Serious Accident. — A very painful sensation was created in town this morning by a rumor, which speedily proved to be only too true, that Mr. Manson Sinclair had accidentally shot himself. The particulars, as far as we have been, able to ascertain, are as follows: — Mr. Sinclair took out a detonating revolver with which he was constantly in the habit of practising at a mark, telling his mother that he was going to clean it. He fired off two of the chambers in the paddock behind the house, and then on finding that the barrels refused to revolve, he took the pistol in his left hand, and with his right attempted to ease the working of them. In doing so it is supposed that the detonating power exploded, as the pistol went oft, the ball entering the body, and, it is feared, penetrating the stomach, as he has since vomited a large quantity of blood. Mr. Sinclair at present lies in a most precarious state, and no hopes whatever are entertained of his recovery. -Nelson Evening Mail, 30/7/1871.
The Late Accident. — It is with sincere pleasure that we are able to state that the accident which we yesterday reported as having happened to Mr. Manson Sinclair has assumed a more favorable aspect than could possibly have been expected. The patient passed a quiet night, this afternoon the doctor succeeded in extracting the bullet which was found in the back between the sixth and seventh ribs. Without indulging in too sanguine anticipations, we may now fairly venture to hope that the wound will not necessarily produce the fatal termination that was yesterday feared to be only too certain. -Nelson Evening Mail, 12/7/1871.
DEATH OF MR. MANSON SINCLAIR.
It is with the greatest regret that we have to record the fatal termination of the recent accident to Mr. M. Sinclair. Up to noon yesterday no unfavorable symptoms had set in, and his numerous friends indulged in the hope that they might yet see him amongst them once more, notwithstanding the warnings of his medical attendants, Drs. Sealy and Squires, that he was by no means out of danger and that mortification might set in at any moment; apprehensions that are now proved to have been only too correct. A little after twelve yesterday, Mr. Sinclair alarmed those around him by complaining of severe pains in the back And side, and the doctor was immediately sent for, and at once applied, remedies by which the pain was alleviated, but it soon became clear that there were no hopes of his rallying. The symptoms gradually grew worse, and by midnight he was quite delirious, and from that hour he gradually sank until 5 o'clock this morning, when he breathed his last. He appeared to be quite free from pain during the last few hours, and for a short period prior to his death was partly conscious. An inquest is now being held on the body. The funeral will, if possible, take place at 2 o'clock on Wednesday, and the remains of the deceased gentleman will be escorted to the grave by the Freemasons, Oddfellows, Foresters, Fire Brigade, and City Volunteers, of all of which bodies Mr. Sinclair was a prominent member. -Nelson Evening Mail, 17/7/1871.
I.O.O.F.M.U.
LOYAL HOWARD LODGE,
THE BRETHREN of the Order are respectfully requested to MEET at the ODD FELLOWS' HALL, on WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, at Half-past One o'clock sharp, to ATTEND THE FUNERAL of late BROTHER MANSON SICLAIR.
WILLIAM JENNINGS,- N.G. July 17, 1871. -Nelson Evening Mail, 17/7/1871.
The Late Mr. Sinclair. — The funeral of Mr. Mansion Sinclair which is to take place to-morrow afternoon at two o'clock, is likely to prove one of the largest that has ever taken place in Nelson, as besides having a large circle of private friends, he was a member of several Societies, the members of which will, on this occasion, muster in considerable force. Most of the places of business in the town will, we understand, be closed after one o'clock. -Nelson Evening Mail, 18/7/1871.
MEETINGS, AMUSEMENTS, &c.
To-night. Wesleyan Church Anniversary — Tea Meeting at 6 p.m, after which a Public Meeting, when Captain R. Peek, Ministers and Friends will give Addresses.
Nelson City Rifles — Firing Party Drill at Oddfellows' Hall. 7 p.m. Uniform of late City Rifles. 7 p.m.
Southern Star Lodge — Lodge of Instruction. 8 p.m.
To-morrow.
Southern Star Lodge — Lodge of Emergency — to attend Funeral of late Brother Sinclair. 1 p.m.
Loyal Howard Lodge, I. O. O. F., M. U. — Meeting at Oddfellows' Hall — to attend Funeral of late Brother Sinclair. 1.30 p.m.
Nelson Volunteer Fire Brigade — Meeting at the Engine House, in full uniform — to attend the Funeral of their late Captain Manson Sinclair. 1.30 p.m.
Nelson City Rifles — Parade of Funeral Escort at the Police Barracks — to attend the Funeral of their late Captain Sinclair. 1.30 p.m.
Captain Peek's Sermon at the Bethel. 7 p.m. -Nelson Evening Mail, 18/7/1871.
CORONER'S INQUEST.
