CASUALTIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2690, 4 October 1905, Page 34

CASUALTIES.

An accident occurred in the Viotoria mire, Thames, on the 26th. Two m'iers, Addicoat and Rabe, working the face of a drive, drilled a hole, and a shot was put in. It is presumed Addicoat was shoving a charge "of gelignite home when it exploded, blowing off portion of his hand and injuring him about the head and eyes. The hand will be sa^ed, and tho sight is not injured. Rabe, who was some distance back, escaped unhurt. Addiooat's escape from death is nothing short of marvellous. Another serious accident occurred in the Omona. district, about 35 miles back from Eltham, on the 26th, on the road works, the victim being Patrick Kelly, a selector, employed with the co-operative gang. A slip of about 10 tons of papa rock fell suddenly, Kelly having only time to throw his body clear, his legs being caught. Both were broken and mutilated. He was carried about 12 miles by his mates over biish tracks, and was then met by a doctor and conveyed to town early next morning. A singular coincidence is that Kelly's mate, Miller, was killed near the same place under similar circumstances a few months ago.

A man named James Bain, a resident of North-East Valley, was received into the hospital on the 26th, ' suffering from the effects of a fall from his dray, caused by his horse bolting. On examination it was found that his leg wa« broken, and that he had received one or two minor bruises.

A serious accident occurred in the Auckland mine at Whangamata, on the east coast of the Hauraki Peninsula. "A miner, Charles Ross, was crushed by a fall of earth, and narrowly escaped a fearful death. His loins and back were injured. He was carried 16 miles over bad roads through the bush, Jus mates -assisting in relays. The first 11 miles of the journey occupied four hours. Ross was brought to the Thames Hospital, where his condition is serious. Tho master of the scow Hawk (Captain M'Dermott) was lost as the vessel was crossing- the bar at Hokianga, from Dunedin. Michael Hayden (50), married, attempted to commit suicide at Devonport by cutting his throat with a penknife. , The windpipe was completely severed. The man was removed to the Auckland Hospital in a precarious condition. A man's body seen • floating outside the Auckland Harbour on Thursday is believed to be that of John Daubney, a resident of Stanley Point, who disappeared about the20th ult.

Word has been received that a man named John Lane- was killed ,at the '.cooperative railway works at Seddon on Welnesday by a fall of earth. Lane was married, and leaves a family. It appears that Lane, who is about 50 years of age, was working in a. cutting, when a fall of earth from the side struck him on the back, knocking him down. He lived for about an hour. Lane leaves a widow and five young children, for the relief of whom funds are being raised.' At the inquest the examination of witnesses turned on the question as to whether the methods of tackling the steep fall of the "cutting where the gang was employed were quite safe. The foreman deposed that the mode adopted was the usual one on Government works, and was considered perfectly safe. The fall was caused by what was known as a greasy back slip. The face had been carefully examined and prepared. The Railway Department gave no instructions as to the way in which the cutting was to be worked. A local contractor was called, and expressed the opinion that the face was too deep to be undermined for falling, *and benches should have been used. The jury's verdict stated that no blame was attachable to anyone, but a rider was added conveying the opinion that more supervision over the works should be exercised by those in authority. • A sad iatality happened m Lyttelton Harbour oiff Thursday, when Joluf Eckman n, one of the men working on the^Lyttelton Harbour Board's dredge Manchester, was washed out of a boat and drowned. Eckmann was in the boat after mooring, when a heavy back wash of water from the propellers of the dredge caused the boat to capsize. Two. lifeb uoys were thrown oui, which Eckmann failed to seize. Tho boat wont to his assistance, but he disappeared when the boat was 30ft away. The work of dredging for the body was continued throughout the day without result. A very sad accident happened at Alexandra South on Friday afternoon. Several small b^ys *of about eight and ton yoars were playing in a gravel pit at the back of the town. They were undermining the face, when it came down and buried them. Two were buried to the armpits, and the third (the second son of Mr Grimetone, manager of the Bank of New Zealand) was xinderneath. Two men, hearing the children's cries, went to see the trouble, and managed to extricate two without much difficulty. The men did not know for some little time that the third boy was underneath. , After a good deal of effort, they ,found him under about 3ft of gravel. He was still alive, but died very shortly after he was taken home. An inquest was held in the afternoon. Th© jur> brought in a verdict of " Accidental death," and added a rider that local bodies should see that in gravel pits where the face was undermined the top bank was knocked down.

