CASUALTIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 26 August 1908, Page 33

CASUALTIES.

A distressing fatality occurred at thereservoir works near Christchurch. on the 18th inst., a young single man namedf George Castles being killed ,by a fall of clay. The police report states' that Castles, with two other men, named Samuel Dwight and Timothy Donoghue, was working in a cutting of clay, which was being undermined prior to a fall. Castles- was warned by the engineer in charge about 20 minutes before the disaster not to go under so far, as the bank was not safe. The young man replied that it was quite safe, and he would not mind sleeping there< The bank fell upon ..Castles without any warning, and when he was dug out about 10 minutes later life was extinct. The body was removed to the morgue, where aninquest was held in the evening, a verdict of. accidental death being returned. Roderick Campbell, aged 25, grazed' his knee a fortnight ago while playing football. Two days later symptoms of bloodpoisoning developed, from which he died at Gisborn© on the 18th met. An. inquest was held at Wellington on the 19th. inst. on the body of Rosabel Byron, a nurse, who id days ago swallowed 12 tabloids of perchloride of mercury. This is 96 times the usual dose prescribed by the medical profession for a patient. It was shown that deceased had been working hard and her nerves were unstrung. A verdict of feuicide while temporarily insane was returned, r The Mataura Ensijrn states thai the name of the workman who expired after breaking a blood vessel at the Waikaia railway works on Monday, 17th inst., was Adam Ferrier. He had burst one some weeks ago, when he went- to Gore and consulted Dr Matthews, who advised him that he should seek lighter employment. Unfortunately he did not do so, and succumbed to a similar attack. An inquest on the body of the, man found in the Molyneux at Tuapeka Mouth on the 7th. inst. was held on the 12th inst. before ilr J. Norrie, acting coroner, and a jury. The body was identified as that of James Thomas Schriek, who was drowned by falling from a river chair near Halfway House on May 13. Deceased was* a single man, 31 years of aa;e, a baker by trade and of sober habits. The police are advi&ed that James Miller, a farmer of Waikereru, in the Pabiarf/UA district, was killed through a log rolling on him. Deceased and his brother were crossentting the log when it broke ■suddenly. -A serious accident occurred at Rangiora about noon on the 19th. A young man named J. Whitmore, aged 21 years, came from the North Island with a friend named Hall, and was staying with the latter's uncle, Mr A. Busing. During the morning the young men were shooting at a target. Whitmore was standing in the doorway of a shed and Hall was a short distance away to the left. Whitraore fired a shot, and stepped, quickly out of th-e doorway to ascertain the result. , Juet at that moment Hall fired, and the bullet struck Whitmore in the neck, below and behind the left ear, passing through the right eye, and shattering tlis eyeball. Whitmore was removed to a nursing home, where he was attended by medical men, who removed the eye. Little hope is entertained, of his recovery. Whitmore has no relatives in Xew Zealand. William Poison died suddenly at the residence of James Cooper, Waikaia, on the 19th. The deceased was an old identity in Central Otago, and for 20 years had lived at Waikaia. A man named William Kirk died suddenly of Stentiford-'s boarding-house in Maclaggan street at 6 p.m. on the 20th inst. Dr Eastings was called to see the- man about 6 o'clock, and was again sent for later on, but when he arrived at 8 the man was dead. Death is assumed to be due to apoplexy. Henry Fordham Taylor, 63 years old, residing in Hope street, North-East Valley, died suddenly in his bed at 2.40 a.m. on the 20th. Deceased, who was 9 married man, had been suffering from a. cold for

