A MINER'S CASE

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 14, 17 July 1923, Page 8

A MINER'S CASE

. The Court also delivered its reserved judgment in the case of Elsie Annette Unlds, of Denniston," Westport,' married, woman, against the .Westport Coal Company. The plaintiff was the mother of Cecil Lionel Clifford Childs, who died at Denniston Hospital on the 15th November last. ;The plaintiff alleged that' the death resulted from an injury by accident arising out of and in the course of the deceased's employment in' the IJenmston colliery in August last The circumstances of the case were somewhat TTI *laintiff '«■** evidence to.'the enect that her son came home from work one evening-^; thought on 15th Aug-;ust-stating that he had .received- a T>h fOV- ! !efr ia the to that effect "He took his boot, off his left foot, but was unable to put it on again on account of the swelling! of the foot, and she noticed on examination an injury a t the back of the heel. Subsequently deceased called on the doctor, and went to Wellington about 25thAugust for a holiday.' The evidence of Drs Anderson and-Watters, taken in Wellington, on the motion of the delendant company, showed that Childs SEn?WS *? *^ W^"g^ Hospital about 9th j September, ' suffering from a , septic condition of the foot. There was then no^ abrasion or mark at the back ot the heel, and deceased himself Rave i«L^T yi:i!- a" ■a*sident. though they admitted .that .the condition had probably been induced by accidental injury The injured part was lanced and drained and deceased was discharged on'the 14th and..attended-the Hospital as.an outpatient until th e 20th. It appears, that ho left for Westport. that day,. and- on leachmg,Denniston, on th e 21st saw Dr jMenzies, on whose advice he. was immediately admitted to. the: hospftal there 1 jTT i eft the hospital thereafter, and died of sepsis on 15th- November iue case-was. heard at-Westport on 13th June when evidence was given by the plamUff and also,by -Victor Richards,' a S!^l#' 1 d?ceased) who-,>described- how %^'«.WP foptJmd-Been. jammedibetweerrthe buffer, of a coal-laden : truck andUie; ivofm-ot the tram-road, .-as'; a lesult of which he lumped out of the mine;and-never returned to. work. The Plaintiff claimed, that the;injury.. to "the' foot in the mine had been caused by accident, as a result of Which blood-poi-.' oning had.supervehed.and deceased^ had died. Accordingly, she claimed as a total dependant of the deceased:.' The defence was a denial, of the accident, 1, and (a) that no, notice thereof had.'beeh given as soo^ as" practical:' thereafter-; ' (b).'that death was due'to an unreasonable disregard of medical advice; ; arid": (c)thae the dependancy.was not total.' The Court ot Arbitration held that' injury by accident on or about, 19th; August- was -fully proved, and that the case, being a fatal one, the want of notice was no bar to the_ artion./, The' Court ffound; further; that there; had been no unreasonable act on the part of the deceased to interrupt toe claim of causation between' the accidental injury and the death. The Court agreed that the mother was not a total but a partial dependant on-the contribul tions of the deceased. Judgment accordingly, was entered .1 or £210 compensa^ ton £20 3s 9d: funeral, expenses; and , witnesses': expenses to be settled by the Clerk of Awards.- ■ • Mr-P-J-*O'Regah appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. J. B. Callan, of Dunedm, for the defendant company. ■