CASUALTIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2249, 8 April 1897, Page 19

CASUALTIES.

j Mrs Alice Ann Davis,- wife of Mr Thomas ! P. Davis, died very suddenly at her residence, i Castle street, on Monday evening, 29th. She sat down to her tea apparently in her usual health bub wa3 suddenly seized with something liko a fit, and expired iv % few moments. For the past seven or eight years deceased had received medical attention for an internal complaint, and was laat visited by Dr Gordon Macdonald some six or eight weeks ago. Au inquest was held yesterday before Mr E. H. Carew, coroner, i when a verdicfc was returned thst " Death was due to failure of the heart'fi action." On the 31"st ulr. Joseph King, a gardener, was found de&d in the nursery of Mr W. Parker, at Romuera, Auckland. He bad previously used mtricacid with Mr Parker in the vinery for vinery purposes, and wont out to tho vinery to do something to the vina*. Not returning to the ; residence & servant w.ut to the viuery to look f for him, and found him dead. Ho. i 3 tupposcd I to have heoa diiffoc?,ted by ♦■he fucuea of tho ; acid as tho door was closed. Ha has relatives |in the Hawke's B»y district. At tho inquest a verdict was returned of " Suffocated by fumes' of hydrocyanic acid used in a vinery for destroying insect life." Dr Girdler stated in his evidence that if King ; bad used a solution of cyanide of potassium iv , water and sprayed the vines tbts remedy would ! have been equally effective, j Thomas Berrick, who has been identified for ! many years with charitable work at the Christchurch City Mission Home, died early on the I morning of the 31st from hemorrhage of the j lungs. The Rev. D. G. O'Connor, Catholic priest, } died at Rangiora ou rhe 3 1st. Ha -had be?n \ ia ill-health for seme mouths. Deceased was 39 yenra of age, and had been in the colony 15 years, 10 of which he had been ia charge at Rangiora. At the inquest at Wellington on the Ist on the body of an illegitimate infant the jury found that death wan the result of improper treatment j by the fostar mother, and added h rider that the j Government should ba urged to issuo ioßtruo- ; tioBS to those who take charge of iofants ** to the propor moans of feeding thois. A young wan uam^d Amos .Fisher, agfed 28 yearai while wot king on r threshing machine at; Allanton ou Thursday, slipped and fell, and a whoei of the machine pasie>l over him, fracI (,urii»g his riijht leg. Tbs sufferer wa* brought I into town by train, and was admitted into tbe hospital in the evening. A youug man was Wzed with some kind of fit as he tvas proceed infj home by a Moraingbou tramcar last evening, and iell oat of the osr ou to the roadway, alighting on his head. Ha received a severe shock, but his medioal attendant does not anticipate any serious re&ulbs. Tho body of a labouring mm .ae.taed Charles Collins whfl fonnd ira s. v vatHrhoi3 18in deop j near a contiftntor's camp nf. Waicoate, N.X., ou j Friday. Collins, who bad basri employed »S the camp, comolained of rol i'teliug -.fell i'or several days, aad was last seen on Wednesday «f tem;on going to the waterho)e to wash his clothes. It ' is surmised ha had a fit, fell in and was ! drowned. At the icquest a verdici of "Acai- ' dental drowning" Tins returned. Deceased ('has a wife and family near Hasting, Hawke'a j Bay. j A man, ■whose name id u.->kncv?n, was found | dead iv Ormond's plough camp at Wansfeead, I Hawke's Bay. { Miss Dyer, teacher of laundry work at the j Chriet church School of Doic<«,tiu Instruction, died suddenly on the 29tb 1 1% • The Bey Mr Qoleus;) vis thrown out of his J buggy ou the Woodl&iids rot.ii, Wellington, atid , hadiiis right elbow joint; badly smashed, 'the j doctor fears he will not regain the use e»t his . arm. i Frank Leclciri, of tho Government losurance department ab Wellington, wha '« on * cycling tour, when riding through tbs Marmv/Atn Gorgo oa Thursday afUsrnoou at about 5.30 struck a bouldet in fcb« middle of tbe rand and wsnt over tbe bank. He caught a. branch of a tres halfway down and lauded on the ledge of r. rock, escaping unhurt. His mtchino went to tho botfcoro, badly smashed. Of) Thurpday night several of the children of i Mr R. Sinclair, Dipton, were examining a tin of gunpowder aud got it near a light and it exploded, eerionaly burning foar — three boys and { a girl. One, a nephef? of the Sinclair*, nas | rery seriously injured. A girl named Agnes Dow Mnckie, nine years of age, daughter of Mr Andrew Mackie, farmer, Toiro, was killed by being run over by a chaffcufcter. It appears that, with three other <irls, going borne from sohoo!, they were walkiDg aloagside tbe chaffcatter. Seeing a bull some distance r,h«ad on the narnft eido of the road, they decided to cross over. The little girl J jlackie tripped ard ftl', tLo bask wheel of tbn ] machine pasping over her atomach. Nicholson ! the driver, did not Bee them cross over. On being informed of the ace'dent he *t onca procured assistance. At the inquest & verdiot wag returned of "Accidental death," no blame being attachtd to anyone. A man named John M«rrie, aged 23, was received into ihe hospital Oi Friday from Dunbaek, suffering from scalds to the lower extremities. Merrir, who lives at Kakanui, was employed &c the Duivback vabbit factory, and was assisting tq raise some boiling water from a tank by means of a blcck and tackle, when the rope of the la?kle brake, and Merrie fell into the boiling water still remaining in the tank/ Fortunately thare was ooiy a slight j depth of water ]ftl"t, and the scalds did not j extend above the knees. A a&d fatal accident occurred to Michael Williams, a well known and highly respected contractor at Mastsrton. Deceased was eDgaged on the Wairarapa Farmers' Association's new premises there, when the scaffold gave way. He was thrown a distance oi 12ft, and sustained slight concussion of fche brain. Shortly afterwards a blood vessel on the brain broke, and f deceased rapidly sank and died. Mr Robert Edwin Stoddsrt, of Willowby, Canterbury, was found in a state of unconsciousness on the road between Wmslow and his home, about 7 o'clock on Thursday evening. He left Winalow about 6 o'clock, when he was j riding one horse and leading another. About ! 7 o'clock he was found on the roadside, having i apparently been thrown from^hij horse. He i died early on Friday. Deceasearoaves a widow and four children. The Taapeka Times of the 31st ult. says :— "On Monday afternoon, about half-past 2 o'clock, a rumour went round Lawrence that an accident had occurred at Munro's Gully to one of the men in Kit to and party's claim. Dr Newell was sent for and at once rode up. Later i on it was discovered that Mr Daniel Tucker, ! who was fossicking on the reef laid bare by Kitto and party, had been found dead. It appears that the deoeased was in the habit of takirjg a short sleep after lunch. This day, however, he seemed to be sleeping longer than usual, and Mr Hancock, working in the Cornishmen's claim, called out to Mr Kitto to waken him. Mr Kitto went over to the place where Tucker was lying and found him dead. He had evidently been at work when he had fallen. There was a small heap of wash-dirt ready to

