ACCIDENTS, ETC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9490, 20 April 1894, Page 1 (Supplement)

ACCIDENTS, ETC.

DISASTROUS STORM AND FLOOD. GREAT DESTRUCTION OF SHEEP. Napier, April 2. Eight inches of rain fell in thirty-five hours from Saturday night to Monday morning, j The Tutaekari and Petane Rivers were in high flood. Taradale and Meanee were in a worse plight than during the floods of December last, for a few hours, bub the water quickly subsided on the cessation of the rain to-day. Farndon was also heavily flooded. In the Petane Valley the water was higher than ever known before. A very heavy sea was running from the north-east. The wind was south-east. This raised enormous waves. Solid green seas, thirty feet deep, swept over the canb of the breakwater, but no damage of any importance was done either to the breakwater or the wharf. The mole to the west of the breakwater, now under construction, was, however, severely damaged, about 400 feet being swept away. The loss is about £2000. The crane also went over into the sea. Terrible havoc was done to gardens and orchards throughout the district. Many settlers losb bheir stock, especially sheep. The Napier breakwater also suffered, and the contractor's loss will be heavy. The storm of Sunday night was the severest ever experienced within the memory of living inhabitants. There is grave cause to fear that the Newcastle-owned three-masted schooner Grecian Bend, 235 tons, has been lost off the coast with all hands. She was bound for Napier with a cargo of coals for Barry Bros. To-day the police received a telegram from Mr. Ross, Mohaka, stating that the wreckage of a dingy and lifebelt marked "Grecian Bend, Newcastle" has been washed up there. The supposition is that she foundered in Sunday's gale. Mr. Grant losb 2000 splendid wethers ready for freezing, and several other owners losb over a thousand each. April 4. Settlers ab Meanee, Papakura, and surrounding low-lying districts who suffered from the last floods, will again suffer much hardship, as the crops thab escaped the ravages ot the December flood are now destroyed. At Meanee, owing to the breaks made in ! the banks of the river lasb December nob being repaired, that place was flooded to a higher poinb than has ever been known before. Pleasure yachts in Fisherman's Bay, with three exceptions were either stranded, swamped, or went to the bottom. The body of the Rov. Duncan Macfarlane, drowned in the December flood, has been | recovered ab Maraekakaho. ! Tho Grecian Bend was nob consigned to any Napier firm, but, according to a Press Association telegram from Newcastle on March 14, she left the Clarence River for Port Chalmers. There can now be no doubt of her total loss, as large quantities of wreckage of all kinds, including cabin fittings, are going ashore at Mohaka. I There is little hope that any of the crew have gob to land, though Mr. G. E. G. Richardson has sent out a search steamer at his own expense, the Collector of Customs having failed bo get authority to send one on behalf of the Government. Gisborne, April 4. The ketch Agnes Martin, bound from Napier to Gisborne, lost her sails and anchors off Long Point, Mahia, yesterday, and was driven ashore. The crow landed safely. The Union Company's steamer Moa reached the Bay at six on Sunday evening, after a rough passage from Auckland. The tide being low, she was unable then to enter the river, and came to an anchorage in the roadstead. During the night the gale blew so furiously that Captain Braidwood weighed anchor and made in for the river. At the mouth of the river the flood current caught the steamer, and threw her over on to a sandbank. She was subsequently got off. Wellington, April 2. In tho gale last night the lighter Spec, owned by Mr. Dawes, moored in the harbour,sank. She was loaded with stones. A man, Robt. Young, in charge, was advised to leave her as being dangerous but refused. This morning his body was found on shore. He had a life bolb ; and his watch, carefully wrapped up in leather, was still going. The poor fellow had evidently tried hard to save himself. He was unmarried. At the inquest a verdict of "Accidental death by drowning" was returned. Captain Anderson, of the steamer Te Kapu, who came back to Napier on April 12, reports that three miles off Mohaka he observed a mast, which on investigation proved to be the main mast of a schooner. Six feet of the mast was sticking oub of the water, and it was evident ib was attached to something below. Tho inference is that that something is the missing schooner Grecian Bend. Portion of a ship's shores, but unmarked, hove come ashoxg naar the place. WRECK OF THt4 S.S. KIWI. The s.s. Kiwi, owned by Messrs. Levin and Co., Wellington, has been wrecked at Glenburn, near Casblepoint, East