FATAL ACCIDENT.
A youug man named James Ahern met with his death at the Theatre Koyal Hotel on the night of the 10th in an extraordiuaryand fearful manner. It appears that the deceased, who was about twenty-five years of age, and a brother-in-law of Mr. E. O’Malley, contractor, had recently been'hoarding at the Theatre Royal Hotel, and was in the upstairs bar, in company with Mr. C. Gregory, another .boarder, and Mr. G. Phillips, tobacconist/about ten o'clock on Sunday evening. They were discussing the meaning of a certain word, to find the definition of which Mr. Bailey,-the proprietor, went downstairs and obtained a dictionary. After the point in dispute had been settled, Mr. Bailey remarked that as it was ten o’clock he would close the house, and accordingly went to the meter and turned off the gas. The boarders went to fetch their candles, and Mr. Ahern was seen crossing over the room as if to join one of his companions, when a sudden crash was heard, and on lights being obtained, it was found that Mr. Ahern had fallen over the balustrade and through an aperture on to a table in the billiard-r om below. It was evident that he had sustained serious injury ; blood was streaming from his mouth, ears, and nose, and he appeared to be Wholly unconscious, though breathing audibly. The table was spattered with blood, and a betid in one of the iron gasifiers told with , what force , the unfortunate man must have struck. Medical assistance was immediately sent for, and Drs. Diver and Bradford were promptly in,attendance. They found, on examination, that the injuries were of a fatal nature, and held out no hopes of a recovery, Mr. Ahern was carried to his bedroom, and lingered in an unconscious state until one o’clock the next morning, when he expired. Those who were with deceased at the time of the accident are utterly at a loss to account for its occurrence.
The jury retired, hud after a short consultation returned a verdict that deceased was accidentally killed, by falling over the balustrade in the upper vestibule of the Theatre lloy.il Hotel, and they strongly recommended that stops should be taken to place some protection over the opening, so as to prevent a recurrence of an accident of a similar nature.
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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5307, 29 March 1878, Page 6
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385FATAL ACCIDENT. New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5307, 29 March 1878, Page 6
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