CASUALTIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3002, 27 September 1911, Page 23

CASUALTIES.

I ' A man named Edmund Spence, a farmer, 83 years of ago, was found in a ditch at Papanui, Christchurch, on the 20th, with wounds on? his throat and arms. He died soon after he was found- An inquest was held in the afternoon, and a verd.ct of suicide while temporarily insane© was reiturned. John Shcra, aged 30, clerk in the New Zealand Insurance Co., was found dead in the company's office at Napier on the 21st, shot through the heart by a doublebarrelled gun, both cartridges of which Had been discharged. The deceased, who formerly lived in Auckland, was a South African contingenter, rising from tne position of private to that of lieutenant. The evidence at the inquest on the 23rd showed that deceased was subject to recurring fits of depression as a result of malaria contracted during the South African war. The police found a numoer of telegrams amongst the deceased's effects referring to racing, and a cheque book showed transactions with different bookmakers. The coroner returned a ver-. diet of death from a gunshot wound, selfinflicted, evidence as to his state of mind . being inconclusive. j A young man named Alexander Smith J on the 21st swallowed a dental plate and ' four teeth. He was removed to the Hospital, and it was found that the obstruction had lodged in his windpipe, from which it was successfully removed. No trace has yet been found of Mrs Eyes, missing from Rai Falls since the 18th. Dragging operations were carried out, but without avail. It is feared that the body has been carried by the swollen river into the Sound, and little hope U I entertained of its recovery. | The body of a man named O'Shea, aged about 60, was found on the rocks at Tirmaru on the 22nd inst. The skull was smashed and the neck broken. It is supposed that he had been dead "for hours. i Little is known of the man, and the police are making inquiries. ! George Ogg, a middle-aged man, who resides at Ab'botsford, and is engaged on tho Mosgiel duplication works, fell off the train somewhere between Dunodin and Aibbotsford late on the 22nd. He was taken to the Hospital, and found to ba suffering from several bruises. He was also out about the back of the head. He. oould give no explanation as to how he came to fall off the train. Thomas Omand, a farmer residing at j Hamilton's Bay, Lower Port Chalmers, died suddenly on the 22nd inst. He had : brought his usual weekly supply of dairy produce into Port Chalmers, and had delivered it at Fullerton's store, when- ft | young horse he was driving became a bit i restive. Deceased soon got the horse quiet i tgain, and, having done so, he got into the vehicle and drove away. Before goingf many yards he wa3 seen to fall down in tho "cart, and several bystanders stopped the horse, when it was seen that Mr Omand was in the throes of death. D* i Hodges was immediately summoned, and there being no outward signs of violence, said the probable cause of death was hear-i failure. Deceased was well known and very highly esteemed by all who knew him. Ho had resided at Port Chalmers for oyer 40 years, axid was about to retire from DM farm and live in town. He leaves a wife and grown-up family to mourn their loss. Mrs Mounsey, a widow, 74 years of age, ' died suddenly at Christchurch. At the ins quest the coroner recorded a verdict that deceased died of heart failure. A young man named Logic, who belongs; to Port Chalmers, was- admitted to th« Hospital on Sunday, suffering from in< juries caused bv a fall from a motor bicycle in the North-East Valley. Logic sua* tained a fractured collar-bone, and wa£ I badly out and braised about the head.