Coast. She left Wellington on Tuesday, April 10, with a full cargo. She left Glenburn at 3.55 on Wednesday, and at 4.15 struck on a sunken rock not marked on the charts. The vessel was soon found to be sinking, and at 5.15 sank in 30 fathoms of water, all hands being saved. Nothing was saved from the vessel, not even the men's effects. The Kiwi was an iron steamer of 133 tons nett register, and was built at Hull in 1875. The horse-power is 30, and dimensions are : — Length, 115 feet; breadth, 19 feet; and depth, 8.8 feet. Captain Campbell was in charge. She was valued at £3500, and insured in tho Victoria Office for £3000, portions of the risk being tranferred to other offices as follows Now Zealand, £500 ; Commercial Union, £500; South British, £500 ; Standard, £250 ; National, £250 ; United, £250; Thames and Mersey, £250. The cavgo was also insured, but/for what amount has not been stated. j The captain and engineer, who were on deck, felb the vessel graze some sunken object, bub very slightly, and the contact was so slight thab those in the engine-room and also those forward, did not feel the concussion. The captain ordered the pumps to be sounded, and Mr. Decker, the mate, reported "no water." Captain Campbell, looking over the side, saw the vessel nearly down to the Plimsoll mark, and called out she was sinking. _ The pumps were again sounded, but still no water was recorded. Captain Campbell then looked down the chain locker, and saw the vessel was doomed, as there was then seven feet of water there. The vessel at bhab bime was three miles off tho shore. The surf boat was lowered and the crew, with a daughter of the mate, and Mr. Ferrar, a passenger for Flat Point, got in— sixteen in all. After the boab was bhirby or forty yards away the Kiwi disappeared. Captain Campbell is of opinion the rock on which she struck is of pinnacle shape, and says that had the accident happened at night all hands would have been losb. The Maoris in the vicinity, and Mr. and Mrs. Moore, of Glenburn Station, rendered the crew every assistance. THREE MEN WASHED OVERBOARD. The ketch Gratitude, which has arrived ab the Bluff from Macquarrie Islands, reports that during bhe voyage on March 26, ab halfpast eighb a.m., when in lab. 52 47, long. 65*21 east), a sea of exceptional size struck bhe vessel, washing overboard bhe cook, R. U. Green (32), native of London, married, family residing in Devonporb, Easb Tasmania ; D. Henderson (23), A.8%, native of Scotland ; and John Porbwick, a half-casbe Maori, employed on bhe Island, belonging bo Colac Bay, near Rivorbon. Green and Port-wick were atwojk in the galley, which was swepb overboard, bogebher wibh bwo boabs. Nobhing whabever was seen of the men when the wave subsided, although the vessel was hove to.

A MILL HAND SAWN IN TWO. William Shand, employed at Stratford and Blair's sawmill, Greymoubh, met a shocking death on Monday afternoon, the 2nd April. While canting a log with a crowbar close to a circular saw, the bar slipped and Shand foil back, and although the bar came in contact with the saw first, Shand was frightfully mangled. His head was sawed in two, both arms were gone, one leg and a portion of the other cut off. Mr. Blair, the propriebor, witnessed the occurrence. All was over in a second, death being instantaneous. No one else in the mill knew anything had occurred. Deceased was married arjd had a family. On Saturday, April 7, after the close of the performance at the Opera House, a* sad accident befell Mr. James McComish, for many years leader of the theatre band. He was descending the stairway underneath the stage, to the bandman's room, when his foot slipped, and he fell heavily upon his head. He was picked up in an unconscious state, and admitted after being seen by Dr. Sharman to the Hospital at three o'clock in the morning, where ib was found he was suffering from a severe fracture of bhe skull, and one of his arms was also broken. The unfortunate man lingered on till Sunday evening, April S, when he died at 9.30. Deceased, who was advanced in years, leaves a wife and family. An inquest was held on April 9at the District Hospital. The jury returned a verdict of " Accidental Death." Deceased was a Crimean veteran, serving in Her Majesty's 57th in ihe Russian War, also in the Indian Mutiny of 1857, and Waikabo campaigns of 1863-7. He was at one time bandmaster of the Garrison Band. The funeral took place on April 10. There was a large attendance, most of the professional musicians of Auckland, ladies and gentlemen, being present. The volunteers, old soldiers of Imperial regiments, and the H.A.C.B. Society, were also well represented. Intelligence was «n April 4 received from Waikato of a sad accident which occurred bhab day ab the Waipa races, by which the Auckland jockey Henry Priest was