CASUALTIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3889, 25 September 1928, Page 37

CASUALTIES.

MAORI WOMAN BURNED TO DEATH. .AUCKLAND, September 18. A Native woman named Rangi Maunu Whareroa, aged 90 years, was burned to death at a pa near Te Mata last night, o , i ve d , a^one i n ai * old whare. About 8 o clock in the evening a nephew went to the whare.. after the aged woman had gone to bed. He put out her candle and extinguished the fire in the fireplace. He then returned to his own whare, about 100 yards agay. It was not until 5 o’clock this morning that it was discovered that the whare and its occupant had been burned. MOTOR ROLLS DOWN BANK. BLENHEIM, September 18. A motor car owned by Helier Pike, of Nelson, and driven by B. M. Richmond, of Christchurch, skidded in some loose gravel on the Blenheim-Nelson road at Kaituna, and rolled down a 10-foot bank. Pike suffered a broken arm and. cuts on the face and head. He was removed to the Wairau Hospital. Richmond escaped unhurt. RAILWAY GANGER’S DEATH. PALMERSTON N., September 19. An inquest concerning the death, of William Sherlock, a railway ganger, of Tokomaru, who was struck by the Main Trunk express on the afternoon of September 7, was held this morning. The .driver of the train, Peter Salter, said that the deceased was noticed on a velocipede 150 yards away. The train was travelling at from 45 to 50 miles an hour. He blew the whistle and applied the emergency brake. A head wind was blowing, and smoke was obscuring the vision. The deceased got off and was apparently trying to get the velocipede off the line, when the train struck him. Other evidence was given that the deceased said that when trying to get the jigger off the line his foot stuck in the handle. A verdict in accordance with the medical evidence was returned.

A FINGER SEVERED. WELLINGTON, September 19. B. Smith, a labourer, employed in a coal yard ’severed the fourth finger of his left hand in a circular saw and was taken to hospital. BOY SERIOUSLY INJURED. WELLINGTON, September 19. Graham Rogers, aged seven years, living with his parents at 21 Adams terrace, was admitted to hospital to-night with a fracture ..of the base of the skull and concussion, the result of fallin" off a brick wall. ° INQUEST ON MOTORIST. WAIMATE, September 19. “That Richard Louis Leighton Rodgers was accidentally killed near a sharp but visible corner of the main highway north of Waimate at about 5 p.m. on September 18 through the violent overturning of a motor car driven by himself at a reckness speed; within half an hour of having three drinks of whisky,” was the verdict of the Coroner (Mr George Dash) at the conclusion of the inquest last night, lhe coroner added a rider commending the passing motorists and bister Genge, of the Waimate Hospital, who did all that was possible for the dying man. FATAL FALL FROM ROOF. WELLINGTON, Septemoer 20 An inquest was held to-day Concerning tiie death of John Seppings, a rigger aged 23, who was killed through fracturing his skull as a result of failing 70 feet from a building under construction in Lambton quay - A verdict was re turned to the effect that death wvs du* to a fracture of the skull, accideatallv received through a strong gust of w ; nd causing him to fall from the roof of the building to. the ground. TWO MOTORISTS INJURED. CHRISTCHURCH, September 20. As the result of the rear wheel collapsing a motor car overturned between South brook and- Flaxton to-day The two occupants of the car, Gordon S. Keetly and Stafford Ashby, were severely hurt. Ashby suffered from shock and head in juries, and was admitted to the Christ church Hospital in an unconscious condition Keetly injured his shoulder, but was successfully operated upon to-night. Ashby was still unconscious at a late hour to-night, and his condition is serious. TWO CHILDREN DROWNED. NELSON, September 21. _ A small bby and a baby girl were the victims of a drowning accident at Tahuna to-day They were William Noel Bovey, aged four, and Violet Joyce Bovey, aged two, the only children of Mr E. W. Bovey, of Tahuna. They were drowned in the lagoon between Muritai street and Beach road. Exactly how the children came to enter the water is not known. Their mother, saw them playing about in front of the house with a neighbour’s children about 11 o’clock, and an hour later their bodies were discovered in the water. FOUND DEAD IN CEMETERY. WAIPUKURAU, September 21. A well-known business man named Henry Charles Wood, aged 49, was found dead on a seat outside the robing room at the local cemetery this afternoon.

There was no evidence as to the cause of death. An inquest will be held to-mor-row. The deceased was on the eve of departing with his wife and family of five to go farming near Hamilton.- He had been in indifferent health of late.

