CASUALTIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3015, 27 December 1911, Page 63

CASUALTIES.

At the inquest on the body of Gerald Alfred Byrne, the victim of the drowning accident at St. George's Bay, Auckland, a verdict of " Accidental death" was returned. The evidence * showed that Albert Nelson, of Parnell, was the first to observe the accident. Putting off in a dinghy, he secured the deceased and took him ashore, other rescuers picking up the three other members of the capsized crew. lr. recording its vei'dict, the jury gave expression to its appreciation of Nelson's plucky action. A fai-mer near Gisborne named Major Shind, was found dead on the load at Waiherehere on the 19th inst. William Wrixton, a stevedore, wdio sustained a severe fall while working on the Manuka on the 15th, died at Wellington on the 19th. He was a single man, aged about 45 years. A sling of cargo which was being hoisted struck him and eent him over the vessel's side on to the wharf 20ft below. He struck a crane, in his descent, and sustained a compound fracture of the skull and other injuries. Matthew Ritohlesh, a builder's labourer, while employed at the new Adelphi Theatre, fell from a scaffold 12ft high, and sustained an injury to his spine. He was taken to the Wellington Hospital for treatment. He is 42 years old, and married. A man named Coutts, aged 45 years, employed at the Ikamutua sawmills, built a small house, and providing himself with a charcoal stove and wet sacks, Mocked up every aperture. The fumes of the oh a rco al suffocated hi m. People wondered why Coutts had built the box so carefully. At the inquest the verdict was " Suicide during temporary insanity." Ernest Auger, aged 34, was cycling down Remuera road, Auckland, when the front wheel of his bicycle became detached, and Auger heavily, receiving severe injuries to his head. He was removed to the hospital, where he died. Mr John Alexander M'Connell was riding in a taxi driven by a man named Baty along a road at Auckland. They met two horses, which, the driver states, were unattended. To avoid colliding with them he turned the car sharply, with the result that he struck a tramway pole. Mr M'Connell jumped, or was thrown out of the car. He was conveyed to the hospital in an unconscious condition, and died there two hours later. Mr M'Connell, whose age was 36, was employed as an accountant. He leaves a wife and family of young children. A shearer named James Cotton, aged about 45 years, died suddenly at Dunsandel on the 19th. He came from Christchurch that morning by train with others, and got off and went to sleep on a coal platform, where he was found dead. At the inquest a verdict that death was due to heart trouble, accentuated by alcoholic poisoning, was returned. William Griffin, who shot himself in the abdomen, died at the Pahiatua Hospital. As he was in practically a dying condition when he shot himself, an inquest will not be held.

An inquest on William Wrixon, who died on the 19th as the result of being knocked from the deck of the Manuka to the wharf bv a sling an the: 15th Jnst., was held on the 21st. A verdict of "Accidental death" was returned. The Coroner said that steps should bo taken to provide the workers with some protection on deck. The body of Cynl_ Aston, aged 27 years, who had been, missing sine© December 7, was found at Karori on Dec. 24 with a bullet wound in the head. At the inquest a verdict was returned "That he died from a bullet wound, but there was no evidence to show how it was inflicted."

Early on the 23rd Martha Parish, aged

63 years, the wif.A of Mr Isaac Parish, of Burwood, Cantor!fury, was found dead in bed. At the inquest a verdict of "Death from heart failv're" was returned. A fai.al- aciden r < occurred at the r- ft. lation works at Fluff at noon on tho (Colli. George Pardons, a single nun, agod 36, wan standing on the brake of a truck whiclj vvfi , descending an .vacline at a rapid rato. 'I h<» vehicle left the rails, and the <l<ccw<«l was thrown on his head, being killed in stantlv. - A woman named Isabella Cumiriing, 83 years, died at her residence in (Jarrunrvon street, Mornington, about 4.45 p.m. on Saturday. The deceased lived with her sister who is also an old woman. She was attended by Dr Church a few months ago, when she was suffering from bronchitis. On Tuesday last she caught a chill, and on Thursday wa 6 forced, to take to her bed. One of her neighbours saw her about 4 o'clock on Saturday, and another visited her later, but she had just expired. Dr Church, who was called in, could not give a certificate of death, and an inquest; w-ill ba held. It is stated that when Dr Church visited the deceased a few months ago he had great difficulty in entering the house, objection being taken by the sister to the services of a medical man being called in.