An inquest on the body of the late Mr. Manson Sinclair was held yesterday afternoon, at the residence of Mr. George Blick, before Lowther Broad, Esq., and a jury consisting of the following gentlemen: — Messrs. A. W. Lightfoot (foreman), A. ,S. Braithwaite, J. T. Lowe, A. W. Scaife, W. M. Stanton, J. R. Dodson, E. Everett, W. Stavert, W. C. Hodgson, J, Burnett, J. R. Mabin, W. Milner, and T. R. Fisher.
The jury having viewed the body,
Robert Shallcrass, Inspector of Police, was called, who stated that on Tuesday morning last a little before nine, he was at work in his garden when he heard two reports of firearms, and on looking towards Mr. Sinclair's house, he saw deceased walking away from the back of the house. A minute after he heard a third shot, and immediately afterwards another one. The two last reports came from that portion of the paddock which was farthest away from the house. He knew nothing of the accident until some time after. Deceased was frequently in the habit of practising with a pistol in the morning. He saw nothing of him after he walked away from the house .subsequent to the two first shots having been fired.
[The pistol was here produced, and proved to be a five-chambered revolver, four of which had been discharged, the fifth being still loaded. The weapon was a most dangerous one, unless very carefully handled, as it was shown that it would go off at half-cock.]
Harriet Blick stated that on Tuesday morning Mrs. Sinclair called to her over the hedge, and said, "Oh! come here, Manson is shot," and asked her to send for Dr. Squires, which she did, and then went to Mr. Sinclair's house, and found deceased standing up in his bedroom. She caught hold of him and asked how he had done it, to which he replied that it was an accident. She helped to get him into bed, and had nursed him to the time of his death. She never heard him make any remark afterwards as to how the accident had occurred. Firing was frequently to be heard in the neighborhood, and she knew that deceased was in the habit of practising in the morning.
W. B. Sealy said, I am a medical practitioner. On Tuesday morning last, I was called in about hall-past nine to see the deceased, I found him lying in bed with a bullet wound into the body, about 1 1/2 inch below the breast bone, and 1 1/2 inch to the left of it. I found him in a state of great exhaustion and vomiting blood freely. On my asking him how it had occurred, he said that he had been removing the chambers of his pistol after firing once or twice, as the lock was stiff, and that he was holding it in his left hand with the muzzle pointing towards his body when the hammer fell on one of the loaded chambers causing it to explode. He said he felt as though someone had given him a tremendous poke with a sharp pointed stick, and was knocked flat on his back. Feeling that he was shot, he walked into the house and acquainted his mother with what had happened. I have been attending him ever since.
George Williams said, I am a medical practitioner. I have made a post mortem examination of the body of Manson Sinclair and found the following appearances: — The wound of entrance was an inch and a half below the ensiform cartilage, and the same distance to the left of a line from it to the navel. The wound was diamond shaped, and a quarter of an inch in diameter, with a bruise of an eighth of an inch around it of a dark purple color, and another outside that to the extent of an inch of a green color. The wound in the back where the bullet was extracted was 4 1/2 inches from the spinal ridge. There was a dark bruise 10 inches long, and 3 broad on the skin along the angle of the ribs on the left side. The ordinary dark stains usually observable after death were very marked in the depending parts of the body, showing that decomposition was proceeding rapidly. The track of the ball was as follows: — It had passed from the orifice described through the extreme point of the left lobe of the liver where it overlapped the stomach, through the stomach, which it entered in the front part 4 inches from where it joins the intestines, and passed out at the back part 2 1/2 inches from where it joins the gullet; then through the thickest part of the spleen; thence through the diaphragm, completely fracturing the tenth rib. It then passed upwards and lodged under the skin between the eighth and ninth ribs. The left lung was not wounded, but was in a complete state of gangrene or mortification. The stomach, liver, and spleen were all more or less, mortified. The wound would quite correspond with one inflicted by the pistol produced. The immediate cause of death was mortification.
W. W. Squires, a medical practicioner, said, On Friday morning last, I was sent for to see deceased, but being in attendance upon another patient, I was unable to go at the time, and did not see him until 3 p.m. Drs. Sealy and Williams had then seen him. The former described the wound to me, and, as it had already been dressed, I did not disturb it. I found the patient in a very weak state, but from what had been told me, I felt that he was just rallying from the collapse caused by the injury. I then took charge 'of the case, and Drs. Scaly and Williams attended with me afterwards. With the exception of being sick once, on the following morning, he displayed no bad symptoms, but in the weak state in which he was, we did not think it right to search for the ball. On that occasion, however, Dr. Sealy, while raising him in his bed, felt the ball just below the skin, and we at once extracted it from his back. He continued to go on steadily and well until yesterday. I had left him at noon doing as satisfactorily as could possibly be expected, but shortly after one, his brother came for me saying that he was complaining of great pain. He gradually sunk from that time, and died at 5 o'clock this morning. I made a post mortem examination in conjunction with Dr. Williams, whose evidence I have heard, and quite agree with it. Having heard the particulars of the accident from his mother and Mrs. Blick, I never asked deceased any questions about it.
