DROWNED WHILE BATHING.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18216, 29 October 1924, Page 7

DROWNED WHILE BATHING.

TEPID BATHS FATALITY. THE INQUEST. The adjourned inquest into the circumstances .surrounding the death of Lynda Carson. 13 years of age. who was drowned in the Municipal Tepid Baths at about 11 o'clock on Saturday morning, was concluded by Mr yveru Wilson, District Coroner, yesterday afternoon. Mr H. H. Loughnan appeared for the City Council, and Sergeant J. Kelly represented the police. Dr. G. M. L. Lester said that he was called to the Tepid Baths at 11 a.m. on •Saturday. lie exar.i.ncd the body, and found water coming from the mouth and nose. There wds neither lieart-l.eat nor respiration. He cleared the throat and mouth, and continued artificial respiration for half an hour. In his opinion life was extinct when he first saw the body. The appearance or' the body was consistent with death from drowning.

Joan A. Craig, 1- years of age, a pupil of the Linwood School, said she was swimming with the deceased on Saturdav morning. Deceased could swim the length of the baths. She last saw deceased when the latter was swimming towards the shallow end. When she next saw her she was lying on the platform. Half-way down the baths deceased caught hold of the bar at the side. Doris L. Dwight Martin, 12 years of age, a pupil of the Phillipstown School, said she stiw the deceased under the water at the shallow end, and thought she was playing. Her cap was just above the surface of the water. You touched her, did you?— Yes, my sister and I took her to the side, where a lady helped us to lift her. out. To Mr Loughnan: I don't know how long deceased was in the water. Myra Bradley, aged 12 corroborated the evidence of the previous witness. Kathleen Marion Free, a teacher at the Linwood School, said she had about 25 children under her charge at t-lie baths. She met the children at the entrance, but did not notice deceased before they went. in. Her class was not one of instruction. The teacher had to guarantee that all the children were bona-fidc swimmers under the concession regulations. They arrived at the baths at 10.30 a.m., and witness watched the children from the side of the baths near the shallow end. She heard no sounds, and saw no signs of distress, although she was watching carefully. How many children would there be in the batta? —About SO; there' were far more at the shallow end than the deep end. Two adults were swimming, but there were no other teachers there.

"What was the first you heard of trouble f —"A little girl came to me, saying th;;t someone was being lifted out. of the water." Witness was not bathing with the children. Witness saw a woman placing deceased on the platform, and went to the office, where she informed Mrs Breward.

To Mr Loughnan: She thought deceased was in the water about ten or fifteen minutes, "but might have been there before witness arrived. Clara Breward, wife of the caretaker of the baths, described being informed of the occurrence. She was on duty at the time. "Witness went to the girl, and sent for Mr Breward, who rang for a doctor. The latter arrived iu five minutes. Harry Breward, caretaker _at the baths, said there were about 75 people bathing at the time of the fatality. When Mrs Breward went to issue tickets there was no one watching the baths at that particular time. Witness tried artificial respiration until the doctor arrived. i The Coroner said there should be an additional attendant on Saturday morniagß - , -n The Coroner: How many people will the baths accommodate with safety? Well, I've seen considerably more there than there were on Saturday. The Coroner said it was very difficult to know how long the girl had been in difficulties before being noticed. There was nothing to lead one to suppose other than that the ease was one of accidental drowning. He found that the deceased met her death through misadventure by being accidentally drowned while bathing. There should be more vigilance at the baths. If the children went to the baths on a Saturday, which was not school time, then the responsibility devolved upon the attendants at the baths, not the teachers. Some day, no doubt, swimming would be part of the school curriculum.

Farmers in the neighbourhood of the Sabie reserve in the Transvaal, South Africa, are complaining of the losses of, oxen, horses, and donkeys owing to the nightly depredations of <3OOO lions at large in the district. It is suggested that ex-solchers should be paid a bounty of £o each for the heads oi: lions.