ACCIDENTS AND OFFENCES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5027, 4 May 1877, Page 3

ACCIDENTS AND OFFENCES.

Sergeaut Mathias, of the Armed Constabulary Force, shot himself through the head with a revolver at Tauranga, on April 16th. He was heavily in debt to the storekeepers in town, and had received,two or three summonses. It is also supposed he is wrong in his Government accounts. He was in charge of the Government stores. He leaves a wife and family. An accident happened to a man named William Hutchison on April 17th on board the s.s. Easby. It appears that a small trolly used for conveying coals from one vessel to another happened to fall down the hatchway of the Easby, striking Hutchison on the head and back, causing him some nasty, injuries. Dr. Harding was in attendance, and did all he could: for the sufferer. A melancholy incident occurred on board H.M.S. Wolverine during the passage from Hobarton. On Saturday, the 31st nit., an A.B. named Hawkins, a young' man, about twenty-one years of age, was aloft furling the mizzen topgallantsail, when he lost his footing and fell from the topgallant yard, striking the lee rail, and then glancing off into the sea. He was never sean after he first went down, and all efforts therefore made to recover him proved futile. A dreadful accident occurred at Mr. Tonks' hay and corn mill on April 12th, by which a young fellow named John Fovell was badly injured. With others he was engaged inmoving hay from a lower to an upper storey by means of a sling worked by machinery. When attaching the rope to a truss of hay, but before connection was complete, the machinery by some mistake was set in motion, and Foveli's arms were caught by the rope and he wag hauled up a considerable distance. A compound fracture was sustained in each arm.

From Invcrcargill we learn that three men named Mayo, Black, and Kaslemore started on a duck shooting expedition on Saturday, the lith April. They stayed at the Wallacetown Hotel that night, and started at daylight on Sunday morning, and went down river in a boat. They landed in a place in the bush, where kaka were plentiful for purposes of having a shot. Blaok and Mayo were a short twenty yards apart, when the latter's gun accidentally went off, the shot lodging behind Black's right ear, killing, him. almost instantaneously. Black's parents reside at Kaikorai, near Dunedin. - He had been here some years, and was much respected. ; At an inquest held on April 17th into the circumstances of the death of Mrs, Laffin, the unfortunate woman who had to apply for a 'protection order to the K.M.. some little time before;her death in consequence of the biu ; tality bf her husband.- The evidence at the inquest disclosed Btill further how miserable must have been the existence of the poor woman, and what a fiendish rascal the man must have been to commit such revolting acts of cruelty. Michael Laffin is now doing a term of imprisonment in consequence of his inability to find bail only ; and if to-day he could find persons willing to become security for his ■ good behaviour the ruffian might be at liberty: It is a pity that Mr. Crawford did not consider the case' one' in which he would have been warranted in inflicting a heavier penalty. ■' '■ ' ■ "-' ,: '' : "' ; '■ ' ". Three persons—a man, his wife, and a little 'girjj-iiarrowly escaped' drowning on Monday, April 9. It appears that Mr. Henry Ferris, .'one of Mr. E. W. Mills' employes; happened to bei working at the. foundry after the usual hours, and about six o'clock heard screams from the harbor, just over the, breastwork adjacent to the Lion Foundry. He immediately went outtb'ascertain what was amiss, and saw the three persons in the water. With a courage and promptitude for which it would be impossible tod highly to commend him, Mr. Ferris jumped into the 'water; and after considerable exertion and at' great personal risk he succeeded in extricating them from their perilous position. The- explanation of their being found in such a, way was, that they were walking along the breastwork, when the little girl, who is about eight years of age, fell into the water. Her mother jumped on the stringer to save her, but she missed her footing, and alßo fell into the water. The father then jutaped over, but he could not swim, and was nearly exhausted when Mr. Ferris arrived, so that had the latter not come to' their assistance the man, woman, and child must inevitably have been drowned. '" A painful sensation was created in the city on Monday, April 9th, by the news, which spread very rapidly, that a man had shot himself on the Adelaide-road. . The reported suicide was made known to the police, and Constable Shiels was immediately told off to ascertain what grounds there were, if any, for the statement. He proceeded to a house next door to -Mr. Moody's store, and there heard that a man named Arthur Petersen, the head of the house, had shot himself with a gun. He at once went to a room indicated, the door of which he was compelled to break open, and on entering* sickening spectacle met his eyes. The body of the man was lying on the bed, the upper part of his head being shattered to pieces. . A short rifle was lying between his legs. It appears that about half-past 8 o'clock on Monday morning, while the family were at .breakfast, Petersen went into the room where the rifle and; ammunition were kept, and booh afterwards a'sound was, heard as if a charge was being rammed' into the weapon. A minute or two after this Petersen ran into the room where his family were sitting, with the rifle in his hand; On being asked where he was going, le replied," I am after some people outside."; He looked out, and' then said, " I am too late,, - they are gone." He then went into his bedroom, saying, "Pray for. me," and shut and locked the door. A few seconds afterwards an explosion was heard. Dr. Munro, who had been-sent for, arrived at about the same time as the constable ; but of course the man was dead. It seems that Petersen had been drinking for some time past,

