The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-12-31
Death IN
HONOLULU
STREETS
Wires Threaten the
Lives of the
People.
CORONERS JURY
IN All FAI CASE
Some Startling Evidence About
Loose Methods of Electric
Light Company.

At 10 o'clock last night the Coroner's
of the death of Charles All Fai, who was
killed in McInerny's sto:e on Saturday
afternoon y nile handling lever switch
eorrecti,s with the electric lights in
the store. found verdict In which the
Hawalian Electric CJ,npany, Limited,
vas censu"ed for not taking proper
precAre a. II. the a. ngIng OF it's wires
and exercising proper surveillance over
the sysrc.r. believing that from some
negligence on the part of the company
the bog ha come t. mis- death. IN the
verdict is o recommendation to the Su-
perrin .nd .rt of Public Works that a
competent inspector be appointed To in
spect the electric wires In this city. ex-
pert testimony having been aI'la:cd be
fore the jury that the wires OF the
dition dangerous to property and life,
owing to impe-2rct wing anG lack %
necessary attention. The juty RECON-
mends that rhis inspector have the
power to condemn all Tres foJnd unit
for public service
After listening to the testimony of
electrical experts COR several hours yea
terday. to which was aIdad the eye
witnesses account of the manner in
which the young Chinese met death from
the electric current, and probing the
matter to the bottom, she Jury was of
the opinion that although no direct tes
imonys had been offered to Indicate that
any one was directly to blame IN this
particular case, yet from the condition
OF the electric wires in this ely, other
lives would be sacrificed unless sor1e
attention was given to rectifying the
imperfections. Following is the YER
dict:
This Jury finds that one Charles All
F'ai came 10 his death at Honolulu, Isl
and of Oahu, Territory Of Hawaii, on
the 2Sth day of December, A d. 1901.
from an electric shock received from q
, switch In the store of T. A. McInerney.
in said Honolulu. connecting the wires
IN said store with the wires OF the Ha-
wai.an Electric Light Company while
said Charles All Ia! was in the act OF
; turning on the current.
~
been used by the Hawaiian Electric
Light Company It is the belief of the
jury that the said Charles All Fai would
not have so met his death.
And in view OF the expert testimony OF
electricians adduced in the case, this jury
believes that the wires OF the Hawaiian
Electric Light Company are IN a condi-
ton dangerous TO property and hfe ow-
ing to imperfect wiring and lack of nee
essary attention.
Therefore, this jury recommends that
the Superintendent of Public Works ap-
point a competent inspector TO inspect
all electric wires in the city OF Honolulu.
with the power to condemn and to per-
form al other such acts as IN the prem
ises may seem meet.
CHAS +. CHILLINGWORTH.
Coroner
CHAS. p. WILSON,
WM. BERLOWITZ,
JOHN n. WISE,
r. c. GEER,
r. KELLETT
A p. TAYLOR,
An afternoon meeting was held
which was principally occH pied by la
tening to electricians exptund on the
theories and mysteries Of the profess
sion, An adjournment was taken until
7:So last evening. at which time Wn.
Carey. a Iineman for the Hawaiian
Electric Light Company, and T. Leslie
De Cew. electrical inspector for the
Board Of Fire Underwriters OF the Ter
ritory OF Hawaii. and Sur erintend >ne
Frazee OF the Territorial Electric Light
system. testified. Both the latter zen
tlemen stated that the wires Of the Ha-
gvai.an Electric Company were in
dangerous condition in many parts oe
the city and on Fort street there was'C
one wire which was. bare Of insulation
Continued on Page 2.