A serious accident occurred this morning on board the Te Anau while she was lying alongside the Bowen pier, Port Chalmers. Donald Sinclair, one of Messrs Morgan and Cable’s apprentices, and eldest son of Captain Sinclair, of the Plucky, was carrying a large block of wood on the forecastle deck, when by some means his foot slipped, and in falling the wood struck him on the right side of the head, inflicting severe injuries, the blood flowing from him in large quantities. A stretcher was procured, and on it he was taken to the railway station, where Dr De Lautour examined him, and found that he had sustained a severe comminuted fracture of the skull. He was afterwards taken to his parents’ residence, where he now lies in a very precarious state. -Evening Star, 20/5/1885.
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| Port Chalmers Old Cemetery. |
Funeral notices.
THE Friends of Captain DONALD SINCLAIR are respectively Invited to attend the FUNERAL, of his late SON, DONALD JAMES McINTYRE, which leaves his Residence, Constitution street, Port Chalmers, TO-MORROW (Tuesday) for the place of interment in the Old Cemetery, at 3p m. -Otago Daily Times, 3/6/1885.
Inquests
An inquest was held at the Court-house, Port Chalmers, yesterday afternoon before E. H. Carew, Esq., District Coroner, and a jury of 13, touching the death of Donald Sinclair.
The jury haying been sworn, elected Mr E. Sutton as their foreman, and proceeded to view the body.
The following evidence was taken — Donald Sinclair deposed: I am a master mariner residing at Port Chalmers, and the father of the deceased, who was 16 years and six months old, and my eldest son. He was an apprentice engineer in the employ of Messrs Morgan and Cable, and was working on board the s.s. Te Anau on May 20, the day the accident occurred. He was being brought home when I met Dr De Lautour, who took him into the railway-station and examined him, and then we took him home. He has been attended by three doctors, and died at 10.20 p.m. of May 29, from injuries he received on May 20. He was never conscious from the time of receiving the injuries until his death.
John Cable deposed: I am an engineer. Deceased was in the employ of my firm. He was working on board the Te Anau on May 20. I was also on board superintending the work, I sent deceased about 11 o'clock in the forenoon on to the forecastle bead to bring down a couple of blocks. I think the block produced is one that he went for. He had brought one and went for the other. The block produced weighs about 201b. After he left I came out of the forecastle, and saw a crowd of people going up, I went to see what it was about, and saw deceased laying on his back bleeding profusely. I went close up to him and saw blood streaming from his right ear, I then called for someone to bring a doctor and go for his father, and as so many people were round him I went myself to Captain Sinclair, and found him. On my return deceased was being carried up the wharf on a stretcher. He was taken to the railway-station and examined by Dr De Lautour. I examined the place where deceased fell; the weather was wet, and the decks, which are made of teak, were very slippery. I saw no projections about the place where deceased was lying. The block of wood was about three feet away from him. He appeared to be perfectly senseless.
Edward Gallivan deposed: I am a labourer, and on May 20 was working in a truck on the Railway Pier alongside the s.s. Te Anau. About 11 o'clock I heard someone say somebody is hurt on the forecastle, and saw deceased lying on the deck. I did not see him fall. No one was near him, nor any person on the forecastle-deck. I jumped from the truck to the ship's rail, and got on deck. Deceased was lying on his left side, bleeding from the right ear. There was a great flow of blood, and a block of wood similar to that produced was on his right shoulder, I removed it, and the third mate of the steamer came up immediately after me. Almost immediately after this Mr Cable and a crowd of people came on deck. I consider the accident might have happened if the deceased had not been carrying the wood as the weather was wet and the decks were very slippery. The nearest part of the block of wood was some eight or 10 inches from his right ear.
James Purdie deposed: I am a labourer, and was working in the truck with the last witness at the time of the accident. I heard the third mate of the Te Anau call out "See the man bleeding." I called out to some others and then went for a stretcher. I did not notice the block of wood at the time, but deceased was writhing about as though be were in a fit.
