Accidents and Offences.

Otago Witness, Issue 1555, 27 August 1881, Page 10

Accidents and Offences.

Nicholas Smith, a seaman belonging to th steamer Hero, met with an accident at Port Chalmers on the 18th, whereby his left leg was broken a little above the ankle. It appears that a heavy chain was being lowered to the chain-drum, when suddenly it took a run, dragging the unfortunate man along with it, and inflicting the above-mentioned injury, He waa conveyed to the Hospital, where his injuries were at once attended to.

A lad named John M'Cormick, aged 13, was admitted to the Hospital on Sunday afternoon, Buffering from a severe gunshot wound in his foot. The sufferer and some other lads appear to have gone down to the bay, taking a gun with them, and in the course of some rather ill-advised "skylarking" the weapon exploded while in the hands of a lad named William Stokes. The occurrence was of course purely accidental, bat Ihe lad will probably lose three toes from the injured foot.

At the Port Chalmers R.M. Court on Satur day, Charles Augustus Swartling, seaman of the ship Crußader, was charged with unlawfully attempting to wound Henry Lane, sailmaker of the same vessel,on the 18 .h inst., and there was a second charge of common assault preferred against the prisoner, to which he pleaded guilty. — Mr Solomon appeared for the defence, — Sergeant Banlon stated tbat in regard to the first offrnce, the prisoner had been charged with attempting to inflict a wound ou the band of the prosecutor with a knife. The facts were that on the evening of the 18th mat. the priaoeer, who was very drunk, was ordered forward by the captain, that he refused to obey, and while some of the officers and crew attempted to remove him, he drew a knife and struck the sailmaker The prisoner bore a good character on board the ship, and appeared to have been on good terms with prosecutor; under these circumstances, he trusted the Bench would set aside tbe charge of unlawfully wounding, and hear that of common assault.. —The Magistrate decided to hear the evidence in the first case. — Henry Lane (sworn) said : I am H&ilmaker of the Crusader. About a quarter past 5 on the evening of tbo 18th I waß culler! od deck. I saw the wiaonor, and heard <Am nuk th«i O'«p*.aia why Ma liUrty wjw Slopped Tlio c*i''"ii" o*d T.--fl him forward, bu. a•nov. jm mcoxiuttted he refused to go. A ovo mil got ronud him, and being tbe wor«8 for drink he did not know what be was about, and drew

his knife from the aheath. I rushed at him, feariDg he might do harm, and on getting hold of him I received a cut. I wish to state that the prisoner is one of the kindest men I have ever sailed with. No unkind feeling existed between vi.— By Mr Solomon : He made no effort to atab me. He waa quickly secured. Barnes, one of the seamen, was near him when I went forward.-By the Bench: As an officer of the ship it was my duty to prevent the prisoner doing any harm. He made no attempt to injure me. While I was attempting to wrest the knife from him I received the scratch on my hand.— J. it. Barnes stated : lam a Beaman of the Crusader. The prisoner is in my watch. We were ordered to clean up decks on the evening 01 the 18th inst., when the prisoner told the captain he would go on shore. He was ordered to be taken forward, and a few of us caught hold of him. He was drunk, and would not go, and wrenching himself from us, drew his knife and swung it round his head ; in bringing it down he nearly struck the second officer, who jumped out of the way, and the sailmaker attempted to take the knife. All hands closed on him, and the chief officer secured it. I think the knife was coming down when the gailmaker Btepped in. He did not attempt to draw the knife on the sailmaker. — Surgeant Hanlnn deposed that he arrested the prisoner on the 18 th inst. The man was strongly under the influence of drink. — His WorahJp was of opinion that the evidence clearly showed the man was drunk, and disobeyed orders to suph an extent that the crew attempted to take him forward to his proper place ; he became excited and brandished a knife, but there waa no case of unlawfully wounding made out. It might be the witnesses were attempting to screen lam, but this was not proved ; and under these circumstances the case must be dismissed; while, as there was no evidence of the assault, that also must be dismissed. At tbe same time he considered the prisoner should be made to feel his position, and was astonished the captain hnd not charged him with disobedience of lawful commands, in order to punish him. — Mr Solomon assured his Worship that the captain fully appreciated the man's riotous conduct. — The prisoner was then discharged.

Murder and Suicide.

