INQUESTS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 286, 24 July 1873, Page 7

INQUESTS.

An inquest was held at the Hospital at noon of the 15th on the body of Richard Goodwin Stratton, who died suddenly early that morning. The following evidence was given :—: — Annie Stratton : I am the wife of the deceased, a contractor, whose age is thirty -six years. About 8.30 pm. yesterday, he left home to go to town, that being the last I saw of him. For some time past he had been complaining of a slight pain in the chest, more especially when he had to climb. Thomas Hudson, publican : lam proprietor of the Rainbow Hotel. At eleven o'clock last night the deceased, as was customary with him, called at my house to have a drink after leaving the office, he being accompanied by his friends. On being asked to have another drink he said No, he did not care for it, and that if some brandy were put in a bottle he would have it in the morning. This being done, he was about to leave the place when Mr Thoneman and some other gentlemen came in, and he had another drink with them. He remained with them for a quarter-of-an-hour, apparently quite sober and well. He had often complained to witness of being unwell and having a pain in his chest. — By a juryman : I had often seen him the worse for liquor ; but during the last six weeks he had been more sober than usual. Louis Thoneman : I am a merchant residing in Dunedin. At a few minutes after twelve o'clock I called in to the Rainbow, with Mr M'Culloch, to see about engaging a room for electioneering purposes. We met deceased there, and after stopping there for about ten minutes, M'Culloch, he, myself, and another party left together. Deceased and I proceeded along George street, the other two having left us at the corner of Hanover street. On crossing at the corner of Pitt street, he put his hand to his chest, and said, "Oh, Mr Thoneman," and then feil down. On my trying to raise him he coughed or breathed convulsively three times, and then became quite fleccid. I supported him in a sitting posture until I could get assistance. This took about twenty minutes, three persons whom I called having refused to come, deceased breathing slightly during that time, although he appeared perfectly insensible. On getting assistance, I went for a policeman, and on my suggesting to him that deceased should be taken to the White h orse, he refused, on the grounds that he must be taken to the Police Station. We carried him along, and when close to the Station a cab came up and took him to the Station, When we got him inside he was laid on the floor, and I felt his heart, but it did not beat. I wished to go for a doctor, but the policeman said it was no use, and that he must go to the Hospital ; and they took him there. When he first dropped he seemed perfectly rational, and none the worse for liquor. The medical evidence was to the effect that death was caused by an aneurism bursting into the bag containing the heart, which was sufficient to cause almost instantaneous death. Intemperance would increase the tendency to death. Archibald M'Laughlin : I am a police constable stationed at North Dunedin. This morning at 1.30 o'clock I was met at the corner of George and Hanover streets by Mr Thoneman. He requested me to go to the White Horse, where a man appeared to be drunk or in a fit. On going to the corner ot Pitt street we found the deceased had been raised, and was then held in a sitting posture by a cabman named O'Donnell. From deceased appearance, I thought he was under the influence of drink, and I said I would take him to the Police Nation in King street. Mr Thoneman said I had better take him to the White Horse, but I said the Station was the only place I could take him to if he was under the influence of drink. No other conversation taking place, we went towards the Station, but on a cab coming along I hailed it, and put deceased into it. When we got him to the station we stretched him on the floor and loosened his clothes, in order to allow him to breathe. He waß then living — breathing in an insensible state as it were, and having no power. We took him to the Hospital, and on Doctor Brown coming in four minutes afterwards, he pronounced him dead. When I first saw him, I considered him drunk, because he smelt of drink, and was in an insensible state. Mr Thoneman, recalled : As I had been walking with the accused it seemed to me that he became suddenly drunk, when he fell; and I told the constable that he was either drunk or in a fit. The Coroner said that the result of this could not have been altered had medical aid been immediately procured ; and while saying that the constable was free from all blame, he hoped that in the future more care woul i be taken. Sergeant Golder explained that it was best to take a man to the Station, because there was always a "watch and a supervising sergeant there, and lie would be attended to, if bad, as well as and more promptly than in the Hospital. A verdict in accordance with the medical testimony was returned.

