INQUESTS.
j DEATH FROM CONVULSIONS. i An inquest was he'd at. the Morgue on the ltth inst. into the cuaims'ances concreted wjth the do«fh of William Roche, a cook, who was fo'ind in bed in a d\mg condition at the Glasgow restaurant on tbe morning of the 13' h mat. The inquiry was held b2ioie the tororer (Mr C C Graham) and a jury, cf wlicm Elijah Yokes vas cho en foi email. Dr J Watt stated that on the morning m qu. st,on he was called to the lesiam ant aid ab.ut 500 am found the dead body o( deceased m bed. The body wp= quite warm, as thcugh death h?d bpes quite recent There wvre no external maiks to account for death a;*d as inquire* made at the place gave no intormation as to the history c,f the ca'e. the coioner, to whom the matter was repo.tcd. oidered a post mortem, which whiles? held the same altprnocn. The post mortem revealed conges'ion of the brain, the cavities of which weie fu'l of flu d. and the kid leys weie in a condition that indicated chicmc inflammation. There was slight congestion of the stomach, but the other oigans were in* a heathy condition. The appeararce of the oigans refeired to went to show that death was the result of a fit of convulsions. Deceased's age would be between 20 and 30 years.
Henrs' James Hall, chief cook at the Glssgow Restaurant, stated thft deceased was second cook at the same place. Witness had only known deceased for a few days. Deceased occupied a bediocm next to witness, and went to bed at about 10 p.m. on the 12th mat., after saying good-night. There was nothing during the night to indicate that anything was wrong, and witness had never heard Roche complain of being unwell. At 5 a.m. on the 18i.h mst., when witness went into deceased's bedroom to call him, he seemed to be gasping as though in a fit, and witness, after bathing his face with water, summoned assistance, and Dr WaU was called in. but death resulted before the doctor arrived
No other evidence was called, and a verdict was returned in accordance with the medical testimony
THE RAILWAY FATALITY
An inquest was held at the Hospital on the 14th in"-t. into the cu-cumstances surrounding the tragic death of the unfoituna-te boy William Wilson, -who was so peverely injured at the railway station on Friday of lar.t week, and died in the Hospital on Thursday. Mr C. C. Graham, SM , was the presiding coroner, and Thomas George Given was chosen foreman of the jury. Stationsergeant King represented the police, and Mr
P. S. K. Macassey the Railway Depaitment. • The first witness called was Dr- Fplconer, resident medical officer, Dunedin Hospital, wl>o ' stated that d«.eea=ed was admitted to the Hospita.l on February 7. being brought there , m the ambulance. He was suffering from j a severe crv.ihiug of the right leg aid foot 1 and the left leg had been crushed off. He was immediately operated on, and both lega were removed by Dr Closs Deceased did fairly well until the evening of the 12th, when lockjaw set in, and he died a.t 4 pm. on the 13th, the cause of death being tetanus, or lockjaw, the result of injuries X^reviously received. Robert Wilson, labourer, residing; in Athol place, and fathsr of the deceased, said the-
boy's age was 8 yeirs and 10 months. Witness was informed that his son was playing , in the locality of the accident. I'here was ' nothing to stop the boy getting there, as the ' railway gate was open I To Station-sergeant King- Knew that child- ' ren were in the hairt of playing there. The e.ccident happened ju^t at the foot of St , Andrew street. Andrew Duncan, stationmaster at Dunedm, explained the position of the railway yards in | the vicinity of the accident The piesence of_i children in that particular locality was a continual source of anxiety to lailway men Anyovo crossing the line in such a way as to bring them in contact with shunting operations was trespassing and liable to ba prosecuted. Children had been ordered away from the yards just prior to ihe accident Station-sergeant King stated that he himself had on one or two occasions warned the children about playing on the line and about the carriages. They appealed to know that they were doing wrong when they weie there, as when they saw him coming they ran away The Coroner, in slimming up, s?id it was well known what a difficult matter it was | to keep children fiom going where they i were not supposed to go. It was impossible to keep this railway gate closed, as it was a public convenience The piesent sad affair should be a warning to patents to kaep their children away from such dangerous places I He could only a?k the jury to return a ' verdict to the effect that the deceased Wil- | ham Wilson met his death by being accidentally crushed by a railway cairiage in motion on the 7th inst, no blame being attachable to anyone I
The jury lati.rned a verdict accordingly
DEATH FROM A FALL
Charles Trusler, a resident of the Waipahi district, who was admitted to the hospital on Thursday evening suffering from a serious spiual injury sustained by falling from a ladder while descending fiom the top of a threshirg machine on the 13th mat , d.cd in the institution on Friday morning at 20 rnirutes past 10 o'clock. 'lhe deceased was suffering from almost complete paralysis of the body, as a result of spinal fracture, and his case was considered hopeless from the commencement. The deceased was 54 ye-ars of age. The jury was composed of the same membeis as in the pre\ ious case. Dr Falconer, lesident medical officer. Dunedm Hospital, stated that the deceased wa<i received at the institution shortly after 7 o'clock on the evening of the 13th He was then suffering from a fracture of the spine, both arms and both legs being completely paralysed. Deceased was in a weak condition and twable to converse An operation was considered hopeless, and death took place at 10 15 that morning, the cause of death being fracture of the spine
Samuel Tru«ler, threshing mill owner, said he was a brother of the deceased Witness was in charge of the machinery. Deceased's place was ou top of the machire cutting the bands of the eheaves before they weie placed in -the machine Theie was a ladder alongside the machine, and deceased would require to use it in going up oi down. The first witness knew of the accident was when he was informed by deceased's son that deceased had fallen down and was huit. Witness went to him, and found that he was usensible and unable to move. The ladder was lying alongside deceased. It was close on three Hours before a doctor could be piocured. The doctor regarded the case as hopeless fromi the start, «nd recommended that deceased be sent to the Dunedin Hospital, which was done, witness accompanying his brother to the institution. Deceased informed witness about an hour before he died that the accident occurred when coming down the ladder That was all lie said in regard to it. The ladder had evidently fallen with deceased.
A juryman leeommeiided that the ladder should be made fast tc the machine -against which it was standing This, however, the other members ot the juiy deemed as not altogether necessary. 'l he coroner was of the same opinion.
In summing up the Coroner said they had very little evidence to go on. but it was fairly e'ear that deceased had when descending the ladder, fal'en. and thus sustained the injuries fiom which he died
The jury returned a veidict to the effect that deceased. Chailes j.iuaiei had met his death thiough fulling frcm a ladder, and thereby sustaining fracture of the spine.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW19080219.2.209
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Otago Witness, Issue 2814, 19 February 1908, Page 53
Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,327INQUESTS. Otago Witness, Issue 2814, 19 February 1908, Page 53
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Allied Press Ltd is the copyright owner for the Otago Witness. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons New Zealand BY-NC-SA licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Allied Press Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.