ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2689, 8 February 1916, Page 3

ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES

«' A BATHING TRAGEDY, rt- •'f tratjecly occurred 'half a it n "-i down _ stream lrom the Manawatu n ' railway bridge, Longburn, 011 Sunday lt ' ai toriioon. A railway surfaceman arid platelayer named William Greene was or bathing in a backwater of, the Mana0j watu Hiver, with three companions—a j. 0 platelayer named Martin O'Keefe, a re young man named Alex. Sutherland, and ly 11 y? 1 '" 1 Mnicd Anderson. Greene, who lie 'J o ' swim, was standing oil a lie IC,.S®1 C ,.S® w ' t ' l O'Keefe, when he slipped and !j„ 101 l into a hole fifteen feet deep, pull--1([ ing O'Keefe with him. O'Keefe, who id I s a P oor swimmer, liberated himself .11 from Greene's grasp and got to land, is latter did not again come to the (j. surface. Sutherland, who can swim r- | dived pluckily several times in the es hope of rescuing Greene, but the water 10 ivas very discoloured at the spot, and l( j he could not locate him. le The Palmerston police were communicated with, and a constablo proceeded i s to the scene, and started grappling :e operations. The body was located with id a boat hook some hours later, and was k wrought to the surface. Greene was a , n smglo man and a native of Ireland. He :o had not been long in New Zealand. A )r brother of the deceased lives at Balfour, i 0 Invercargill. jf ;s MAJOR GOLDMAN DROWNED. ! 0 \i Major J. H. Coleman, of .e iNew Plymouth, -was found floating in 1. the sea off Oakura on Saturday afternoon. Major Coleman, who was in the >> habit of takjng long walks, left his resi- « deuce in Vivian Street on Wednesday '■ afternoon, and he was last seen in the » neighbourhood of Jloturoa. When lie " failed to return on Wednesday night the 'i police were informed, and search parties have daily scoured the coast, but no trace of him was discovered until two fishermen found iaw body on Saturday ■' afternoon. The late Major Coleman, who was 80 years of age, had an interesting military career. He entered the Army with a i commission in the 19th Princess of Wales's Own Royal Hussars, and he t went through the Crimean campaign. » He subsequently saw service in Egypt ' al and came to New Zealand m 1875. On arrival in the Dominion, j Major Coleipan joined the New Zealand _ Defence Forces, and later he took charge of the Armed Constabulary depot in Wellington. For several years past Major Coleman has resided in New Plymouth. A SOLDIER'S DEATH. Before Mr. D. G. A. Cooper, S.M., yesterday afternoon hearing was concluded of the inquest connected with the death of Geo. Ernest Malcolm Aitchi- [ soil, the soldier, who was killed ten days ' ago by falling off a train between Bel- • mont and Haywards station. The ver--1 diet was that deceased met- his death ' by accidentally falling off a' train on the night of January 28. DROWNED IN. THE TAIERI RIVER. By Telegraph— Press Aefociatlon. Dunedin, February 7. Harriet Parsons, 22 years, residing at Henley, was drowned in the l'aien . River on Saturday morning. At 11.15 a.m. slie left the house to take the cows to a paddock, the path lying about half a chain from tne river. A little later her sister heard a scream and saw deceased swept past, face downwards. The sister rushed waist deep in the water, but failed to get deceased. The body has not been recovered. A GIRL KILLED. Cora, February 7. Wilhelmina Agnes Grant, a girl 12 years of age, was being driven from Mat-aura to Gore yesterday, when she was thrown out of the gig and dragged some distance and killed. It is thought that tho thunder caused the horse to bolt. AUCKLAND FATALITIES. Auckland, February 7. John Montague Gavin, aged 9 years, was killed by the fall of a drain pipe while he was playing with other boys in a pottery yard at Grey Lynn. The body of an elderly man has been found in tlie harbour. He had probably been dead ten hours. The body was fully dressed, and the collar bore the letters "Collier." There is no other evidence of identification.