and it is believed that he was suffering from the effects of liquor when he shot himself. An inquest was held on Tuesday at the Caledonian Hotel, before Dr. Johnston, coroner, and a jury of twelve, as to the death of Hans Petersen. Dr. Munro gave evidence, proved that the cause of death was a gunshot wound in the head, and stated that a recently discharged rifle was found between deceased's knees. The ball had evidently entered at the top part of the nose, and had been divided by the nasal bone. One half had gone out at the back of the head, and the other half appeared to have travelled round the head, and coming out at the spot at which it had entered, had fallen on to deceased's clothes. The part of the ball found was thoroughly flattened out. | Prom the position of the rifle and the position of the body, the rifle might have been discharged by deceased himself. Hans Petersen, aged .seventeen, Bon of deceased, was next examined. Deceased was a native of Norway, aged forty-six, arrived in the colony in 1873, and had been lately employed as a surveyor's chainman. He was not at work last week because he had been drinking heavily. He had always been a hard di inker ever Bince witness could recollect, and at times had been like a madman in consequence. The rifle belonged to witness, who was a member of the Wellington City Rifles. He had obtained ten rounds of ammunition, and had intended going out class-firing that morning, but had not gone. It was usual to give out ammunition in parcels up to twenty rounds. The rifle wns not loaded when he went to work at half-past 7 o'clock. Deceased had been low spirited in consequence of being'unable to obtain suitable employment. He spoke several languages, and had been a teacher under the Board of Education, iu the Seventy-Mile Bush. At home he was a Customs officer, and had never been accustomed to manual labor. Julia Petersen, wife of deceased, corroborated what bad been said by the son, and stated that she had not noticed anything wrong with him. Deceased neither left his room nor got up except to shut the door. This was about 9 o'clock, and after he had been called to breakfast. He r said he was sick. Witness then heard him take the gun down, and she asked him what he was going to do ? He replied, "Nothing," and then told the children to run after the people. She again asked him what he was going to do, and he said: "It is too late now—pray for me," and immediately the gun went off. The verdict was to the effect "That deceased committed suicide while suffering from temporary insanity, produced by drinking." A lad named Campbell Kirkwood, a clerk, and son of a commission agent at Onehunga, picked up a bottle containing brandy in a hedge near an old hut. He drank a portion of the contents, and died in agony from poison, supposed to be strychnine. A serious accident happened a short time ago at Messrs. Jones and Woodman's sawmills, Pahautanui, by which a very valuable horse was killed, and the driver, Mr. Woodman had a narrow escape. It appears that there was a very steep incline on the line of tramway, and while a log was being brought down it on the truck it gained too much speed before the breaks could be put on, and ran off the Hue, capsizing and jerking the horse violently against a stump. The horse was unharnessed and taken home, but died a few I hours after in great agony. The dangerous piece of tramway has since been altered. ~ An accident occurred on the railway line near the Lower Hutt station on April 17, by which a boy about twelve years of age, named Wylie, was seriously injured. The boy, who was playing with some companions, rashly attempted to cross the line a 3 the first up-train from the Upper Hutt was approaching. He had not time to get out of the way before th 9 engine struck him, breaking his leg, cutting his head, and bruisinghimon thechest. The poor fellow was carried to Mr. W. A. Fitzherbert's house, and Dr. Wilford Bent for, who set the fractured limb and dressed the other wounds. Toward the afternoon the sufferer was able to be carried on a stretcher to the station, and was brought into town by the i o'clock train, and conveyed to the hospital On the arrival of the train Mr. Pilcher very kindly offered the use of his express to convey the patient to the hospital, but it was thought better to carry him. The injuries, although serious, may not prove fatal. In this case, we believe, there is no blame whatever to be attached to anyone but the poor boy himself. The enginedriver could not possibly have pulled up in time to prevent the accident. A sensational accident occurred on Tuesday, April 17th, near the Post Office Hotel—one man accidentally shooting another in the street. The circumstances were these : Mr. James Halketty blacksmith, and Mr. Robert Taylor, express driver, were talking about some minute and beautifully finished Derringer revolvers , belonging to the former, who, assuming that thoy were not loaded, was handling them pretty freely whilst showing the workmanship, when one suddenly went off, and passed through the calf of Mr. Taylor's right leg._ He was placed in a cab and taken to Dr. Diver, who dresßed the wound, and gave the sufferer the comforting assurance that no bones were broken. Most persons will consider, no doubt, under the circumstances, that Mr. Taylor should consider himself, fortunate to have escaped more serious injury. The occurrence we should imagine, was purely accidental, but it was necessary that the police should take cognizance of it, and therefore during the day James Halkett was brought np at the Resident Magistrate's Court, and charged with unlawfully wounding Robert Taylor with a revolver. Taylor, having been removed to the hospital, could not appear, and on the application of the police, defendant was remanded for a week, bail being allowed in his own recognisance of £SO and one surety of £SO. On the case again coming before the Court Halkett was dismissed, Taylor ■ having deposed that it was purely accidental.