At Tamworth (N.S. W.), on the night of the Bth mat., a Chinese hawker, named Ko Son, shot two men named John Smith and John M'Cann. The Chinaman bad been for some time past resident in Tamworth, and was considered a quiet and inoffensive man. He was camped on a piece of ground near Branbrey s oyster saloon, and had been about town selling vegetables at several hotels. During the afternoon some larrikins were teasing him, calling after him " Paddy," which seemed to greatly exasperate him. At 8 o'clook three men, John Smith, John M'Cann, and John M'Donald, who only arrived at Tamworth that afternoon by the 4 o'clock mail train, and were strangers, were passing along the street olose to the oyster saloon. The Chinaman waa standing on the footpath, and suddenly, without warning or provocation, he drew a revolver and exclaimed, " I teaohee you to teasee me," fired first at Smith, then at M'Cann, and then a third shot at himself. All the shots took deadly affect. Smith died instantaneously, M'Cann was shot under the arm. The bullet entered his lungs. The whole town was soon in a state of commotion. The men were taken into the Commercial Hotel. Dra Frean and White were Bent for, and they speedily arrived on the scene. They searched for tbe balls unsuccessfully. M'Cann is rapidly sinking, and has loßt tbe use of the lower portion of bis limbs. The Chinaman died immediately. The police took possession of the bodies and effectß of the murdered men.

Commenting on the affair the Age writeß :— " If we are determined tbat it is to the interest of the Colony that no Chinaman should live in it, let us pass a law of deporting him out of it, and carry it into effect with as much zeal as we may. But if we first set tbe example of lawlessness, and goad him to despair by the cruelties we practise on him, it is no good pretending to be astonished if he now and then bsttera the instruction tbat we give him, and runs a-muck through our streets, carelesß whether he destroys the innocent as well as the guilty."

The Fatal Wife-Beating Case. (Oamaru Mail, August 23.)

Charles Augustus was brought up on remand at the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning, before I. N. Watt, JEBq., 8.M., charged with having unlawfully assaulted and beaten his late wife, Isabella Augustus.

Sergeant-major Thompson prosecuted, and Mr O'Meagher appeared for the prisoner. The Court having been cleared, Mr O'Meagher complained of the course taken by the local Press in publishing the depositions with headings of a nature calculated to influence the public mind against the accused. His Worship said that, without offering an opinion as to whether it might be a question of taste in publishing evidence taken incoherently and in a hurried way, he perfectly agreed with the learned counsel that the heading to the first report complained of was an outrage At the time the evidence was taken hurriedly in order to perpetuate it. Mr O'Meagher : No reporter was present. His Worship said that he was applied to by a member of the Press to allow him to see the depositions, and consented, but he thought thufc too much of the evidence given had been published.

The following evidence was taken :— Johanna Sullivan, wife of John Sullivan, dairyman, related occurrences which took place some months ago, being a relation of former cases of ill-treatment suffered by the deceased at the hands of the accused. Coming down to the events in relation to the case the witness said : On the day upon which Mrs Augustus was taken to the Hospital she sent for me and showed me some bruises upon her face. The Augustuses did not live upon very good terms, but ( cannot state anything of my own knowledge. When I saw Mrs Augustus on the day she was taken to the Hospital her face was scratched. This was between 11 and 12 o'clock. Augustus was not present. I saw a wound on Mrs Augustus' cheek. It was a fresh wound, and the blood was drying. Cross-examined by Mr O'Meagher : I have been on friendly terms with Mrs Augustus. lam not aware that she was fond of liquor. I remember her being intoxicated about two years and a-half ago, but never since.

Barbara Earl, sworn, said : lam the wifo of Jamoß Earl, a labourer, residing in Eden street. I know the accused as a man living near me. I knew accused's wife. I saw accused dragging his wife last Sunday week into his house by the arms, and she cried " Murder, murder !" Then the door was closed, and I heard no more.

To his Worship : Accused dragged his wife from the eratc to the house about five or six strides. I live about a chain off on the opposite side. To Mr O'lleagher : Accused dragged his wife with her legs and body on the ground. I do not know what reasons he had for dragging her. I remember the day ; it was about 10 days after the deceased's confinement. I had not observed the habits of decoased, and do not know if she was given to drink. So far as I know she was a sober woman. Accused waa dragging deceased by her arms and body, and when I noticed them accused was hitting deceased. Sergeant-major Thompson, sworn, said: I know accused, and remember the 19th inst. At about halfpast 10 o'clock on that day I called the detective into my office, where Augustus was. I said to Augustus, " I have something to say to you, but before 1 say it I wish to caution you." I took down his statement, read it to him, and wished him to sign it. Mr O'Yfeagher thought it was most improper that a man should be induced to make a confession of the land while a charges of manslaughter was hanging over his head, and he contended that the evidence should not be admitted. He quoted authorities in support of his contention. Ilia Worship baid that if the statement wus voluntary it could be taken,

Sergeant-major Thompson: Brfow lie «ja*> »g etatement I said to him, "Your wife fe dead. TttU was in the presence of Detective O Bneo. The statement was then read. .. His Worship expressed a wish that the «•" *[?™£ not publish the statement, as it was not w™FJ evidence, and would have the effect of prejudfetog W» prisoner's case.