This concluded the evidence, the jury stating that they did not deem it necessary to examine Mrs. Sinclair, after hearing the statement of Mrs. Blick.
The Coroner said that it now remained for the jury to come to a verdict. The cause of death was clear, but it was for them to say whether the shot was fired by the deceased or by someone else, and if by the former whether it arose from a sheer accident, or was done intentionally, and, in considering this, they should remember that the deceased had stated positively that it was an accident, and words uttered in articulo mortis were always accepted as evidence.
The jury at once found that the deceased had come by his death by the accidental discharge of a pistol. Some remarks were were also made with regard to the danger attending the use of such a weapon as that produced, and the extreme caution required in handling it. -Nelson Evening Mail, 18/7/1871.
FUNERAL OF MR. MANSON SINCLAIR.
No funeral that has taken place in Nelson ever excited such interest as did that of yesterday. Long before two o'clock, the hour appointed, small knots of people began to gather in the streets, and to wend their way towards the late. residence of the deceased in Bronti-street, where, in due course, the members of the various bodies who were to take part in the ceremony assembled, the Masons, who took charge of the funeral, being the first to arrive. Shortly after two, the coffin was borne from the house by members of the Fire Brigade, and received at the gate by the volunteers at the "Present." The procession, having been formed by Past Masters Sealy and Squires, who acted as marshals, Started for Christ Church in the following order: —
Firing Party
Band
Masons as follows: —
Outer and Inner Guard
Steward. Master Masons two and two. Steward
Treasurer and Secretary
Two Wardens
Past Masters
Brother Moutray with the Bible, supported by the two Deacons.
W.M. Burn supported by P.M's Shephard and Younger
Clergy
Fire Brigade.
The Hearse.
Fire Brigade
Mourners
Oddfellows
Public
Arrived at the church door, the ranks of the volunteer escort were opened the men resting on their arms reversed, and the Masons passed into the building, where they formed a lane up the centre aisle through which the coffin was borne and placed at the entrance to the chancel, having upon it the sword and cross belt worn by the deceased as Captain of the City Volunteers, and his helmet and coat as Captain of the Fire Brigade. The transepts were previously filled by the public, the centre of the nave having been reserved for the Masons, Oddfellows, and others, who took part in the ceremony, while the free sittings below the font were also crowded with spectators. The first portion of the beautiful burial service of the Church of England having been read by the Rev. Gr. H. Johnstone, the party left the church and proceeded towards the cemetery.
As it wended its way round the Church Hill, the procession formed a mournful but most picturesque sight. The volunteers marching with arms reversed, and bearing on their left sleeves the badge of mourning; the Masons in their quaint costumes with all jewels and ornaments encased in crape; the sombre hearse standing out in marked contrast to the crimson coats and glittering helmets of the members of the Fire Brigade, by whom it was flanked on either side; the Oddfellows with their black scarves; and the long array of carriages and horsemen who brought up the rear, formed a sight that will not soon be forgotten by those who witnessed it, while the effect was heightened by the wailing notes of the Dead March, the dull, measured, beat of the muffled drums, and the solemn tolling of the various bells. Through Nile and Collingwood-streets, the procession passed on through crowds of people, large numbers of whom followed the cortege to the cemetery. On reaching the grave, the Masons were formed round it in a circle, the firing party being drawn up at one side, and, the church service being concluded, W.M. Burn read a Masonic address, at the close of which he cast upon the coffin a white lambskin apron which, among the Masons, is looked upon as the badge of innocence, and the bond of friendship. The members of the Order then walked slowly round the grave, each one as he passed dropping upon the coffin the spray of evergreen he had worn in his coat during the ceremony, that being the emblem of immortality. A prayer was then offered up by Brother Burn, and the hymn commencing
"There is a land of pure delight, Where saints immortal reign,"
sung by all present. The benediction having been pronounced by the officiating clergyman, the firing. party advanced and terminated, the impressive ceremony by firing three volleys over the open grave. The whole proceedings were conducted throughout in the quietest and most orderly manner, and not a single hitch occurred, from the time the procession started from the house to that of its leaving the cemetery. The Masonic service and ceremonies performed at the grave were new to many of those present, and were looked upon with much interest, and we have therefore described them pretty fully in order that our readers at a distance may be able to form some idea of them. -Nelson Evening Mail, 20/7/1871.
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