ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2392, 23 February 1915, Page 7

ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES

r A' GERMAN'S DEATH. 'An inquest was held by Mr. D. G. 'ACooper, S.M., yesterday afternoon, concerning tho death of William Bandgraf, a wharf labourer, and a prisoner of war oil, Somes Island, who died there suddenly on Saturday. Dr. Elliot said ho was medical officer of Somos Island. Ho knew deceased, and from a post-mortem examination made be was of tho opinion that tho condition, of tho heart was sufficient to have caused.death. 1 Henry Potcrson, seaman and prisoner of .war, on Somos Island, said that on tho Saturday ho was carting water with deceased, who then, appeared in Rood health, and was all right when ho retired to' his room later. Anders Johnson, sawmiller, and also a prisoner of war on the Island, said h« lived in the same room with deceased on the Island. At aWput II a.m. deceased came into the room, and witness remarked to him that he was perspiring. ■ Deceased replied: "Oh. I have just been carting my water."- Deceased then went over to his bed. and a few seconds later fell off it. Witness and some others took him outside and attended to him until the doctor arrived.' , , Other formal evidence was taken, and. tho Coroner returned a verdict that deceased died from heart disease.

GASH ACROSS THE- FACE. Our Pahiatua • correspondent reports that a settler named Grubner, of Maku (Pohgaroa), met with a serious accident. The injured man owns a bush section on the Puketoi ranges, and was returning home alone in the evening after bushfalling, carrying his ase. He tripped and fell on the axe, sustaining an ugly gash right across the face, suffering considerably from , the 'wound.; which bled copiously. Meanwhile Grubner walked two miles over rough country and then rode another three miles to the nearest farmhouse, where be fainted. He was subsequently taken to a private hospital, suffering severely from tho loss of blood., A TROOPER INJURED. A member of the Engineers' Section of the Expeditionary Force named. Edward Quinn met with a serious accident yesterday, morning. He stumbled and fell while engaged at physical drill, and -sustained a compound fracture of the right leg. He was removed to the Hospital, and last night was reported to be progressing fairly well. Quinn is a private, and is 33 years of age. DROWNED WHILE BATHING. (By {pde£WM>h.—Frees Association.) Creymouth, February 22. Peter Joseph Laini, a sawmill hand, aged 20 years, was drowned iii the Paroa Lagoon while bathing- after work on Saturday. A verdict of accidental death was returned. 'A DOCTOR'S SUICIDE. Dunedin, February 22. 'At an inquest this morning into the circumstances connected with the death of Dr. John Bell Thomson, deoeased's wife said her husband was 46 years of ace. He had been in ill-health,, and had not been sleeping well. On Friday he slept Well'until.3 a.m., when he seemed restless. Witness rose at i.30 when deceased seemed to be dozing.' She left him till 9.46, when she returned to the bedroom, and found him lying partly on the floor, with his bead off the floor. She did notice a white handkerchief round his neck. He was-unconscious. Dr. M'Donald was quickly on tho scene* and prouounccd life to be extinct. ; ' Dr. Fitzgerald, who arrived v shortly afterwards, gave evidence that deceased had been suffering'from nervous depression and insomnia. . He said Dr. M'Donald bad found a handkerchief round deceased's neck and attached to the bedpost. The pressure on the neck had caused strangulation. Deceased was of a nervous temperament. _ The Coroner returned a verdict of death from strangulation, while in a temporary state of insanity.

FOUND DEAD. Hamilton, February 22. FraaK Horton, 69, widower, a gardener, was found dead in. his room at a boardinghouse this evening. Ha complained earlier in the day of feeling unwell. It is supposed that he died of heart failure. ■