ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2147, 13 May 1914, Page 7

ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES.

DECK TO DECK FALL. An inquiry into tho circumstances surrounding tho deni-h of Thomas Black, cools, on the steamer Wiiatigape, was bold by Mr. D. G. A; Cooper;' coroner, at the Hospital yesterday." .James Garfield Mitchell, house surgeon at tho Hospital, said, that tho deceased had been admitted to tlio institution at 2 p,iji. on Sunday last. Ho was thou, unconscious and was suffering from fracture of the skull. Ho bad regained consciousness for a short time, but had become unconscious again, ana he dkd at 9.55 p.m. on Monday, Death was dao to heart failure, resulting from fracture- of tho skull. Alfred Brooks, assistant cook on tho Whangapo, described the accident. He Stated that deceased was standing at the top of the steps leading from the. saloon deck, aad as he- .was about to throw somo scraps aver the ship's sick ho slipped and fell headlong down tho steps, a distanno of Bft. In tho course of tho fall his bead struck a sharp iron fixture, and his right urai had also been wedged in between a ventilator and tho steps. Witness and the second engineer rendered every -assistance, and then called in a doctor. Deceased was per* fostly sober at the tinw of the accident. Deceased was a married man with six children, and, his home was at Southsido, .Glasgow. Ho had been on the ressol for about four or fivo weeks. As far as witness knew, deceased had no relatives in the Dominion. George Robert Falla, second engineer on thu"Wha,n.ga}>e, also gavo evidence. The coroner returned a verdict to tho effect that tho deceased died from a fracture «f the skull, caused by accidentally falling down tho -steps on the •steamer Whangape. BODY IDENTIFIED. Tho body of a man found on Kahra-ren beach on Sunday afternoon has been identified by tl» finger-print deport-' raont as that of Arthur Dhartos Wheeler, mlias Charles Arthur Tahrum. An inquest lias-been fixed for Thursday at 3 'p.m. COLLATED IN THE STREET. Whilst proceeding along Cuba Street'. Un his way homo from business last evcniiig, a middle-aged man named Graham Douglas, employed as salesman in a local boot shop, was seijsod with a fit and collapsed on "the footpath. He- was atje-nded by. Dr. Mackin, who subsequently ordered his removal to tho Hospital. "On inquiry at the Hospital Into last night it was ascertained'that Ids condition was slightly improved, LITTLE CHILDREN DROWNED. MOTHER'S EFFORT TO SAVE THEM. IBs '.M«erii.pii.--'l 1 i'is« Asstmhtion.) AuaMafldi Slay 12. Two little children, Rachel and Richard Corban, wandered away from their homo in Grey Lynn to-day and got into p, flooded creek, throe or four feet deep* Tito mother's attention was directed to thorn by -cries of distress, auci sho rushed to tho croak, She recovered t'l-io body of the boy, but all efforts to restore respiration failed. Tho water was so muddy that tho body of tlio girl was not found for somo timo, An inquest will bo bold. severFfall. ' InveroarglH, May 12. Mr. William Flotcher, contractor for M'Gruor and Taylor's new building, foil from tho first floor, a distance of 20ft., sustaining a broken log and bruises. His condition is not serious. SHOT HIMSELF. JnyerGargltt, May 12. .George Elliot, twenty years of ago, and a dairy factory employes, shot himself in a boardinghoviso at North Invorcargill this evening. No reason is known , for tho act. IN VE'RCARGILL INQUEST. Invercargill, May 12. At the Coroner's inquiry concerning tbs tWllj of Christian M'Kinnon, a-seel 70 Tears, who died at Otara, a verdict wn-s" returned that death was due to natural causes.