ACCIDENTS, ETC

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11625, 12 April 1901, Page 3 (Supplement)

ACCIDENTS, ETC

GIRL SHOT BY HER BROTHER.

A shocking? tragedy occurred at Woodlands April 2,. when Mary Shireft's, a "girl aged 16, was shot dead by her brother John, aged 19. Both parents are dead, and the children .worked on the , farm. John had put a cartridge in the breach anil ■; said 'he was going..;. out to have a shot at the ducks, carrying the gun at a ?;afe angle. He ■ stooped' to pick up : his hat from a seat.. This brought the muzzle down and at that moment' the gun fired. The girl, who was some six feet' away washing up after tea,'was killed instantaneously, .< -.

. An accident that caused the death of a pony and resulted in the subsequent death of'" the . rider, occurred at the , Auckland Polo Club's sports at Potter's Paddock, Epsom., on the 30lh of March. When ihe ponies engaged in the hurdle race came out to do their preliminary canters prior to the start, a pony named Roy, owned and ' "ridden by Mr. J. Russell, one of the Cambridge Club visitors, when being galloped down' the straight of the course proper, swerved in towards the open gate, on the left, leading into the saddling paddock, and though the rider succeeded in frustrating the attempt, the pony took command, o and three or four yards further on clashed at the solid wooden fence, some sft 6in high, on . the outside, with a drop of about 7ffc or Bft m the inside. It looked as though both pony and rider were going to be hurled with great force against the fence, but, to the surprise of the onlookers, who had not expected the pony to attempt to jump at an angle, it rose at the fence, striking a few inches from the top, crashed through the woodwork, and pony and rider disappeared from the view of those who had witnessed the affair from the outside. The horrified crowd rushed across to the fence, expecting to find both Mr. Russell and his pony seriously injured, if not killed, but though their fears were realised as far as the pony was concerned, it being so severely injured that it. never rose again, and had to be subsequently destroyed, it was thought that the rider had had a - remarkable escape. Itseems that as- the pony cleared the fence it j landed on another pony in the enclosure, I the collision knocking the latter sprawling on the ground some vards away, and un" seating Mr. Russell, whose fall was broken by his being thrown on the prostrate body of the pony that had been knocked down. Drs. A. C. Purchas, jun., and Guinness were quickly in attendance, and on a medical examination of Mr. Russell, who was conveyed into a room of one of the buildings on 'the ground being made, it was thought''that he had received one or two nasty bruises, a slight internal, injury, and a "very severe shaking, but that there was no serious injury. He was removed to a private hospital in Burleigh-street, where he died on April 3. His injuries were found to be more serious than anticipated in the firstinstance, as he sustained severe injuries to the bowels and a- rupture of the kidneys. It was found necessary to perform an operation on the patient on Tuesday, 2nd April, and this was done by Drs. A". 0. Purchas and Gordon, assisted by Dr. Guinness. Mr. Russell had an attack of peritonitis from the result of an accident some years ago, and a subsequent injury to the bowels and this considerably handicapped him in his illness. On April 5 he took a bad turn, having had a second operation earlier in, the day, and ultimately succumbed. The deceased, who came to the colony from Edinburgh, was about 34- years of age. He was formerly at sea, and was induced to settle in Cambridge for the sake of his health. Mr. Russell made a number of friends while in the Waikato, and his frank nature mads him very popular. He has no relatives in New Zealand. Ail inquest was held on Thursday afternoon, the 4th of April. A verdict of "Accidental death" was returned, the following rider being added : — That the jury are of the opinion that there was negligence shown by the Auckland Polo Club in not having the gate closed, and manned by a competent man."

