AN INTERRUPTED FUNERAL.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIV, Issue 123, 1 June 1910, Page 6

AN INTERRUPTED FUNERAL.

STRANGE STORY OF THE

EARLY DAYS

In some reminiscences of Murchison on the Buller River in the early days Mr Thomas Bell tells a strange tale in the Nelson Evening Mail. Once there had been a death at Owen Junction. A Mr Michael ] Fagan had died, and, writes Mr ] Bell, was to be buried in the Murchi- ; son Cemetery. The river was flood- < ed—no vehicle could cross—so the | coffin was brought along the road j opposite to the cemetery, and Dowj nie's canoe was. to bring it over the

| river. It was a sad little procession | that came down the bush track to the river and- placed1 the coffin in the canoe. Messrs Downie and Ribet i were to bring the- canoe over, one in

the stern and the other in the bows, with the coffin amidships. A couple of strokes of the paddles and the canoe was tearing up stream, nearing the rock which caused the whirlpool, out into the down current, and turned turtle.

Ribet was a powerful swimmer, and relied on that; but in such a swirling, turbulent, hissing stream, there was no chance of helping anyone else, and Downie could not swim, but fortunately held to his paddle, and was soon washed alongside the upturned canoe, which he managed to struggle on to. The river was bank-high, with driftwood and logs coming down. Downie got astride thf canoe, and down stream at about eight knots an hour they went, now coming near the bank, then off again, sometimes looking down stream, then up or across, past his own house, were his wife and children, who were quite unconscious of what was- ; happening. Men ran to the bank and held out poles,-, but on, on, the canoe sped, seeming to revel in the thought of destruction. And just when the watchers thought it was hopeless, the canoe shot near the bank, where some scrub was dipping into the river, and with a desperate leap Downie managed to lay hold of a bough, and held on to it for dear life. He was soon brought ashore apparently little the worse for his ducking and fright . Amongst the black driftwood floating down the river, it was difficult to tell which was the coffin going over the fall near Rowe's. Now, how it could be intercepted was the question. Someone thought of the punt, some five miles down the river at the lower end of Four River Plain. John Moonlight was told off with his trusty horse, Rory, who did that distance about as fast as ever it was done, and warned the punt man to keep a sharp look out for the unfortunate coffin. The canoe had stranded on the beach opposite to Rowe's Hotel, now known as O'Rourke's Crossing.

The watchers at the punt were not rewarded at all for their vigil, so all concluded that the coffin had sunk below the surface, and had gone to sea. It was one of those leaden wintry days that has the effect of depressing the spirits. But it did not need this as all were sad enough. Towards evening someone suggested that-the cahoe ought to be secured, or that it too might be lost, and on those who went turning the canoe right side Up, to their great surprise the coffin floated away. It was soon secured and taken, to a place of safety, and another start made for the cemetery, which in the dusk of evening the few who still remained in the township gathered around that grave, and the- last rites were performed.