KELBURNE PARADE FATALITY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 106, 28 January 1908, Page 8

KELBURNE PARADE FATALITY.

THE INQUEST;-,,'' An inquestI'was1'was b?ld at tho Hospital 'yes,torday . afternoon,/before ■. Mr. K Sinipson,' dopiity,coroner, into the circumstances-sur-rounding: .tho. death ofi, the: young-'man Bernard. ■ Va' -driver; '".for Wardell ■ Bros.', who'was'' killed: on ; . tho !i£clburno Parade .on Saturday afternoon through being, tilrown, of- one,.'of.- his.*-employers' delivery carts. ; • ' . ' '.t>' 'Sergeant Hutton represented tlio'polico.- « Hcriry A. Gold', accountant; stated : 'that .be. was- bowling on.tho Kelburno Green about 4.45. p;ui.'., on' Saturday:.' when- liis attentionwas, attracted.' by ; tho .plunging of the' liorsfi driven' by Keating,- '.who' .was sitting.; on' the. footboard-of. tho trap endeavouring ..to coil-■ti-ol .the, horse.-' After a .'short .iiiterval'..thb,> driver -was 'thrown :to the ground, and 1 dragged for a. short; distance, being clear of tho trap for tho .time. '.The'.'mjm ' retained hold of., the reins, but tho<horse' swerved across the road, andi the man's body practically became a chock to the wheel of tho cart-, the vehicle with the horse going over, leaving the man about thro® or four yards behind tho cart. Tho injured man was taken on to tho bowling green and medical assistance sent for, after which he was removed to tho Hospital. A boy named Harold Sim was sitting on the near sido seat of tho cart whoir the horse commenced bucking, i Just before the cart turned oyer tbo boy was thrown out. In witness's, opinion, Keating was not kicked by tho horse, and the wheel did not pass right over his body.. Tho cart foil clear of tho body,when it capsized,.,. Deceased was quite conscious, but said nothing about what catiscd the accident. After tho accident the: back-band of .the harness , was .found to bo'broken. , A juryman, on examining, the,strap:. " I notico that; evorv . precaution has been. t<ikon. with "this - band.- ••In - nine' cases' 1 out''of ten, the strap is buckled in • the saino nolo every timo, but in this 'I seo it has been changed." '' J. Ewart, Medical Superintendent at tho Hospital, deposed, that Keating .was.admitted; to, tho Hospital about 6 p.m. on Siiturday.- j lfo was- quite- conscious,,.but.was in a state of extremo collapse. ...H6 . had sevoro-abdominal :pains,. and had'groat difficulty in'breathing.- There was no '.external sign.of injury.. As it was evident that, some internal rirgan had' been ruptured,, the mail was'operated upcin .later on in. tho evening, when .it wa's found', that the cavity, v of ~ the abdomen was full of blood and. the' spleen was., completely "'torn into three.' pioces. : Tho man did not/liyo more than half an hour affc'or tho operation' had been performed, but ho was- quite conscious beforo he-.died; - Death was duo to shock and loss of. b100d... Harold : Sim, an eleve.n?year-o]d--iad, .who accompanied Keating on.Saturday afternbon, detailed' the travels of the" cart up to Kel-burno-Parade; where the hbrse stumbled jind fell, the weight breaking tho harness.- Tho driver, was sitting: on 'tlio, seat -when' the horse • stumbled, • but subsequently slipped down on to -.the footboard. Ijie horso bolted when it regained'its. feet,, tho shafts; -at this timo hanging down-through tho'back-band, having - broken. When -Keating, fell off .the cart lie still.held'on to the roins, and was dragged along tho ground! Magnus-Monat, head storeman for Ward ell Bros., stated that. deceased was about twenty-six years of. ago, and had been employed by the firin for about fivo years, tho whole time as a driver. As far as witness knew, ho came, from .Ireland, and had no relatives in Now Zealand.' The jury returned a .verdict that deceased met his death through interna! injuries caused .by a fall from a cart. V. I The jury also expressed the opinion that had a false back-band been used tlio accident would not have occurred, and urged strongly that a false • back-band should be used .on all. deliver,y. carts of .the same description as the-one driven by. deceased. '