INQUEST.

Otago Witness, Issue 1834, 14 January 1887, Page 10

INQUEST.

An inquest was held at Woodsid'e on Satur* day afternoon before Mr B. H. Oarew.?distriot coroner, on the body of William Thomson who was drowned while bathing in the Kaikorai stream on Thursday evening.

James Thomson, father of the deceased, stated that his son was 19 years of age, and was born at Green Island. About 6 o'clock 6n Thursday evening he heard that his son along with two other young men had gone in the direction of the Kaikorai river to bathe. About 7 o'clock on the same evening he heard that his eon was drowned. He went down to the river to see it being dragged for the body. He left about 10 o'clock, and the body had not been recovered.

Isaac Murphy stated that ho saw about a dozen young men r .bathing in the Kaikorai river on Thursday evening, on the Green Island side of the bridge. ■ He stood looking at them for four or five minutes. His attention was then directed to a lad who was going to dive off the bridge. Immediately afterwards be heard a cry from one of the bathers named Hamilton for hejp, and for someone to go for a boat. He looked round and saw the deceased Strug* gling in the water. Deceased was then about 20yds from the bridge and about 30yds from the river bank. „ He was struggling ia the water with his hands extended upwards. He seemed to struggle for a ve.ry short time and then sank. Hamilton was five or six yards distant from him at the time, and no other person was within 20 yards of him. A boat with two people in it came up and stopped within a couple of minutes of the cry for help. Some bathers also came up, and dived at the place where he saw Thomson disappear. -Deceased did not rise again, and it appeared that the per* sons diving could not find him. He saw some people trying to reach the bottom of the water with the oars. from the boat but they could not reach it : so witness went and got a long pole and sent it to them. There were a number of men about the river when he returned, and search for the body was continued as long as he remained. He left about 12 o'clock. The water where deceased went down was about 14ft deep, but close to the deceased where Hamilton was it was only sft deep. There was no current running at the time deceased disappeared in water.

Robert Hamilton stated that he went to bathe in the Kaikorai river, and Wm. Thomson and some others came while he was there. -Thorn* son and he went into the water about the same time. They had been in about a quarter of an hour, and witness was swimming across the river, shaping for a shallow bank on which to rest. He reached the bank, and on looking round ,he saw a bather whom he took to be Wm Thomson about four yards distant in deep water. Witness saw that he was sinking. He could not see big head, only the tips of his fingers. He heard no noise or cry previously. He called out for help, and a boat came up, also some bathers who dived to find the body, but without success. The water was very thick and dark, and that was why they could not see or find the body. He had been bathing with deceased before, but never knew him attempt to swim before. He had been once.across the river and back again, and was going out of the water, but he' afterwards said he would cross again. Constable Power gave evidence with refer* ence to dragging the river for the body, which, he stated, was recovered about a quarter past 2 on the following morning The jury returned a verdict to the effect that the deceased was accidentally drowned whilst bathing.