a—3

67

Accidents in Alluvial Claims. Fatal Accidents. 11/9/1900. — William McWhirter, age seventy, Whitechapel Flat, Arrowtown. Deceased worked alone in his claim, and was found under a large stone, which, it appears, he was in the act of removing when it fell striking him on the back of the head. Verdict : Accidental death. 18/10/1900. —William Williams, sixty-three years of age, Cambrian's, was working in an old tunnel removing some washdirt when a fall of earth took place and buried him. Coroner's jury brought in a verdict of " Accidental death." 7/11/1900. —Skipper's Sluicing Company, Londonderry Claim, Skipper's Point. The tunnel tail-race being blocked, three men named James Scott (the manager), Martin Tobin, and William Low were busy removing the obstruction, when the whole mass of tailings and dead-water standing in the paddock broke away, overwhelming the three men, who were carried along the tunnel and smothered in a mass of tailings and water on the dump on the bank of the Shotover River. The Coroner's jury brought in a verdict " that there was personal recklessness by all concerned, and that the manager did not take sufficient care to protect the lives of the men." 4/12/1900. —Thomas Lister, Arrow River. Caught by a large fall of earth from the face and smothered while working alone in his claim. Non-fatal Accidents. 23/9/1900. —John Arkell, aged sixty-five, Lowburn. A small fall of gravel from the face struck Arkell on the leg, causing fracture above the knee. Arkell was taken to the Cromwell Hospital, where he died about a fortnight later, death be'ig caused by an attack of pneumonia. An inquest was not deemed necessary.