RUAKITURI FATALITY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XL, Issue 13156, 16 August 1913, Page 4

RUAKITURI FATALITY.

THE INQUEST.

The following additional particulars of the inquest at Wairoa on the body of J. W. Browii^(V^'-;<ip§Jt-Y^^»dicfcfeejng-i.v&. tUxned) are from the Guardian's report :' THE MANAGER'S STATEMENT.

Albert Harvey, manager of the H.JJ. Motor Co., Wairpa,^ seated the deceased was m the company's;- employ as a driver. Last saw him at £ a.m^ on Saturday morning at the company's stables. Gave deceased instructions, ib .proceed to Papa Creek, to take a married _ couple,, Mr- and Mrs Bosha4,.'*for l .Papuiii station. " He left the stable at S'o^cjock, with" instructions to have his 'breakfast sat Marumaru and to use his ovm discretion' whenhe was to feed again. on Jthe. road. He was to return from Papa Creel?,, and go to Ruakituri station, for the night, arid to return Sunday morning. Witness heard on Saturday night by telephone that an accident _ha 4 occurred, and he^was asked to send a doctor up. t He,, rang up ike doctor, and th£y proceeded as' 'tar- as Marumaru, which they> reached " "at % 11 o'clock, bu£ there he got word.' "from Mr Dickie that the injured man was i dead. They then returned, reaching' Wairoa at 2 a.m. on Sund£s." ~ He"; went £he' morning at 5.30 to ths scerie ~pf the'accident, arriving tJw?. ,ft . p.m. He had a look ! jpuridj arid saw" yrhat position the buggy was iri^ haft over the bank, resting oil some manuka, and on a, stump, of manuka. The buggy 'had no right to be on this particular part of the road, and he was of opinion, the .deceased intended to drive down to the river to water his .horses. The spot was about seven yards off the road that he should have gone. The buggy was m a dangerous place. i It was easy for anyone toriiistake the road there if unacquainted with it, as it was' only a," track the settlers made themselves. . The deceased went as fair as he could go on that road, and could not possibly turn round. Witness found the horses at Ruakituri station on Sunday, morning ; they were unharnessed. He had a, look at the spot where deceased met h is death. He found a portion of the "bank had given way, wheTe he went over, the only place there was any manuka was on the top of the bank!, and a falling man might grasp it if quifk enough. The drop to the river was" apout ' fifteen '" feet. ' The manuka .v(ks Kl!£^?s down, by some : thing just where '"lie"'' went over. The scene of the fatality was two chains away from where 'the buggy was found. -, It was off the pack track about five. or six yard^...,. He. ..could only suggest the deceased had. unyoked his horSe§", that they wandered that way, and he went on to stop them, pid hot know that deceased had any. liquor with him when he left Wairoa: was, sure lie had none. By Mr Lynch : <<v rh.e T trampled manuka seemed recent. The track opposite^ where went over was not particularly Rteep. Tripping on the track would not take him over the. bank. The horses had to go that way when once they were let out of the. buggy, and if they had: riot done so the deceased need not have gone that way. , If, ,a man ;Wen> carefully through the* manuka his .marks would not be noticed. The scrub was flattened down a couple of yards out from where tie went over. Did not see any manuka torn out of the ground. By the.. jury: He had always found the "deceased ; a ! steady and trustworthy driver, arid he- had driven on that road before, and ; knew it. The manuka might" have obscured) the cliff when deceased was running to head his horses. MEDICAL EVIDENCE. Dr Miller stated, there was * filrin abrasion on the left upper arm, and another on the left side of the chest, below the breast. - There was also a bruise above the left eyebrow. The hair, on ths scalp was full of silt. There was a skin abjjft»p;i $il the v brwigeV.o,f, the nose, arid the neck was dislocated. The injuiries were, consistent with a fall over a cliff. He was' riot prepared to say whether" or not there was foul play giving rise to the death. .. ... \. By Mr Lyholi; Jf-the man fell face downwards and. struck the stones fifteen feet belo^.it, TJfpuld have caused more severe .wounds than those he saw, the nose would, probably hare been broken." The! bruise above the left eyebrow could have been caused by .a blow. If deceased fejl fifteen feet, clear on. to a stony surface, the eyebrow would more likely j have been cut than bruised. ! By the police : Assuming the deceased I fell backwards and, rolled down, that aught account for this abrasions, or even hy rolling 1 ' on 'the ground before falling or after,, , . ... . y.; ■

