The Oamaru Mail. TUESDAY, MAY 18, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1283, 18 May 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. TUESDAY, MAY 18, 1880.

The tragic occurrence on Sunday last, by which one of the yonth of Oamaru lost liaalife, give 3 risetomanypainful thoughts. Xa ike first place we have two mere lads vitiating the sanctity of the Day of Rest by going on a shooting excursion, fully snppHed with gnus and ammunition. We then find that, meeting, as rmght naturally be expected, with ill success, they go to a store, and are supplied with intoxicants. . We next find that the elder lad lias ifaet with a somewhat mysterious accident, and ia lying weltering in his life's blood r and that.thercby a mother 13 deprived of her main support. We have no wish to hart the feelings of any ore, but in view of the public good. v»e must denounce the too common practice amongst our jouth cf turning the needful Day c f Rest into a for sport and revelry. In other Colome* the practice of carrying firearms on Sunday in pursuit of game i 3 strictly prohibited, severe fines being inflicted on soch as violate thi3 law. We would certainly support the introduction of such a law here, not with a view of rendering people moral by Act of Parliament, but with a view of preventing those who respect the sanctity of the Day of Best from "having to watch their land in order to check trespassers. We know that our farmers fully realiae the benefit of reposing team labor on one day in the seven, yet,

Sunday after Sunday, they have to be on the alert from early morn till dusk, to prevent their crops being trampled on in pursuit of game, while the occasional discharge of firearms, too often by mere children, is not calculated toinspire any feelings, save those of anuoyarice and danger. In the present case, we' are not satisfied with the result of the inquest, and trust that a searching enquiry will be instituted for the purpose of eliciting if possible additional facts connected with the sad event. We have the evidence of Finn, who appears to be more than ordinarily precocious for a boy of 14 years of age. On the death of his companion he behaved like one possessing a life-long familiarity with such occurrences. This may be praiseworthy, or it may not. What we should like to have satisfactorily explained is the .cause of the explosion of the gun that produced Haggie's death. It appears that the gun is not an old. one likely to explode on anything approaching slight provocation. Considerable force is requisite to bring the trigger down—a force which would necessitate the exertion of any ordinary boy's whole strength. This circumstance make 3 the version of the accident given by Finn appear improbable. Finn says that Haggie having received the guns from him, rested them against each side of him whilst he buttoned his overcoat. He thus accounts for the charge entering Haggie's side in a direction slanting upwards. But how the trigger could have been accidentally pulled whilst he wa3 doing so is to us a mystery. Had the coat become entangled in the trigger, the weapon would have fallen—it would, we believe, have been quite possible to have lifted it by the trigger without causing it to explode. We are not suspicious of foul play ; but we think that Finn's account is one of the most improbable we have ever heard. Then there is the fact that Finn had been served with intoxicants by O'Grady. The matter calls for further investigation.