be cradled close beside him. The doctor watt sent for and found life extinct, though the body was still warm. Mr Tuoker, who was 71 yearn of age, has been a well-known resident or" the Spur for over 30 years. He was a local Wesleyan preacher and was nniversally respected. He ieavos a family of three sons and four daughters, *il grown up," The Clutha Free Press says tb>t a Httle boy, aon of Mr Johu ftloir, of Hillend, met with a naaty acoident on the 31st ulb. The boy, who ia about nine years of »ge, was playing about when the horaes which had been leading in were turned adrift. One of theße must either have trod upon him or kicked him, with the result that he suffered a very nasty fracture of the thigh bone. Miss Bird, the sohool teaoher, very ekilfully rendered flrsb aid, which relieved the boy's sufferings very considerably till Dr Smith arrived upon the scene aod set the inj ired limb. Joseph Aitkerj, a cook at Mr W. Rutherford,* Montrosu station, G=n L ,erbuiy, committed suioico on Sunday night by cutting hi 9 throat. A Maori uameel Henar<s Isaao Whoroa wan found drowned in Waikato River. His father li?es in WivDgariri. It is stated that deceased was subject to So». W. H Smith, a hawker, residing at Olevedou, Auckland, was drowned in a well ab Ramaramn. He leaves a wife and children. It is not known how he fell in. Mr Donald Urquhart, impeobor of railway bridges, met with 6 fatal accident near Ormondville on Saturday. He was riding on a trolly near Ormondvillp, when a ballast engine ran into ths trolly, and Mr Urquhart sustained severe injuries. He was taken to the dißtriob hospital, where he died. Mr Urquharb wrb well known on the South Island railways, having bsen in. Iho sorvice bore for about 17 year*, And f he newel of bis death came as » shook to bis friends. He was of a g«ni»i deposition, an«i generally reapectsd. Strange to aay a similar fate befell his cousia a fVw years ago at the Dunedin station through * goods slumtiug engine. Mrs Juli& Greif, who had attained the advanced age of 77, died on Monday morning at her residar.ee in Moray place from the effects of an accident which bofell her •.bnafe three weoks ago, wh^i, while iv tho aot of mossing Sbuar'o street, she was knooked down by a, korHe iiud trap. She was not badly injured, but «u;<lainod a severe shock. She received medioal attention, and was doing fairly well up till Friday lasfc, when inflammation sefc in, with Ibo res nib that she expired about 7 o'clock on Monday morning. ' A miner uamed John Scolt, who bfcd bocn ailing for sooio tltae, wsvi touud dead in his bed fcfc Cambrians <<v Monday morning. The doceased was about 70 years of age.