ONE OF THE OTAGO VOLUNTEERS SHOT BY A SENTRY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 591, 9 November 1863, Page 10 (Supplement)

ONE OF THE OTAGO VOLUNTEERS SHOT BY A SENTRY.

(From the New Zealandcr.) On Wednesday an inquest was held at the Oauip, Pupatoitoi, before C. Millsop, lisq , coroner, on- the bodyofJas.;Allen, corporal of the Waikato Volunteer Regiment, who was shot dea I by the sentry nt midnight on the 18th inst. The foLowiiig eviJenee was adduced: — J. Lynch, sworn, said : I am a corporal in 2ad Waikato Militia. I have seen the body of'Jamet Allen, now lying dead. I know the deceased, and recognise the body. I last saw him aliva on Monday morning, the 19th October, at one o'clock, a.m. I was next sentry to prisoner, and was relieved just before he was. I came up to No. 5 sentry to James 'Donoghue, who I now see present at this inquest., and identify. He challenged * Who comes there?' t-orporal Allen, the deceased, answered in a loud tone of voice, the same as he did to myself and the other sentries, 'Relief.' Whether he challenged the second time or not, I don't, know, but if tie did he bl e<* immediately. We were ten yards off when he challenged first, and about five whe he fired his rifle. Uecea3ed immediately said, 'I am shot.' After nnng, tbe prisoner ran away, I pursued him. He came to the charge on me. I said, ' A pair of us can do that. He then gave me up his rifle, and he was brought to the guard-tent. I reported the matter to Oaptam MouM. ■ The night was dark and windy •■ the moon had gone down. The prisoner, when he bred the shot, was the advanced sentry two or threa chnmsfrointhis redoubt. He ran to the redoubt 1 lie wind was blowing in my face when advancing on the sentry. Ido not think ie possible the prisoner flouMhaye challenged the third time without our To the Jury: Our orders are, sentries are to challenge twice. What I mean is, we are riot, to challenge three times.; but at the third challenge we fetch the r.fle up to the tiring position and fire. I would consider myself justified, and that it was my duty to fire after I had • challenged three times and received no answer. There were seven of us advancing on the sentry wh«n he fiivd. I cannot say whether he could distinguish one man more than anotiier. The deceased was on my left flank We were advancing three abreast. I think deceased was in advance. I am not aware of any animosltv exiting between prisoner and deceased. The prisoner was sober nt the time of. this occurrence. The night was so dark I could not see whether the prisoner was in his sentry box or not. ■ William Connelly corroborated the evidence of the previous witness. William Cole, sworn, said : I am a private in the 3rd Waikato: Militia. I was going to No 6 ssi toy station to relieve the sentry an i take his place at; but * quarter-past one o'clock on the morning of Mon-jay last. I was on Corporal Allen's left hand side. When we came to No 5 sentry box witJn from twenty to. twenty-five yards, we heard a challenge ' " Who com 3S there V The answer " Relief 'was given. It was scarcely given when a shot was ■: fired, and Corporal Allen fell. I: threw my rifle on the gflJuud, and knelt beside him When he fell he cried out. " Gool God, I am shot," or word" to that etftcf.. I told my comrades to summon assistance from the camp, and call ; the doctor The deceased then said to me, ."I am. shot through the heart," and told me his father was in or from Melville, Aberdeenshire. He also stated '■• he was in the same tent as the man who shot him." He also said he had not injured him, and that he (meauinehimself) had done his duty. He called for water.. I believe he made use of the word "rascal," and " bloody " mesaiugthe party who shot him. when he was tod not to. swear. When the shot was fired, I could raooffnise, where where it came from, but not who fired it There were seven or eight in the, relief party I think only seven. The deceased was on the right side of the party. I, was on his left. Th* wmd was not blowing much, but as muob. as it is now, It is blowing a good deal "ow. It was rather dark. I cannot say from what direohon the wind came. Ido not think it was possible tor the prisoner to recognise the deceased exoepfr by his stature, and certainly not by his features, at the distance he was from him; and owing to the state of the night I only heard the challenge given once, when the shot was fired. Had there been previous challenges, they must have been when we were at a greater distance. Clarence Hooper, sworn, said t I am a physician and staff assistant-surgeon now quirter?d at the redoubt. I was called on Monday morning la*t, at half-past one o'clock, to see a man who was shot. I arrived at a quarter t> two, and found the man. bleeding proudly from two wounds, one in the upper portion of the right breast, the other in the back. H« was unable to answer any question I-put to him, nor oould I feel any pulse at the wrist. I applied' my ear to the re%ioa. of the heart, which pulsated for a minute or two and then ceased. The wound arid internal injuries caused by the bullet were the causa of death. What I mean by saying there were two wounds, is that one was where the ball entered, and the other its exit. I recognised the body of the deceased as that viewed by taejury on the inquest. ■ The prisoner then made the following statement: My name is James Donoghne. I am a miner, and joined the Militia, on the 2ad September last, at Qaee'stown, Otago. I will state the whole truth of tois aftdir. James Allen (the deceased) and I came together from Dunedin here, and were always on the best of terms. No person ever "heard him and I have an angry word. He was my best mate here and at Otahuhu. He placei me on my post on Sunday night. My orders iroin him and the previous sentry were—l was to challenge, and if no answer I was to fire; and if I saw anything crawling on the grass I was to fire; and if I saw a light I was to report it. Wh n I saw something coming 'up, I challenged twice, and at the challenge the third time I fired. I then fan for the redoubt, according to my orders, and then one of the men came up and said, " You have shot a man." I said, I give myself up ; you are to blame for not answering my challenge." I fired the shot, thinking it was Maoris. Verdict: " That the deceased, James Allen, came to his death at St. John's Redoubt, Papatoitoi, on the morning of the 19th October, and that he was shot through mistake by private John Donoghue, who was the sentry on No. 5 post, and who, owing to the darkness of the night, mistook the relief for n,body ot natives; and the Jury desire to state that, in their opinion, said private John Donoghue, being an exceedingly nervous man, is unfit to carry arms, and recommend his immediate cischared from the Miiitia fore?.