killed. The young horseman was engaged in riding Mr. Muir's mare Folly at the time the accident book place. Priest was a young man of about twenty years of age, and was a capital all-round horseman. Ab bhe inquest all bho wibnesses, including a brobher of the deceased, deposed that the occurrence was purely accidental, that no blame was attachable to any person, and thab the racecourse was in perfect order. A verdict in accordance with the evidence was returned. On the 4bh April, ab Gleeson's Hotel, an inquest was held on bhe body of Thomas Erickson, aged 32, a native of Sweden, who died from injuries received from a stake running into him. The deceased was a miner, and resided ab Karaka Road, Thames. He was a married man, and leaves a wife and bwo children. Alberb Kummerb said he and deceased left the Thames on March 31 for the purpose of taking up a section of land at Whangamata. They arrived there all right. They went on horseback. They stopped at Mr. Sainsbury's hotel all April 1, and made a start for the Thames next day. On the way home they were going to peg out the sections of land. They had pub in some pegs, and were trying to cross a creek without getting web The deceased stepped off some timber in the creek, when he was pierced by a piece of stick. Erickson called out thab he was killed, and rushed back to the bank of the creek. 1 Witness got the assistance of a settler, and Erickson was carried four miles on a stretcher, which they made. Everything was done that could be without medical aid, and he was pub on board the s.s. Chelmsford at Whangamata for the purpose of bringing him to Auckland. _ He, however, died on the way. A verdict of " Accidental death " was returned. Sergeant Clarke had charge of the case. On Saturday, April 7, the body of a man named John Murray, 47 years of age, was found drowned in the Manukau Harbour, between the Onehunga Wharf and Mangere Bridge. . The deceased, who had been missing from April 5, was employed as a fireman on board the Northern Company's steamer Gairloch, and had been in ill-health | for some time. Murray was suffering j from a peculiar form of brain disease, which at times temporarily deprived him of memory and speech. An inquest was held on April 9 by Mr. S. Luke, district coroner. The jury returned a verdict of "Found Drowned." A miner named Thomas John3ton met with very serious injuries on April 3 whilsb ab work in bhe Victoria mine, Thames. Johnston and a man named Charles were working a block of ground on tribute at No. 1 level, and during the afbernoon had drilled a hole in their stope. After charging ib with powder Butterworth lefb Johnston to set fire bo the fuse, and went back bo tho shaft. From whab occurred afberwards ib appears Johnston set fire to the fuse and then gob down to the drive where ho waited for the explosion. After waiting two or three minutes, and nob hearing the fuse "spit" he climbed back into the stope, but just as he got there the charge exploded, and he received the full force of it on the righb side of the face and head. Bucberworbh heard the shot, and proceeded back to the drive, expecting to find Johnston there, but nob seeing him he called out to him. He received no reply, however, but bearing a groan in the stope, he climbed up to the top, and there found Johnston lying on his side, with his head covered in blood. Assistance was at once procured, and the injured man conveyed bo the Hospital, where Dr. Williams at once set to work to dress the wounds. Ib was then found that the injuries consisted of a compound fracture of the righb cheek bone, which necessitated the removal of the eyeball, as the bones that formed the socket were shattered. The brain was considerably exposed, but the covering was found bo be intact. The bones of the nos'o were shattered, the lips cub, and the scalp lacerated in several places. During the operation quite a handful of bones were removed from the face and the socket of tho eye. Johnston recovered consciousness on April 6, and his condition has now assumed a more favourable aspect. A man named Andrew Moylan was arrested by Constable Brooking on the evening of March 28 while in a state of intoxication. He was found lying in a doorway in Victoriastreeb. Dr. Hooper's abtention was called to the man before arrest, and he found no marks of violence on him, bub considered bhab he was suffering from the effects of liquor. Moylan was pub into a cell and furnished with blankets. At seven o'clock next morning, seeing Moylan breathing heavily, they called Sergeant Lyons' attention bo him, and he died in a cab on his way from the police station to the hospital. An inquest was held in the afternoon, before Dr. Philson, coroner, and a jury, of whom Mr. Holmes was chosen foreman. Dr. Little, house surgeon of the Hospital, stabed