Explosion proves fatal
Today the use of explosives on private property, like every other aspect of modern life, is governed by a plethora of ‘health and safety’ legislation.
It was not always the case.
On June 1, 1932, Waikato farmer Joseph Roy Kelly arose early.
There was a definite task ahead of him: the removal of a bothersome tree stump.
To that end he had purchased some 15 plugs of gelignite the evening before, in Morrinsville, storing it overnight in a high cupboard in the kitchen.
There was a frost that morning. The gelignite had become cold and hard.
At 9am Kelly removed it from the cupboard, placing the explosive on a stand in front of the kitchen range.
The fire, which had been lit at 6am, was still burning and the oven hot.
Kelly later explained that it was his
intention to soften the gelignite to make it more pliable and therefore useful.
He claimed he had done the same thing the previous morning.
An expert later testified that gelignite does indeed lose its effectiveness at temperatures below 46 degrees Fahrenheit.
He also stated that in a frozen state it is easily exploded by friction or percussion and that ‘‘great care should be taken to thaw it out slowly before use’’.
A special warming pan was available for this purpose.
Kelly did not own such a pan. Lillian Kelly, Joseph’s wife, was just 24 years old, a decade and a half her husband’s junior.
The Kellys had three children: Irene, the eldest at four years of age, who had stayed the night at her grandparent’s farm across the road, Stella, 3 years old and Marie Lillian Kelly, 1 year, 9 months.
As their mother cleaned up after breakfast and their father sat at the table, reading the paper, Stella and Marie played in the kitchen.
The explosion had tremendous force.
Lillian Kelly, in the words of headlines throughout the country, was ‘‘blown to pieces’’.
Marie, who was struck in the body, lingered for a few minutes before dying. Joseph was concussed, having been hit in the head by falling debris.
Stella escaped serious injury.