ACCIDENTS, ETC

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10132, 15 May 1896, Page 3 (Supplement)

ACCIDENTS, ETC

: ' ' THE STRANDING .' OF' THE ' • . .. ••00 RO M DEL. f J. y _ ; Despite ~ the mishap which the' barque Coromandel met with in Westport, and her subsequent floating off, ill-fate still pursues the vessel. ' She arrived at, Wellington on Saturday night, the '2nd of May, and was taken alongside the wharf preparatory to her going on the slip. • She was moored as olobo in shore as possible and displayed & strong list to starboard, strong warps being placed to prevent her moving. However, nothing was arranged from aloft, andduringtheafternoon she canted seawards and went over on her beam end?, some of the yardarms snapping as they struck the bottom. The diver who made an examination found that one of the plates on the port side amidships was cracked, and apparently two others were in the same condition. Sever,"l of the butts Were started, and two rivets were knocked out, while others were very loose. Captain Beridall, secretary of the Underwriters' Association, ha? so'far received no reply to his cable message to the English underwriters.

The enquiry into the stranding of the barque Coromandel has concluded, after a hearing lasting nearly seven days. The Court found that Captain Nolar, of the tug, was to blame for not getting proper way on the vessel after leaving the wharf, and for slacking the towlioes at a critical moment ; that Captain Leech, the harbourmaster, was to blame for the immediate stranding of the vessel by giving a wrong order to port the helm instead of starboard; that the Harbour Board were to blame for providing a tug with an inefficient crew, and for taking Captain Leech off the stranded vessel to attend ft meeting at a time when his services were most required, and thus preventing the tug going to the assistance of the vessel at the appointed time, The costs ,of .the enquiry, amounting to £90 17s, were apportioned as follows Captain Leech, £45 8s fld; Captain Nolan, £22 14s 3d; Harbour Board, £22 14s 3d. All certificates wire returned in consequence of the finding of the Court. Captain Leech tendered his resignation as Harbourroasts after 30 years' service. The Court expressly stated that the harbour was in no way to blame for the stranding of the Coromandel, wliioh was solely due to bungling. '

Th a ill-luck that has pursued the barque Coromandel from the day of her arrival in Westport waters culminated on April 30 in the death by drowning of John Vitagelick, aged about 19 years. The young fellow had been acting on the harbour staff, and went off to the barque in a boat, and when half a mile inside the bar the boat seems to have swamped, and Vitagelick was thrown into the water. The accident was seen from the tug, and an alarm was raised, but as the barque and tug were then in a critical place it seems nothing could be done, and it was hoped that the lad would swim ashore. The boat Was afterwards picked up, but the body of the young man has not been recovered. On the 23rd April a very sad accident occurred at Karangahape Road by which Milda May Paton. the four • year • old daughter of Mr. Paton, draper, sustained injuries which resulted in her death. The child by some means had obtained access to matches, and succeeded in igniting them, with the effect of setting fire to her clothing, The evidence at die inquest before Dr. Philson, coroner, showed that the child had been playing with matches in the up stairs beasoom, and her screams attracted, tho attention of Mrs. Paton and Miss Agnes Hastings, who were in the room underneath. Mrs. Paton rolled the child in a blanket, and sent for Dr. Lewis, who examined the child's injuries, and ordered her removal to the Hospital, where she died from the effects of the injuries received. A verdict was returned in accordance with the medical testimony. At about seven o'clock on April 17 an accident occurred at the Waverley Hotel, Lower Queen-street, by which the hotel porter, Frederick Philpott, lost his life. In this hotel there is a hydraulic lift for the conveyance of boarders and luggage to the upper floors. At five minutes past seven o'clock at night, Philpott entered the lift by himself, apparently with the intention of proceeding to the third floor. The indications show that when passing the floor under the top landing, Philpott put his head out into the opening, and failing to draw back in time, as the lift, which wag unchecked, ascended, his head was crushed between the lift and the side of the wall into a pulp. That death was instantaneous is beyond doubt. Mr. Philpott was about 48 or 50 years of age, and was a widower. An inquest was held on Saturday, the 18th of April. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death, with a rider that no blame attached to anyone. A man named James Brooks, of Karori, met his death under circumstances of a peculiar and most painful nature. He felt a pricking in the throat, while eating bis dinner, which became more and more unendurable, and bleeding from the mouth S'-t in. He went to the hospital, but no cause could be found, and no relief given, and the poor fellow eventually died in agony. A post mortm showed that he had swallowed a needle, which had perforated a blood vessel in the stomach. He leaves a widow with five young children, in poor circumstances.

Mrs. Metfows. while driving from Woodend to Kaiapoi, on 6th of May, was thrown out of her trap. She was picked up insensible, and died in a few hours.

A man named Peter Hanson fell over a bank in Parliament-street, Wellington, a very precipitous thoroughfare. He was picked up unconscious, and apparently seriously injured. A child named William Curtis, aged 19 months, son of F. J. L. Curtis, a settler in Nainai Valley, Lower Hiitt, was found drowned on May 12 in a tub of water on its parents' property. Chris, and Archie Thompson, father and son, were drowned on May 5 while fishing off Pohara Beach, Tahaka, Nelson. Their boat accidentally upset. At Finnerty Road, near Stratford, a settler named Grummen was returning from work, when a four-year-cld son ran across the floor to meet him, tripped, and fell on the floor on his face, being killed instantly. A scaffolding at Herbert Haynes' new building, Princes-street, Dunedin, gave way on May 4, throwing the workmen to the ground, a distance of 16 feet. A man named Kirkwood was killed, another named Colo bad four ribs broken, and a third, Johnstone, received injuries to one foot.

A boy named Bowie was accidentally shot with a gun at Alfredton, and died from the effects of the injuries. Two men, Timothy Cosgrove and Robert Saunders, were drowned at Tongapogutu on the 27th of April. The Taranaki Herald correspondent writes that they had been attending a meeting to elect a school com-, mittee, and were returning home in a canoe about half-past nine, when they were capsized. Six other occupants of the canoe had a narrow escape. Cosgrove was a single man, and had friends "in Woodville. Saunders was a widower.

A man named Kemp Erickson was killed near Moana Lake, Brunner. He was crushed by logs, which he was bringing out of the bush, A young woman named Hall, a resident of Spring Creek, Blenheim, on the 23rd of April, died on April 23 while under the influence of ether, administered for the purpose of teeth extraction. . A man fell off the express train going South from Oamaru, on Monday night, April .20, and was killed .by . the train passing over him. The body was much mutilated. From papers found on the body it is supposed he was a settler named J. Mackay, residing at Kakanui. ' A seven-year-old , boy named Stephen Kilnby died at Wellington on Wednesday, the 13th-, Msy, while undergoing an operation under chloroform. Two medical men and a nurse from the hospital were in attendance.