the last fortnight, but did not seek medical aid or take to his bed. * Clara >Ford, aged 73, an old-age pensioner, was burnt to death at Napier in a cottage where she was living alone. The flames had obtained a strong hold when discovered, and on the fire being subdued the charred remains of the old woman were found. The cottage, with the adjoining one, which was badly damaged, was owned by Mrs Cohen, and insured in the Queensland office for £250. A decomposed body was found wedged between a stone wall and an outbuilding in Abbot's road,. Auckland, on the 24th inst. ' It is believed to be that of a, man named Hendrey, aged 29 years, a clerk by occupation. Hendrey "has been missing since May 7. The body of Mrs M'Cleary, wife of a tailor resident in*. G-isborne, was found on the Waikanae Beach on the 24th. Deceased's husband arrived from Auckland! yesterday, and expected his wife to meet him, but found her absent from home, and reported her disappearance to the police. Whilgt engaged- in tightening tie driving -rope of the main engine on-, ike First Chance dredge on the 23ixi insfe. a man named Hugh Faulds met "with a painful accident. A block and tackle were being ueed, and on tie men pulling on. the latter a link of the -chain fastened to tne block snapped in two. The block dropped' on Mr Faulds' s "head, cutting him severely dbouifc the brow. Dr Patrick was immediately summoned, and after attending to the sufferer sent him to the Dunedin Hospital for treatment. At the Hospital on. Monday afternoon, before Mr -C. O. Graham (coroner) and 'a jury, an inquiry was held concerning t3ie death of """Mary ..Gxay, aged .63 years-, who died in the Hospital on Sunday night. Deceased was* admitted to the Hospital on Tuesday, suffering from a fractured thigh, caused by a, fall sustained in her own house at Ravensbourne on Tuesday . last. The evidence of her daughter revealed that she had Woken her leg. some three years ago, that the doctor had told them" that their mother's bejes were very brittle,, and that a. fall was likely to result in a fracture. Dr Falconer deposed that on Saturday deceased developed pneumonia, v and j died on Sunday night from pneumonia, which was not an unusual complication of ! fracture of the thigh in elderly people. A; verdict in accordance with the medical "eviV • denee was returned. Whilst walking along the beach at Ha-tf rington Point on Saturday afternoon a Portobello resident named Alfred Harwood observed a Imman body being- carried past by the strong ebb tide. He made an effort to intercept it with a piece of fenc; ing wire,, but being unsuccessful ihe made for the nearest boat, but by the time he reached it and< went in search, the body ! had been carried outside the Heads. The matter was reported to the police at Port j Chalmers, and search is now being- -made at various points where the body is liloely. to be washed up. The head and one hand 1 appeared to be missing. Those who have ft. knowledge of local currents are of opinion' that the body will be washed up on th« beach behind the mole or else on Murder, ing Beach. | At Messrs M'Callum's Glenburn sawrulih, at Otautau on Saturday aiternoon an accf- | dent occurred which, had a fatal termina*I tion. The victim, a young man named Frederick Corkhill, was (the Southland Times j reports) engaged as the shoeman in follow; ing bhe logs drawn by tihe hauling engine, from places felled in th© bush to the loadj injj bank, where they are placed on the trollies and conveyed into the mill yard to Jgo through the usual timber process. Corkj hill's duty was to keep th© logs clear of obstacles that might be in the hauling track, and in following out this work he must have been several paces in .Advance oi the lose, when the dog connecting the wire rope, slipped out of its position, and in the rebound is supposed to have struck the unfortunate man, inflicting injuries as the result o£ which he succumbed within thre§ hours. Corkhill was 39 years of age. At the adjourned inquest oh Wednesday,, last on the body of James Thomas Schriek. found in the Mblyneux River at Tuapeka Mouth, evidence as to the manner ci Schriek 's death was given by an eye- wit-; ness, John Behan. He deposed that on May 13 he saw deceased apparently untie the chair and immediately afterwards saw it run out to the centre of the river with deceased clinging to the side and calling for help. He (witness) ran to hia assistance, calling to him to hancr on, but before | h« reached the scene the deceased dropped; j into the water feet first. On coming to th surface the deceased swam for about' ;■ 150 yards, when he pot into a, whirlpool and disappeared. _ Wihen deceased left to go home he was in witness's opinion perfectly sober, there being not the slightest indication that he was under the influence of liquor. Witness had on former occasions seen th© deceased set the chair in motion before entering it, and had told I him it was a, risky practice, but he merely replied : " You get used to it when you ! have crossed a few times." It was, wifej ness said, the opinion of the people in the district that there was too much sag on the wire l-ope, and that it should be tightened. . The jury» without retiring, brought in a verdict that the deceased cam* by his death through accidentally falling: ■ from tlje chair while crossing the Molyneux River near Half-way House, and added as a rider:: "That the attenfcicm of -the Vincent County Council be called to the necessity of tightening the wire rope carrying the chair."