Inquest at Canada Reef.

Bruce Herald, Volume x, Issue 957, 13 November 1877, Page 6

Inquest at Canada Reef.

An enquiry iri f o the cause of the death o Joseph H'ggins took place at Canada Reef on Saturday, before M>E. ,H. Carew coroner^for the district, and a jury of twelve consisting of Messrs A. Kerr, S. Fairburri W. BennettoV jun., W. Hudson, JW. Wright J. Smith, . J . Slickmon?,- J . JKerr^ B; Edie, J. ii'6u»g»an, T.Gromarky^ and W. Hudson jun. ; Mr !T. . Cromarty%as dtibaen ;IForeman. ' "■'■> '■'■'- "■■ : '"■:'"- - n;;!; - "•■ :■■'■■•:•■-•■ ;. ; W;; Bonnetlo deposed that he was a mine) residing 'at Table Bill. ■ He identified tli< body as that of Jo»eph ;T Higgin.s,s'wHo' was hif ' son-in-law. ;Last '.Thursday -he ■ aud ■ tht deceased ■ went to' the claim : of the Bruc( Quartz Company about 2 p.m. and- relieved the other party on the ground. The leve' was then in about 300 feet from' the r main shaft. The average dimensions of the drive were-6' feet high, and from 2^ to ; 4 feet wide. There was no other- ground open in' tht vicinity besides the tunnelwhich they wore driving in the reef. ? The ground on each side «»f the r : eef ; consisted 'of hard blue slate rock. A'very little part of tbe tunnel was timbered.' There wer«^ust a few sticks in the 300 ; feet; The tunnel had * riot pwid pi '■ laf c. Nine men ' had agreed- to take * the drive one hundred '■ feet for the ' gold- '-.which the stuff would produce He would call it a drive.; They, were working for Binall > wageai hoping ; for something better to come-when they - would' get steady employihent." He would mention that the legal manager of the company had agreed te make their wages £l> per week if they did not realise that sum! Timber was used wherever it was necessary.: From what he had seen of the ground, he ..thought it was good standing ground . •-..: Whenever any scaling off'w&s seen it was taken away. Two men worked in the; shift. He was in -the face of the drive throwing back the dirt ■in the deceased when the accident occurred. Deceased was > about 8 -or 10 feet from r the place* ■■ It; -was about 8 p.m. They had .just , got' in; -with the trucks ; and deceased had ' put two or three shbvelfulls in thetruck, when witness heard a tremendous crash.- A small portion of the fall struck his arm, and he turned round and found that his mate' was buried. A portion of the : deceased's legs were visible. Be should think that a tori" 6 J stuff fell altogether j but he did not- think that there was more than three or four cwt. on the deceased's head. He heard a groan as if the breath were being 'crushed out of the deceased's body, but he Lever spoke. Witness "then came over the stuff which had fallen, and went for assistance. Before he returned, he went for Mr Douglass 'the ■'doctor," and took him with him to the claim, when ho found that there were' three or four men already down the shaft, who were coming tip with the body. It would not then be more than six minutes from, the time that witness had got <ait of the fihaft.. The .piece of^the reef which came away appeared to be small on thetop" and large atthetbottom"; something like the shape of an A. ■' There had been no slips before or -any consequence. Be could not accoun t for the accident except by a shot which theybad. fired eight or ten feet away hear the face in the upper part of the drive/ He had not noticed s whether there was any seam where the stuff 'gave way, arid had not been down the drive' since the accident occurred. ■ iVliich«'li Park deposed that he was a miner, and had been working in the same claim &&, th» deceaetd' for the last two -years.' On : Thursday evening Aboat* 8 p ,m M Mr Charles Ti'dd called at bis house and told him that Biggins had '.been hubt, He immediately proceeded to the. mine. " Harry M'Kenzie was down the drive before him. The body w&s on the other .'"side of the trucks. When he had passed them -tie saw the stuff on .the body. He and three others then pulL-d. out the body, which they found to be that of. Joseph' Higgins. There was a dent above the eye like a cut of about half .an inch in Jehgih; There "~ was riot much bleeding. Witness thought wheu he brought him to/the turning table, +hat he felt him breathing;; but if he did, he saw no further sign of life. Mr Douglass said that he wair dead. They had been about three mipu,tes down before they had the body of the deceased up to the. table! Mr Ponglns then cut a \ ; ein in the arm of the deceased, who bled a little. They then took the deceased- to the mouth of the drive. Witness had examined the slip which came down. ; ! He ! Lad ; noticed that part jof \%\i9 A p'irpt '^e Eo'reV- : Thgret was v water in '- th c | reef, arid the reef there consisted: of - ? riifbbly . I stuff wh'ck could not be'trUsted; -Hi beiieyed : that - the reef, would have stood had'there not pgefi s gp'a'ppy head going up in : the -reef. H« thought th aj; i j; tli'e-df lye |}ad b^^ l; a ptoJifi^ble one, tjie ground^ -wh'uld h^ve ' been; 'ambered r <" 'file timber : wa.s' lying at the month .6i the i drive, and 'did riot "c6st' r the ! m^n any thiGg: besides the labour of putting J-itinV--' " ■.-.-'..■:-■■■■ "•■" : ' ;: ' ; ': '": ■'■'-■■■' v'~"-V .- ;- --| Ar<)liibald Douglas deposed that he was a echo.ql ui aster resiciipg a|T^ble JSfil- Q{\ Thursday" 7 iiiglit Mr 'B;eijnett(i r - called upon him, $nd V'M him to. come qiiickiy as he thought Jog was dead. vThey Then prctr; ceeded to. the shaft aud found the "deceased, layiug on. the. table ir the, chamber, where he bad Pf-Bft bponglifc fey /tfce. others, He examined his pulse. It had ceased beating. Tha heart was also still. He opened .a .vein, in. jjig arm. The blood gtime very sluggishly. He then_held". lns hand over th/* heapt and felt tuie violeat bs,4fc. He W&} : Batißß r e.d' : t-Uat deceased w*& dead. He did not examine the head yeVy vj*ii"*ji^«jyi,- Th- re wa r 5 a? wouuda^tlip tetnpie'abp^t three guni-tfrs qf. ■Df"tt»'-j^c'li;'f|»)m the i'UH eye. '"Witness: did, noi examiiiii hifji fqf-Llier as'^e was satisfied

