Accidents and Offences.

Otago Witness, Issue 1421, 15 February 1879, Page 19

Accidents and Offences.

At Palmerston, on the 7th, John Burgess (17) and Frederick Hankey (15) wera committed for trial upon the charge of having wilfully obstructed the railway line. Both lads appear utterly uneducated, and are unable to write. The principal evidence against them was the confession of one of them to the detective and to a railway official who was present at tbe arrest. Detective Henderson evidently allowed no grass to grow under his feet in the investigation of the case. The matter was reported to the police on Wednesday forenoon, and the detective went about his work so well that the lads were arrested the next afternoon, and the matter put in such training that yesterday a committal was enabled to result. Considering the slender materials the officer had to go upon, as appears from the evidence, great praise is due to him for his energy and promptitude.. A burglary of a somewhat unusual^ nature was committed sometime after midnight on Saturday, when Mr West's coffee-stall was broken into. The stall was put in its usual place near the Fire Brigade Station when business was over on Saturday night, and on Sunday it was discovered that some thief or thieves had frffectedjan entrance, devoured or purloined all the pies and other eatables, ancl taken •from the till ninepence ia coppers, together with Mr West's business ledger. What leads to the suspicion that the pies and saveloys had been eaten on the premises is the fact that the jam had been scraped out of the tarts, the pastry alone of which was left .to tell the tale. «j An inquest was held at the Lunatic Asylum on the 6th by Dr Hocken, coroner, on the body of Euphemia Seggey. Diceased was one of the original ten lunatics traosferied from the old hospital in 1863 to the present asylum. She was 37 years of age, a native of Edinburgh, , and had been in the Colony for 17 years, during ! 16£ years of which she has been in the Asylum. Tlie cause of death was consumption. About noon on Monday an accident occurred, which fortunately was not attended by serious consequeucea. A horse in an express shied at the barricading round the sewer which is being conf-trufted in High street, opposite the Telegraph Office. The express catne in contact with a cab on the stand, and the Rhock earning the trace-bar to give way, the horae bolted. The driver sustained some "slight injury through tho fall. As we suggested a day or two ago, it would be wise to disallow the standing of cabs opposite the sewer referred to while the work of construction is going on. A few minntes after !) p.m. on the 6th, a fire broke out in the bhop of Mr"s E. M. Kirk, milliner, George street. Mr F. Humffray, who lives next door, and to whom the block of buildings belongs, was the first to discover the iire. He saw smoke issuing from the ebutterß, and, rushing round to the back, burst open the back-door with an axe, and w«*a closely followed by Sergeant Comyn. It appeaTS that Mr and Mrs Kirk went out about 9 o'clock, leaving the gaslight turned down a little. How the fire originated is not known. It seemed to be chiefly onfined to the counter. A supply of water waa obtained from Mr Maequaid's poultry establishment on the other side of Mrs Kirk's shop, and the fire waa speedily j extinguished without doing any very serious injury. The fire-bell raug out the aUrm, and the Brigades were soon on the spot, but fortu- i nately the services of the firemen were not required. The stock ia insured in the Standard forLlOO. Mr Arnold Collett, a guard attached to the train leaviag Dunedin for Burnside at 9.50 a.m., met with a serious accident on Monday j morning on the liae opposite the Konsiugion workshops. Some shunting was being done, when, owing to the slippery condition of the rails, the tracks got beyond control, an! the result was that Collelt, who was standing on the brake, bad his leg broken. He waa conveyed to the Hospital Tbe Oatnaru Harbour Board has prepared a (statement showing number of shipping casualties which have occurred in the port of Oamaru during the past 18 years. The number of total wrecks is 20; number stranded and got off, 13 : total, 33. For the last three years there has not been a ainglo casualty, and there was only one in the preceding year 1875. This sta.ee of affairs is to be attributed to the fact that since 1875 the breakwater has been sufficiently far advanced to offer protection to nearly all kinds of shipping. INTERPROVINCIAL. Major Roberts and Mr Gr. S. Cooper, Commisitionerß, htive concluded the inquiry into the chwrgea apainut Warden Broad preferred by

