The Skeleton Mystery.

Thames Star, Volume VI, Issue 1836, 20 November 1874, Page 2

The Skeleton Mystery.

Further Particulars.

As briefly stated in last night's issue, a discovery was made in tho Prince Impo" rial shaft yesterday of human remains. A skull rolling out of the wagon at the tip was the first thing to attract attention, and further search showed the ribs and other bones belonging to the upper portion of a human body. A black coat was then found, and conjecture was at once excited as to who the unfortunate was who had come to his end in the Prince Imperial shaft. The mine has not been worked for a long time, but the shaft was left in such a state thai it was not thought any one could fall accidentally into it. It is protected by poppet heads and raised considerably above the surface, and to fall down the shaft a person would have to ascend to the landing plat, at which point the shaft was further rendered secure by a boarded covering. It was therefore conceded by most people that whoever it was who had lost his life, the act must have been voluntary or premeditated—not accidental. Conjecture at last fixed upon the unfortunate man Einnivan as being the victim. About Christmas last year Einnivan was known to have exhibited eccentricities of conduct not reconcileable with perfect sanity, and his friends were watching him ; but on one occasion he managed to elude their most viligant surveillance. He was never more heard of. It was supposed that he had gone to the bush and perished of hunger, but nothing certain was known even of the route he took a rter escaping from his friends. Yesterday some of those who had known Einnivan expressed an opinion to the effect that the coat found was not the coat of Einnivan. Further discoveries to-day have given a different complexion to the matter, and it seems that there is very little doubt but that the remains are those of Einnivan. This morning the bones of a man's body and limbs were sent to the surface from the bottom of the shaft, and were immediately taken charge of by the police. The trousers, remains of .shirt, and black wideawake hat were inspected by some who remembered Einnivan well, and they all expressed themselves satisfied that the clothes were those of Einnivan. The flesh was gone from the bones, except the feet encased in boots; the feet were reduced to clay. The skull had parted at the top and one of the jaws had been dislocated —probably the result of injuries sustained in falling down the shaft. It is thought Einnivan, bent on self-destruction, had gone straight to the shaft and thrown himself down, which theory will account for the fact that he was never seen but for a brief interval after his friends lost sight of him. He had been working at Coromandel previous to his coming down here, and had before that been noticed for eccentric conduct. During the afternoon some more bones were sent up, and the remains of a necktie. Adhering to some of the bones are lumps tii adipocere, the condition of which would appear to confirm the impression that the remains are those of Einnivan. "