ACCIDENTS, OFFENCES, ETC.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1232, 26 August 1884, Page 1

ACCIDENTS, OFFENCES, ETC.

On Satmda}' afternoon as a man named George James was driving a horse attached to a butcher’s cart, across the Ashburton Bridge, the animal shied and the man was thrown out. He fell on his hand*, and both wrists were broken. McGrath, formerly a contractor and publican of Wellington and Newton, who absconded some months back, has been arrested at Sidney on a charge of fraudulent bankruptcy at Wellington. This is the second Wellington publican who hat been arrested in Australia for this offence within the last six months.

A young man, Thos. Johnson, arrested at Otakion Friday, was charged at Wan* gnnui on Saturday with forging a telegram at Parnell, purporting to be signed by Kobert Hood, requesting £7 from a brother there. Ho was remanded for eight days without bail. Johnson has been carrying on the same game with several people, getting altogether £22 under fa'se pretences. He sent telegrams from Inglewood, New Pyunuth, Ouehunga, and Parnell, all to different people and signed with names of relatives. The other charges will follow.

A man named Ttioum Hudson Made* rill was found dead in bed at the Coffee Palace", Dunedin, last Saturday night at 5-30 u’c ock. He was in his nightshirt under the bed clothes, and had a revolver tirmly clasped in his right hand, and it was found he had shot himself ihiough the mouth. Ha had been dead, it is conjectured, for at least fourteen hours. He had been for nine months on hoard the whaler Splendid, hut little else is known about him. An auctioneer’s license, issued at Chelmsford, England, was found in his pocket, and a £lO note was found in a box in his room.

An inquest on tha burning of Char* nock’s house at Tonui, Taranaki, on which an insurance of £4OO had been effected, was commenced on Thursday afternoon. Mr and Mrs Charnock dedined to give evidence, on the ground that it might tend to criminate them. A verdict was returned that the house was wi folly destroyed by fire on the night of the 22ad July by some person or persons unknown. The jury considered, from the evidence, that the heuse was considerably over-insured, and a rider wss added to tliosffect that the Jury regretted that Mr and Mrs Ciiarn ick saw fit to refrain from giving evidence. The accused were then removed.

The inquest on the child of Roaina Smith, at Auckland (the alleged child murder case), was resumed on Friday. The most important evidence was that of Mr Corbett, who made the post-mortem. His conclusion was that death was caused by asphyxia, produced by external pressure. There was no small of laudanum or other narcotic. The jury returned a verdict that the child died of asphyxia, but by whom caused there was no evidence to show. In face of the girl’s confession the verdict caused great astonishment. Later news states that the police have rearrested Emily Smith, alias Wilson. She will bo brought up nt the Police Court to-day on the charge of wilful murder of her infant. It is probable the police will ask for a further remand.

On August Ist throe brothers, aged respectively twelve, sixteen and twenty years, named M«risco, were indulging in a little rough fun at Invercargill, when the second one picked up a piece of iron used as a poker, and threw it at hia eldest brother. It missed him, and struck iho youngest brother on the head, fracturing his skull. He lingered till Friday morning, when ho died, several pieces of bone having been taken from hit head in the interval. At the inquest the jury found in accordance with the facta aa given above. Frank Marisco has been arreatsd and partly examined on a chirgv of manslaughter. He does not deny throwing the poker, but says it was not meant for L'mis. The father of the. boys wsg an Italian fisherman in Invercargill. He has been in the Soacliff Asylum for several years past.