A FIGHT WITH POLES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 3762, 6 April 1907, Page 3

A FIGHT WITH POLES.

Death of a Jockey.

The Inquiry.

* Strange Developments.

(Hawke’s Bay Herald.)

An inquest was held at the Napier Hospital on Wednesday on the body of George Read, the young man who was found lying on a footpath,at Hastings, and who died in the Hospital the following morning. John Flynn, barman at the Carlton Hotel, Hastings, deposed that on Monday last, about 5 p.m,, the deceased came to the bar of the hotel. He appeared to be intoxicated, and was half crying. Witness advised him to go home. He made no attempt to go, and witness left the bar. Went round to him and asked him where his home was. He did not reply, and witness led him to the side door, and left him just outside on the footpath, leaning against the wall. His left eye was black, and there was a scratch below it, while there was a little blood on the -right cheek. Witness 'noticed these marks when he first saw the deceased in the hotel. He had no drink in the hotel, and was not forcibly ejected. Witness had never seen the deceased before.

David Charles Thorley, engineer, of Hastings, corroborated the evidence of the previous witness, and added that with the assistance of another man named Black he carried the deceased to his (witness) section, and laid him down in a place of safety. All who saw deceased thought he was drunk.

Dr Henley detailed the results of a post - mortem examination which he had made of the body of the deceased. He fotind extensive hemorrhage of the brain and a fracture of. .the base, and lateral wall of the skull-, The other organs pf the: body all seemed perfectly healthy. The stomach was nearly empty, and witness could not detect any traces of alcohol. In witness’opinion death had been caused by the fracture at the base of the skull, leading to hemorrhage of one pf the arteries of the brain. Tt was impossible to say how long before death the injuries had been received. They might have been received on the previous Saturday. Witness did not think deceased’s life could have been saved even if he had received medical attention on Monday night, the injury to the skull being too serious. The extent of such iniuries was not always in proportion to the force employed. It was possible that a blow on the left temple might have caused the fracture at the base of the skull. It sometimes occurred that the skull was fractured at .a place different to that at which the blow was received.

Dr Wilson deposed that when the deceased was admitted to the Hospital at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, he Was unconscious. He died three hours later. From witness’ external examination, he concluded that the deceased had received a severe injury to the brain. Nothing could have been done to save his life. Witness was present at the post-mortem examination, and quite agreed with the evidence of the previous witness. Christopher Neilson, stable boy at Ngatarawa station, identified the body as that of George Read, who had come to the station about five weeks ago to work. On Saturday last the deceased left for Hastings about 6.15 p.m., and came back about half-past 12. He was then drunk. He came into a whare where witness and two others slept. The deceased and the two others sat up drinking till about two' o’clock in the morning, when the deceased got up and went outside the door, taking a broom out with him. He went down to the whare of the cow boy, Percy Windus. Witness and the others heard a row, and went down, when they found Read on the ground and Wind us on top of him. The two were parted, and witness went back to the whare with his two mates. They then heard windows breaking, and went out again. Witness got to Windus’ whare and found Windus and Read each with a pole in his hand. Read struck Windus with the pole and cut his head. Witness did not see Windus strike the deceased. They were again parted, and the deceased was taken back to the other whare and kept there. The deceased remained there till the following Monday morning, when witness left for Waipukurau. On the Sundaythe deceased complained of his head being bad, but did not say what had caused it. He did'not , complain of the other man striking him —only in the eye. Read was dead man when he attacked Windus, and would probably have killed him had the others not been there. On the Sunday Read was very quiet and down-hearted. Read was 21 years of age, and Windus 16. The deceased was a jockey. The pole that Read used was about 6ft long, and the one Windus had about 4ft, each being about three inches in diameter.

Sergeant Smart explained that the police had not been able to secure the attendance of Windus. They had experienced great difficulty in finding out who the deceased was, and they had only heard of the previous witness that morning. What Neilson had said in his evidence was news to the police.

After a short adjournment Windus stated in his evidence that there had been no quarrel between Read and himself. R-ad was about the station on Sunday and Monday, but did not complain of feeling unwell. Oh being driven Xq Hastings on afternoon

he said he must have been given some very bad liquor at Hastings on the previous Saturday to make him behave as he had done. Windus’ evidence as to the row was corroborated by two of the station hands. The jury returned a verdict that death was due to fracture of the skull, but that there was no evidence to show how the injury was caused.