Mr Oscar Van was the unfortunate man whose fearful death in the shaft of the Cassius Claim was described in a paragraph in our yesterday's issue. Mr Van is known to many on the West Coast, having for some time resided in Westport, Charleston, and at Woodstock, in the neighborhood of Hokitika. He will be remembered also by many as Harbor-Clerk and Town-Clerk of Port Chalmers, on relinquishing which positions, and before he came to the West Coast, he lived for some time in the Province of Taranaki. Previous to his residence in the Colony he had been for years on the diggings, in the Inglewood and Castlemaine districts, where he arrived in the early days with two brothers, one of whom is now manager of the Cassius claims. The following further particulars of the circumstances under which his death occurred are furnished by the Ross News: — Mr Oscar Van, with two others, was ascending the shaft of the Cassius claim, at dinner time, yesterday, and all had entered the cage, which, after it had commenced rising, suddenly jerked and fell a few inches; this was caused by a twist in the hoisting chain; but deceased, apparently under the fear that the winding-rope had broken, attempted to return to the chamber from the rapidly ascending cage: in doing so, his head caught the cap-pieces, and he was knocked down with his head and shoulders overhanging the cage, and in this position was dragged up the shaft till the great pressure of its sides gradually drew deceased from the cage, leaving him to fall a distance probably of sixty feet to the bottom of the shaft. No blame attaches to anyone for the accident, the other men were unable to prevent deceased from being dragged out of the cage, and from its rapid upward motion were unable to sound the alarm. Strange to say, deceased lingered for an hour conscious and in great agony. The funeral will take place under the auspices of the Freemasons, of which order deceased was a member. -Grey River Argus, 23/2/1872.
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