ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 September 1921, Page 5

ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES.

AN OVERDOSE OF DRUG. By Telegraph-—Press Association. Auckland, Sept. 5. At an inquest on Frederick James Hammond, a solicitor, the coroner found that death was due to an overdose of chloral hydrate. Deceased had. been worried for some time about business matters and suffered from sleeplessness, Evidence showed that deceased was careless in taking medicines. A CASE OF SUICIDtE. Dunedin, Sept. 5. Robert Gourley, a widower, a returned soldier, committed suicide by throwing himself into the water in the harbor. DEATH DURING FIT. Nelson, Sept. 5. At the inquest on George Henry Guppy the verdict was that he was suffocated while in a fit. A MOTOR MISHAP. Waimate, Sept. 5. Walter Smart, a young bricklayer’s laborer, fractured his skull and injured his eye as the result of a motor turning a somersault at 1.25 a.m. on Sunday. The driver, William Jardine, escaped with alight injuries. It is supposed the accident happened, when driving at a good speed and rounding a bend. The car was right side up facing in the opposite direction, when assistance arrived. Smart’s condition is serious. SUFFOCATED BY SMOKE. Rotorua, Sept. 4. James Mclntyre, eighty-four, a retired builder, lodging in Edinburgh House, was found dead in bed at 8.15 this morning. He was apparently suffocated by smoke. A servant smelt smoke coming from his room, which was found to be full of smoke. The bedclothes were afire and smouldering, but were soon extinguished with no damage to the room. The body was not burned except a small patch on the left arm. The deceased had a candle in his room and used to smoke in bed. He was married and his wife is supposed to be in Australia. His grown-up children are in New Zealand.

HOTELKEEPER’S SUICIDE. Christchurch, Sept. 4. The body of Hubert Parkin, owner of the Ilfracombe Private Hotel at Akaroa, was found in the Akaroa harbor on Saturday. Deceased had been in ill-health lately. At the inquest a verdict of suicide wliile temporarily insane was returned.