MAEREWHENUA.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 321, 23 April 1875, Page 2

MAEREWHENUA.

■t;joY e(Froniiour ; bwn^rr'eßpoHdent^. ; - ri ;" r s :o TKornr;^:' 1 ' e;~ "o : i -; u :^ re rifhready.,aware, an-.inquest ?»£* s the; death of Jaines Murray, whpuliedinj the month 7 gf December send yon what occurred;-At LI o'clock-Mr: J. W; Par.'ker, Itesident-MagisKfrafe at Oatoarii; took his seat in the Court House. There'was ;6nly a .small 'attehdab'ce.' !: Mr;' ? %arker 'was", requested by enquire in' to the death- "'ofa"'tnaTri as;' James :> MurrayV r wh6 r die f a r af Ma'erewheiiua on'or i^^L^e. 20th of..December' H& ;' said that' there'was Tblame attributed' to, some ,°ne. ,What..he knew of the, matter-was "tliisl A rii'ah named M'Donald informed the Sergeant of Police, in ..Oamaru; that , Murray, a; shareholder .in the Pioi neer Water Eace Company, died from iui summation -, of the boWels, ahd r M'Donald wantedna: [certificate: to bury him. ; The of Police' represented td him what was wanted, and as there -to l no 'reason for- believing anything ordered a certificate to issue.:.; Fariquharsdh had r .written" a letter'; to ; tb^e, Go-; r yer s "as ". SecFe'tary ' for the!-Miners! ' Association, for" an enq^j^.fand ! he, w.quld ,hpw hear anything ..concerning the deceased": the.'Association then,rpse and; said"::.. Your. Wor-.' j'on my,'own account,, as well as"for the,-; Associations ~-T7knew Murray, well, andlhad;been"! talking. to him onlyr.some two or'ythreeidays previous' to- ; hisrdeath. \ ! ~Ke was in 'gobd health-, and ; somewhat jubilant..^se s was washing iig, I and-had J a 'good* -prospect, and' seemed j pleasedio think he was gettingrOujtTbf his I difficulties. 11 He i, was l a ! ybhng mah,in.tEe j prime 0f.1ife.,.. When J.heard of his sud> den death;on the banks.'of-the riyerlffelt amazed, l as"well as others,, but as Mr. iM%)qn.ald,.the'Manager ; of the Company, to inform the authorities,.we,,yery i naturally.expected!to know the,;cause "of deathv When no -enquiry was made the miners:were grieved, as it j was not the- first, strange death that had; i occurred at Maerewhehua. '• A man ! bf the' ; name iof-Clark' was found in his hut dead ! some time previous, and was buried with- | out%'nquiry and rtheresidehts here "were ] stigmatised in the' papers as r bare-legged j salvages. The miners were neither callous .nor cold-hearted, but held' a high'• venerjatipn for the.rdead. ..What Mr. Farquhari, spit (the "Secretarj)' had done was in ac.cordance with a.-.resolution passed at a ■meeting of j the Association, which in'structed him to write to His Excellency the.:, that a full ahd searching inquiry into the circumstances and causes of Murray's death should be ordered. The.^Ghairman then asked the presiding Magistrate.whetlier any statement in or. .affidavitr had. been taken from M'Donald.' Mr. Parker said therewas-not: Hedid not think that there" was-,-any_ occasion; The ,Chairman^fsaid:' the' rriiners did npt'wisK anything donebut what they had a right to expect. The" following then .taken : Mr. George as follows : I Shareholder.", neer Water .Race and Goldmining -.Company at 'Maerewhenu'a I knew James M»rray, now deceasedr He was a shareholder in the same Company. I remember the 16th day of.December last. I ; t was ! a : wet-dayj{and^w^ r wef^not' wbrking.., '•; ■ Hi^r'^rsKip^^^^'fd^^ ;tp^th^ r "~-s cir~ik&r iiixlsxr 1 ; He"believed he' wascshort .ofrpcoyisionsv , in consequence of. not-having brPught'frpmthe j^wn'ship.-/V : \ His .'again? ' ' *'""-*■-' •" " " r

, I did not see .him, again. until Sunday, vniglitl'the 20th. (xeorgerQuajieSrougfifc': information that James' Murray' was laying near the MaerewKn^a^ridge* and wanted helper gbt'ready by" putting ■my .boots pn>!uit.wasydark, aridiwe.lfadto •get a lap tern.-. John M'lD.onald/th&iGompany's. Manager was with me. It r was about'two miles distant.' 'We coulct not go the short cut, but—kept the ridge. ■When we got near the v plaoe r lc9uld-hear) ,moans,"l found his hat, a comforter, and a; 'bottle of brandy near him. We then , found Murray lying near"the track, and about tvFQ ihundred yardsAom>Hhe bridge. He complained, and said he had suffered very much, and if he ,got over it.this time he would not be : caugnt i: agaihi l We did s npt ( jbhjnk-h.e ? Kasr sorßady but only-soffer-iing from the? -pffects- 'andilifted • him onliis"legs. "We*gave him a little brandy*routrtef^the^'b^ftrel-tHiakTng" : it might revive him. .W,ep.nly got him to walk about four-yards when be wanted to lie down. We-laid hiiri ; down/gently, a little on his side. He made the remark, " Oh, Jack, I have suffered." He did not seem to recognise me, and M'Donald said to him, " Don'tyou know your own mate,.who "worked in' : the same sliiftf with you." I felt his pulse, but found no „ pulsation. I observed froth lying on the jjground, about the size of a two shilling Apiece, and some about" his '; 'mouth. We raised his head, and looked into his face, and found his eyes fixed,,, Jt r Kas;,:mof>p., light by this time, but the nioon was shaded. J.struck a match,'and;w« jbund his eyes were glazed. M'Donakl opened.his shirt, and put his hand on his neart, but there was no pulsation. • -His Worship asked the witness if there.

was. an rigidness or contortion of tlio body, or anything like spasms previous to his death.

