WATERSIDER'S DEATH

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 53, Issue 210, 17 June 1933, Page 3

WATERSIDER'S DEATH

DREGS OF RUM CASK DRUNK.

THE TIMARU FATALITY.

(Special to the "Guardian.") TIMARU, June IG. A verdict that John Patrick Lane died as the result of having drank the dregs.of rum remaining in casks which were being shipped to England in the vessel Taianaki by the naval authorities, was returned by the Coroner, Mr A. L. Gee, at an inquest this morning. i/ane, a single man, aged 31, was a members or a gang of men on the vessel who broached a number of empty rum kegs and drank what liquid remained. The Coroner added that he proposed to draw the attention of the naval authorities at Auckland to the circumstances to prevent such an occurrence again. Jeremiah Patrick Evans, a watersicler, said that .Lane was a member oi that section of men under his control. There were between i>o and (50 rum casKs stowed along the side oi the ship's hold, and it was found necessary to aemove these to make room tor tue wool hales they were loading. When the casks were being shifted it was iouud that one of them contained liquid. The men broached this and poured the liquid into an empty cigarette tin and drank it. Shortly beioie 8 p.m. Lane left his gang and joined the men who were drinking the liquor. Witness tasted it but found that it was like sour vinegar, and refused any more. He saw Juane drinking, and when lie told him to return to his work JUane laughed and continued to drink. Between 9.15 and 9.30 p.m. was taken from the hold and collapsed on the deck. Another member of the gang, one Bail, was also taken "out in a semi-conscious condition, while another member' named Smith was .very drunk. When witness finished and left the vessel, .Lane was ueing taken home in a taxi. The coroner commented on the fact ' that Lane .refused to retain to his work when told to, and remarked that the discipline must have been very lax. Remarking on the fact that the second officer of the ship had said in evidence that water had been added to the casks, witness stated that this was not so. The men had been drinking proof spirit. To ttte brother of the dead man, Ernest William Lane, witness said that John Lane drank at least a full tin ot the liquor. William Nicholai Clausen, employed as a casual foreman and in charge of the gang at the time of the incident, corroborated the previous witness as to the shifting of the casks arid the broaching by the men. Witness stated that two casks were broached, the first containing a very watery liquid, and the second contained, ' in his opinion, a liquid that was "rank poison." The Coroner: Did you and Evans make any attempt to stop the men-.' Witness*: Yes, repeatedly. When men get into that sort of thing you cant get them away from it. Sergeant Hodgson: Isn't it a fact that you were all drinking together. Witness, replied that the work was going on all the time. • . Asked by the Coroner why he did not report the men's disobedience to the stevedore, witness replied that he was only a temporary foreman, and had he done so he would have been regarded as a "pimp." Had the men been broaching cargo he would have ieported them. . Another member of the gang, Robert Boucher, said he accompanied Lane 'to his home in a taxi. He was then unconscious and breathing heavily. On arrival at Lane's home, he was taken into the kitchen and laid on a couch Witness had no reason to think Lane was dead at that time. The Coroner recalled William Clausen to ask who was in authority at the'time. "Everyone seems to be shifting the responsibility on to someone else," be remarked. In reply to a question, Clausen sa d that Lane was not taken immediately to the wharf, but was laid on deck until the men had finished working th "That* means that he was left from about 9 o'clock until at least 10.30 p.m. unattended," said the Coroner. "We had no idea that he was ill, witness replied. "So far as we knew he was simply drunk." ; The Coroner then returned Ins verdict.