in his evidence that death was due bo apoplexy, superinduced by a fall or excessive drinking. No medical aid could have saved the man's life. _ A verdicb waß reburned in accordance wibh the medical evidence. A serious accident, attended by 'sad sur- J roundings, happened on the Karori Road, j Wellington, on 'Tuesday afternoon, the lObh April. Mrs. Graham (wife of Mr. C. C. Graham, Official Assignee in Dunedin, and her daughter, who reside ab Karori, came bo bown bo bake oub the Misses Henry, | daughters of the late Dr. Hears', to their residence. All appears to have goae well until nearing Karori, when the horse shied, and running against the embankosenb overturned the vehicle, which was badly smashed. Mrs. and Miss Graham and Miss Geraldine Her. :y escaped with a severe shaking- and bruises, bub Mis? Kathleen Henry was for a time rendered unconscious. The Secretary for Marine has received the following telegram from the Collector of Customs at Wesbporb:—"The masber of bhe Janeb Nicoll reports passing a large piece of wreckage two miles ana a-half off the shore abreast of Flaxbourne. It was about 35 feet long by 15 feet wide, probably bhe decking or side of a vessel. Ib was in the track of vessels, and dangerous bo nwi< gabion." - Richard Turner, traveller for Hogg and Howison, died suddenly at) Dunedin on Friday morning, the 6bh April. He was 43 yearß of age, single, and well known throughout Obago and Southland. At the inquest a verdict of " death from failure of the hear action" was returned.

Miss' Leila Adair, balloonist, gave the people of Hamilton sensational value for theirlmoney on Saturday, the 24th March. At about a quarter past four o'clock the balloon had filled. It rose gracefully irom the ground, with Miss Leila Adair, dressed in a suitable blue costume, seated on the trapeze bars, and ascended with a gentle motion to the eastward till it reached a height of several hundred feet, and the lady seemed no bigger than a child, when suddenly a cloud of black smoke began to pour out from the top and side, and at first the general opinion was that the balloon was on fire. It then, still veering eastward, began to descend slowly, and then more quickly, and as it neared the earth it became evident that the balloon had burst, as a rent could be seen in it almost from top to bottom, and the black smoke which welled from it was the heated air. It was clearly a question of time whether it would collapse in mid air, or last till it reached the ground. Its occupant hanging to the bars below evidently trusted to the latter, and made no attempt to leave it by the parachute there probably being neither room nor time to leave it by that means. It was by this time more than three-parts across the Square and at about an altitude of from 100 to 151 feet. Crossing the Square and Firth-streel» on the east side of it, the balloon swept on till it reached the hollow into which the public drain empties on the southern sid« of Cook-street. There is a rough piece a ground here, and a large mud-hole into which the balloon, suddenly collapsing fell. Fortunately for its occupant, it so nearly touched the ground before reaching the top of the bank of the waterhole that she disentangled herself from it on the edge of the level ground, and immediately after the balloon completely collapsed in the mudhole alongside, from which it took several men to extricate it. Ib certainly was a narrow escape, for had the balloon lasted buoyant a few yards further and fallen into the water and collapsed while its occupant was still clinging to it, instead ol on the top of the bank above the water-hole, she could nob have got free and would have been smothered beneath the weight ol the canvas in the pool of muddy water. On the 12th April a man named James Bounds, a gumdigger, was found dead in his whare, near the mouth of the Whau Creek, by a Henderson settler, Mr. William Pitts. At the inquest the evidence went to show that Bounds had been, some two months ago, kicked in the chest by a horse, and had been in the Hospital for medical treatment. On his discharge he settled in the Henderson district, following his calling as a gumdigger. He complained of great pain in his chest. The jury returned a verdict to the effect that the deceased died of heart disease, accelerated by a kick from a horse. Deceased was a widower, a native of London, and had no relatives in the colony. A fatal drowning accident} occurred at Rotorua on March 26. Mr. W. H. Whiteman, of Wangamata, near Wanganui, a visitor staying at Mokoia View House, which is kept by Mrs. Young, went alone to the Postmaster's Bath. Some time afterwards the distressing fact that he had been drowned was revealed. A coroner's inquest was held at the Botorua Hotel on the 27th March, and after evidence had been taken