Mr. Webb said he was a little crouched together, but did not observe any Bpasms, and said he was quite limp after death. His "Worship asked if he was in the habit of getting wet. Mr. Webb explained although (hey were working.every day in the water they did not get wet, as they wore gum boots;

His Worship : What age might he be, **94:4i<fehe4akercaTe -ofhimself. - -"'

Mr. Webb gave,a short history of what he knew- of him.t He said he was a native of Limerick, 3? years of -ageT and"lefFhis "native"country "when he was very young for America, where he had done a good deal of hard work: He' had been .digging on the"West--Coast, New Zealand, before coming here: He had been four-or five'years on theMaerewhenua, Goldfieid. He was stout built ; andrwas a:very- good workman.. Never "knew him, tp lose a day; during a period of eleven .months,;:wfrle hefwreughtpn the race with him, through Hlness. He kept his tent; tidy and clean; iand.lived very comfortable;; , , h --:^ = His Worship; Whatldidyou~d6~after Tiis death? ■■.■ ; -?-::

sWeiqp^j , Ad?hiß : -face>^and^fe : 'tu : rned to the huts to get astretcher and more as-sistance;.:-W£-then returned to thVHody-. It was quite limp when we laid it out. We ;tp.ok:it'to: between one and two o'clock on Monday mormrigiLl! ■'•' . ... : :,-.!- George Quayle was called upon to ■ig&e evidence Van* 'being sworn; said • I am a miner,-and"worked for wages to the Pioneer Water... Bace and Goldmining Company. I remember ..the 17 th-Decem-ber last. I was-lhthe township ;on that . 5 l i-/^* ! Murray there (now deceas'edjr'arid'we were drinking together. His Worship: Where: were you drink.

Mr... Quayle jsaidr they; were in the Hpyal Hotel and the Victoria -princi- :± s ,r_;;: ; ...li ..:■■:■■ ]'l ,:: . f.::.•-.. His Worship: How mucTxinoney did 1 Murray spend? '•"■ *■ '■■■■-■■■'■r -'^:'. - f v' Mr. Quayle did.;h6t"kir6wV"or did ! not rempmber: ; :; . . .V' . Vc" ~ His Worship asked'if "they liad V anv--thing-to'eaf P ".: 7 , J ":;, ■ t ; S;"': 1-' rQtt^y l ?., rf aembered'feavin^ bage; ana'pudding for dinner on Sunday .in the. Victoria lettuce at;tea in the-evening.'bv~:-:3. b.-'t "Hi's Worship":' When did you leaveHhe ' ' jfcihink; ialroTit'sevenT,= ! o'clock v-in-the,.evening-bn 'Sunday, the-20tk=. We" were both together. "Murray had'jc'bot--.tie .of brandy- with Kim., J T, had : iibhe. Murray never complaitied ,untii we were Maerewhe'hua bridge," and "across the river he gave in all at once, ahd'said he vraidyingr 1 -! weiit on fpVhelg.anoL-told M'Donald, the Minagerihat Murray was %i n S. and that he .was lying' down ; near •the-bridge at the river, -wanted helpM'pqnald and.George Webb;went to his assistance. " ~,.-?.. ; ,;; :.-." , i -.;

. Tfle -/phj,irman : of ; therMahfers ■AssociaM°fl» toJasti. question or two, said : " What kind of liquor Murray andhimself were drinking ? '■■'■ ■ Witness: As far asi he it was beer they. were" : .drinking'prihcipaliy.c :Chairman? -How many public^.houses were you drinking in. . '' ." ._ -" He-was drinking in three of them, but he was.not positive whether.Murray was in fhe third or not. "

.HisT^qrship.TrasAnxio.ustoget.^Don-. aids'evidence, and asked if anyone knew where he was; but no one seemed to know • he havingleft the Goldfield..- ,: . ■ ■■.■■■- ' There were-no othfer witnesses present. . The Chairman, said there was- a; strong impression : that Murray died from 'the' effects of drink, but as he tad been drinking in morethaii one public '-house; and asthere, was-no proof of foul .play; but only a suspicion, he would not'ask for cord of censure against any 1 particular" house. .-' - .-'•'.'"■. --

■■ His-Worship took a nbt& of it, and said he W 9 U "|.forward the evidenceVto the Go-f yerriment, and that the Association-might expect.an answer in about'a-month, r.: !.:i | Sbine pfjth'e'; Good Templars are not pleased wiffi tthe ; C&irman of the Associbttfc hj& actedsjright, and Very ; pru- - dently declined to use as ; _. an r .engiue;of,oppression to rttiiHme house- ~ in favor of another.