CORONER'S INQUEST-ONEHUNGA.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXV, Issue 3760, 7 September 1869, Page 5

CORONER'S INQUEST-ONEHUNGA.

INQUEST.—ONEHUNGA. An inqueifc on the b dy of Jasper Crago was held yeBterJay, at the Princa Albert; Hote', Onebungu, before Dr. f-hilson, Coroner, and r nspectablo jir>, of whom Mr. Kobeif Bilkie whs ch s n foreman. The jury hiving returned from viewing the l>o<)y, tUe following evidence was given . — igues MurdotkduiiO'ei; I a^l a «ilo,v, rfsidino; in On h mga. Abou*; 5 o'clock on Friday evening I was n stairs in my o.\n bonrfc, aDii boRriiii,' borse-, 1 tet t[ wei.t to t e wi dow. (^n lookia.' o"fc I-aw U o ice 3'.Hyinf» "ii liis 'ac 1 in .1 I'Ool of w.it r; i hoise «;ii also 1/H'K by biraon i s side.cU'ie CJinerof Queen and T.afa'gar t-trce'g I oiTOQ do-rnst ir«, an<l sa>v two men wlio had jubt ridden pat-t trying to pull up their lior-es I had seea them ride very quickly \ a^t ft wonaent

leforc. ] called to a man named Walter Kimber to pull decease I out of the watet ; ho did *o. The man and horte r.ere close together on the ground. The man. lay perfectly still — he was alive und breathing ; there was some blood coming from his nose and mouth ; he was carried into my house close by. Deceased was quite insensible, and never spoke or moved. Dr. Zinzan was sent ,for and came in about half-an-hour. Mr, Purchaa also came in soon after. Deceased died about eight o'clock the same evening, insensible to the last. There was no sign or smell of drink about deceased. There are several very large stones at the spot where the acoident happened, and it is a dangerou3 corner. The water often lies on each side of the road. — Walter Kimber deposed : 1 am a horsedealer, living at present in Auckland : my permanent residence is Sydney. I first saw deceased on Thursday, the day before his d«ath, in Auckland. He was treating with me for the purchase of a horse. He came to me at my lodgings on Friday, and said if I was going out he would like to ride with me on the pony he was wanting to buy. I ooncented to do so. We started from Auckland about 2 o'clook ; two other men went with us, on horseback ; the other two were also from Sydney. We rode out all together as far as the Royal Oak Hotel, Onehuoga, where I and one of the others stayed for about a quarter of an hour. Deoeaied and' the other man named Lawson went on further. Soon after, my friend and I went to see after tbe other two. We both started different ways. All four afterwards met at the Boyal Hotel, on Onehunga beach. We had a drink there, Deceased had gingerbeev and bitters. We all cama away together soon after 4 o'clock, returning towards Auckland. Deceased and myself rode up Queen street ; the other two turned off to «ee a friend. We were walking our horses when we were overtaken bv three gentlemen on horseback — Mr.Ernest Hill, Mr. Bray, and another. They overlook us at an easy canter. Mr. Hill rode on, and deceased then left me, aud cantered on after him. I was left some distance behind, and, on reaching the corner of Qiieen-streef, found deceased lying face downwards in a pool of water. The horse had only been landed from Sydney about four days. I cannot account for the accident, unless the horse's legs were weak from the sea voyage. Deceased was quite sober, and appeared to be a oompetenthorseman. — 4 If redTurner deposed : I saw the horse fall, and the rider fall off into a pool of water bythe side of the road. It appeared to me the horse was not a! le to carry him at the rate he was going and in roundinj? the oorner lost his balance, and horse and rider fell together, I consider ths pace the men were going at was dangerous for themselves aud for passengers on the road. The horse got up and ran away. — Ernest Hill gave corroborative evidenoe. He deposed : I think the pony fell from weakness, caused by the sea voyage from Sydney, — William Bray deponed : I am a farmer, residing at Hillsboro'. I knew deceased well ; his occupation was principally with horses. He was a good horseman and steady. — Roberb Vaux Zinzan deposed: I a*n a member of the Rojal College of Surgeons, England, duly registered, and lately arrived in the colony ; now practising at Onehunga. On Friday I was called to see deceased, whom I found in* Mrs. Murdock'a house in a state of collapse. He was quite insensible, with great swelling over the right eye, bleeding; from the nose. Tbe pulse was feeble and intermittent, the surface of the body cold. He remained in this state till death took place. The brain was evidently injured and the skull fractured. I wa» told that di ceased had fallen with a horse, and suppose his head c.tme in contact with a large stone lying there. Constable Negus produced the property found on deceased, namely, 9s. 2d. ia money, a pocket-book, a knife, a miner's right, and a gold ring with iuitials J 0.— Tbe jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death, 1 ' and recommended the hollow place by the road aide to be filled up.