ACCIDENTS AND OFFENCES.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIII, Issue 3213, 2 November 1867, Page 5

ACCIDENTS AND OFFENCES.

'♦the witness William Brinsden is to be blamed for not having reported to his employer that ho had perceived the scaffolding giving way two days previous to the accident." A serious accident, from cleaning firearms, occurred on the 2nd October, at Papakura, to Mr. George Wood, son of Dr. Wood, and which resulted in the death of the unfortunate young man on the 14th insfc. The deceased was cleaning his revolver on the day first named, when a charge accidentally exploded and the ball passed through the flesh of the thigh. No apprehension was entertained of the extreme danger of the injury sustained until a few days before Mr. Wood's death, when mortification supervened, despite the zealous care of the medical gentlemen in charge of the case. The dead body of an infant was found on the 13tn October, in the gutter of Hobwn-street, opposite the shop of Mr. Craig, tinsmith and plumber. Thebody was first noticed by the milkman, and could not have been lying long when it was found. The body was removed to the dead-house by the police, and an inquest held on October 15, before Dr. Philson, at the Railway Terminus Hotel, Official Bay. The evidence adduced was of the usual character, and afforded no clue to the discovery of the parent. The jury had, therefore, no alternative but to return an open verdict, but, in consequence of the frequency of such cases, thought proper to add a rider to their verdict intimating that, «' from the suspicious character of the present case, and the scantiness of evidence submitted to them, the jury commend the matter to the vigilant attention and inquiry of the police." Captain Cook, of the ichooner ' Pnma Donna/nar. rowly escaped drowning on October 15,in consequence of missing his footing whilst walking along the gangway of the ship 'Siam,' and falling between the vessel and pier. Fortunately fo* him, in his descent he did not come in contact -with the huge fender which rests between the vessel and the wharf, but fell into the water, and was speedily rescued by means of ropes from the vessel, without sustaining itny injury. A fatal accident, resulting in the death of two settlers, at Opotiki, is reported by our own corres* pondent to have occurred at that place, on the 9fch October. Two of the military settlers, named Edward Mitchel and Charle3 Jones, were collecting firewood in the river, when their canoe capsized and both wero drowned. The body of one of the unfortunate men had been recovered. A considerable area of the first floor of Mr. Samuel Cochrane'sland mart gave way on < »ctober 23d and precipitated some 25 tons of maize into the cellar beneath. The flooring was almost new, the building having only been erected some three yeara, and the accident arose through the failing of a joist, which caused the beam and flooring to give way simultaneously. Fortunately, no person wa.s w On' October 25th, an inquest was held by T. M, Philson, Esq., M.D., Coroner, on view of the body of a young man named James Walmsley, who die4 suddenly in the forenoon, at the house of Mrs,. Fanch, Graham-street, where he lodged, The deceased was a native of Lancashire, and had been living in Auckland for a period of three yeara. He was a person of intemperate habits, and had frequently been brought before the Resident Magistrate on a charge of drunkenness. The verdict of th» jury was to the effect that deceased died suddenly from organic disease, induced and aggravated by habits of intemperance, and not from any injury or violence. The deceased, who was a single man^was respectably connected. Two painful boat accidents, resulting m the los3 of five lives and narrow escape of four nther persons, were reported in town on October 23. One of these occurred only a few miles from the North Head, and was observed by Mr. Grattan, of the Lake, to whose promptitude and forethought three of the unfortunate survivors owe their safety. It appears that during the rtrong puffs of wind which intermittently prevailed that day a whaleboat, containing six fishermen, was capsized off the Narrow Neck, near Long Bay. The men were all of the Kanaka race, and have for some time past lived at the Lake, North Shore, earning a livelihood by fishing. They left their hut, as usual, in the morning, and about eleven o'clock the accident wa observed from the beach. The men were seen struggling in the water about two miles frem the nearest land, and, in the absence of any means of putting off to their assistance, Mr. Grattan mounted a horse and rode round to a small bay, where a party of men from H.M. s. ' Charybdis' were eng»ged in gathering sand, and informed them of the accident. The boat was pulled off to the rescue of the drowning men, but by the time of arrival only three out of the six could be seen. Two of these were holding on to the bottom of the boat in a much exhausted state, and the third succeeded in reaching the shore with the assistance of an oar belonging to the boat. The men had been upwards of half an hour struggling against a heavy cross sea and adverse wind before any assistance reacted them. The crew oE the man-of-war boat very kindly pulled round to the lake, and landed the men near their own hut. Nothing was seen of the bodies of the men drowned. The other acoident occurred to a small pleasureboat at the Bay of Islands, and was reported in town on the arrival of the schooner ' Sea Breeze' from that place on October 23. It appears the men, three in number, left Russell in the evening, and were not heard of again until one of their number, Thomas Lees, was taken off a rock on the following morning. The othera had been drowned in consequence of the boat capsizing, and Lees had escaped almost by a miracle. The names of the two men were Richard Lambert and John Donald. The former was the son of Michael Lambert, carter, of this town, and was in his nineteenth year. Donald was formerly a private m H.M. 65fch Regiment, and was living on his pension. An inquest was held on October 29, at the Provincial Hospital, before Dr. Goldsbro', on view of the body of William Murray, lata of the 3rd Waikato Militia, who expired at the Provincial Hospital on Monday morning, in consequence of fatal injuries received from falling down the stairs at Messrs. Jackson and Russell's offices, Fort-street. The jury, after hearing the evidence, returned the following verdict : — "Tbatthe deceased, William Murray, was accidentally killed by falling from the top to the bottom of the stairs in Messrs. Jackson and Russell's office, while in a state of partial intoxication." A robbery was discovered to have been committed on October 26 th, or early on October 27th, on the premises of Captain Williams, H.M. Customs, Smales's Point. It appears th»t on the servant proceeding to the larder it was found to have been stripped of its contents, nothing remaining except the empty dishes. Information of the rob« bery was given to the police. Dwelling-house robberies appear to be on the increase in "Auckland, if we may judge from the numberlatelyreportedtothe police, On theafternoon, of October 30, the house occupied by Mr. Dyson, on the Graf ton Road, was stripped of a number of valuable articles of jewellery, and other g°° d »> during the temporary absence of the inmate3. Most of the'stoleu property, we are, however, glad to learn, has been recovered through the vigilance of detectives O'Hara and Ternahan, and two persons have been apprehended on suspicion of being the depredators. Their names are Alfred Knight and" William Jones. Knight was apprehended yesterday forenoon in Wakefield-street, and Jones in Queenstreet, opposite the Greyhound Hotel. Upon examination of the jewellery it was found that the atones had been taken out, and the markings defaced. ___—