Fishing Trip Tragedy

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 591, 18 February 1929, Page 1

Fishing Trip Tragedy

Strange Beer-Drinking Club Member’s Death at Whatipu THr existence of a strange organisation called the Lion i Pishing C lub, possessing rules and regulations upon the consumption of alcohol, teas revealed this morning when several of its members gave evidence at Onehunga at the adjourned inquest into the death of Richard Madden, late employee of the Auckland City Council, who was drowned at Whatipu, near the Manukau Heads, on the night of Saturday, Pebruarv 2.

F. A. .Grimes, butcher, of Manukau Road, said he was a member of the club, all members of which had two drinks at the Manukau Hotel, Onohunga, before leaving for Whatipu. There were 19 in the party, and on arrival at Whatipu, one-lialf of the party went ashore to prepare supper, while the remainder, including Madden, remained on the wharf and listened to a gramophone. They had a quantity of ale aboard. Deceased was missed, and a search was then made, and his body was eventually found between the launch and the wharf. All the members of the party were sober, and there was no quarrelling of any kind. FIVE GALLONS THE LIMIT - William J. Evans, the skipper of the launch, said it was a rule of the Lion Club that five gallons of beer was the limit for the outward trip. None was the worse for liquor, and deceased was quite sober. When they were called for supper, he was sitting beside Madden on the wharf. Witness went ashore, and shortly afterward heard a splash, but attributed this to a heavy roller against the wharf. "William Franklin, master carrier, of Newmarket, described himself as the commodore of the Lion Fishing Club, and said it was the usual practice to take 25 gallons of ale on their weekend excursion. Five gallons of this were generally consumed on the way

out. to the fishing-ground. When deceased was left, witness went back to the wharf with u hurricane lamp, ar»tl saw the body in the water. He dragged it ashore with a boat-hook. TUCKED IN A DINGHY It was a wet, dark and dirty night, and his opinion was that Madden had tripped and fallen over, as the flooring of the wharf was slippery and unFrank Turner said he was the barman of the club, and his duty was to see that no liquor was handed out until they were off The Horn, a few miles from the Onehunga Wharf. All the men were sober when they reached Whatipu. He was experienced in ambulance and first-aid work. After the body had been found, he tried unsuccessfully to restore respiration. The mark on Madden’s temple could have been caused by striking the wharf when falling. Richard H. Clough, a brewery employee. secretary to the club, said 25 gallons of beer were taken aboard th< launch. Only one man was drunk, and he was tucked away in a dinghy, where he went to sleep. Dr. James Kirkwood certified that, death was due to drowning, and the coroner, Mr. D. A. Sutherland. J.P.. returned a verdict accordingly, adding that there was no evidence of foul play. Deceased, who was about 60 years of age. evidently could not sc the edge of the wharf, and had fallen over.