed their attention to an area that John had said he saw James running towards when they heard the mass of earth coming down. By 9pm a considerable amount of earth had been removed but they still had not located James. Around midnight the rescue work had to be discontinued as it was considered the place was unsafe. A slight fall of earth had also occurred forcing the rescuers to make a hasty dash for safety. It was shortly afterwards decided rescue work could recommence but only with people watching the cracks that had formed in the hillside and to give warning if they saw the slightest tendency for them to open out and slip.
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Taken from Dominion Post 8th June 1910
It was assumed that around 500 tons of earth had come down. Some of the rock that had come down was said to be huge and needed multiple men to move them so unfortunately rescue was slow at times.
At around 6:30am a fresh gang of about 20 men came in to carry on the work of removing earth to try and locate James.
At around 11:30am they discovered James’s body. It was doubled up under three 8x8 heavy pine beams. Unfortunately to get James’s remains out a huge boulder would have to be removed and removing it meant the collapse of another 20 tons of loose earth. They carried on with extreme care and were finally able to remove James around 4pm. He had been under the earth for just over 24 hours. His body was examined and it was discovered his skull was shattered into seven pieces, severe bruising around the neck which was deemed ‘probably broken’ and the left side of his chest was crushed. The medical practitioner said that the injury to the skull alone was sufficient to cause death and he believed death was instantaneous.
After an investigation the coroner ruled James’’s death as accidental.
James left behind a wife and three children and was buried at Karori Cemetery in what I consider a nice little spot.
John Wilson recovered and even put a notice in the paper a few months later thanking everyone who had helped him and his family while he was off work.
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