ACCIDENTS AND OFFENCES, ETC.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1173, 3 May 1884, Page 3

ACCIDENTS AND OFFENCES, ETC.

A serious accident occurred tothn Hon. Mr Rolleston on Tuesday afternoon as he was on his way to Hammer Plains hot springs. As the coach, a kind of doubleseated buggy, entered a ford leading across the Waiau river towards St. Helen* station, the front seat came out with a jerk caused by a sudden drop from a cutting into the river, and the driver, the Minister for Lands, and Mr W. R. Low, of St. Helens, were pitched over. The driver soon recovered his seat, and Mr Low after a little while scrambled on the pole and finally mounted one of the wheelers ; but Mr Rolleston was carried against the wheels and rolled over and over under the water. Luckily after some anxiouß moments—during which the other occupants of the coach, Mr McKerrow, the Surveyor-General, and a Christchurch gentleman who was visiting the springs—experienced the uncomfortable sensation of seeing a man drowning almost within whom they were unabie to help—Mr Rolleston came to the surface and made his way to the bank the coach bad just left. Thence ihe driver brought him safely on one of the coach horses, and the honorable gentleman suffered nothing worse than a very cold bath, lasting an uncomfortably long time and all under water. His escape was a very narrow one, and, as may perhaps be remembered, it the second experience of a similar character the Minister for Land* has had within a year or two. On the last occasion Mr Bryce was with him, near Parihaka, and had even a narrower escape. A son of F. Young of Hokiang?, Auckland, aged two years, accidentally fell into a firs and died of the injuries received. An inquest was held at Dunedin on Thursday on Edgar King, who was drowned through falling off the Railway bridge into the Taieri river. Ha was with his son, aged 15, at th« time. The lad was walking in front, and hearing a splash found his father (who was over 70 years of age) had fallen over. At the Dunedin Police Court on Thursday, Mary O'Rourke, a married woman, was committed for trial for stealing £l2O in gold from Mary Firzpatrick. The prosecutrix had been keeping a hotel, and had gone to live with th* accused. She had £124 in gold, which she kept in a bag among the blankets of her bed, and one day she found it all gone except four sovereigns. The police were called in and though accused den'ed having mora than £3 in the house, £lO in gold was found in one of her boxes. At the Supreme Court, New Plymouth, on Thursday last, before Judge Gilliea a man named Wiliam Cunningham received seven years for an indecent assault. An old woman, aged 73, last Friday was standing by the kitch. u fire at her residence, Petane, Hawke's Bay, when her dress caught fire. She ran outside enveloped in flames. Her screams brought assistance, but not before her clothes were burnt off. She died from the effects of her injuries. Mr Tiose, a farmer living on the Wakanui road, and a man named Jones, met with a nasty accident, and had a very narrow escape of losing their lives, on Tuesday afternoon. They wer« in charge of a dray laden with timber, and when : near Mr Joseph Hunt's gate the horses took fright, and a quantity of the timber was thrown across Mr Rose'* chest and arms, and the framework of the dray fell across his thighs, and Jones was placed in a similar position. Mr Thomas Daltnn," who happened to be passiog shortly afterwards, extricated the men from their . perilous position, otherwise the consequences would have been fatal. Both Mr Rose and Mr Jones' received sever*' injuries. ______________