"WHERE'S DICK?"

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 41, 18 February 1929, Page 9

"WHERE'S DICK?"

MANUKAU HARBOUR TRAGEDY

STORY OF A LAUNCH PARTY.

FIFTEEN GALLONS OF BEER. "IT WAS A DIRTY, WET NIGHT." An open ver lid was returned at Onel.iiiijH this morning at an inquest held U-f.-rc Mr. J). A. Sutherland, district ,ur.'ii<:i\ into the death of Richard Madden, wli.i was drowned at Whatipu, M iiuikau 11'.i.N. on the night of February 2. The dead man was a member oi' .i fi-hing party. Nineteen men left Onehunga at four cVi.uk on the afternoon of February 2 in tiui launch Pilot on a ii-hing excursion. Tin-y arrived at Whatipu three hours ].i ;,■!', anil Mr. .Madden uas missed when the party for the evening in.ii at '.) o'clock. Kudinec that lie had taken the party out fortnightly was given by William James Evans, engineer, who piloted the I.iunch. Before leaving Onehunga fifteen gallon* of beer were taken ou board and the gallons were consumed on the way down the harbour. At Whatipu the party divided into two groups. One group was appointed to mess duty, and the remainder of tin men spent the time listening to a gramophone on the wharf. The dead in.in was a member of the second group, and was seen by witness sitting on a. log. At !.) o'clock, when tea was ready, the absence of Madden was noticed. Someone asked, "Where's Dick':" and a search was begun with a hurricane lamp. The body was found limiting under the steps between the launch and the wharf. Witness had heard a splash previously but thought it was due to the wash of the flood° tide, as a considerable sea was runnin". "It was a dirty wet night,"° said William Franklin, master carrier, of Newmarket, commodore of the Lion Fishing Club, from which the party was constituted.

The commodore added that he was the last to leave the wharf to go to tea. He had seen Madden with the party during the musical . rogramme, and when deceased was missed he immediately made a search. The level of the water where the body was found was about Sit or 10ft below the top of the wharf. The steps were very greasy and it was dark and raining heavily. Artificial respiration was applied" for threequarters of an Tour by a member of the St John Ambulance Brigade who was with the party. Jn his statement, the commodore said he thought there were 25 gallons of beer on the launch -when leaving Onehunjra. Five gallons were consumed on the way tf> Whatipu, and the remainder was brought back the following day. There had been no bickering or arguing among the members of the party, he said. The wharf was uneven, and he considered there was a possibility that Madden had tripped in the darkness and fallen into the water. Evidence of Barman. "All the members of the party, except one, were quite sober when we left Onehunga," said Frank Turner, a member of the Lion Fishing Club, who acted as barman on the fishing excursions. Witness was also a member of the St. John Ambulance. According to the club rules, no ale was consumed until five miles down the harbour. The allowance to the member who was not quite sober at the time of the departure was curtailed. When the party was on the wharf at Whatipu considerable noise was made by the dashing of the water on the rocks, and if there had been a splash witness would have assumed it was caused by the sea. It was pitch dark and raining very heavily at nine o'clock. A bruise seen on the dead man's face when the body was examined at Onehunga would be consistent with hitting some hard object, probably the steps at Whatipu wharf. Witness applied artificial respiration for three-quarters of an hour, but without success. Frederick Arthur Grimes made a statement which showed that food and ale were taken from Onehunga and that the steps at the Whatipu wharf were in a greasy condition. Club of 23 Members. "Madden must have fallen over the side of the wharf," said Richard Henry C'lough, secretary of the Lion Fishing Club, which, he stated, bad 23 members. The dead man was a City Council employee and a widower. He lived at Victoria Crescent, Newmarket, and would be about sixty years old. Witness assisted in taking the body out of the water. Several witnesses stated that the man who was not quite sober had been put in a dinghy on arrival at Whatipu. "He was a stranger to me," said W. J. Evans, senior," "and he did not want to go off the launch." Witness added the man wished to stay on the launch with "the skipper," but he was placed in a dinghy, where ho went to sleep. Constable Hat hie, of Onehunga, took possession of the body when it was brought tu Onehunga at nine o'clock on Sunday morning, February 3, and an inspection showed there was a bruise on the riyht check and on one leg.

"There is no doubt whatever that deceased mot his death by drowning," said Dr. Kirkwood in evidence. He added that a post-mortem examination had shown there was no fracture or injury to the skull.

''It seems clear he must have fallen off the wharf," said the coroner, in rcturning a verdict of death by drowning. The coroner added: "There is no evidence »f foul play and no evidence to show how deceased got into the water. - '