By,4»he.Jury : pislocation of the neck was the cause of 4eath. "All the organs were healthy arid sound. "There were no marks on the ankles. If the deceased •were held suspended over the bank by his ankles there might be marks if held by the bare legs.

A PASSENGER'S STORY. Pierce B.oyhan stated he was a laborer and station hand, employed at Papuni jstation. He knew deceased, and saw him first" last: Saturday at Dickson's, hotel at 6.20 a.. m. , He, was talcing witness and .bis . wjfe away m a buggy and three horses ty> Papuni. \ He nad no drink before he left, but took a bottle oi brandy and a bottle of schnapps away with him. Had Jb^, breakfast at ,tl)e Marumaru ' hotel that mprningV as also had the deceased. "Had a drink before breakfast, as also had the deceased. Witness had 'whisky^ 'and also the (it'ceased. 'Had' another 'after, breakfast, a medium beer. Tite deceased had a drinfc also; witness. did not see him take it, but he went" to the bar^" a,nd witness paid for -a. drink for him. Witness' wife had a, 4«nfc before, breakfast, but none alter. « She had a little brandy and jemonade,'isV«he was not feeling very well. He tdofc^a flask .of whisky away] from the hotel; the driver gave, him. lialf-a-cr'owu to get it. He aaid, "You" migh|' get me a' flaskr of' whisky while I am putting my horses in.' He handed the whisky to. the deceased tvhen he got on to the coach. Witness fcoojc oii Ms niyrn. account from, the Mai'Umara hotel hfo bottles of freer and a bott^ of lempjnade. The driver asked Mr Murphy for a corkscrew just before ho left with the buggy. His words vere, "Lend me a cpjjkscrew, and I'll foring it, back! to-inorro.w7' Did not know what the deceased wanted the corkscrew for, but saw- him, before' getting to the Falls, 'ase tHe corkscrew. Deceased drew a bottle of whisky. out of jtfte nose bag, and had a out of ,a glass; witness a|so had. one.. It was<whisky nciijb". Mr*" Boyhan, had none. It was not wnat he-, would call a "stiff nip." They -.bad lunch on the flat about half an hour fi#m 'hav^njc ; jbh,e ■d.^nks j ust referred .t#. The horses were "taken out xind fed,^and they all had lunch—sandwiches and 1 ,; . The deceased and wisne#3 enjptiea one bottle of beer anJ Jemoriade between them. ' The police : v Quite enough, too, 1 think. '

Witness : - That ; was about half 'i>ast 12 or I ,9'clock. Xhey s y.cjked' up m about three-quarter^ of an hour, and proceeded on their journey, passing an empty shed oh the left-hand eide ofthe-rpad! about half an hour after lunch. The deceased got oft and ■wfint^intp the, empty shed, and witness held'tlie hbrsej: He was m the shed four or five minutes. . Did wot know if deceased had any whisky m the shed. The flask brought from Maa-umaru was. m bis inside breast peefcet. Oould not say if d ec^ a^ ed Ixaid a dxi«ik »^ : the shed or nqt. They passed a- Maori ." clearing a slip on tno road. The 'deceased' pulled up and gaye the native a drink of whisky from a bottle feifidex whei*e» he , was sitting, .but neither .deceased nor witness Viad a p.rink then. Tht: deceased got his whip e&iight m the a«ifi'and got off to undo it, leaving the lash on th£ a^le. as ,they came to a «mall bridge m the Papa creek, i witness feU 'o0 -the buggy; - and his wife -, fell on > top ©f him.: The driver «vent on eight or mri.e. yards to the {bridge, and came to 4. full stop, the front wheel" being down the bank against a pi«ee of timber. .The leader was on Afche bj^ge cross-ways. T-Tie buggy, 4fd mot strike (the bridge, but was tilted oyerj towards tine creek so much that one could push it erejr with the hand. The next thing he, saw w#9 the, driver jumping off, knd' stand looking ajb the buggy. Witness took the horses out of the tbugsy, th^ .■deceased standing poking s*t tlve wheel. He .did not offer to' help to take the horses out. When deceased jumped out he threw the Tein«i down. The horses atood quietly. All this time .deceased said -pot, -a. wordv > «but' stood •stooping looking at ithe wheel. The Ihorfles went up the t>M& jyhen witness

