CASUALTIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3487, 11 January 1921, Page 14

CASUALTIES.

A miner named Dennis Myleeley, residing at Burnett’s Dace, was found dead in bed on the 3rd with nis throat cut. lie was a single man, aged 35. Charles Sachs, a widower, aged 42, a quarry man at the T aumarunui works, committed suicide by cutting his throat with a razor. The deceased lost his wife last October, and was left with four young children to care for. On the Ist he' complained of feeling unwell. A son. aged 13, found his father in the back yard early on the 2nd with a jugular vein severed. A lad named fioliaia Pot-aka, 10 years of age, was killed at Taihape by a motor lorry wheel passing over and crushing his head. Deceased was a son of a well-, known and highly-respected resident of Utiku. A two-year-old child named Ellen Austin Hill died at the Gisborne Hospital as the result o f her clothes catching fire. It is stated that the child was playing with other children at tea time, when by some means they became possessed of matches, which ignited and set fire to the deceased’s clothes. While attending a circus performance at Tolaga Bay on Monday, 3rd inst., a young man'named Gerald Fitzgerald expired from heart disease. , Mr Thomas Walter Wilkinson, Chertsey, farmer, aged 64, was found dead in his garden on the 4th inst., with a gun alongside the body. Deceased was a very old settler of the Ashburton district, and was chairman of the Canterbury Petroleum Oil Prospecting Company. He had been suffering from ill-health and depression. At an inquest a" verdict of suicide while of unsound mind was returned. Mr J. Wintle, proprietor of service cars between Tauranga and Matamata, met with a serious accident on the 4th Inst., necessitating amputation of liis left leg just below the knee lie was cranking the car alongside a tree. The car had been left in gear, and sprang forward, the end spring catching his leg against the tree, almost severing the former. On the sth inst. a motor with a party of six, going from Turangarere, capsized at Hamaria, on the east shore of Lake Taupo. Mrs Doran, qf Lower Hutt, was killed. The others were not seriously injured. Horace Payne, aged 36, a railway surfaceman, while playing cricket on the sth inst. at Athol, was struck on the left temple by a bumping ball, bowled by his brother. Shortly after, in great pain, he was motored to Gore for medical aid, but died when nearing the town. He leaves a widow and two children. Minnie Sinclair, aged 37, was admitted to the Auckland Hospital with a bullet wound in the back. It is stated that her husband had a revolver in his hand, intending to shoot a dog. when it accidentally discharged, the bullet striking his wife. The injury is not serious. The dead body of a middle-aged man was hooked on a fishing lino off Northcote wharf, Auckland, on the 7th, and was . 4.1 t - : i ’: l i.. i.

taken to the mnrn-uo. ir is believed to he that of Arthur William llall, who had been missing from his home in Rosebery avenue, Birkenli. ad. since Monday night. The body was clothed in a dark serge suit. The infant son of Mr Thomas, manager of the Tokomavu freezing works, was missed for a few menu lits, and found drowned in a basin fountain on the lawn. At the inquest on (he body of Duncan Fraser, of Bulls, medical evidence was given to the eli’ect that death was due to poisoning caused thtough taking a fatal quantity of liniment. The r< toner returned a verdict ncr< rdingly, adding that there was not sufficient evtdei to hoc v h ther the poisoii v taken accidentally or otherwise. The body of a man sighted in the Wanganui River on Wednesday by a tourist on the river boat was recovered on the 7th by the police. It was very decomposed, the f itu 3 being nnrecogi ible, and so far it is unidentified A letter was found in his clothes from a lady, addressing him as “ Dear Ken ” and arranging to meet him at WainjHrmo Railway Slata-ii on Deccm-

ber 24. If he was not at the station (the communication stated) she would take it hel had gone to Tokaanu, and she would fob o)v. This letter was dated December 13, with no heading and no signature. It wai reported that a man name John Gardiner, of Mangadhuhu, was missing, but hia friends are so far unable to identify the body as his. Joseph Mullins, 49 .years of age, a married man with one child, who was employed by the Eltliam County, was run over by a horse and dray on Wednesday, and died on the Bth. At Granity on Saturday afternoon Marjory M Neigh t, the 15-year-old daughter of Mr and Mrs T. M’Neight, was drowned whilst surf-bathing, through being carried out oii the ebb tide. The body was found at 5 o’clock next morning on the beach at Ngakawau. The M’Neight’s have been particularly unfortunate in respect fo drowning accidents, as a son some years ago lost his life a water race at Addison’s, and Mr M’Xeight’s mother was also drowned whilst attempting to cross the Totara River. Robert Tyle, aged 66, who resides at Macandrew road, was admitted to the Hospital on Sunday suffering from a fractured right ankle. While he was loading coal in the railway yards, the grab fell on his leg, breaking the ankle bone.