THE REMUERA FATALITY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9056, 17 May 1888, Page 3

THE REMUERA FATALITY.

THE INQUEST. An inquest was held yesterday afternoon at the residence of Mr. Skelton, Arney Road, Remuera, upon the body of William Shircliff, whose death we recorded yesterday, before Dr. Philson, coroner, and a jury of six, of which Mr. George Bishop was chosen foreman. Constables Collis and Dewes were in attendance on behalf of the police. The jury having viewed the body, the well, and the rope, the breaking of which caused the death, the following evidence was taken :— Henry Carter deposed : lam a labourer residing in Remuera. I have known deceased as long as I can remember. I was his stepson. Deceased was a labourer, and accustomed to well sinking and working in wells. His age was 62 years, and he resided in Victoria Avenue, Remuera. Yesterday (Tuesday) I was working with him at the well, having been engaged by Mr. James Russell to deepen the well in his garden. We began the work on Monday afternoon, but did not go below till Tuesday. The well was 51 feet deep when we started. It was lined with bricks about 15 feet down, and from the bottom of the brick is rock. The well has a windlass, with an inch rope of New Zealand flax, and bucket. We examined the rope on Monday, and were told by James Barron, assistant gardener, it wae new in summer, We thought the rope sound. Ido not know when it was pub on. Wβ did not apply any tests to it to try it, as we had every confidence in it, and took fourteen feet of water out of the well with it. Deceased was satisfied with the rope, for he said to me it " would carry a bullock." We merely baled out the water on Monday, and did not go down the well at all that day. On Tuesday morning we hauled water up until about ten o'clock, and then deceased went down to the bottom of the well. I lowered him. There was no other person present but he and I. Wβ worked tjll about a quarter past noon, getting out soft rock, etc. I called to him .to send out what water was in the well. I then hauled up the bucket and told him he had better come up to dinner. The bottom of the well was then dry. I lowered the rope, with a hook attached, to the bottom of the well. Deceased put his foot in the loop of the Jope, and I began to haul him up with the windlass. I got him up within eight or ten feet of the top. I could just see his head, when the rope broke suddenly, and without any warning. Deceased fell to the' bottom of the well, striking the pick ana shovel down there. Part of the rope went down with him. I judge his weight to be about lOst. 61bs. His feet struck the bottom first. When I looked down, I saw him in a sitting position. I could hear him groaning and moaning. He did not speak to me till I went down. I sent the servant, Mary Mery, who happened to be near at the time, to call Mr. Skelton, Mr. Russell's gardener. He was at dinner, and came immediately. I proposed to him to lower him down to fetch deceased μp, as I did not think he was strong enough to wind me up. I lowered him ten feet, and then he called out he could not go apy further, and asked me to pull him up. We used the same rope, with an additional piece tied on the end of it. I hauled him up. I then put the same rope round myself, and I went down, Mr. Skelton lowering me. When I got to the bottom, I found deceased in a sitting position. He was alive, and spoke to me. He had stopped groaning. I took him up in my arms. I asked him if he was hurt, and he replied " Yes." I then put the rope round him, and he was hauled up to the surface by Mr. Skelton and others who had come bo the well. He was laid on the ground at the top of the well. I was then pulled up by the same rope without any accident occurring. I took him in my arms till I saw he was dead. Wβ then laid him on some bags and sent for Dr. Girdler, who arrived about one o'clock. Deceased was dead when the doctor, got there. He was dead when I picked him up after I got back to the top of the well. He never spoke. After the doctor came we removed his body to the washhouse, where his body now lies. I am 12st in weight, and I cannot account for the breaking of the rope. We had been winding up stuff all the morning. I could haul him up easily. I was going down myself, but he said he could not haul me up, and so he went down. Before we used the rope I doubted the strength of it, and deceased and I had a few words about it. He said it would hold a bullock, and we used it. Alter we got the 14 feet of water out of the well I had as much confidence in the rope as he had. I don't think wetting the rope weakened it at all. The same rope carried James Barron three weeks or a month ago. I attach no blame to anyone. Dr. G. T. Girdler deposed he was called to see deceased on Tuesday between twelve and one o'clock, to the residence of Mr. James Russell, Remuera. On arriving there found the body of the deceased lying dead beside the well. He was told the circumstances of the fall of deceased into the well. There was a fracture of the left leg, the lower part of the spine, several ribs were broken, and there were deep flesh wounds in the buttock from the point of the pick. There was no fracture in the skull. Witness believed deceased struck on his feet. Death was caused by the injury to the spine and shock. Witness examined the rope, thought it fairly strong, and would not hesitate to go down on it himself. John Thomas Skelton, gardener in the employ of Mr. James Russell, said he resided on the premises. Had known deceased for three or four years by sight only. Deceased was engoged by Mr. Russell to deepen the well about ten feet. Witness could not say whether the rope was examined prior to the work beginning. They worked till after five. Witness put the rope on about October last. It was then a new rope—a New Zealand rope. It was used constantly through the season, and no flaw had been detected. As the water decreased, witness put a piece of new rope about ten or twelve feet on, as it was too short to reach the bottom of the well. The rope broke just above where witness joined it by a reef knot. The knot did not give way, but the rope broke just above the knot. The giving way of the rope was not owing to the splicing, as the knot was still perfect. The only way witness could account for the breaking was that, prior to the splicing the end of the rope hung in the water, and afterwards, when the splice was made, it was exposed, and rotted. Witness, however, bad no distrust of the rope. The only reason he objected to going down wae the shock of hearing of deceased falling down, which made him nervous. A man named Barron was lowered by the same rope about two months ago, and it had never given way before. The jury', after considering the evidence, returned a verdict " That deceased met his death by the accidental breaking of a rope," adding that " no blame was attachable to anyone."