An inquest was held in the Hospital on the 17th, before Mr Hocken and a jury, on the body of Angus M'Pherson, who was run over by the last passenger train from Dunedin on Wednesday. The following evidence was given : — Edward Edwards, laborer : I reside about a quarter of a mile below Burke'B Brewery, and have known the deceased during th« last eight or nine years. We left Kirk's store together about five o'clock yesterday, where we had been drinking, and walked homewards along the railway line in the direction of Port Chalmers. Kirk's store w about a

quarter of a mile this side ef Burkes Brewery. Aa we approached the cutting at Wiggin's Point, where there is a curve, I said to deceased, " Come along, Mac, make haste, I am hungry, ard want to get my supper. He said, "Go to hell," and I then left him, and ran ahead. He was then walking on the side of the line near the embankment. When I heard the railway whistle behind me, I was about thirty yards ahead of him ; and looking for him, and not seeing him, I thought he was hidden behind the curve. The train came up : I stood at the side of the embankment to let it pass, and after it had, I went back along the line, and found deceased lying between the rails quite dead, and crumpled up. Hearing a j man named John Crowsen coming up, I told him of the accident, and went back with him. 1 then went along to tell Mrs M'Pherson of the accident. We w ere both the worse f «r liquor at the time, each of us having taken from six to seven pints of beer. Deceased knew that he was trespassing by walking on the line, and he had done so before. The road is not properly formed at this place, being knee-deep in mud ; indeed it ends at the Brewery. I have seen many walking on the line. The road is fenced off from the railway line. It was getting dusk when we left Kirk's, and we had been walking about fifteen minutes at the time of the accident. 1 had not been thinking about the train, and I am sure deceased had not. The train when it passed me appeared to be going at its usual rate, although steam appeared to have been slackened. — By jurymen : I measured the distance between Burkes Brewery and the place of the accident. There are 112 rails, ot a distance of 896 yards. Ido not know whether Kirk is licensed to sell liquors. — By the Coroner: There are notices posted along the line warning persons to keep off it. John Crowsen, laborer working on the railway line : I was at Burkes Brewery at about 5.12 o'clock last evening ; the down train was passing at the time. Mr Thomas, the engine-driver, told me he saw something lying between the rails a short distance away, but he could not say whether it was a man or what it was, and asked a man named Maliny and myself to see what it was. After going between a quarter and half a mile, we met the last witness about eighty yards from where the body lay. Having been told about the accident by him, we ran along and saw deceased lying between the rails dead. Having procured assistance, the body was placed in the train on its return to town. It was getting dark, and it was possible to discern, but not to distinguish an object thirty yards away. I heard a signal whistle given about two minutes before the train arrived. This was not the usual whistle for the Brewery. By Jurymen : The whistle usually given is when the train is about 150 or 200 yards away, but this signal whistle was beyond that distance, and I thought it a signal to some one on the line. The sleepers are not covered with ballast at that place, and it is possible deceased might have slipped down just previous to the train passing. By the Coroner : We have frequently warned passengers to keep off the rails. The Coroner having explained to the engineer that it was optional with him whether he would give evidence or not, he replied that he would leave the matter to the jury. The Coroner Baid it was for him to decide, and if lie consented, anything that he said would be taken down as evidence ; and if it were shown that proper care and attention had not been given, he would be implicated in a charge of manslaughter which would be laid against him. He then replied that he would give evidence, which was taken as follows — John Thomas : I was driving an engine on the Dunedin and Port Chalmers Railway yesterday. A train which I drove left Dunedin at 5 o'clock last evening. "When about a quarter of a mile this side of Burkes Brewery, and turning a curve, I saw some black thing lying across the metals between the rails. Not knowing what it was, I did not shut off steam; I had previously whistled to warn off the men who were frequently working there. The black object was thirty or forty yards the other side of the curve. On arriving at Burkes I told my mate, the stoker, to shut the cocks. He did so and found some human hair on them. I then told the men to go and see about it. When we got to Port Chalmers I told the station-master of the occurrence, and reported it to the police. On returning to town, we brought the body in a truck with us. We could not have possibly seen the object above thirty or forty yards away, as the curve would have hidden it. We were going at the usual pace, about sixteen miles an hour. It would have taken us three minutes to pull up, or require a hundred yards to do it in. Had I known the object to have been a man, I could not have saved him. — By jurors : I shut off the steam on entering the curve, and at the same time I put on the two breaks. The gradient, which was one in seventy, was sufficient to drive the train down the hill without any steam. If we had been on level ground, the train would have stopped long before reaching the curve. J have seen several persons on the line at different times. By the Coroner : If I had seen a boulder thirty or forty yards away, I should have shut off steam. I had shut off the steam about a minute or hah! a minute before reaching the object. I usually shut off steam at this place, and so I could not have done any more. [The Coroner then said the answers were given very badly, and as it was on this point the jury had most to consider, he hoped the answers would be given better.] By the Jury : I have no communication with the guard's van. I had 1001 b. steam en at the time. I hare been driving for four years, and have been on the Port line since it opened. By Mr Rolfe : With a light train we do not shut off steam in going round the curve, but with a heavy one we do. The Coroner said he could not make anything out of witness's answers, and said that unless clearer evidence was given, the case would have to be adjourned. Thomas Graham, fireman : Last night I was on the five o'clock train from Dunedin to Port Chalmers. When approaching the curve, about a quarter of a mile this side si Burkes Brewery, I saw a black object about forty yards ahead of us. This was after passing round the curve. I said there was something on the road, and then put on the brake, which I could work independently of the aid of the steam. I felt a slight vibration on passing over it, and asked Thomas if we should draw up or go on to the Brewery. He replied we had better go on and report it there. [The Coroner here informed witness that if he liked he need not give any further evidence, as he might implicate himself. Witness decided not to give any further evidence.] Frederick Thomas Farrow, guard : I left in charge of the down-train at five o'clock last evening. When about fifty yards from the curve mentioned I heard the whistle, and I believe that steam was shut off at the same moment. I applied my brake, and after looking out and seeing nothing in the way, resumed my seat and pat on the brake, so as to allow the engine te get up a rise before approaching Burkes Brewery. I saw a black object some distance behind, which I thought was a sack. On arriving at the Brewery, and while letting the passengers out, Mr Thomas came to me and said it was reported "that they had run over something. There were two men at the Brewery, aad I sajd to him he l»d better send them