SEAMAN’S SUDDEN DEATH. AUCKLAND, September 21. A man whose name is thought to be Peter Murphy, aged about 36, a seaman recently discharged from the Kaimanawa, was picked up in Symonds street tonight apparently suffering from the effects of poisoning. He died in hospital later. SMALL BOY DROWNED. AUCKLAND, September 21. A boy named Stanley Carlton Turner, aged five years, was drowned in Whau Creek at Avondale to-day. He was playing with other Small boys in a boat, two of the boys drifted downstream in the boat, and the deceased tried to grasp the boat and haul it ashore. Instead he himself was dragged into deep water and drowned. YOUNG WOMAN’S DEATH. NAPIER, September 21. Miss Mary Rhodes, aged 22, was killed on the Ta.adaie-Napier road last e ening, and Miss Eva Farvis has a broken arm as the result oi a motor cyclist, Neil Holderness, allegedly dashing into three women as they walked along the street after attending a church social. Holderness was also seriously hurt, and is unconscious in the Napier Hospital. All the parties were travelling ; the same direction.

OLD MAN FATALLY INJURED. NAPIER, September 21. An old man named John M'Cready, aged 75, an inmate of the Park Island Home, was knocked down b; a motor lorry on the Taradale-Napier road about 8.30 this morning, and suffered injuries from which he died in the Napier Hospital at 11 a.m. The lorry, which belonged to the home, wa« making a trip to Napier, and M'Cready, who was going to Greenmeadows, was offered a lift. The driver put the deceased down at a turn-off on the Taradrle road, and thinking the old man was in a safe position, proceeded to turn the lorry. M'Cready apparently had wondered back in the lorry’s track, and was knocked down. He suffered abrasions to his head, fractured ribs, and shock. Haemorrhage followed, and he succumbed in the hospital. DEATH IN AMBULANCE. WESTPORT, September 21. While being conveyed from the Kara mea to Westport in an ambulance yesterday George Grab m, a labourer, employed by the Public Works Department at Whangapeka, diea on the way. Last Saturday he and the overseer left their work and went to the Little Wanganui Hotel, where they stayed the week-end. uraham complained of having a sore foot, but he said no more about it. At 1 o’clock on Saturday he is supposed to have gone to the kitchen in order to get some hot water for his foot. Although he said nothing it is thought that he scalded himself. On Monday morning he was limping, but said he was all right. Later he showed his foot to someone, and it appeared to be badly inflamed. He returned to work at Whangapeka, and worked until mid-day yesterday. The overseer noticed that he was looking very ill, and spoke to Graham, who said his foot was very sore. The overseer examined it, and at once summoned Dr Baraclough, who ordered his removal to the Westport Hospital in the. ambulance. However, the ambulance had proceeded only a short distance when Graham died. CHILD RECEIVES ELECTRIC SHOCK. AUCKLAND, "September 22. Innocently seizing a wire lying on front of the veranda of his home, a small boy received a severe electric shock at Grey Lynn this morning. The child, who is four years of age, is the son of Mrs Alice A. M'Gregor, of 105 Williamson avenue. During the morning the wind had blown down one of the electric wires passing from the street pole to the house. Workmen were summoned and were actually engaged in repairing the break when the accident took place. The child, who was playing on the veranda, ran forward and grasped the wire. He became unconscious, but was removed quickly before the current had more serious effects. Medical aid was called, and he responded to treatment. This afternoon the child was on the way to complete recovery.

'COLLAPSE OF A WALL. - AUCKLAND, September 22. The collapse of the wall of a building in the course of construction at Newmarket this morning caused injuries to two boys, which fortunately proved to be of a minor nature. The boys, who are sons of Mr J. Batchelor, Newmarket, and are aged seven and eight years respectively. were sheltering under the -wall of the building when an extra heavy gust of wind blew over the upper portion of the wall. The scaffolding above the boys’ heads took the main weight of the falling material. The boys had been playing on some sand nearby and had gone under the scaffolding during a shower. Mr Batchelor, who is foreman, was unaware of their presence until he heard them cry out as the wall collapsed upon them. He immediately got them out from the wreckage and found that the younger had severe cuts on the head. The elder boy, who received injuries to his back, quickly recovered from shock; but the younger, after receiving attention, was put to bed.

BODY FOUND IN HARBOUR. AUCKLAND, September 22. The decomposed body of a man waa found in the harbour to-day. It is probably that of an able seaman named Malcolm Mackenzie, of the steamer Pakeha, who has been missing since August 4. DEATH FOLLOWS MOTOR ACCIDENT. PALMERSTON N., September 25. On Saturday evening Bernard Spelman, aged 28, single, of Palmerston North, collided with a car on the Ashhurst-Rau-mai road while riding a motor cycle. He was removed to hospital, where' he died shortly after under an anaasthetic. FOUND SHOT. CARTERTON, September 22. James Arthur Taplin, a well-known Carrington farmer, left home yesterday afternoon to go round his sheep. As he did not return search parties were out all night, and found his body in a patch of scrub early this morning. A revolver was clasped in his hand. The deceased, who was 49 years of age, leaves a widow and family of eight, the eldest being 23 and the youngest nine.