Fatal Gun Accident.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XVII, Issue 3601, 11 June 1895, Page 3

Fatal Gun Accident.

Wellington, June 10

A sad case of accidental shooting happened in the Wainuiora%ta district yesterday morning, when a young man named Herbert Palmer, aged twenty-seven, a clerk In the Circulation Branch of the General Post Office, Wellington, was out pigeon shooting with his brother and two boys. Herbeit fired and brought down a pigeon, and rested the gun against his thigh while he put the bird in a bag. While doing this he hard a flutter in a tree above, and'snatched hia gun to have a shot. As he caught hold of the can it went ofl, and he received the charge in his left thigh, the shot blowing a hole clean through. The poor fellow bled to death in a few minutes, being fully conscious almost np to the last that the wound was fatal. The body was brought into the Hutt. Palmer had only recently returned from San Francisco, where he had gone for a trip aa mail agent. Palmer was veTy well known in athletic circles as a member of the Star Boating Club* He had been a member of several winning regatta crews at Christchurc'i, Piotonand Nelson, and was one of the most popular men in the shed. H« was also a prominent member of the Wellington Harriers, and as a member of the Wellington Amateur Athletic Club had several good records as a long-distance runner. He was a sinele man, and resided with his widowed mother here.