ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 196, 13 May 1908, Page 7

ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES.

A FISHERMAN'S DEATH. CORONERi"INQUEST.; An inquest concerning the' circumstances surrounding tho death of Antonio de .Gregorio, fisherman, who was drowned in Oterangi Bay on May 6, and whose body was recovered on Monday, May 11, was conducted by Mr. W. G. Iliddell, ■ Coroner, at tho Morgue yesterday afternoon. Constables Carmody and Sims attended on behalf of the police, and Mr. J. Milosi acted as interpreter for the witnesses. Tho principal witiiess was Mattia Cococe, a fisherman, 1 who was in' the boat with deceased when it was swamped by a heavy sea. Ho deposed that on May 6 tho two were out in a small dinghy, about 50 yards from tho beach, engaged in picking up their nets, when a heavy sea swamped the boat, which sank, tho men being under. Deceased was a good swimmer. Witness, on coming to the surface, found himself entangled with tho nets. Tho seas swept him inshore, and a man called Meo Michelo extricated him from tho nets, and helped him out. He saw nothing moro of deceased, Gregorio was a fisherman, 24 years of age, single, and resided at Island Bay with his brother and cousin. Meo Michelo, fisherman, of Day's Bay, who witnessed the accident from.tho shore, gavo corroborative' evidence. The accident occurred between 6.30 and 7 a.m. lie saw no sign of Gregorio (deceased), after the boat capsized. Search was made all that day and the day following.. Victor Russo, fisherman, of Island Bay, deposed 1 to finding the body of deceased in Oterangi Bay, not far from tho sceno of tho accident, on Monday, May 11. Ho did not witness tho aceidont. ; .( ; Thoro was no further evidence. Tho jury, without 1 retiring, returned tho following verdict: —"That deceased, Antonio do Gregorio, ■was drowned by the swamping of-a boat 'in Oterangi Bay on May i .6.",. r

BOY KILLED. BY AN EXPLOSION. , . correspondent). -r- ' ''Masterton,.May 12. ' ,v The lisually•' peaceful■ ! neighbourhood' of 1 Mauricevillo West was plunged into a state of gloom to-day through a shocking .accident "to a nine-year-old lad named Percy Clifford Radcliffe, son of Mr. William Radcliffe, roadman, who was instantaneously killed by a splintered matai root which had been blown U P ,by gelignite from ' a gigantic stump. Tho fragment of ' the root, woighing forty pounds, was hurled a distance of nearly on a. hundred yards, and fell upon the boy's upturned faco from , a height of 150ftj as lie was racing along to view tho explosion. \ I Tho gelignite charge, it appears, was fired by Mr. James Bray, grandfather of tho unfortunate child. There'had been previously two unsuccessful attempts to blow up the' stump, and this morning the gelignite cnargo was increased till it amounted to two pounds. Mr. Bray fired the fuse, and then he with Mr. C. Anderson, a mate, took, refuge behind the corner of a shed about eighty yards away, but near tho rear of the residence of tho father of young Radcliffe. Neither Bray nor Anderson were aware of tho accident until tlioy heard the thud of the root up against tho building and tho scream of tho lad's sister. The boy had left the other children to see tho pieces go up, but had only run a short distance when the root came down, crashing through a pine tree, tearing the branches therefrom andi then falling with torriblo 'forco upon his upturned - Faco. The root then cannoned ,up against the sido of the house./ An inquest will be held to-morrow. The greatest sympathy is expressed for tho parents, and for Mr. Bray. • DEATH UNDER AN ANAESTHETIC. (BY TELEGRAPH.—rRESS ASSOCIATION.) . Napier, May 12. An inquest was held this morning touching tho deilth of Michael Kirby, _of Hastings, butcher, aged about 30, who died at Napier Hospital on May 10 while tindor tho influence of an'anaesthetic. It appeared that deceased had been suffering from a broken arm and had not- been in good,health. Ho accidentally broko his leg on Sunday, and was brought in from Hastings in an express instead of in tho-'ambulanco waggon. The jury, returned tho following verdict"That deceased died from collapso of the right lung while under an anaesthetic, and tho jury are of opinion that every care was taken in tho administration of the anaesthetic." Tho following rider was added: "That inquiry should be made a3 to the charges for the uso of the ambulance for, Hastings with view to placing it on such a footing that it may bo available at a moderate price.", Wanganul, May 12. . A sixteon-year-old lad named Horace Toop, while working a circular saw at a timber factory, had four fingers of his left hand cut off yesterday. A single man named Alexander Chalmers, 23 years of ago, had his thigh badly crushed at Paekakariki' yo3terday. Ho was assisting to load stones into a waggon when a train struck him. No bones were broken. The man was brought in to tho Wellington Hospital. A singlo man named Lqslio Chappie met with an accident Inst evening. Ho was on a down car from Newtown and ho got off at tho lower Hospital Road, opposite which ho lives, and it appears that lie must liavo run into an up-car whilo crossing the lino for he was knocked down and cut about the forehead. wrist and hand. Ho was taken to the Hospital at nino i o'clock. His injuries aro not considered serious.