LOADED RIFLES

Waikato Independent, Volume XXXIV, Issue 3236, 22 November 1934, Page 5

LOADED RIFLES

DEER-STALKERS’ DANGER

(By Telegraph—Press Association)

WELLINGTON, To-day.

Strong comment on the danger of carrying loaded rifles in the bush was made by the coroner, Mr Gilbertson, at an inquest yesterday on Charles James Galliers, who was accidentally shot while dqer,-stalking in the Tararua Ranges on Saturday.

The coroner said it was clear that insufficient precautions were taken in handling loaded rifles, particularly in bush country, where anyone was liable to slip. A deer-stalking expedition was not an occasion for snap-shooting. There was not the necessity for the rifle in tho present case to have been loaded, but if there was a safety catch it should have been on.

they met washed-out bridges and culverts, bringing their total running time up to 17 hours for the 580-mile journey. It was an interesting trip, said Mr Souter, and they passed many big stations on the way. They called at Seymour on the way to Albury and visited Mr A. G. Hunter’s stud farm, which includes the famous sires Windbag and Liberal. There they saw 240 mares with foals. Mr Hunter is also a successful breeder of pedigree Red Poll cattle. “We had a good trip, though the weather was not too kind,” concluded Mr Souter. “It is a pleasure to read the New Zealand newspapers again.”