FATAL ACCIDENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2425, 5 September 1900, Page 52

FATAL ACCIDENT.

f ILLED BY A FALL FROM A WINDOW. William. O'Connell. a miner, who resided at Xevi-:, near Ciomweil. met with f teiriblo end ■y. liayjon's Co'ifrnl Hotel early 'on Thursday i.-iOiiiiiig, flu 01131:1 jailing fiom a wiudov on to asink in the back yard, a distance oi between 301 1 md 10ft. Deceased, who was 7C yeais of pge. came to town a couple of days ago with the intention cf cnnsiilting a medical raan concerning som? i: cubic of the head, and was pccomv.anicd by hi- dayghter-m-low and gcac-cl-r-on. tho iatto: of whom i.Mi about 1-J years of f^e and oceuolcd a hod iii the same room in +he Cc.itral Hotel v.J/n decprsed. Jits O'Caanell v;a--i aT.oarei'try tha hist to bee deceased <Tuve ot l.ndnight, when ?hr looked into his "oom. The ;u&ndso-a i& tiaable to throw any 3i»ht'on the n ffair. It would appear that the old man left ln& room at a very eor'y horn in the inorninc,, i.i his irght rloth.es, and ivandered iv>lo an pdjaceul 10cm which v.-as ui:occtipie-d, and as the window, -which v;as ju.-.l; abo'-e the si.'.l: on to which he fell, was found opfiii about 2ft, the assumption is thit he got oufc of this vvrr.dow and fell to the giound. He was found about 5 o'clock in the morning, lying in a pool of blood alongside the sink, with which he had evidently come into contact, as it was broken away from the vail. It was "found that he had two incised wounds oil the l"tl §ioirj, » compound fraetme of the left ankle.-a.nd a slight cut under the left ej c, which was bleeding, and had lost a gieat deal .of blood. - - I!\QTJEST. • ' • An inquest wrs held at the Central -Ho.tel in the afternoon by Mr C. C. Graham (coroner) and v jury of sis, of whom Mr J. J. Kamsay was chosen' loxcuian, when the following evidence wrs given. VIIKI.II Xawrenson, porter at the Central

I Hotel, stated that at about a quarter-past 4 i | o'clock in the morning he was awakened by hearJ ing a noise, but thinking it was only cats, he I went to sleep again. About a quarter-past 5 I he arose and went downstairs, and saw a man | lying at the foot of the steps in the yard. Tha man was in his nightshirt, and blood was com- ■ ing from his face and left groin. He was i bieathing. Witness tried to rouse him, and then called Mr George Hayclon, who went for ! 13r Roberts. On the return of Mr Haydon, ; they earned the man, who turned out to be O'Connell, inside, and laid him down in the oar, remaining wl th him till the doctor came scon after. . T °, t^ c Jm "y: Witness judged that the man iiacl ±allen out of the window on to the sink, wnich w.is brokea. It was dark, so he could , not say if the windows were all shut. All the I floors were bolted, so deceased could not have . got to the yard by them. ! Cr Roberts deposed to seeing the 7oocly of deceased, and described its condition, and the aiatuve of the wounds he fouccl upon it The man was quite dead when he arrived. In the yara he saw a wood-ancl-iron sink, which was ■broken, aud there was a pool of blood beside it. | Deceas-d's bod had been occupied. Tha win-" | ciow was shut, and there was a table in front of . it, but m an unoccupied room, two looms away, I ho found the window open. This window led i on to a small slate roof and was directly over , the sink. The inference he drew was that the nidn 'v«ts wandering about m a dazed condition, ruict that without knowing what he was doiny lie went cut of the window and walked fighfc 1 over the roof. 'Witness saw no sigii of the man , ha aug been under the influence of liquor. He { considered that the cause of death was hemor- ; mage and the shock of the Tall. , , 1 To the Jury: There was no sign of violence -other than what would have been caused by ths fall. " - - ■ Mary O'Connell, dai:ghter-iri-laV of deceased, . stilted that O'CoimipU came to Dunedin on , Tuesday to &ec Dr Llndo Ferguson. He had , been subject to fits of giddiness, anti seemed to i lose iiis senses. On Wednesday evening -he seemed to be in his usual state of health, though he complained of his head at tea time VWtncss visited him ia his bedroom at halfpa «t 12 o'clock, and found him sleeping quietly. Jbere w.is no sign of di&turbince." He was 76 years of age, and had never exhibited suicidal tendencies. Grorge Haydon said ho had known deceased for the last five years. Ho came to town on Uuesrlny by the south express. 'Witaess last saw him alive about U o'clock on Wednesday night. He teemed perfectly healthy, and conversed with w.fcnecs foi about fiVe or 10 aiinuies. He thra complained of b.3 head. Witness ccrloborated tho evidence of the other witnesses as to iituiing the "body in tho yaid, and the subsequent inspection of deceased's bedroom. The drop from the ro^Bto the yard would ■ be .about ,10ft or 40ft. Deceased was perfectly sober when he went to bed. The winimv, oufc of which r'popDsed was supposed to have pot, wa«"up about 2ft. 'Witness could not get out of it, but decaascd was a smaller man. He was a very sober man, and witness never saw him clriiik spiui*-. ilr Graham said there could be very little doubt in the minds of any of the jury that the cause of death was from falling out of the window on to. the sink below, and there was not the slightest reason for believing that there was any Violence used by anyone. There was 3io suspicion of viicb. a thing. , The only question for the- iuvy was a-; to wheihe; he went out of the window of his own accord, or not. The, tvHonre went to &how thai there were no , suicidal tendencies on his (deceased's) party and, from what Dr Kobsits paid, the chances were that the man was waadering about did not know what he was doing. A verdiGt was leiurned ihat^ the deceased died at the Central Hotel, the cause of death being tha fall from the window while he was walking about in a dazed" condition.

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