CASUALTIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3338, 6 March 1918, Page 20

CASUALTIES.

Laurie Collins, a single man, aged 34 years, a resident of Karekare, was swept from the rocks while fishing at Manukau Heads on the 26th ult., and was drowned. A motor capsize occurred near Win ton on the night of the 23rd (states the Southland Times). A motor ear containing Messrs Ewen Cameron (driving), James Neavo, Arthur Pope, and Mrs Pope, was nearing Winton when the back wheel came off. The car capsized, precipitating- the occupants on to ihe road. Mr Cameron was badly hurt and was admitted to Nurse Brown's hospital in Winton. Messrs Noave and Pope were taken to the Invercargill institution, Mr Neave having a nasty flesh wound on the right knee, and Mr Porje suffering from a fracture of the right log. Mrs Pope, escaped with bruises and a severe jolting. About 6 a.m. on the 28th, when some members of a Wanganui rowing club entered the shed for the purpose of having a spin on the river, they saw the body of a man hanging from the rafters. Life was extinct. The body was that of Frank Somerwell Marshall, a returned soldier, who enlisted in Dunedin and served in Gallipoli, where he was wounded in the side. He returned to the dominion, being discharged some months ago. He was a single man, and resided at Wanganui East. The deceased was very quiet, and appeared recently to have worried because of his wound and the fact that he occasionally had pains in his head, which caused him trouble. He was well enough to play cricket on Saturday, and on the 27th he went for a row with some other members of the Union Rowing Club. It is understood that his father is dead, and that his mother now lives in Australia. At the inquest it was stated that the deceased returned to New Zealand in July, 1916. On the return journey Marshall had been mentally treated, and on being taken ashore was sent to Dunedin Hospital for treatment. . A verdict of suicide whilst temporarily insane was returned. Henry Tonks, a commercial traveller, was found dead in bed at JFeilding. He had evidently died in his sleep from heart failure. He was a widower with two children, and resided at Wanganui. The six-year-old son of Pae Otene was killed instantly at a bridge at Hastings. He was struck by a motor cycle, and knocked into the creek below. The deceased and iiis brother were playing on the bridge. The cyclist was stunned. After a month's holiday on a motor tour through the heart of' the North Island, Messrs Pudsey (Petone) and Crawford (Lower Hutt), with their respective wives and three children, met with a serious accident on the Rimutaka on the 27th ult. Near the top of the Rimutaka Mr Crawford, who was driving, essayed to pass a big motor lorry which had drawn up at the hillside. Unfortunately, the space left was not sufficient for the passage of the car, and it went over the hill, which at that point is very eteep. Mr Pudsey was the only absentee. He had left the car a few moments previously to get a drink of water. As the car went over one of the girls jumped out, and escaped unhurt. Mr Crawford also jumped, and was comparatively uninjured. The other four—Mrs Pudsey, Mrs Crawford, and two children —were with the car, which, after a dreadful fall of about 35 yards, struck a log and turned completely over, being smashed to pieces. Mrs Crawford .and the children were thrown out during the car's headlong flight. Mrs Pudsey kept her seat until the car stopped, about 50 yards from the brow of the hill, when she was thrown out with great violence. She was unconscious when she was picked up. Subsequently it was found that she had sustained serious injuries to one of her shoulders, besides minor bruises and shock. One of the girls had received injuries to her leg, there being a gaping wound from her knee to her ankle. Mrs Crawford sustained a broken wrist, besides minor injuries, and the boy was. badly bruised about the head and other parts of the body. . The sufferers were brought to the top of the hill by rescue parties, and were taken to the Greytown Hospital, where they are .undergoing treatment. William Holland,- who is employed on a contract for repairs to the exterior of the Tokomairiro Presbyterian Church, had a narrow escape from a serious accident on Thursday morning. A long ladder, being used at the top of the high scaffolding to reach the apex of the steeple, broke off portion of the ornamental ironwork on top of the steeple. The piece, weighing about 101 b. .struck Holland, who was standing on the ' scaffolding on which the ladder was resting —about 90ft from t'ho ground. He was knocked off his feet, but fortunately fell along the planks in towards the build-ii.-g, instead of outwards, and was secured by"a fellow-workman. He escaped with a nasty cut on the eyebrow and severe abrasions on the cheek. At the inquest at Riversdale on the body of James Garden, whose family reside at South Dunedin, who was killed as the result of an accident, the jury returned the following verdict: —"That the deceased, James Garden, was accidentally killed by the wagon containing fencing posts, which he was driving, capsizing at the foot of the hill near Fairplacc Estate, Riversdale, on February 23." The jury expressed the opinion that the cutting was exceedingly dancerous. and that the local authority should take steps to improve the grade and to alter the dangerous charade* - of the as several accidents had previously taken place Bt the same hill. A verdict of accidentally drowned was returned after the hearing of the evidence at an inquest at Levin on the 23rd into the circumstances of the death of a little boy, Barney Roro, aged two years. The deceased went with his parents to the beach at Hokio, near Levin, and was left alone while his parents gathered pipis. At the end of about half an hour his mother returned to the snot where the cart had been left, and then saw deceased floating face downwards in the water near the shore. She brought him ashore and called her husband, who applied measures to -restore respiration, but the deceased did not respond. George Ironside, a well-known farmer at Horrelville. Canterbury, was found dead ■frith his throat cut find a gunshot wound in the chest. The circumstances point to a case of st.:'- :de. A little girl named Mary Hogan, about five years of age, was admitted to the Southland Hospital on Thursday night suffering from a fracture of the skull. She was playing at the Middle School and fell on the asphalt (states the Southland Times). On Saturday evening an accident which might easily have been attended by more serious results occurred hi Middlcmarch

township, when (our correspondent writes) a car, belonging to Mr John M'Donald, and a gig, driven by Mr Milligan, came into collision at Nottagc's Corner. It appears that Mr M'Donald was proceeding towards Sutton, and that the gig, coming in the opposite direction, turned the comer on the wrong side. The horse which Mr Milligan was driving was considerably bruised by the impact, while the wind shield and water tank of the car were penetrated by the shafts of the gig. Luckily none of the occupants of either vehicle was seriously hurt.