DEATH OF MR JOHN TOWERS.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10968, 16 July 1898, Page 3

DEATH OF MR JOHN TOWERS.

Out Wftlpiwa ootseapondent writing yesterday say :— Au taquest was held at the County Hospital laso night by Mr S. JjhQBOD, ooroner, on view of the body of the lftto Mr Jobn Tcweis. Tbe story nnfolried by the evldeioe w&s as follows : —For «ver&l ruuutha puat deceased hai been f Hug lv health, apparently soften* ing cf tho br-'.ln About a fotiight ngo the disorder became worse, and be had to lay op, being for tbe moat part dell hu« and leebk'. He wee nursed by hi a wife. Last wtek Bhn git a woman to relieve her. Ou Tuesday si 2 a.m the latter lay down, and tii wife got ap and attended to deoeased, A little later she went to her own room and was absent 10 mlantea. On her return deoaaeed was mlitlng. Bhe cave (ho alarm, and ultimately abont 7 ».m be was foand at the bottom of a cliff 43ft deep, unviog walked or fallen over thu bank atd fallen oa tbe ooiicrete ab the toot of a pier of the new rullway bridge. He wes taken on a strD'eber to tbe ttathn and sent to the hospital. Here Dr, Goilmy examined him, aDd foand the right arm badly brokan, and abrasions on hla arms, trutik, and aide of hit face. He saw that there was no ohacoe oi his living more than a few boats, and death ensued about ' 9 o'c'ook tbe iame nlshb. Tho jury at ones retained a verdlot that aooueed - dted in ooDteqnnnca of accidentally ' falling over a cliff while Bufhilog from Illness. Oar Dauevlrke correspondent wrltei : — Tho late Mr Towers was 66 at the time of Ma lamented death, He was born In Scotland In 1532, and in hl« early daye bbiv lift) for a nnmber of years nnder the | I lfcflienoa of "OurLidy of the Snows." There the roving spirit sefzad him, and he tnroed bis etepa la tbe direction of New Zealand, landing in Wellington late In > tbe forties or early In the fifties. He wbb i' there manied to the lady who la her present loss has tbe sympathy of a wide clrole of acquaintances, Coming to Hawkt'j Bay an the time of tbe railway 3 oaostrnoklon, he commenced oontraotlng, and subsequently jnpei intended the con- \ etrnoilon ot the bridges from Walp&wa to Mangatewainui. la 1885 he left tbe Government employ and devoted bte energies to the timber Industry, then "a good thbg," and with pood resnlts, At • Its dcolloe he, who had taken to prominent a part In the politics of the dletriot, . and who had been so familiar a figure at ' publlo gatherings, retired Uto private life, and Utterly, in consequence of advancing sga RDd 111 henltb, hsd to live a very (I qolet life Indeed, With (he details of bbc t ] sensational concluding chapter of hit life your readers are familiar, OaSuadsy, a* 0 3 o'clock, sottlen will pay the last maik of ropoot to ou " old hand," and will toko of Urn a " long farewell." He leaves a married ton and daughter to uiuuru (ibclr U lobs, n i— --=-