DOMINION ITEMS

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 May 1944, Page 4

DOMINION ITEMS

MINE ACCIDENT. ASHBURTON, May 15. A fall of coal at the Blackburn mine, in the Ashburton Gorge, to-day, serious!;/ injured Archibald Kennedy McLean, the mine manager. Fie suffered a fracture of one of his thighs and a shoulder blade, and was admitted to the Ashburton Public Hospital. This evening his condition was reported to be satisfactory. McLean was making an inspection of the mine when the accident occurred, and was extricated by two miners. ABATTOIR KILLINGS CHRISTCHURCH, May 15. The effect that meat-rationing was on killings at the City Abattoir was mentioned by Councillor J. N. Clarke, Chairman of the Abattoir Reserves and Milk Committee, at the City Council’s meeting this evening. He said that there had been a. tremendous dropping off. Cr. M. E. Lyons said that rationing was not quite wholly responsible. Army contracts entered into it. The abattoir manager’s report showed that in April 911 cattle were slaughtered compared with 1,337 in April last year. Killings of sheep dropped from 8,191 to 5,590 and lamb killings from 3,081 to 1,958, while last month 346 calves were killed compared with 460 in April last year. SOLDIER’S WOUND. WELLINGTON, May 15. As the outcome of Richard Townsend Chorley, a soldier, of Tawai Street, Trentham, being admitted to the Wellington Hospital on May 4, with a .22 bullet wound in the abdomen, Detectives Ally and Scott today arrested Mary Stuart Walker on a charge of having attempted to murder Chorley at her residence, 74 Daniel Street, Newtown, on May 4. Ghorley is still in hospital. The accused will, appear in the Magistrate’s Court to-morrow to answer the charge. WELLINGTON, May 16. Charged with the attempted murder of Richard Townsend Chorley on May 4, Mary Stuart Walker, 37, married, appeared before Mr. Stout, S.M., at the Magistrate’s Court, this morning, and was remanded until May 24. Application for bail was refused on the ground that accused might be required to be present at the hospital at any moment when depositions were taken from the chief witness, the soldier, whose condition was still' critical. ~ The Magistrate said that if the condition of the wounded man improved a further application for bail could be made, but meantime he ordered a remand in custody.

JURORS APPROACHED ? WELLINGTON, May 15. Before Mr. Justice Johnston, and a jury, John Barrett appeared in the Supreme Court on three charges of attempting to obstruct, pervert or defeat the cause of justice by attempting to persuade jurymen to take a lenient view in an abortion case, and one charge of attempting to influence by a bribe a juryman in his conduct of such. Mr. Cunningham, for the Crown, said that there were five counts relating to three jurors whom Barrett was alleged to have approached. Thomas Vincent Connell said that a man called on him on a Sunday morning and mentioned the Radcliffe abortion case and said that she was a good woman and was doing young girls a good turn. In the course of the conversation he told witness that one man holding out on the jury could alter the verdict. Witness said he would weight the evidence and be .fair. The caller said that the whole f trouble was squealers, who, in his I own country, would be just shot and buried. Witness took that as referring to him, and did not pursue the matter. The caller left and said he would see witness after the trial. Witness said he had identified Barrett as the man from 25 to 30 at an identification parade.