ACCIDENTS & DEATHS

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10317, 28 January 1927, Page 3

ACCIDENTS & DEATHS

BOY’S FATAL FALL OVER CLIFF " AUCKLAND, Jan. 27. I. Smith, 10, who was severely injured by a fa 1 over a cliff at Herne Bay on Sunday, died in hospital last night. CAR FALLS~OVERi CLIFF INTO ELVER OCCUPANTS JUMP CLEAR BEf OREL DESCENT TE KUITI, Jan. 27. A tragedy was narrowly averted on the Awakino valley road on Tuesday afternoon when a motor car left tlie road and fell 35ft into the deep water of the Awakino river. The oar was occupied Ify a motorist from Palmerston North, whose name is unknown and his wife and two children. Tire steering gear broke and the car ran towards the edge of the cliff, but the occupants managed to jump out before the vehicle fell. All were unjured.—P.A. MISSING STOCK AGENT BODY RECOVERED FROM WATER PAHIATUA, Jan. 27. Early this morning Constable Swan and several persons praoeeded to Nikau and recovered the body of Wm. Boyd, 53, a stock agent, who had been missing for a fortnight. The body was much decomposed and practiclally ' devoid of d'othing. It was found seven or eight miles below the scene of the car smash at ’ Marima. Deceased was a steward of the-Pa-hiatua Racing Club, and also a member of the Pahiatua A. and P. Association. He leaves a widow and eight children. The inquest was formally opened this morning for the pui-pose of identification of the body. TRAIN RUNS INTO SHEEP. SEVENTEEN EWES KILLED. TE AWAMUTU, Jan. 27. As the Main Trunk train was approaching Te Awamutu station last night the engine ran into a mob of sheep that had escaped from a yard at the station when being untrucked. Seventeen ewes, the property of a Roto-o-rangi farmer, were killed outright or injured badly, necessitating their ■ destruction. Hie train was not damaged and resumed its journey southwards only a few minutes behind schedule time.—P.A.

PARENTS SHOULD TEACH CHILDREN TO SWIM. CORONER’S - AD V ICE. HAMILTON, Jail. 2/. At an inquest on a boy, Patrick Vernon Oassin, drowned in Hamilton Lake on Wednesday, the Coroner, Mr Wyvern Wilson, returned a verdict of accidental drowning. The Coroner warned parents that unless they taught their children to swim they took a great risk.—P.A. THE MENTAL HOSPITAL TRAGEDY. AGGRESSOR SUFFERING FROM. HALLUCINATIONS. HAMILTON, Jan. 27. An inquiry was held by Mr Wyvern Wilson, S.M., at Hamilton this afternoon into the circumstances surrounding the death of Thomas Pulford. a patient at the Tokanui Mental Hospital, who expired on the way to the Waikato hospital yesterday, following an assault by another inmate, John Holden. Dr. Janies McPherson, medical superintendent at Tokanui, said that Holden, when asked why he attacked Pulford, reolied: “I was worried” and added: “They are worrying me all the time.’’ From this the doctor assumed that the man was suffering from hallucinations, that “they” were imaginary voices of people,- and Holden was suetfring from delusional insanity accompanied by partial dementia, one of his delusions being that he was being chased by Ratana. The evidence of an attendant showed that Holden had never previously given any indication of aggression. The Coroner stated that nothing in Holden’s previous conduct at Avondale or Tokanui would warrant', the asylum authorities regarding him dangerous. He found that Pulford died from haemorrhage and ; *shock, the result of injuries indicted' by John Holden, the latter at the time being insane.—P.A. Who pavs the bill for the injured worker ? Consult the Standard Insurance Company for full protection. C. G. Bloore. Chief Agent. B. Seddon, Local Manager—Advt.