DROWNING FATALITY AT TOKOMARU.

Shannon News, 13 January 1922, Page 3

DROWNING FATALITY AT TOKOMARU.

At. Tokomaru on 'Tuesday the Coroner, Mr A. J. Graham, J.P., held an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of the hoy, Stanley Peter Jamieson,, who was drowned on Sunday afternoon in a dam adjoining a flaxiniit in that locality. The first witness called was Laureson Jamieson, father of the deceased boy, who deposed that his son was eight years and five months old. Witness last saw him alive at 2 o'clock on Sunday afternoon. The boy had been warned against swimming in the dam, hut. was in the liahit of bathing in the river. He knew of nothing untoward until late in the afternoon, when the alarm was given as to the boy being missing.

Ngaio Pope, aged 11 years, and his brother, Eric, aged nine years,- who had been the boy’s companions in .the afternoon, gave similar evidence. Both declared that all three went to the dam at about 4.30 in the afternoon. Stanley wanted to dive off a platform at llie deep end of the dam but. they dissuaded him from doing that, and all paddied about in Hie shallow end for about 15 minutes. Stanley then went in the direction of the mill without dressing and as lie did not return within ten minutes the witnesses thought that he was hiding from them. Both were positive that they saw the deceased lad leave the vicinity of the dam and were equally certain that he eoukl nol have returned without their noticing the fact. They"called to Stanley but received no reply, and they decided, after placing his clothes in a part of the mill to return to the edge of the dam, where they had been left, by the boy after undressing. Later, being unable to discover him, the witnesses gave (lie alarm. Neither had seen the boy re-enter the water. William Adams, engineer, stated the body had been recovered at the deep end of the dam in 7ft of water, but not near the outlet, after the water had been drained from it. The spot was a very dangerous one. Constable McGregor gave formal evidence and the coroner returned a verdict of accidentally drowned, no blame being attachable to anyone.