Mr. John Grotty, an old and respected settler of Waipipi, was found early on April 10 lying on the Waipipi Road, nearly -dead, and died shortly after being found. He left Waiuku the previous evening, driving in his spring cart, and somehow must .bave been thrown out or fallen out. "An inquest will be held. A buggy accident happened at Sandhurst on April 6, by which eight people were more or less,, injured. They were visitors from Dunedin. One, Mr. Peter McLean, sustained a fracture of the skull, and his recovery was at first doubtful, but he regained consciousness for a time next morning, and the doctors - , of whom there were four in consultation, are more hopeful, although it is difficult to say what the result will be. The others sustained bruises and cuts. George Gible, caretaker of the Botanic Gardens, Wellington, was run over by a train at Petone on April 2 and received . such injuries that both his legs had to be amputated. A young man named Roberts was brought Dto Whangarei from the mines at Kiripaka, on April 1, by some of his comrades, owing to having sustained a serious accident. 17e ■i' was trucking, and omitted to place the c.ioek of a loaded truck on the line. The result was the track started down the incline, knocking Roberts against an empty nick, ■which, owing to the strength of the blow, rebounded on to the line in front of the loaded truck, which ran across his thigh, crushing it, breaking the bone of one foot, and displacing .his thigh. Owing to Roberts' exhaustion Dr. Hall was unable to set Ihe limb, but did what he could for the patient, whose condition is regarded as serious. William Glass, a young man belonging to Oamaru, fell, off the express train on April 4. and sustained fracture of the skull. He died in the hospital on Good Friday. An inquest was held on Saturday, April 6, when a verdict of ' Accidental death" was :. returned. ■ A number of boys were fishing off Furey's bridge, at Coromandel, on April sth, when a little girl, four years old. daughter . of Mr. Dixon," engineer of the s.s. Falcon, fell into tho,-river. The water was about 10ft deep. Master Fred. Audiey, 13 years ; old, son of Mr.- F. Audley, harbourmaster, ' seeing the accident, jumped into the river, ; and, getting hold of the child, swam ashore, &ad landed the little one, very little the : /worse for the ducking. : Mr. W. Taylor, storeman in the Loan and .Mercantile Agency Company, at the Spit. Napier,, has been missing since April 4. A . search was made, with the result that his body was found in the water of the Iron Pot, under the steam launch Trusty. The body was considerably knocked,about, as though from being squeezed between the side of the vessel and the wharf. No information is yet to hand as to how the body came to be in the water. ' He leaves a wife and three ■children. At an inquest on the body, the jury returned a verdict that deceased :. met his death through falling over the Wharf,, mistaking if; for Bridge-street. , A man named Henry Hughes,- roadman, -*t Puketitiri, died in the Napier Hospital «n March 28 from a smashed leg, caused by a i falling log pinning him while working in the river. Deceased leaves a, wife and ' family. ". :, „ .A terrible fatal accident occurred at a sawmill, a few miles from Stratford, April 1. . A man named John Ball, aged 20, got enJangled in the belting. The top of his .Bead was dashed off, and his right leg torn off at the thigh. An inquest was held at Napier on • the 2nd of- April on the body of a man named Henry Hughes, who died as the result of an accident caused by a stone falling on him, and pinning him in the river :; at Mangawhare. The evidence showed that on the morning of March 27, deceased, with his son, Stanley Hughes, went to work splitting posts. The soil was sent for some tools •lad on returning found his father sitting in the river with a stone, weighing about ... locwt on his legs. The water was shallow reaching up to the man's waist. It was not until about half-past three p.m. that the stone could be moved away, owing to its weight, and the distance from which assistance hack to be brought. The man was then taken to the Napier Hospital, but pied the same' evening at half-past seven. Ihe medical testimony was to the effect that nothing had been bound round the leg to : st op the bleeding, and that death was" oc- ; casioned by shock, loss of blood, and inflammation. The verdict was in accordance with the medical testimony, and the jury filled a rider to the cfi'eet that more attention might have been paid to deceased after . «wi rescue from the water. Alexander McDougall, a railway porter, ** Palnierston, was run over by a train. - oth arms were crashed and had to be am- ■ Mated,

_ Our Taranaki correspondent writes: —It ;is ; with regret that I record ' the death of a son;: of Mr, and Mrs. White, of Waitara. It appears that the boy was fishing on the I Waitara Wharf, along with some other I boys on Sunday, morning, when accidentI ally he overbalanced : and fell in. One of ] the other boys ; had the presence of mind to | throw a rope' over and call to him to catch j hold of it, but the boy was too exhausted, I and sank. The body was not recovered till | some ; time: afterwards. Life was then exj tinct. An inquest was held, when the j jury found deceased Lad met his death by ' accidental drowning. !_ A man named Dimmer was workj iug in a gravel pit :on Henwood Road, New Plymouth, on April 2, when a fall of„sandstone occurred, burying him to the armpits. When extricated and examined medically it was found that he had sustained severe internal injuries, besides laceration of the right arm above the elbow, fracture of both bones of the forearm, and both thighs fractured. He was removed to the hospital, and expired an hour and a half after admission.