THE CHELTENHAM BEACH FATALITY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 254, 24 October 1907, Page 5

THE CHELTENHAM BEACH FATALITY.

ARE THE REMAINS THOSE OF LUKE LANGTON? The finding oi an unidentified body on Cheltenham beach, the wave-washed bones of which indicate that the period of time that has elapsed since it was deposited there must have been very considerable, recalls the fact that several Devonport residents have known for months that a body was in the vicinity. The larger bone of a right forearm was picked up some eight months ago, and the smaller corresponding bone about three months since. On Tuesday the remainder of the skeleton, enclosed in remnants of clothing, was discovered buried in the sand on the beach. The jury's verdict, pronounced on the scanty evidence adduced, was "Found dead," a fairly obvious conclusion. There is reason to believe that a guess may safely be made at the identity of the person whose remains have so long remained buried in the sand. In the finding of this body there is every probability that we have a distant echo of the terrible KapanuiClaymore collision of December, 1905. The clothing corresponds with that said to have been worn by Luke Langton, who is supposed to have lost his life in that disaster. He. is known to have ridden in from Maungaturoto, and just succeeded in catching the Kapanui at Warkworth, leaving his horse there. His build is given as nearly identical with- the description tbat was formed of the remains at yesterday's inquest. The clothing is identical; the period of'Tmme"fsion"would be within an easy margin of belief. These circumstances, coupled with the fact that there is no reported loss of anyone that could in any way be connected with the discovery, point to the probability of the remains being those of Luke Langton, late of Maungaturoto, the unfortunate victim of the Kapanui-Clay-more collision. The police are engaged in investigation, and will doubtless before long secure definite information from those most interested.