MELANCHOLY ANB FATAL ACCIDENT.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 50, 11 April 1877, Page 3

MELANCHOLY ANB FATAL ACCIDENT.

The death of Mr Eandolph, terri- . able m its violence and suddenness, has made the present week a memorable one m Palmeraton. Messrs. "Walker and Eandolph, the parties m the dreadful tragedy which has shadowed the township for the last few days, were well known to. 'most persons m the district as partners j and friends. Some two years ago, Mr Eandolph, who had then just arrived from America with his wife I and children, took possession of a farm a few miles to the West of Palmerstqn, upon which he and his partner had ever since industriously employed themselves. On Sunday morning intelligence was "brought to town that Mr Walker had aceidently shot TVlr Eandolph. The dreadfully fatal nature of the accident was not generally, known until some hours later, when all the tragic circumstances became the one absorbing topic of conversation. The fact' of one so well known and respected ,as- Mr Eandolph being, m the prime of hale hearty manhood, suddenly struck down to his death, without a moment's pretnoni-. tion, and. ,by the unfortunate hand of a f^fcid, were circumstances calculatecr*to evoke the most painful feelings both f roni friends and strangers. One moment m life and health, and the next a corpse ; one moment m lightness of spirits and the next borne down by the weight of a terrible crushing calamity ; : — these are experiences which m this shifting scene are often brought within our range of vision. But their week they have come closer ; m the scene of woe presented by our near neighbours we have seen something of the bitterness of death m the midst ;• of .life., ' ;. - „'■■■:..-. With Mrs Eandolph m her" bereavement great sympathy is felt, and' also with Mr "Walker, whose misfortune it was to be instrumental m the death of his friend. On Monday forenoon the body of deceased <was ; brought into jtowri, to the Palmerston Hotel, tHere to await the inquest, which took place on the following day (Tuesday). , . . INQUEST. . ' • '.. ' ,'. .- The inquest commenced a'fc 12 o'clock noon, before. Dr. Eockstro, Coroner, and the following jury:— Messrs Pownall (foreman),-. .Palmersony Mitchell, Eawson, Manspn, Diindas, Millar, King, Graff,' Green, Waldegrave. • Qwen, Trimble^ ar.dAnstee. Charles William Walker, havingbeen sworn, deposed : I am a settler residing at Karere. I know the deceased. He was my partner m land, house,, and stock. I Have known him for about five years. I have been'in partnership with .him.. about. 18 months. I remember Sunday, the Bth day of April, 1877. On thatday our original intention was to go, to a drain which we had 'dammed up, as Bandqlph that it had not been done properly ;*and^ deceased proposed that .instead of going direct, we should go round by way of the bush opposite tli e house and look for totara trees, as on the Saturday previous. I had engaged three men to. split, posts for us. , We accordingly went into ; the bush. He had a billhook;in his handto cut supplejacks with as we went along, and I ha d a gun. He was m front of me cutting ■supple-jacks when my gun went off.. By thS Coroner : I was carrying the gun m either my right or my left hand. I did not carrjr : it on my shoulder. Ido ; not remember how the gun was pointed. The gun was loaded ; I loaded it myself. Deceased could not have been more than^grs yards m advance of me. I havearways been on friendly. terms with, deceased. .We had no quarrels. • By the Jury: I was walking behind deceased at the time the gun went; off:. He was cutting supple-jacks when they came m the,! way. It was deceased who suggested taking, the gun along with us, m order to have a shot at some ducks. I brought out first a single-barrelled gun, but Eandolph said " Ho ; take the double-barrelled gun." I did not feel the gun come, m contact with anything previous to its- discharge. There was. much supple-jack, where we were.'. I do .not remember whether tie, gun was at •' half or fullcock. I know the hammer was not at rest. I have not been out with a gun for a long time before. I ; amin the habit of carrying a gun at half cock. ./. By the, police,: Deceased fell instantly . on the discharge of the gum He never spoke afterwards. I did not discharge; or try l to discharge the gun. previously, 1 did not discharge the other barrel after the accident; ' . "Wiilliam-.tTohn Batt, being sworn, deposed : I am a settler residing at Karere. I Traew the deceased. I identify the body as that of Arthnr Eahdolph, my late neighbor. I was not present when the accident happened. I know Mr Walker. He was deceased's partner. The partners were always on the most amicable terms with each other. They never had a quarrel that I am aware of. They were both very steady sober , men. By the Jury.: I have reason to know , that the partners together with- Eanv' dolph's family lived very- happily. They were- all to have gone riding on the afternoon of the day on which the accident occurred. ; •■•By the police : I remember Sunday the jßth of the present month. I saw Walker between 10^0 and .11-30 qu the'