(FROM CUB OWN CORRHSPOHDBHT.) Dr Wait deposed : I made a. post mortem «amina' tion upon the woman at the Hospital on the 20th inst., Dr De Lautour being present. I first examined the body for external marks of violence. There was a patch on the head where the hair had been pulled out. There was also a slight contusion on the side of toe left and upper lip, a slight bruise on the left breast, and two centre teeth were loose. The external organs of generation were bruised and exeoriaMOr There was an extravasation of blood wher« the hair had been pulled out on the scalp, wen us would have been caused by a bruise. , Th» heart was soft and fatty, and there were a swiess of effusions of blood in the cavities. A blow from » boot would have caused the bruise on the head. The bruise on the left breast was not larger than a shilling piece. The toe of a boot such as that produced might have produced this bruise. There was a bald patch on the head the size of half-a-crown. The cause of death, in my opinion, was a complication from disease of the heart, dropsy, and general venous congestion. The bruises to a woman in deceased's condition would certainly have a tendency to accelerate death. I cannot speak definitely. If deceased had received proper medical treatment she might have lived a length of time. DrDe Lautour said: I am surgeon to the Hospital. I knew the late Isabella Augustus. She was admitted to the Hospital on the 16th inst. She was suffering from heart-disease, dropsy, and the after effectß of confinement, which had happened about a fortnight previously. She was in a weak condition. She was also suffering from some injuries which had been inflicted upon her. Upon examining her I found a contused wound on the left cheek and upper lip, anothe!|^ bruise on the vertex of the head, and another on the breast. I noticed a place on the head as though the hair had been torn out. The external organs of generation and lower part of the abdomen were excoriated. I examined her heart and found it diseased. The lungs were congested, and there were evidences of pleura in the wall of the left chest, and there was a. quantity of fluid in the cavity. She gradually goA weaker, and died on the 18th. 1 His Worship said he thought he might shorten tiV case by saying that there was sufficient evidence of assault. He might deal with the case of assault summarily, but if it could be shown that there was any evidence to go to a jury in support of the charge of manslaughter, with some chance of obtaining a conviction, he would be prepared to commit him. At present he could not see that it was proved that prisoner had shortened the life of the deceased. If this could not be proved a case of manslaughter could not be made out. Sergeant-major Thompson was quite justified in doing all he could, and no one reprobated the conduct of the prisoner more th»n he (Mr Watt) did, if all the statements were to be be* believed ; but to establish a case of manslaughter it must be shown that the conduct of the accused had shortened the life of the deceased.

Sergeant-major Thompson submitted that, notwithstanding the evidence ot the medical men in regard to the complication of diseases, if death was accelerated in the smallest degree by the treatment of accused, then there was a case of manslaughter. His Worship said he must have evidence that the assault did accelerate death, and not that it might have done so. Sergeant-major Thompson : That will be entirely a question of opinion. His Worship : It is a question for experts. I will have to ask their opinion, and then consider whether they were justified in coming to the conclusion they do before I send the accused to trial.

Sergeant-major Thompson said he would examine Dr De Lautour on that point. Dr Wait's evidence was then read to Dr De Lautour, and he was asked if he agreed with it. Dr De Lautour : I agree with Dr Wait's evidence. His Worship: Then the charge of manslaughter necessarily falls to the ground. fceiveant-major Thompson (to Dr De Lautour): Would the deceased have been likely to die at the same time and under the same circumstnees if she had not received this violence?

Dr De Lautour : Auy ill-treatment of a woman In ft lyinj,' in condition would aggravate any illness from which she was suffering. It would be difficult to Bay whether ill-treatment would accelerate death. His Woiship : That moms that you cannot answer. DrDs Lautour: Had proper medical aid been placed at the disposal of deceased after her confinement she might have lived longer. His Worship held that the evidence would not sustain a charge of manslaughter. He could not commit the accused on the charge. There was sufficient evidence addu- ed to support the charge of aw&ult, and he would punish the accused summarily for that offence.

Mr O'Meagher, who did not call witnesses or comment upon the evidence, asked that sentence might be postponed in order to give accused an opportunity of making arrangements in regard to some property held by him. His Worship deferred sentence until Tuesday next.