Inquests.

Dunstan Times, Issue 2172, 10 March 1903, Page 5

Inquests.

Aii inquest wjs held before Mr A, A. 01 liver, Coroner, on Friday afternoon last on the body ot William Henry Hughes, whose death was caused by an accident on the Unity dredge. . Thomas Bari', manager of the Unity dredge, said tho deceased had been on the died go working ; for six weeks. Hughes came on buaid on the morning of the 27i/h February at 8 a.m. The ladder lift was bi oken and 1 ordered Hughes to mend it; He was working at that till 2,lit) p m. when 1 arkcl him to slacken the friction hand of the main diivc, as 1 wished to stream down without dredging, and while (bung SO ho must have slipped ana fulled on to the d; edge. When 1 first saw him lie was in a sitting position on the deck rubbing his bauds. I asked him if he had Slackened,. the friction band. Instead of answering' ho looked up in a dazed sort of way. i then said, what is wrong with you, and got no answer. 1 then saw he was wet at the back. 1 asked _him if* he had fallen from the top. He looked up, hut gave no answer, f then gave him a drink of water, and told W Annan to go up and rec what lie had dune, Annan told me that he had taken a nut off and half drawn the bolt from the arm. Then 1 know that lie had fallal. 1 asked him where he was hint and ho pointed to toe back of his hea l, nutting Ins lu.nd there. I sat him on apiece of wood and brought him water in wash his hands. Ha took me soap and will lied his hands mid face, 1 thon took his waistcoat ant slnrt i ll to see if there worn any bmi cs about him, but could had none. 1 then conveyed him to Mrs Watson's boarding-house where he was stopping. 1 then csked him if 1 might take him to the hospital. He said “ No, take me home and send for tho doctor.” The doctor suv him, and the following day ordered his removal to the hospital. To slacken the friction band he had to go up eight and a half feet, then sec which was the tightest and slacken that one.jj He took the nut out of the top arm, and in doing ao had a beam 10 by 10 inches to stand on, cut would have to bend over to reach the arm. it was not a dangerous tiling to do and is often done twice a shift. I think it was a pure ease of overbalancing. I think he had a clear fall. When 1 found him a piece of board 3 by 2 inches, part of a door frame, had been displaced, but I think this piece of board was loose before 1 fancy ho must hauo struck it in falling The appliances at that part of the dredge are all that arc required. For the last four and a half years men have been going up there every shift without an accident, Hu walked home with assistance. He was'a very careful man about his work. J never met one more so. To my knowledge he was a sober man and thoroughly understood machinery. The tools he was working with were found lying on tho friction 1 did not see him fall, I was at the forge 35 feet away, I know he had been up there oiling before; but 1 dont know whether he had behn up there before to slacken tho band. It is an easy thing to slacken the band, and with ordinary care there is no likelihood of accident. Hughes told me that he had been on 6 or J dredges before. Wm Annan dredge hand on the Unity dredge deposed. I have heard the evidence of the last witness read. It is true and eoircct as far as I know. I was on deck at the time of the accident on the oilier side of the dredge. I heard the fall and went around, but only only in the ordinary courto of my work. 1 raw deceased sitting on the deck of the dredge and Spoke to him, but did not get any answer. He was a little deaf and i took no further notice of him, 1 have been ou the Unity d’edge for the last 12 months, have seven al times slack■■l the friction band.- which is neither a j uiiiicult or a dangerous thing to do, having good footing ou the beam. l|presume that

the accident occurred through deceased, slipping or overbalancing. Deceased was my mate while working, and to my knowledge had been up before to slacken the friction. acorgc Fache auctioneer Clyde deposed By order of the Register of the Warden’s Court Clyde I visited the Unity Dredge on the 4th of March. I saw Mr Barry, the dredgemaster, and inspected the part where the accident happened, and could see no danger oc difficulty in going up to main friction, and can only think that the deceased must either have slipped or ovcrbalan jddjlunaself. Robert Me Intodi, Assistant Inspector of Minos, deposed. I visited the Unity dreuge on the sth hist, and made a thoiough examination where the accident took place, I asked iho dredgemaster to place the friction in the position in which it was while deceased was working at it and to show me how this work is usually done on this dredge. I was satisfied that the work could be done under safe ana easy conditions. As a dredgemaster, Mr Burry takes* reasonable care and precaution for the safety of his men, The canse of the accident can theieforo only be surmised Dr J G Hyde, duly qualified metical practitioner, Clyde deposed. On Friday 2?th February i saw VV 14 Hughes at Mrs Watsons, I found he was suffering fiom the symptoms of concussion of the brain. I had him removed to the hospital the following day. Symptoms of compression had come on. There was only a small external contusion of the scalp: No other injury could be detected, Ho gradually became worse, and died on Friday the sth. I performed a post-mortem examination and found a fracture 8 inches long extending along tire left side of the head, but not visible fiom the outride. Upon removal of the bone 1 found a laigc clot extending over the whole left side of the brain. The jury returned the following verdict •—•‘The said William Henry Hughes died the result of a fall sustained while attends iug to the friction gear of the Unity dredge but there is no evidence to show how the accident occurred. We also agree, there is no blame attached to anyone including the deceased himself.’ At an inquest on the body ot Sarah Me Gregor, which was found in river below Clyde, the jury returned a verdict of found drowned,