SAD STATE OF AN OLD MINER

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXVIV, Issue 4412, 16 January 1897, Page 3

SAD STATE OF AN OLD MINER

Our special reporter writes from Beaumont as follows : — There was some little excitement here on Wednesday afternoon last, when Mr Pavell, Inspector of the Benevolent Institution, came in and reported that an old miner, James Bevan by name, a recipient of charitable aid and nearly 80 years of age, was missing, and, from the papers found in his hut, it was conjectured that hr» had made away with himself. Mr Favell at ouce telegraphed for the police, while inquirips set on foot in the township elicited the fact that Bevan had received only two loaves of bread since Tuesday, the sth instant. He was last seen on Friday, the Bth instant. Last Tuesday, Mr Henderson, of Beaumont, who g. nerally supplied him with bread at his hut, could not succeed in attracting bis attention. On Wednesday Mr Favell entered the hut, but could find no trace of Bevan. He, however, found in the hut some scraps of paper on which the missing man had scratched some writing, giving a pathetic account of his sufferings, and which went to show that his mind mu<*t have become partially unhinged. His condition, it was evident, was caused principally by the physical hardships he had endured, arising out of his want of mental capacity to enable him to ask for and obtain the allowance of food allowed him. On the arrival of Constable M'Allen, Mr Favell and your reprpsentative went up to the Fpot to search tot the missing man. The hut was empty, the hearth cold and cheerless, one solitary blanket and a few old sacks constituting the only bed-covering for the inmate, and there was no food in the hut. Feeling sure that the old. man had been lost, the party proceeded to search the scrub by the hut, which was done in a heavy downpour of rain. As soon as Ihe scrub was searched, onp of the party noticed a man on the spur of the hill between them and the river, and soon the missing man came slowly staggering down the ridge. He had slept out both Monday and Tuesday nights, and had contrived to clamber up the steep hill rising from the river. Mr J. Bennett coming up in a buggy, very kindly consented to carry him into Lawrence. The old man's ragj were takpn off him at the Beaumont, where he was decently reclothed by the kindness and gpnerosity of Mr H. Crossao, who also supplied him with food and drink.

Messrs Bates and Capstick, of the Beaumont, had also been searching for Bevan, independently of the other party. They had been searching since 12 o'clock on Wednesday, having found the old man's hut unoccpied, and, like Mr Favell, they had feared disaster, as they^jiad noticed the despondent mood in which tbe old fellow was.J