Dust a Cause of Consumption.—Every species of dust must prove injurious. Workers in those fuctories where tools are ground and polished soon aie of pulmonary disease. The dust 0f... cotton.and'woollen, factories, that of the street, aad that which is constantly rising from our, carpet, are all mischievous. M. Benoiston, according to Dr Lewis, found among cotton spinners the mortality from consumption 18 per 1000 per annum; coal men, 41; those breathing an atmosphere charged with mineral dust, 30 ; dust from animal matter, m hair, wool, bristles, feathers, 54 per 1000—of these last the greatest mortality was among workers in feathers, least among workers in wool. The average liability to consumption among persons breathing the kinds of dust named was 21 per 1000 or 2*40 per cent. In a community where many flints were made there was great mortality from consumption, the average length of time being only, nineteen years. Bakers and iniilers are well known to be liable to consumption. The Peabody Dwellings in Spitafields.— The building in ISpitalfields, which is in progress, to be appropriated for residences of the class chiefly intended to be served by the Peabody fund, is situate at the corner of Commercial-street and White Lionstreet, near the Great Eastern Railway Station. It has a frontage of 215 feet 6 inches towards Com-mercial-s'reet, and of 140 feet'towards White Lionstreet. In the Commercial-street wing there are nic shops, with dwellings and stores attained, occupying the basement, ground, and first floors. Above these, on the second and third floors, are twenty-seven dwellings for the poor, with entrances entirely distinct from those of theshops, The fourth or topmost floor is occupied with laundries, baths, and areas for drying clothes, and for the u»e of children in wet weather. In the White Lion-street wing there are thirty dwellings for the poor. These residence! occupy the ground, first, second, and third floors; the fourth or topmost floor being occupied, as that in Commercial street, for the purposes of washing clothes, &c. Each dwelling consists of one, two, or three rooms, situate on each side of a wide and wellventilated corridor. The dwellings contain large well-lighted cupboards, cooking-range, oven, boiler, hot-plate, &c.: water-closets and and lavatories are providad on each floor: one of the former is allowed to each two families. Dust-shafts extend from the . roof to the basement, where larjre dustbins are provided, with separate access from the yard. The living-rooms average 13 feet by 10 feet, and the bedrooms 13 feet by 8 feet. Their height is 8 feet from floor to; ceiling. There are seventeen dwellings of three rooms, forty-seven dwellings of two rooi'us, and three dwellings of one room, besides a porter's lodea. and office, aud a co-operative store. The strucoira is en tirely of brick. The rents will vary according to the accommodation, but will in all cases be lower than those now paid for-the overcrowded hovels in the neighborhood... In the calculation of the revenue, shops, for which the situati m appeared .'favorable,' were taken into account j and were provided,Vas already mentioned, Thus it is hoped, that a return' on the cost, after working- expenses have been <!»•« frayed, will be found to accrue, consistently with & low scale of rents. — Builder.