tae sergeant of pulics. TijQ chaig-a completely broke down, and much sympathy is felt foe Sir Broad. The body of John Kinr, a sheerer, waa fouud in the Raogitata itiver on tlie ssh. Ha had been missi'iv* since February Ist, and wa* tho worse for driuk when last seen. P. J. Fowler, a, railway guard at Christcliurch has been committed for trial for embezzling railway fares. Auckland, February 7fch. The yanht Volante, .containing 1 Messrs Allison and Nichols, was off Oratt when canght by a puff of wint\, and eapsizsd. The accident wasr observed by the snip G-albraith at the Powderground, ab ut one mile and a-qnarter off, aa<& watermen Hunt, Wiliiann, ami Holbrook, win* were alongside the ship, taking one boat, speedily pulled to the rescue. The accidsnt was also noticed by Maoris in a boat that was in the biy, nud three wahines also bravely pushed off, and a splendid rase ensu9d between two rescuing boats. The boata, which cim&i fT>m opposite directions, arriving alongside theVolant* Himullaneoudr, and saved tho men. Tue Government have decided to hold an inquiry into the circumstances attending thfe drowning of tha lad Taylor, who fell from the. rigging of the ship Eisterhill, on her way from London to Dunedin. Mr W. Svvanson*. M.H.R,and Mr J. S. M'F-irlane, M.H.R.^ not being satisfied with the way in which thecaptain and officers of that ship acted on that occasion, communicatai wiih the Government-, and they have received a telegram to-day from the Premier, promising that au inquiry will be at once held. Myas, the alleged deserter from H.M.S. Blanche, was brought up on remand for the eleventh time. Mr Laishley appeared for prisoner, being paid by public subscription-Sub-Inspector Pardy applied for a farther.remand till tho arrival of the Sapphire. Mr Laishley opposed the ramand, on the ground! than under the Naval Discipline Act the> Magistrate had no power of continually remanding. After a lengthy legal argument Mar Worship said that the Act was precisely one onwhich he should go. Ht had no doubt of bis power of remanding until a man-of-war arrived^, and he would remand till Monday, when thai Sapphire was expected. The Volante, a yacht, containing Messrs Allison and Nicholson, caps'zad off Oraki BayThe accident was Been by a Maori at the OrafcL settlement, and by Watermen Hunt, Williams* and Holbrook. The parties were distant * mile and a-half. After a splendid struggle**, the boats reached the men together, and saved' them. Wellington, February lOtb. • At Horokiwi, yesterday, on a, very narrow part of the road, a horse drawing a trap containing Mr and Mrs Nichol and four children, shied ; the trap went ovdr a precipice 40 feet deep. The eldest girl, nine years of age, had her skull fractured and arm brokeu ;' another child had her cheek-bone injured. The baby itt arms was unhurt. The father and other children are shaken and bruised. The sufferers were brought in t> the Hospital. The eldest girl is not likely to recover, as her brain fa injured. February 11th. In the Police Court to-day, William Brows, alias Furnace, was sentenced to cumulative sentences amounting to 18 months on two charges of robbery and for having burglary tools, in hi* possession He was well known in the Sydney gang known as the Forty Thieves* and had made preparations for commencing: business here as a burglar on an extensive scaleA cash-box, containing L4O in silver and LlO in notes, was stolen from the City Hotel last night. Before Mr Mansford to-day, Antonio Broaden was charged, on the information of LaopoML Dentice, with stealing L 3 in cash, and goods to the value of L 4. The case was that the 1 prosecutor had a bouse in Weilington, in which, his wife and child resided. Oa prosecutor's return from sea he found his wifi had left home, and was told she had gone with the prisoner. Some f ami tore, and a cash-box containing money, were also missing. The prisoner < was apprehended on board the Albi >n at th» Bluff, having taken his passage to Melbour.no. The prosecutor's wife was on bmd the sameBteamer. The prisoner had L6O in his possession, together with a pair of earringa, whieb ! the prosecutor identified a^ hU property, aad which the prisoner said bad been given him by Mrs Dpntic°. The defence wasthat pri1 soner was en route for E irope, and it was an unlucky coincidence that the prosecutor's wife* happt-ned to be on board the Fame steamer. She gave him the earrings to take cara of, asr she was very pick. Mr MansforJ said it was a very suspicions caße, but there was not sufficient evUence for a juryj ury to consider and coavict; he therefore discharged the prisoner. Napier, February l(Kh. Captaiu Smith, of the steamer Mohaka, fell from the topmast of the vessel into tha flea when nearing Porangahau Bar on Saturday, and was drowned. The body was washed ashore yesterday, and will be brought to Napier. At* inquest will be held before Dr Hitching?, coroner. From Wondville soma particulars have bean received of the discovery of human bones in the bush. Mr Holder having reported to the poliea that ho found a. human skull on his land r Constable Tourwon proceeded to tha place, aodt dug out some human bones in a very rotten condition. The skull, however, is perfect, with the exception of the jaw. In ord-jr to get ate the bones the constable had to cut through a l*rga tree lying on the ground, the bones being; underneath. This would seem to indicate that; the person to whom the bones belonged whenrin life had b*en killed by :he fallin g true. A man named J. F. De*r, an immigrant by the Adamant, was brou^'ifc to town on Saturn day evening, having been, arrested at Haveslock, churged with passing valueless cheques. He was brought up at the R. M. Court thia morning, and j-emanded till Thundiy. The inquest ov. tho Kurunui Hotel fire ia still' proceeding. So far the evidence elicited &oe» not come up to what was anticipated by the police. DeniK O'Brien ia out on bail for a heavy amount, oa & charge of arson. Nelsov, February lltiu An inquest on the fire at Kurunui H"tal coucludei with the following verdict :— " That the Kuruuui Hotel was deit-ove'l by fire nudar suspicious circnni-ta ices lint the c ia not stiff*cie it eviJenoe to >>ho<v how it originated." A. larue quantity o:' evidence v,as t^ken, and tha Jury t-at till midnight isv-t night. Deuia O'Brien, who was sutpecitei of arson, was discharge i from custoly to-day by the Resile, t M)»i.' : . i trate. At Motnnka, a young trian named Jftjnee EggJtigton, hitd his arm smashed in a threshings machine. Throe fingers have b«en ampatat«di and tbe man is in % precarious condition. During the week a man named ScrireigeonE broke his bimj ; a btry'n jned Shaw dialoo*t«ife , his elbow ; aid a girl of the earne uame brofo* her arm— all in the Collingwood district, where* there U no doctor. A miner named Augustus Clerell had his Sg; Bmaihed by a rallinj^ log at Anotor[?j. Hi»maC^ carried him to Coilingwood, a dißtaoce uf 49 f miles, «?er the rtmghesfc counVry in the Colony,,