back to see what it was. I did not think we had run over a man, and thought that Thomas was rather excited. I did not feel justified in detaining the train, and so it went on to Port Chalmers. 1 was not aware that any hair had been found on the cocks. On returning to the Brewery, Sergeant Neil showed me the hair. When we arrived at the Brewery we were informed that a man had been killed, and I then gave orders to proceed slowly till we arrived at the place. We found the body lying on a large board about 100 yards from deceased's residence, and we put it in the brake-van. It would have been impossible, from the time the object was first discerned, to have stopped the train from passing over it ; steam was shut off before it was seen. The train consisted of four carriages, one van, six open and one closed trucks. The signal to stop the train is two sharp whistles, which were given previous to rounding the curve ; but from the indistinct manner in which they were given they appeared like one continuous whistle, after which I applied the brake. The engine-driver could not have taken more precaution than he did in shutting off the steam. The Coronor then said the only other evidence was as to the measurement, which the jury dispensed with. Ihe case certainly bore a very different aspect to what it did when Mr Thomas gave his evidence. He thought it but fair to say that Thomas, in his evidence, had apparently become rather confused. His evidence alone would have gone very far to have implicated him. He thought it would be only proper that they should have evidence as to his character. Mr Daniel Rolfe, the manager, said he had very great pleasure in acquainting the jury with what he knew of Thomas. He had known him as engine-driver in the service ever since the line was opened. He was a remarkably sober, steady, and industrious man. He had not been very long from Home, and he (Mr Rolfe) had no doubt that the occcasion of the manner in which he gave his evidence that morning was through his being confused. The Coroner said he considered the explanation was quite sufficient. The only course the jury could take was to return a verdict of accidental death. A verdiut of "Accidental death" was returned, and the jury recommended "that gradient-boards be put up along the line; and further, that a road be formed by the side of the rail line to prevent the present traffic along the rails necessarily caused by the loss of the road."