THE CHRISTIANSON FATALITY.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume II, Issue 295, 18 November 1912, Page 2

THE CHRISTIANSON FATALITY.

CORON ER'S IN QUEST. An inquest on the death of Peter Christian Christianson, who was killed at Brookfield on Friday, was* held on Saturday afternoon in the Morgue, Port Ahuriri. by the coroner. Mr. S. E. McCarthy. Eric Erickson deposed that lie was a farmer residing at Papakura. Deceased was employed by his father as a general farm labourer. He was a single man, about 32 years of age, a native of Denmark, and had no relations in New Zealand. They were both returning from work on Friday afternoon, about 5 o'clock, when deceased caught one of the farm horses. He tied a rope around the horse’s neck, and then around his nose, and mounted the animni bare-back. Deceased gave him a " leg-up,” and the horse trotted ofi. After he had gone a little distance his hat blew off. A little further on the horse seemed to take fright- ano started to gallop and then to plunge. Deceased appeared to lose his hold and rolled over the rump of the horse. After he had fallen the horse rolled over a couple of times. Deceased never moved afterwards. M’itness jumped on his bicycle and went straight up to deceased and called him by name, but he never answered. He dicl not think the horse kicked deceased. Christiansen had been in New Zealand about nine years. Tie had frequently complained of dizziness in the head. A man named Joseph King helped him to carry Christianson's body to his father’s residence. Witness, recalled, seated that deceased had al wav ’s g’O’iu 1 hv the u<?u'C of Peter Sondberg. Tn Denmark deceased’s narents were called Sondberg as a kind of nickname. He did not know bow the name originated. Constable Janies O’HaHoran denosed to having gone" to the whare at the residence of Deidrich Ericksen, where lie saw the. bod.v of the deceased lying on a bed. He took possession of the bod.v and had it .'T.'l’.'CVod to the MO”WW>. Jlp fon-ndl g vn.t-ch ip '’ux ard a hark bnok in of ?pt n r (Ihcrur. hpvr" rr n t j hrlanf- of Di*, nl, TV. .Moore MM tbM he saw the bodv of Christianson. At the time, he b.~d been dead about 25 minutes. Th-'re was nothing to Mow Mo covsn of doMh o flight wetmd on the right evebrow. That morning Im bad mad? a po--t--mor’ em examination of the Hn In AH the organs were quite he"l + hv. There was nq trace of alcohol in the stomach. The skull was a I 'norm al It thin and fragile, probably the result of what was known as bvdro-eonhnlus in infancy. There was other evidence of this. There was a long fracture of the back part of the base of the skull extending into the neck. This fracture had led to severe bleeding around the medulla of the brain and the adjoining part of the sninal cord, causing coninressinn of these parts and almost immediate death. The coroner found that deceased died about a quarter past five on the evening of November 15th. 1912. as the result of a fall from a horse causing a fracture at the base of the sksill, extending down tlm nock, thus causing severe bleeding at the medulla of the brain.