SHOCKING TRAPEZE ACCIDENT IN HOKITIKA.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 74, 28 September 1877, Page 2

SHOCKING TRAPEZE ACCIDENT IN HOKITIKA.

Tlio following paragraph apppami' in tlint djsroputablp, b'lii'Sow, wo hnpo* rl.-ftinitC paper, Lee's Pirtorin'y Npw*. published iii" Melbourne. The aL-cnwitof therlrpadful accident; which happened in Hnkitika on the 15ili July last, \«iU, vye are sure, be new to our readers. In fa«t the old saying, that we must go from, homp 10 hear news of ourselves, is again, verified. The writer is so mreiimstantml in his account that it is hard to doubt the truth of it. The paneraphja J^ded. " Shocking Trapeze Aivident, atui turn is how " Truthf.il James." tell" tlio particular* • -i" The last New Zealand mail brought the np*s of the dreadful accident which overtook Signor and Signora Maptollo, ths Italian pprforrnerft at the HokitHta Assembly Hall. Th«e talented artistes' had campd a fame hy HVeir n^agnificent feats Performed at F«i9, Rerlin.iand London. After q imost ■hooot«---fd season in London, Siennr and Signora Martel o proceeded to ' New York »nrt coTimenced' a tour through the States. On the|r visiting Cnliforpia Mv Osprey. mi enterprising theatrical agent, engaged »hem to undertake an Australian tour. Nob beiug able to secure suitable, promises at Dunedia they opened nt Holntika on the 15t)i .Talf, iirthfr 1 Assembly llalU ati-1 were honoured with one of the largest audiences which erer filled the chamber. Tim performance went on" successfully uritil the great Teat of 'the erening ; liad to be porfbrmed 1 . In this the Signbr Mar. tollo aild Signora Martel lo stood at opposite ends of the hall, about forty feet high, holding traprze bars. With these they approached each other, meeting m the centre,, atvl instantaneously changing bars, returned to their respective pedestals. E-isnying the feat a second time the Siguora failed to quit her bar at the precise instant required, whilst her husband had- let go his ; a desperate and convulsive clutch was mrtde by both performers,, resulting in their fall to the stago. amidst a gronn of horror. Siguora Martello only livrdthree-q«.arters of an hour, her unino brine broken in two places, and her right arm frightfully injured. bignor Martello broke his left arm and both losrs, whilst his chest, ribs, and forehead were completely stove in. He was killed apparently instantaneously. > me two splendid acrobats wore buried on the following Sunday, in the Hokitika cemetery, their remains being followed by a funeral cortege of nearly 2000' persons A splendid monument,, with bas relief, showing the nature of the nceidenb. is being cn^fc in bronze, us a me:nento o! the thrilling incidi'ht."