In reference to Te Pati, the condemned murderer, the New Zealand Herald says : The Maoris as a people recognise the justice of the sentence. Te Pati was visited by his father last week, who told him that "he must die," and therefore he should remain quiet "in the house of death." The Venerable Archdeacon Maunsell has visited the : condemned prisoner several times with a view if possible to bring him to; a sense of his awful position. Dr. Maunsell is known to be one of the best Maori scholars in the colony, so that there can be no possible impediment to the greatest freedom of intercourse with the prisoner, so as to ascertain his mental condition. He is impervious to all exhortation or remonstrance. He does not possess any idea of a future state of reward or punishment on account of actions in life. He appears unable to realise fully any idea of the existence of a future state, or any idoa of eternity, or a Supreme Power. If he possesses even the slightest notion of any of these states of being, he must be utterly casehardened, for he has hitherto treated the ministration of this eminent clergyman with indifference. But the fact is testified to by the attendants upon the prisoner, that he has no desire to live, and he has stated that "if they were going to hang him, < they ought not be so long about it." The only active energies this man appears to have are sensual. He eats heartily, not to say voraciously, and is fond of talking about his food, and.when it should be brought to him. The liberality of the gaol allowance to a person in his position gives him manifest, pleasure. He has a curiosity about the way he is to be hung, and has expressed a desire to know whether the process is likely "to hurt him." He takes his exercise in the gaol yard every morning, and he asks constantly, with great apparent nonchalance, when he is to be hung. He wishes if they are going to do it they would do it at once. He Bays he has no desire to live, but rather to die. He is described even by the Maoris who know him as a person of weak intellect. All his sensations are instinctive, not intelligent. He has never been subjected to training, teaching, or culture of any kind.