CASUALTIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3611, 29 May 1923, Page 41

CASUALTIES.

A middle-aged man named Frederick j George Layton was found hanging by a j strap at the back door of the Kensington j Private Hotel, Wellington. It is not known : whether he has any relative: here. His j financial circumstances were gc jd. During Ashburton’s bicycle to,’ J race under ! auspices of the Chertsey Cycling Club, j S. Cain (Chertsey) was racing close behind another competitor, who fell. Cain crashed into him, and received severe injuries to his right ear. He was given first aid, and conveyed home by Mr \V. J. Dailey (Ashburton) on a motor cycle. When returning to his own home Dailey’s motor cycle collided with a motor car driven by Mr G. M. Breeze (Ashburton), near Fairfield, and Dailey’s right thigh was fractured. He was removed to the Ashburton Hospital. The cyclist who fell in front of Cain, who is belie'. e:l to be named Biggart, sustained minor abrasions. George Preston, a labourer employed on the Rangiriri Hills road work, was killed by a fall of earth in a cutting. An inquest was held in Oturehua on the 2Qlh inst. concerning the death of Herbert George Gilchrist before Mr W. M'Connochie, J.P. (acting-coroner), and a jury of six, and Constable Young (representing the police’. Evidence was given by Thomas Alexander Gilchrist, brother of deceased, and Dr Cook, of Naseby. The evidence showed that deceased left his home on Friday last, to go rabbit shooting. When he did not come home by 4.30 p.m., bis people became anxious, and instigated a search, which ended in the body being found on the hills at 7.30 p.m. with a .22 calibre rifle lying beneath it. On examination a wound was found on the right side of the body, just below the tenth rib, pointing upwards. Death was due to hemorrhage and shock. The verdict was

that deceased met. his death on May 18. at Oturehua, by a bullet accidentally discharged from a. .22 calibre rifle which lie was carrying. A road labourer from Paprrangi named John Ray. also known as John Gray, was killed at Kai Iwi railway station on the 22nd by a train running over him. He was attempting to board the train with a heavy swag, and apparently fell between the carriages and was dragged about three chains. The st-3.tionma.ster on going to extinguish the signal light found the body badly mutilated on the line. Deceased was about. 50 years of age. A letter found in his pocket was addressed to Miss M. Rav, Clareville, Carterton. A six-year-old child, named Catherine Smth, who had been admitted to Wellington Hospital for an operation for adenoids, died under an anaesthetic. The doctor who administered the anaesthetic said that particular care was exercised in these cases. In cross-examination he stated that he used to allow a junior house surgeon to administer the anaesthetic. Such cases were uncommon. The last one occurred three years ago. The coroner found that, there luid not, been negligence ; every care had been taken. Mr J. J. Lynch, a farmer, 57 years of age, and a resident of the district for 30 years was found dead on the 22nd on his farm at Colvton. Deceased had been absent since Sunday, when ho had intimated his intention to a family living in Palmerston North to come in by car after shooting some rabbits, fie failed to arrive or return to the farmstead, so a search party was organised. On the 22nd the body, with a gunshot wound in the chest, was found one mile and a-Lalf from his home, on rising ground. Deceased had been a member of Pohangina County Council for the past three years, in which district he also owned a farm. He leaves a widow and a married daughter. A shocking fatality occurred on the 23rd in the hunting field at Tamahere, Auckland. Mrs Wynn Brown was riding the wellknown hunter Hawker, when the horse failed at a jump and turned a complete somersault at the fence, falling on the rider, who was killed instantly. Deceased Was the wife of the master of the hounds. She had lived in the district practically all her life, and was an accomplished horsewoman. She was known all over the province. She was held in the highest esteem, and her death has cast a gloom over the town and district. Charles William Crisp, aged 10, received serious internal injuries at Y\ anganui on the 24th. He fell off a motor lorry, and the wheel passed over him. At the inquest the coroner, in returning a verdict tli :t death was due to suffocation caused by the accidental overturning of a push-cart in which she was sleeping, expressed deep sympathy with the parents, and remarked that the unfortunate occurrence was a pure accident. A youth named Arthur Prentice, aged 17 years, was severely injured as tile result of a collision at the intersection of Devon and Brougham streets Now Plymouth, on the 25th. Prentice was proceeding down Devon street towards the Post Office, and was struct} by a motor car driven by Mr I’. J. Flunu ! gan, who was crossing the street. lire j boy, who was severely injured about the | head, and was suffering from concussion, was removed to the hospital. Jhe motor car, it was stated, was not travelling at an excessive rate. Isabella Johnson, aged 57 years, wife of Clifford John Johnson, engineer at the Western Springs pumping station, Auckland, was drowned oil the 26th in the overflow race nearby. She had been in lllheultn for some tune, and trie* indications are she fell into the race during a fainting lit. Five men were injured on Sunday afternoon by the capsize of a motor bus conveying 16' passengers, mostly footballers, on the Razorbaek Hill, near Pukekolie. The bus ran into a sandy patch and capsized. ; i William Garvie, of Mauku, is suffering from fractured ribs. liis son, John Garvie, has a fractured thigh, and M. V. Wright has a broken collarbone. Others injured were -L and J. Franklin. An elderly man, not yet identified, died in hospital on Saturday as the* result of j i being run over about 2 p.m. at the j level railway crossing ar George street, i Kings land, by a train going to llender- j son.' His left foot was nearly severed and his skull was fractured. He also had two large scalp wounds. \Y. Weir, the rider of Samum in the Pacific Hurdles at Oatnaru, had his back injured through being struck by lames galloping over him. On removal to the hospital examination showed that tile injuries were not serious. \\ . Feilding, who was riding Mirza when he fell, escaped With a shaking.

The four-months-old baby of Mr F. J. Colgan, statiomnaster at Seaeliff, was lying in a perambulator on the verandah of his nouse on Thursday, when the vehicle was evidently blown over a bank, and the child was killed. A collision occurred at Kakapuaka crossing, near Balelutlia, on Friday forenoon, hetween a two-horso van driven by Mr Chas. Shane), of Balelutlia, and a railway train. Apparently Mr Shand’s van was struck by the cowcatcher of the engine, and he was thrown against a fence and killed. The deceased, who was 75 years of ago, was a wool and skin buyer, and was well known in South Otago. lie was for a number of years engaged in farming in the Te Houka district. He is survived by a widow and a family of seven, all of whom are grown up.