A somewhat sensational accident occurred about 6.15 p.m. on Thursday at the corner of Rattray »nd Princes streets. A horse attached to a buggy in which three young 'men were seated, was being driven at a smart trot down Rattray street. No attempt was made to pull up at the crossing, and as the wooden blocks were greasy with *vain and mud the horse came down, and in the twinkling: of an eye the three young men were turning somersaults in mid-airj. Fortunately for them

the unfortunate horse somewhat broke their fall. An attempt was made to get the horse on to its feet before the harness attaching it to the buggy was entirely unfastened, and the cxpecied happened, for one of the buggy shafts was broken off short, and the other damaged. Thp whole of the harness was then unfastened, and the horse was eventually got on its logs again. None of the young men appeared to be seriously hurt, but they were considerably dazed. Time was, when our police wore recruited from the country that the constable on duty took the lead in putting matters right when such an accident occurred, and his coolness knowledge and authority were generality invaluable. The constable on duty last eveni ing was content with being a passive observer, his want of knowledge of the management of horses probably rendering him incapable of assisting the tnrco dazed young men. Those who undertake to drive a ho?so on a rainy day such as yesterday should have sense enough to know that a crossing made of wooden blocks means danger. , „ . , A pair of horses in a trap bolted yesterday through Cromwell, and across die brid«e. A young lad, nine years old. named Arthur Tidey, was tin-own out in tn& middle of iho main street, and has been unconscious since then. He was thrown on to his head, and is in a very precarious condition. The trap and horses are very little the worse. The young fellow in. charge was foolishly oiling the trap without taking the horses out. ■ A resident of Auckland, named Charles Bartenshaw was found in the Domain by an employee of the Kauri Timber Company with his throat cut almost from car to ear The unfortunate man was quite dead. A razor lying alongside the body had evidently been the- instrument used. There were no papers, or, in fact, anything, to show any reason for the suicide. A single man named Walter Hesketn, employed* by White and Co.. timber merchants, Addington, was killed on fehinctay by a heavy piece of timber falling on and fracturing his skull. Tho body of John Eckman, seaman on the Lyttelton "Harbour Board's dredge, who v.-as drowned through the capsizing of a, boat's few da-vs ago, was found floating- in Lyttelton Harbour on Sunday, and taken possession of by the police. Roy Kemp, aged three, a son of Captain Kemp, was accidentally drowned at Karamea, Wellington, on Saturday. As two married men who had been for a drive to Evansdale were returning to Duncdui between 9.30 and 10 p.m. on Sun•day they met with a mishap m JSortftEast Valley through their vehicle coming into eolli?ion with a. pole on the tramway line. One of the men, named George Snowden, about 40 years of age, fared rather badly, two of his ribs being broken, while he also received several cuts about the head and face. Snowden, who lives m the Kaikorai Valley. received the necessary attention at the Hospital. The other man escaped unhurt. • . At the inquest on the body of- a Chinaman, who hanged himself in his cell at Lyttelton Gaol on Thursday night, .medical evidence was given that deceased had committed su : oide while in a fit of brooding depression. A verdict was returned according to the evidence. A peculiar and serious incident occurred during the thunderstorm on Wednesday evening (says the Wanganui Chronicle). Mr Joseph Wifks, of Westme*e, was milking a cow, when the animal was struck by lightning and killed immediately. Mr Wilks was knocked backwards, but save for experiencing an electrio' shook, suffered no injuries. A fence about a chain from the cow byre was struck by the lightning, ancl several posts were splintered for a considerable distance- along ' the fence, and! on© of the wires for a short distance was broken into pieces from a quarter of anf inch to four inches 'in length. At Wellington James M'Ewan,_2l years, was handling a, revolver^sn Saturday night, when the cartridge exploded. The bullet entered his right cheek, near- the mouth. He was taken to the hospital, and diecfc there /four hours after the occurrence. Deceased was a recent arrival from New South Wales. At the inquest the iury • found that deceased died from ~ a selfinflicted gunshot wound, but they wer« unable to say whether it was accidentally • fired. I At the inquest at Christchurch on Eckmann, drowned on Thursday night by the swamping of a boat, caused by the backwash from the dredge, a verdict of accidental death was returned. Evidence wag given that complaints had been made by | the crew -fahat the boat was- not altogether | easy to handle, and was not safe outside I the moles. One man had resigned because 'he considered the 'boat unsafe! The boat • had not ( be&n used when the men 'oon- , sidered there was danger, and evidence was ' given that it was safe for use within the i moles, wheve the accident ' happened. '

One of the sailors of the Austrian warship Panther committed suicide by hanging 1 •himself on boa.yd the warship on Saturday night at Auckland.