FATAL ACCIDENT AT MAUNGAKAWA.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2183, 6 July 1886, Page 3

FATAL ACCIDENT AT MAUNGAKAWA.

A lad named Honry l Mills, , employed on 'tiieiyf&nngitkawA station, ther property of . the trustees of the late Mr Thornton* met ' with a'aad end on- Saturday. Mr Turnbull, ~ the manager. Was away, at Cambridge on that day, and deceased took a horse and dray and^aid he wad going into .the bush to get firewood.. When Mr 'Turnbull got hgwo, about midnight^ the lad had not returned, fthd'He went in- deirch of him. A couple of hours later he came upon the cart,' which had evidently upset after it had .^Wn.)f>«d©d« The legs of the t>oy were the only part of his body to be. seen, and they were stiff and cold. The horse also was dead, having apparently made a desperate struggle before succumbini?. A.S Mr ' Turnbull was unable singlehanded to .move the dray, he i proceeded at daylight to Cambridge, and procured the assistance of the police, by whom the body was recovered and taken to the homestead. ,The deceased, it seems,, went with th« dray against orders, as the manager had set him some digging work to do before he left. The place where the : bodjr wis found was near a swamp, where the deceased hfed collected a load of tjld; posts as firewood. The dray upse*, on-' a" sidlinsr.

The Inquest was held at Maungakawa yesterday after- » noon, before Mr W. N. Seirancke, coroner, and a jury of six, of whom Mr J. H. Johnson was chosen foreman. From . the appearance of the body the bruises on . the *pme and the lower part of the legs it was apparent that deceased had been ' killed instantaneously. Mary Mills, sworn, said deceased, David Henry Mills, was her youngest son,. Hi's age was 15 years, and he was bom at., Auckland. It was not known if his father was alive, as he had not been heard of for seven years,. Deceased was a steady lad: Susan Turnbull, wife of the manager of the station deposed that she la^t saw the boy alive on Saturday morning, when he took the horee and dray for firewood, as his hands were sore from digging* She did not feel anxious when he did not return, as sho thought he had gone with the Maons pigeon shooting. Her husband returned at midnight, and went to look for him. James Turnbull, manager of the station, >;■ deputed : Last saw deceased alive at nine o'clock a. m. I gave no ordei\s"to get firewood, but told him to dig round the fruit trees. I went to Cambridge and returned at midnight. My wife told me the boy was absent, and I went in search. Two hours and a half afterwards I fomid the dr#y capsized, and the horse and boy dead. I could not lift the dray, so I went to Cambridge and' reported it to Constable Brennan. Tho boy's legs only were visible, 'stiff, and cold. He was under the firewood. The hor*e could not have kicked him. ' Constable AdilUon returned with me, and we lifted the dr.iy from the body. . I account for the accident by the wheel' 1 going o\er a locr, upsetting 1 lha dray. Deceased was a steady, sober lad, and had often fetched firewood from t'lo wine place. The log which upset the diay was only ten inches through, hidden in the fern. The lad was probably fitting on the load, and could not see it. Tin* log- was cm the high side of the sidling. There is no (Moot in the dray, which was not ho.ni!y loaded. James Campbell Addi.son, a pol'ce constable .stationed at Cambridge's deposed : Fiom instructions rocened fioni Constable Brennan I proceeded to the Thornton estate to enquire into the reported death of a \o\mg man employed by Mr Tumibull. I arrived at the htntion at eleven o'clock <m Sunday morning, and proceeded with Mr Turnbull to the scene of the accident. I found the dray capsized, with a load of wood underneath. The horse was in the shafts dead, and under the load>of wood we found the body of deceased. Mr Turnt bull told me who he was. No, portion, of the dray was touching^the body, but the firewooa was pressing on the body, the greatest weight being on the centre of the spine. The body was lying on the stomach, with the head a little on one side. There - was no sign of deceased having attempted to move after the accident. I believe .death was instantaneous. Assisted by Mr Turnbull, I removed the body to where it now /lies. I am satisfied death was accidental. . ~Th«~place is a sidling, not stee;V the high Vide being nine inches above ttet l >c low side, and a log ten inches through. For ten feet beyond ar? tntorks of the lower wheel oily. \f)eceftsed likely sat on the low side of the dray. The whip was thrown to the high side. Apparently the boy was rising up when the capsize occurred. A verdict of "Accidentally killed ,b^ the ppfeetting of a dray. " .was returned.