let them go with the harness on. The deceased came up "behind witness, saying, "I'll pull the b- — out," -meaning the buggy. Did not mistake the word. The next thing he saw deceased do was to try to catch one of the horses. As he was gcftn* tp^atchjhe. horse itslewed round, ana deceased made a punch at it with his hand. OVER THE CLIFF.Deceased then fell backwards, and m doftig so he clutched at. the light ma : nuka, his. body hanging over the cliff, witness being about seven yards away from deceased, who did riot call out a word. Ha& "to go^ slightly up and then down a little to reach deceaseds Ran and caught deceased by the trousers, the deceased's .hands 4 ,then being hanging on the manuka. Wrfen witness got hold of the trousers- 1 deceased let go of the manuka and threw his hands back. Witness got on his knees, with lying flat held deceased by each leg of the trousers. The whole of tHe body . was then, over the cliff. From the' time he first got hold of deceased ; the body kept going over. Witness called to his wife, "Come , here, come her,e, Lizzie." . She was up the track about two chains, and . she ran down to his assistance, arid gdt oh her knees and caught hold of deceased's boot. She said, ,? ' For God's sake, Joe, hang on to something." Deceased then started to kick, and the .more he kicked, the more he brought* witness over the 'bank, and witness had to let him go. Witness held the deceased about 17 minutes, and his (witness) wife about two minutes. Could not say which of them let go first- — they were both m a state of great excitement. Witness pulled himself back, and did not see him alive again. Deceased 'never said a word all the time ho was hanging over the cliff. He had his overcoat on, but though he and his wife spoke, to the deceased, he never answered. 1 Witness and his wife started yelling and cooeeing for assistance. This was nearly dusk, and they could not see very well. They heard a man call out from the other side of the river, and witness called out to him to come over at once, as the Motor Coy's, man was m the river. They were then directed to a houge, Mr Boothman's, and they reported to Mr. Richards what had happened, that the Motor Coy's, man had fallen over the bank, and all rushed with a lamp to the spot, ' including witness. They found the body of deceased m the river, just" below the cliff to which he pointed. They went- to where the buggy was" left. They started/ to put' the light down, but witness sajd "not there," and^ they all came" round to where he led them to the body. He led them to -the spot where the man went over. He said, ""he "is down here." There were three of 'four then present. He could not say. if the man who called out from the other side ,of the river joined the searchers. They all ran down the right track, the driver was supposed to take, and looked about 5 or 10 minutes, when one of the searchers found the body lying m about a foot of water on its back. The searchers took the deceased out and cut his clothes off ; one put his hand m his pocket, and the other put •his ear over his heart. A flask of whisky was taken from the pocket, and they rubbed the man with some of the whisky. Some reckoned he was dead and others did not think so. Among the latter was witness, who thought he saw the chest •heaving. They took the body to Mr Boothman's without making any further examination, till they reached the house, where they put the body *on the bed on the floor. Witness went to attend to his wife, who was m a fainting condition. From the fall till the finding of the body about an hour and a -half had elapsed. They arrived at Mr Bootuman's first at 7.30 p.m., and got to the house with the body at 9 o'clock. He had no drink after the accident. Witness felt he had a few drinks^ and was not sober all the time; he was slightly under the influence of liquor all the day. CoKsidered he'' was not quite sober enough to judge the sobriety of another man. The Court adjourned at ll_p.m. till 7 next night.