a verdict of M Accidental death was returned." Isaac March, of Oxford, Canterbury, who was severely injured by the fire which destroyed his house on March 26, and by which his daughter-in-law lost her life, died on March 28. He was a settler 0f"42 years' standing. At Fordell, on April 11, Harry Laing, a well-known prize fighter, attempted to alight from a train whilst in motion. He fell, and getting under the train, had both his legs cub off. The train pulled up at the bottom of Fordell hill, and went back, and brought Laing to Wanganui. He was at once taken to the hospital, where he died shortly after half-past twelve next day in an unconscious state. News has been received ab Wellington that a Wellington-owned fishing boat, containing two men, Fred. Henrickson (her owner) and Henry Nelson, capsized on' the 12th April between Manawakapakapa and New Harbour, Durville Island. Both men started to swim for the shore, and kept together for a time; then Nelson forged ahead, Henricksen telling him not bo get excited bub to take it easy, and they would be all right. Nelson, however, gob 100 yards ahead, and Hendricksen saw him no more. After swimming for about a mile Henricksen reached land, bub was carried back by the heavy surf five times before be could land. Both men had on their gum boobs a.nd clothes. Henricksen made an unsuccessful search for his mate. Nelson was unmarried, and it is believed had no relatives in the colony. What is supposed to be a meat poisoning case is reported from Lyttelton. It appears that a Mrs. Catherine Knowles purchased at a pork butcher's shop in Christchurch some brawn. On her return home Mrs. Knowles, her daughter, and Mrs. Heron, and Mrs. Hawthorn ate some of the brawn for supper. During the night they all took ill, and Dr. Stack, who was sent for, found the women suffering from acute diarrhoea and vomiting, the symptoms being those of irritant poisoning. Mrs. Knowles is not yet out of danger. Their illness is supposed to have resulted from eating the brawn. Rosey Cook, the six-years-old daughter of Harry Cook, of Wellington, was drowned in the Mataura river while playing on April 15. A boy, six years of age, named John Hogarth, was terribly burned about the body and leg?, at Wellington on April 16, through his clothes catching fire. He was taken to the Hospital, where he lies in a -*» precarious state. A lad named Arthur Beestick was accidentally shot dead by another boy, John Brown, while out pigeon-shooting at Greymouth. Mrs. Catherine Barnebb, a widow, aged 66 years, died at Casble-streeb, Dunedin, on April 11, from the effects of a fall downstairs. Alexander Ramsay, aged 16, was accidentally killed at the Kaitangata coal mine, Otago, on April 11. Mrs. Freebody, 60 years of age, died at Carterton of concussion of the brain. She had just gone on a bush section in the Wainuioru district, and tripped and fell on a log. Mr. W. McKenzie, a farmer at All Day Bay, Oamaru, an old identity, was killed by a sack of wheat falling on him. The body of a man, supposed to have been a swagger, was found in the Clutha River, near Port Molyneux. The body, which has not been identified, has evidently been in the river some time. Alexander Milne, a shepherd ab Glenmark, Canterbury, was found drowned in a small lake on April 10. He was a single man, and 55 years of age. A man named James McLaren, residing ab Ngakonui, near Marbinborough, died from the effects of a bullet wound in the leg,,, caused, it is believed, through the accidental discharge of a carbine. George Cameron, a miner, wan found dead near Alexandra, Otago, on March 27. Suffocation is supposed to have been the cause of death. An old resident of Pokeno, named William Douglas, aged 82, was found dead in bed on Monday morning, March 26. An inquest was held on the body next afternoon. Dr. Dalziel examined the body, and testified that death result ed 'com syncope. The jury returned & ve in accordance with the doctor's evids« Deceased leaves a grownup family of five sons and two daughters, and 41 grandchildren. A. fatal fire occurred at West Oxford, Canterbury, on March 26. The house of Isaac Marsh was destroyed, and Mrs ; Marsh was burned to death. The remains were recovered. Marsh was badly burned. On March 26 a child about three years old, son of Mr. George Gates, Tamefcame, Whangarna, was sent for matches by its mother. On the way the boy struck some of them, and set fire to his clothes, the burns being so severe that death resulted ab half-past eleven p.m. at night. . James Henry Bromley, 11 years, was drowned while bathing in the Fomahaka, near Tapanui, Otago. ' Margaret Elizabeth Gaulb, aged thirteen, daughter of Mr. Gaulb, Settlers' Hotel, Gisborne, was killed at Murewai on March 26 , by falling over a cliff 70 feet high on to the • rocks beneath.