Biography

Carnevali died from the effects of inhaling gelignite fumes while working at the Golconda Mine. At 9 pm he said he thought he was dying and from that hour until 2 am the following morning, remained in a comatose condition, until he died.

A full inquest was held followed by an exhumation of the body and a request for a full post-mortem.

Pietro had only returned a month before from a trip home to Italy and started work in No. 2 shaft of the Golconda on Tuesday morning.  As events turned out, it was to be his first and last shift in this mine. He had been engaged timbering a steep rise and early in the afternoon had occasion to use half a plug of gelignite for a hole for a prop. When he knocked off work at 4 o'clock, he went home, washed himself and also some clothes and shortly afterwards, came to a neighbour's camp and asked permission to lie down, saying, "Oh, dear! Oh, dear!  I want to die!"