and then took him 60 miles in a boat to Nelson. The whole journey occupied 54 hours. Their names are— W. Kilsh, W. Humphrey, George Gibson, H. Harvey; and J. Liiicolo. It is to he hoped Clerell's leg will be saved.

Chiustchubch, February llth. A fire broke out in the cellars of Meesrj JSrown and Smith, drapers, London street, Lyttelton, this morning, but it was extinguished before much damage was done. This evening another fire occurred at the Avonside parsonage, occupied by the Rev. Mr Glasson. The furniture w«is saved. The house was insured by the Church Property Trustees in the Union Insurance Company for L 650. In the Supreme Court to-day the case brought by John Berry to recover the custody of his child was decided, his Honor giving judgment for the applicant. Mr Justice Johndton said there was no doubt of a conspiracy ■between the wife aud her sister. The queation *>f the religion in which the child was to have ieen brought up had no weight with the Court, and even if there had been an agreement that the child was to be brought up a Roman Catholic, such agreement was not binding in law, as the father might change his mine' any day. An inquest on the body of a woman named Hodson was held at the Hospital. The medical evidence went to show that, although the deceased was in a very emaciated state, she died from softening of the brain, and a verdict was returned accordingly.

Timaru, February 10th. A fire broke out this morning in a shop in Main South road, occupied by Mr Nelson, tailor, but it was extinguished before much damage was done. The circumstances look suspicious, a3 no one belonging to the place had been in it since Saturday night. A man named Edward Greig had his arm nearly cut off by a circular saw at Clayton's «aw-mill.