INQUEST.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume III, Issue 536, 17 January 1882, Page 2

INQUEST.

An enl afternoon! Trevor, a! Quinn w: the death was drov The jury following ■ Thoma deceased,; rrter, resit: The body James H( months.

luiry was held at 1.30 this fat Quill’s Hotel, before Dr id a jury, of whom Mr James s chosen foreman, touching of J. Heaton Woolley, who ned in the Wakanui creek, having viewed the corpse, the ;vidence was adduced : 3 Woolley, the father of the : deposed that he was a farling on the Wakanui creek. (below was that of his son aton Woolley, aged nineteen Last saw him alive at 6 a.m.

yesterday morning, on leaving home for Ashburto 1. The creek was a chain from the rouse. 7.Tie creek had been dry lately’ up to yesterday morning, but yesterday was full of water. Witness had been residing on the creek for nearly four years. The wife was confined to her bed, and the children were left in the charge of their aunt. The bank near the house was quite low, but sloped away very steeply into the water.

Alice Elizabeth Woolley, daughter of the last witness, deposed that the deceased was playing outside the house near the creek yesterday morning between ? and 9 o’clock. Their aunt

went to deceased with it t< not fim

get a clean pinafore for the , and sent witness’ sister Annie ' put it on. The latter could deceased, and they then

searched for him—witness, her sister, and thei uncle—went out to look for him. T icy could not find him. About a quarto of an hour afterwards, witness’ sister cri ,;d out “ here he is.” He was in the cr ;ek. They brought him out, but he v as quite dead. Henn Jordan, deposed that he was a laborii g man, residing on the Wakanui cree:, and the uncle of the deceased. From an alarm given yesterday by cne of the girls, witness went out to search the creek for the little boy who was missing. They fo ind him about 200 yards down the creek from the house. He was half ou of the water, and was quite warm. I Witness tapped him on the back and chest in the endeavor to get the water out of him. He was, however, quite dead. He was dressed. There vi as a good deal of water in the creek yt sterday, although the deceased was lying in a shallow place.

The be little drownir and he

A vei was imr

Coroner said that there could doubt about its being a case of g. He had seen Dr Ross, fiad no doubt on the matter.

diet of “ Accidental drowning" icdiately returned by the jury.