Bertrand Edgar De Lautour deposed: I am a duly qualified medical practitioner, residing at Port Chalmers. On the 20th May, about 10 minutes past 11 o'clock, I got a message to say that a man was bleeding to death on board the Te Anau, I immediately went down and saw deceased being carried on a stretcher. He was bleeding a great deal, and at my direction was carried to the railway-station. I made an examination, and found he was suffering from a severe comminuted fracture of the right temple, and was bleeding from both ears, which indicated that the base of the skull was fractured as well; he was also in a state of extreme collapse. I advised be should be sent home, and accompanied him there. I attended to him there, and remained about two hours with him, and saw him again on the same day with Drs Drysdale and Brown. My opinion from the first was that the case must be fatal. I can only account for the extreme injuries the deceased received by his head first striking the deck, and afterwards the block striking him on the right temple. The Coroner observed that there was nothing in the evidence which tended to show there had been any carelessness or indiscretion in anything the deceased was doing. He was employed in his ordinary work, and while doing so accidentally fell and received such injuries as to cause his death.
The Jury returned a verdict "That the deceased Donald Sinclair was accidentally killed by falling on the deck of the steamship Te Anau on May 20." -Otago Daily Times, 2/6/1885.
FUNERAL NOTICE.
THE Friends of Captain Donald Sinclair are respectfully invited to attend the funeral of his late daughter, Mary Eliza Annie, which leaves his residence, Constitution street, Port Chalmers, for the place of interment there, To-morrow (Saturday), at 2 p.m. -Evening star, 3/9/1878.
SEA LION HUNTING AT THE MACQUARRIES.
(From the Otago Daily Times).
Captain Donald Sinclair, a gentleman well known to most of our readers as commander of the steam-tugs Geelong and Koputai, and who has been for some time absent from Port Chalmers at the Macquarries Group in charge of a party of elephant hunters, has furnished our shipping reporter with the following details of his sojourn on the islands. And here we may remark that we are deeply indebted to Captain Sinclair for furnishing the report, notwithstanding the fact that he has recently suffered a very heavy bereavement in his family. He says;—“We left Port Chalmers in the schooner Friendship on October 11, 1877, and were landed at the Macquarries on the first of December following. Messrs. Cormack, Elder, and Company’s schooner Jessie Niccol reached us on January 26, 1878, bringing with her ten men, who completed my complement to 19 men, five of whom, however, left again by the Jessie Niccol, and including myself 14 persons were on the island. Prior to the schooner leaving a quantity of stores, together with some goats and five donkeys, were landed; the donkeys, however, proved a failure, as, owing to the boggy nature of the soil they were unable to cross the dividing ranges; four of the poor beasts soon died, and the fifth, named by the sailors Mr, Strode (in consequence of that gentleman having owned him), still survives, and I have left him with a pig and a goat on the islands. All went well for a considerable time, the men being employed in erecting huts and constructing a road from S.E. Harbor to W. Beach.. Hunting was vigorously carried on, and a quantity of oil was obtained. On April the 18th we had fully 15 tuns of oil, in addition to three or four tuns of blubber not yet tried out. This quantity was obtained from the stations at N.E. and S.E. Harbors; and on April 28th, while my crew were in the act of launching the whaleboat, I placed my rifle in the stern sheets, when it suddenly exploded. The ball passed through my left hand, thence through one of the knee thwarts of the boat (an inch in thickness), going through an outside plank half an inch thick, passing through the upper part of George Alson's overall trousers, striking William Merry on the left thigh, and finally struck on the right thigh, and although his trousers on that leg were cut the skin was uninjured." Captain Sinclair, unprovided with any appliances to staunch the wound in his left hand, was conveyed by his men to one of their huts, and for the next twelve days lay there in intense agony, the only relief he obtained was by keeping a constant stream of cold water trickling on the hand. After lying there for twelve days, he