WAITARA FATALITY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 95, 18 May 1909, Page 4

WAITARA FATALITY.

THE INQUEST. ilr. 11. S. Filzherbert, S.M., conducted xa inquest yesterday concerning the death ui Dciiia Kcaiuoud, oi Waiuua, at ilic Xew I'ljwouili Hospital on Saturday ilr. 11. 1). Lea thaw, medical practitioner, and superintendent of tile New l'lymouth hospital, deponed that he saw Kediuond at the hospital a little after i o'clock and soon after his 'admission, lie wad sulieriug intensely from shock and signs of internal bleeding. Though in great pain) lie was quite conscious, mere was considerable swelling on the upper and left side of the abdouien, and indications of injuries to internal organs. His condition did not admit Of a, very minute investigation as to the exact nature of the injuries. Dr. Walker saw the case in consideration. Saw the patient again between eight and half past eight o'clock. Restoratives and sedatives* were administered, but tire patient sank and died about nine' o'clock. In a post mortem examination On Jton- , day morning he found very severe injuries. The muscle in front of the ab- . dominal wall had been r uptured. A por- ! tion of the intestines protruded into : tlie opening between the edges of the la'efrated muscles. Übere were two large s rents in the stomach, and the contents . had escaped into the abdominal cavity, j The injuries must have been caused by 5 severe direct violence. Death was due to s shock and hemorrhage consequent on r the injuries described. The injuries I might have been caused by collision with a cart. Deceased said before he died that lie had collided with a cart.

Lonavd Sartcn, a butcher, residing at Tikorangi, gave evidence that on Saturday he was driving in his cart from the Waitara freezing works to Lake's Hotel, travelling at an ordinary pace. When nearing the hotel a cyclist came round the corner from Queen street into! West Quay, and ran into the cart. Tin; man was cycling fast, and didn't seem to be able to manage his bicycle. There was 'an outrigger on the ca£t, .but he could not say if the deceased struck that. He could not possibly avoid the collision, although he pulled out a little when he saw the man coming. William Jones, fisherman, of Waitara, said he had known the deceased for six or seven weeks. On Saturday afternoon he was sitting on the doorstep of the Waitara Hotel, facing the river. A butcher's cort, drawn by a fine-looking horse, passed him. When it was directly in front of him a man came round the corner on a bike at a pretty good paca, and went slap into the butcher's cart, on the starboard side, nearest him. Could not say if he had control of the machine. The man fall under the wheel. Rushed out. and pulled the bike off the man, and with the assistance of another carried him into the hotel. He was conscious, and was complaining of pain in the chest. The driver of the cart was not to folame for the collision. The deceased was a sober, steady young fellow, a sea-faring man, in the habit of cycling verv fast. Thomas Henry Price, police constalile

at Waitara, gave yjvidence that upon being informed of the accident he went to the Waitara Hotel, and found the de-

ceased lying on a couch in the commercial rociu. He was complaining of intense pain, and said he had collided with a butchers cart. Dr. Claridge was sent for, and came immediately. He injected morphia, and ordered the removal of the man to New Plymouth. He had known the deceased for about a month. Deceased had been reported to him as a runaway sailor from the Buteshire. No steps were taken by the ship for his arrest. Up to the time of his death he was working as a farm laborer at Waihi. •.He was a solier and steady young man. Did not consider Redmond to be a good bicycle rider. The street where the accident hippened was generally busy on Saturday afternoons. A verdict was returned that the deceastd's death was due to injuries received as stated in tlie evidence.