CORONER'S INQUEST.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 5, 20 April 1877, Page 2

CORONER'S INQUEST.

An inquest was held in the Courthouse yesterday, before E. Shaw, Esq., District Coroner, touching the death of John Harper, who died very suddenly in tbe Fleece mine on Wednesday morning last. The jury having been formed, of which Mr Morrison was chosen foreman, tbe body' was viewed, when the following evidence was taken : — Robert Martin : I atn a duly qualified medical practitioner residing at Keefton. At the request of the Coroner I bare made a post mortem examination of tbe body pointed out to me as that of John Harper. It is tbe^same body which the jury has just inspected. The external appearance of the b>dy was perfec*. The { heart was very much enlarged. The lungs were in a state of passive c>n«restion. The abdominal viscera were in a normal state. There was congeition at , the base of the brain. I By the Coroner : The cause of death in my opinion was cerebral apoplexy, due to hypertrophy of the heart. The heart j weighed 20oa — more than double the weight of an ordinary healthy adult's heart. The abdominal vi era were healthy. Deceased appeared to be between fifty and sixty years of age. I had not attended deceased before. There were a few clots of extravasated blood at the base of the brain, which might have been caused by external violence. John Treloar: I am a miner residing sometimes at the Ajax and occasionally at Black's Point. I know the deceased John Harper, and have known him for eight months. He was a working mate of mine. I recollect Tuesday morning last, we west on tbe 12 o'clock shift, I was working in the lower Ajar tunnel. There were only two of us on the shift in the tunnel in question. After working about an hour decayed became ill. lie first complained of his head being sore, and after that be sat down on a little water | keg for about ten minutes. He next said he was seriouslj ill. I said, " Yes, John, I 1 see you are. I'll get you your coat." But before I reached him he fell over the keg senseless. I picked him up in my arms as well as I could, and held him for about two hours. The- last words he uttered were, " let me vomit* This was about fifteen minutes after he fell from his seat. I could see no likelihood of his recovery, and laid a bed of timber and put him on that. 1 left him abont 400 feet from tbe surface. I awoke tbe manager, Mr Bradbury, and told him my mate was seriously ill and to give me assistance. I said the best thing to do was to call the engine-driver and draw deceased up the shaft. I then called Jacob M'Kanna, the shift boss, aad M'Quarrie, the enginedriver. I then went underground, and found Harper in tbe same condition Heft him, From the time I left to when assistance came was about half«an»hour. Bradbury and M'Kenna were the first to come, and Anderson came next* and we bad to wait half-an-hour before steam was up to get deceased up the shaft. XXeceased was brought to the surface at about half past four, and I then Left him in the care of Mr Bradbury and ethers to take him to his cabin, and started to Reefton for the doctor. When I returned with the doctor, about 8 in the morning* deceased was dead. Deceased was very steadyindeed, and scarcely drank a glass of liquor. By the Coroner : Never heard him complain, previously. He was a married man, with, I think, a wife and th^ee children at home and one son here.

By » juror: I staid by deceas*fftwo hours thinking that he might come to. W# •'• ; bad to get steam op before ttte body '* could be brought to the surface. • \ By another juror : The «ir in the taonetv is very good. . % By the foreman: I went for ioe'doetor^ as quick as I could. _■■■>, Jacob M'Kenna: I am a miner liviaff- V s * • jon the Ajai hilt. I recollect Wednesday : '4 [morning last. At aboat tkree \ ? o'clock in the morning Trek«r e&a&m, *& and told me Harper had been taken very ill below. I -wirt below with Bradbury, and found H»rper lying on tome board* in the driro. He was. speechless, aod lying quite stfil. He ww breathing my ■ hard. We tried toget kirn to drink some " brandy, and then some- warm tea, but he , ' could not take it. I then went op and called his son and took aim below to see his father. We then pat deceased in a cage, and I went to the surface- with him, and we then took him to his hot and put him in bed. It was about half-past four when we pat him in bed. He laid as we found him until six o'clock, and then he died. He never spoke from the time I first saw him until be died. Hare known hime for sixteen months. He wasrery steady, and never drank. He waa 54 years of age. A verdict was returned in accordance* with the medical evidence.