INQUEST.

Westport Times, Volume IV, Issue 652, 30 April 1870, Page 2

INQUEST.

A.n inquiry was held by the District Coroner, J. Giles Esq., into the circumstances of the death of John Rumney, miner, at Chapman's Hotel, (iiles Terrace, on Thursday. A jury havin°been empanelled who viewed the body of the deceased the following evidence was taken : John Skelly: lama miner residing at Giles Terrace. I know the de° ceased, John Eumney. He has been working in the same claim as myself. Yesterday between ten and eleven o'clock a.m I came from the drive I was working in to the main drive to get a piece of timber. Just as I got into the main drive, I heard a crash at its inner end. At that time William Hopkins, William Jones, and deceased were working there. I ran up to the face and saw Hopkins partly buried ; his head was out, but the stuff was still falling so I had to leave the drive. I got a shovel with which I cleared away the stuff and got him out. Ruinney, the deceased, was at that time calling out from the inner part of the drive where he was buried. Jones was also shouting out. We set to work at once to remove the dirt which took about an hour and a quarter to do. When they were uncovered Jones was ahead of the truck next to the face, one end of the laths were lying on the truck and the other end on the ground, he was underneath and was protected by the laths. Eumney was on the right hand side of the truck, between it aud the solid ground ; he was lying on the ground with his head towards the entrance of the main drive, a cap-piece was lying across his neck, his head was against a prop, the cap. piece appeared to have been pressed upon his neck by the earth. I believe his face was downwards. Life appeared to be extinct when he was first discovered. It was about an hour previously that we heard deceased calling. The drive was filled up with fallen earth for a distance of five sets of timber. The ground is not bad ground to work. William Hopkins, one of the survivors, stated that the deceased, Williams and himself, were working in a

branch of the main drive about eleven a.m ; witness was filling the truck; Jones was sinking a hole to place tha main prop and Eumney was levelling the stuff in the truck with his hands when the false set gave way and the earth fell in at once. "Witness tried to get away but was intercepted by the falling earth and covered excepting the head. Heard the other two calling out to him. Before he was got out he heard a second fall and neither of them called out afterwards. Could not say how the false set gave way. Did not know whether the prop broke or slipped. A lath was put in one place instead of a falso prop and had frequently been so placed. Isaiah Williams stated that he was the party referred to as Wiliam Jones. He was making a hole for a prop when the false set gave way and the ground fell in. A lath was put in instead of a false prop, and, he attributed the fall of earth to the breaking of the lath. Witness fell against the truck in trying to get away and was covered up. He heard Hopkins speak and shortly after there came a second fall of earth which pressed witness down, and he did not call out afterwards. Eumney was six or eight feet from witness whe:i the ground fell. He heard Rumney speak once. Dixon Cook, miner, (riles Terrace, gave corroborative evidence. The Jury returned a verdict of " accidental death," and expressed an opinion that the practice of using laths for false sets should be avoided and that two false sets should be used instead of one.