was conveyed to N.E. Harbor, and reached his own hut on the 10th of May. Two days later a heavy S.E. gale set in, attended by a very high sea. The men at once set to work and rolled back their oil as near as possible to the high land which abuts the sea, where it was secured. As 8 p.m., however, the sea continued to increase and a terrific wave swept up to the base of the hill at the S.E. Harbor, washing away the huts and compelling the men to seek safety among the rocks. In its recoil the wave swept away all the oil, the result of many months’ arduous labor, and all the food with the exception of the two casks of bread and a little oatmeal. The surf still swept violently in and forced the men to seek refuge in the face of the hills, while a violent snowstorm then raging added to their other discomforts. Towards midnight the gale had moderated, although there was still a heavy sea, and Captain Sinclair, who occupied a hut at North-East Harbor, then felt its effects. A heavy wave beat in the front of the hut, washed him out of his bunk, and carried all the stores away, leaving him only a small barrel of bread and another of oatmeal. He then proceeded to the men’s hut a little higher up the beach, and found it full of debris, while the man who had been sleeping there was washed out of his bunk. The moon was at its full and shone bright and clear, which enabled Captain Sinclair to see that the cookhouse was also full of water. He then went back to his hut, and finding it was possible to save the men's hut from total destruction, caused it to be boarded up; at this time there was fully two feet of water in the hut. The men placed Captain Sinclair in an upper bunk and did the best in their power to alleviate his sufferings, which were naturally increased by the salt water and cold getting to the wound. On August the 18th the gale moderated, and two men crossed the snowy ranges from S.E. harbor in order to report the disasters which had occurred. He at once ordered all but four to rejoin him, while the others remained at N.E. Harbor, at which spot they had still some three or four tuns of oil left. As he did not expect the Jessie Niccol before the month of June, Captain Sinclair placed the men on a dietary scale (having already killed the goats sent him by Mrs. Sinclair).The food for a long time consisted of oatmeal, sea-elephant flesh, and biscuits, together with a little weak coffee, the men being in capital health and spirits. As time rolled by, and the Jessie Niccol did not appear, the dietary scale was gradually reduced until it came down to three biscuits daily. This scanty food, however, was eked out by a plentiful supply of birds caught by a retriever dog, owned by Mr. C. de Longueville Graham (our shipping reporter), who had sent the animal down to the islands. Of the comforts of life — such as tea, sugar, &c. — the men were of course deprived; but on the whole they fared as well as could be expected, and when the Jessie Niccol made her second appearance they were all ready and willing to embark and return to Port Chalmers.
Captain Sinclair, during his sojourn on the islands, has carefully noted the barometrical indications, which he has kindly promised to supply us with at a future date. -New Zealand Times, 13/9/1878.
FIRE AT KAITANGATA. (excerpt)
INQUEST. An inquest into the origin of the fire by which the Bridge Hotel, Kaitangata, and other buildings were destroyed, was held in the athenaeum on Saturday afternoon.
James Gray, proprietor of the Bridge Hotel, said he leased it to Captain Sinclair on 1st August, 1888, and Captain Sinclair had been in. possession ever since. The rent was L3 10s a week. -Clutha Leader, 16/8/1889.
Interprovincial
Captain Donald Sinclair, hotelkeeper at Mosgiel, died very suddenly on Saturday. -Timaru Herald, 21/7/1891.
Shipping
The flags of the vessels in Port and at Observation Point were hoisted half-mast high yesterday afternoon in token of respect to the memory of the late Captain Donald Sinclair, who for many years was master of the tugs at the Port. -Otago Daily Times, 21/7/1891.
The remains of the late Captain Donald Sinclair were interred in the old cemetery, Port Chalmers, yesterday afternoon, The cortege left the railway station at 1 p.m., and was followed by a large number of friends of the deceased both from Mosgiel, Dunedin, and Port Chalmers. The service at the grave was read by the Rev. Mr Ryley. -Otago Daily Times, 23/7/1891.
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