AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14359, 2 May 1910, Page 6

AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

j TRAGEDY NEAR WARWICK. ; '}■■,-,'"'}' >>: ; vi '"} / ' ■".■'.'■",■, .. •. ,- ''■ '■'■■■ , }' :| v.-}: ' ; '; , :'-;©';i; . TWO BROTHERS DEAD. ! A terrible double tragedy was enacted at Glengallan ; (Queensland) on Friday week. ;Mjs.-HaHman,Jwidow/ resided at Freestone with her two sons, John and William. A third 'son -named Henry lived by himself on ■ Glengallan} Estate. i;; William, 19 years • old, came into Warwick on Friday night and i left town some time later to go back to Freestone, where he was to "be married at four o'clock the ; next afternoon.V. Instead he went to ■ his brother's : house at Glengallan. At the hour appointed; for his marriage the I minister was waiting to ; perform the ceremony, but the bridegroom did not put in an , appearance, arid John rode over to Glengallan to see if he was there. C On entering his brother's cottage he was horrified to find his brother Henry lying in bed "dead with* a gunshot wound in his side. Without making further .investigation John rode back to Freestone, informing theVWarwick police of his discovery by telephone. • John Hallman arid the minister then returned to Glengallan, being '.* joined by Senior-Sergeant Portley, from Warwick. On searching they found the other brother, William's, body lj'ing on the ,'floor; of a skilliqn-room with , his head almost blown oh". A double-barrel breech-loading gun, both barrels discharged, was lying close to the body. A wedding ring was: in his pocket.,'.; '" *.}}■ *~ *- ■ - ' y Traces of blood were found in the paddock about 30 yards from the house. It is' surmised that Henry, was shot in ; the pad-: dock at close- ; quarters and managed to struggle inside the ,* house on to the, bed. William, it is thought,- followed him into the house and then shot himself. No motive can be assigned for the deed. It is stated,; however, ; that a few weeks ago Henry and William quarrelled, but >- there was nothing \in' their differences to indicate that they were likely to have a serious termination.' ,-.'}; - .% : ; : : o ; :' mi ■ ■ mmmm* ; . SON SHOOTS HIS FATHER." ;'. At the , Armidale ' (N.S.W,) Circuit Court, last week, Thomas Donaldson was charged} with the alleged .murder -of . Edward ' Donaldson, his father, at Reedy Creek, near, Ashford, on December 17 last. ;Constable'.:.Sorowe, . who arrested' accused ; at Ashfora \ on, the date of > the .irild.F?'; stated that he met him driving his* ■>.*';.* T',' who ] hau' been .shot in the 1 leg: by deceased. , In reply • to-Sprowe,ac-j cused said, "Father is aliri^itf-;; 11 He is lying' on the bank .of Reedy Creek shV> dead. I shot him in self-defense. He tried to shoot the family.- I first;'sang" out to him, 'Drop Jybur rifle and : .stow; your game,' to which he replied with a, shot, the bullet > whizzing} over,} my shoulder. I then tried to fire'low»at the old man, who continued shooting.- I again called on him to * stop j; but he would "not but ■_. fired three ~ more shots iin quick succession. I then ran between my father; arid- sisters; arid ;my -father disappeared j in Reedy4Creek.V.;i The constable after-, ward's found deceased lying .with a wound in his heart. ; Accused also, said,"What was I to do? Was I ';. to let; him shoot my mother and, sieters, and me not interfere?" A number ;of witnesses i; werei examined, practically bearing out the accused's: statement that the father said ho intended shooting them, and that he proceeded to do so, firing shots .various members of the family. The judge directed the jury to return a: verdict of not guilty, which they did without leaving; the. box. v /}:*.'""",";>.','■.-•..-..-■■. :,•:,-:^-.--^M^I A SURGICAL OPERATION. • A surgical operation was performed at ;Dubbo (N.S. W.) 'lafit week; by Dr. Yuille,: under conditions somewhat novel. The patient's heart made the' administration a general anaesthetic inadvisable;, and the surgeon decided to produce , a condition known as spinal anaesthesia.. This' he did by injecting stovaine into the spine,' producing entire insensibility below the ribs in a short time. The operation, which was of an important character, and } took 45 minutes, was then proceeded with, and though the patient was perfectly conscious throughout; he did not feel even a. pinprick. He chatted away with the surgeon and attendants, and smoked "'. two cigarettes, entirely oblivious of what was going on "down below.'-' The recdverv has so far been a good one. V JAMBED IN MACHINERY. The six-year-old son of Mr. W. Brown, engineer, at Mildura (Vic), was the victim of.; a shocking accident on Friday week. The boy was on a small-steam .fishing boat with his father, and was seated on a : box with his head on his elbow, looking at the engine working. The: machinery's stopped, and Mr. Brown; on looking round, found that his son was jambed in' the; machinery. ..; The father instantly shut off the steam,, and after considerable trouble released the boy, who-was then dead. The body was terribly mangled. T\- '■'. — " .' MAN'S PECULIAR DEATH. James Dunne (65) met his death in remarkable circumstances at Wiingaratta (Vic.) last week. He left home to get some water at. a creek, and as he was a long time away, some friends went after him. He was. found several hours, later fairly balanced across a wire J fence, on which he had been caught .when'; attempting to get} over.;}" Almost immediately after he was removed he expired. An $ examination showed that the skin of the■■; abdomen had been cut through by the wire. Death was due to heart failure.