skull had been ' fructured. The fra«ture might have been occasioned by a fall of earth or stone. ■ ' ; W. Bennettoj recalled, deposed that the deceased was a native of Oxford;" England, . and was 37 years of age ; ' . He left, a wife and ; three children. ;: ; ; - " H .:.."• . ; ! The Coroner said, in summing up,- thai he ( would not, ; make any ' comment ' as ' to ; the mode of working|the mine. ; ■ ; He" would leave it to the jury; j udges than he, as to whether there ; was' carelessness or riotV If they 1 thought that' there had been carelessness, iriiwhatever verdict they came to; "if they did riot incorporate it in their/verdict, they should acc6m|»any it : by way l of a rider. They had gathered frbni' one witness that if the manner of working was not grossly careless, there was some degree of carelessness. ,He had explained this hy saying that their .earnings werervery small, and that they, were' driving on to. get work, a.3 soon as^ possible;' There,; was no doubt that when men : 'were .working in^that way, they-would not > take : ( the same degree of care as \ they otherwise woulddo. ■';•'■■■:.• . • •. ;.- ".■;•;■■•';•-.,' ..•■• : - : - ,'.--' : '. : ' Th 6" jury after a short consultation^ :brought in the :following verdict, •'•- That jtHe deceased Joseph Higgins: met" hia death on Thursday, the Bth day -of while at work in the-'Bruc^' QifarTz Mining Com-. pamesclaim by, » kill of stone, accidentally." The jury accompanied the verdict with L : the following, rider. "ThaV in the opinion of the jury all underground workings' should -be timbered' ; seciirely." :