INQUEST.

Temuka Leader, Volume I, Issue 103, 11 December 1878, Page 2

INQUEST.

An inquest was held on Saturday at the Hilton Hotel, before A. Le G. Campbell, Esq., Coroner, touching the death of William Kenzie, orM'Kenzie, who was killed on the 4th inst by being crushed by a fall of gravel at Badeliff, Kakahu.

Mr Jam s Skinner was chosen foreman of the jury, Hugh Gunning gave the following information relating to the accident. Deceased was driving a cart, and taking gravel from a gravel-pit for road purposes. The pit was driven into the side of a hill, and had a face of some eighteen or twenty feet. The face was undermined a little on one side, but not on the other.

Deceased hacked his dray in to be filled, and witness and others helped him to fi 1 it. They had noJ^jjpeen..long engaged in filling when the "cliff gave way, burying the deceased and the cart. Witness was standing 1 at the side of the dray, and nearer the cliff than.fdeceased...!■■■ As he was lifting a shovelfull of gravel he noticed the cliff giving way, and jumped at once and made for the side of the pit. Only a small portion of the slip fell, onhim, but he could hot move, and had to stop till he was got out. He heard the deceased moaning. One of the men who escaped went and got assistance. It must have been half-an-hour before deceased got out, and he was then quite dead. The cliff had only been partially undermined for some ten or fifteen minutes, and looked quite safe. Daniel Leary was helping to fill the dray, which was backed to about three yards from the face of the cliff. He was on the opposite side of the dray from deceased . He did not notice the cliff coming down until he heard it rattling on the dray. He then jumped away, and was knocked down, but not buried by the falling shingle. He saw the other men were fast, and tried to help Gunning out. Being unab'e to do so be. went to call Reid, who was about twenty cliahis away. Reid returned with him, and Mr Skinner also. He con'd not see deceased, but he heard him before he ran for Mr Reid, but not afterwards.

Andrew Reid, a road contractor, said deesased was in his employ. He commenced to work for him on the|l9th November. He did not know him previously, though he thought he had seen him. He had never asked him his name. He (witness) had onlv left the pit about a quarter of an hour before the accident occurred. He did not suspect the least danger of the gravel falling, but had sent a man for powder in order to blow it down. The face was about twenty feet long, and was undermined about three feet. A portion of the face had been brought, down about half-an-hour before, but with so much trouble that it was decided to use powder in bringing down the rest.

To the Foreman : I have always warned my men not to go near if I thought there was any danger. Shingle never comes down without giving sufficient notice by cracking and otherwise to allow of drays and too's being cleared out of the way in time. The men say the cliff gave no warning on this occasion. Michael Russell, who declined to take the usual oath for conscientious reasons, had known deceased for about three weeks. Deceased to d him his name was Bill Kenzie or MtKenzie, witness could not recollect which. Deceased said he had a brother in Christchurch a cattle dealer.

The jury returned a verdict of “ Accidental death.”