morning of that day, on the road to Palmerston, riding very fast, and as he passed me he exclaimed "Oh ! a most awful accident !". m a most piioous manner. I turned back and ran clown ' to Eandolph's house. I saw only Eandolph's children at the house. I afterwards went with one of the workmen to where deceased was lying m the bush. The body. was lying on the left side. I could feel no pulsation at either heart or wrist. The body was lying m a network of supple-jacks. I went" round the body and saw a wound m deceased's neck. There were supple-jacks cut about the place. I waited til] assistance came. The body was carried to tlie house. The gun was pointed out. to me on the road, about five or six chains from where the body was lying. I picked it up. I believe the gun produced to be the one I picked up. The body was lying from twelve to twenty chains from the house m a direct line. The body was' from four to five chains m the bush. Before I took the gun into thehouse, I tried once to 1 discharge it, but did not succeed. The left barrel was loaded. There was a t cap on the left nipple. By the- Jury : The body appeared to lie as it had fallen. There was no sign of any struggle having taken place. There was a pool of blood immediately underneath, tlie mouth. There was a ■billhook alongside deceased, as if it had fallen from his hand. The hammer of the left barreT was' at half-cock : the right was down. I do not remember having put the- hammer at full cock before I tried to fire, the left barrel. By the police: The cap I discharged was a sound 0ne.( ... ... Daniel Johnston, , a legally qualified me.di,cal .practitioner, deposed on oath. : I reside at Feilding. In accordance with a warrant received from the Coroner, I made a, post mortem examination of the body .of Arthur Eandolph. I found, it m a state of rigidity, the body "being well nourished. There were no marks of violence on the trunk. The body was lying on its back, and on turning it on its face, I found a circular wound, on the back of the neck opposite, and to the right of the third cerebral vertebra, the wound being about seveneights of an inch, m diameter. The hair was singed. The skin about the wound and the back of the. ear was discolored as if from the discharge of gunpowder. On pressing upon the upper and lower jaws tlie bones could be distinctly felt .crepitating as if fractured. On making an Incision from the wound to the angle of the mouth., I found a number of small shot. The external wound communicated with the mouth. The soft parts wore greatly lacerated. The first, second, and third cervical vertebra were fractured exposing the spinal cord. The tongue was also lacerated on the right side. The upper and lower jaws of theright side were severely comminuted. There had beeu a discharge of blood from the right ear. The wound was at right angles to the long axis of the body. The ,:three, upper :,bones of the. vertebral column were 1 exposed, so that: there was easy communication to the brain. I consider deceased's death to have been occasioned by the shock which his nervous system received. The principal bloodvessels of the neck were completely severed. I Relieve the wotind was occasioned by a gunshot. The shock was sufficient to kill the man, even though no blood had been shedBy the Jury : If the deceased was standing erect at the time of the accident the gun must have been discharged at right angles to the long axis of the body. The head of deceased must have been erect at the time of the' accident. The deceased might have received tlie wound whilst m either a semi-sitting or standing posture. If m the first posi-. . tionj the gun might have been held at the trail. . If m the erect position, it must have been held at a height equal to that of a..mans shoulder, and at right angles to the long axis of the body. The edges of the wound were inverted. By the Jury : I believe the muzzle of the gun must have been about eighteen inches from the body. The whole charge must have entered the, neck. I consider -death was instantaneous. I do not consider ■ that ; the wadding must necessarily^ have entered the wound. There were no foreign bodies except the pellets. There, being no more witnesses to examine the Coroner 'summed up the evidence, and the Jury after deliberation, brought m the following verdict: — . "That the deceased Arthur Eandolph came by his death, at ELarere, on the Bth day of April, 1877, from a gunshot 'fired by Charles William Walker, and we believe that the shot so fired by the .said Charles William Walker was quite accidental." * It will be a satisfaction to the many friends of the. deceased to know that it would have been impossible to get together a more intelligent jury than was empannelled oh the occasion. The funeral left the Palmerston Hotel at about half-past 3 p.m., the v melancholy cortege being largely added to m itsjpfogress towards the cemetery. ■ The Eev. Mr Sheriff, of Foxton, at the' solicitation of his Palmerston Masonic Brethren, performed the last sacred rites for the dead.