DEER-STALKING TRAGEDY
MAN DIES FROM INJURIES
INQUEST ON VICTIM
(Special to Daily Times) BALCLUTHA, April 27.
An inquest on the body of William Kingsley Macfarlane, who died in the Balclutha Hospital on Thursday morning, after being shot in the knee while deer stalking in the Blue Mountains, was held at the Balclutha Courthouse on Friday afternoon before Mr W. Kean, J.P., acting coroner, and a jury comprising Messrs S. V. White (foreman), T. Incrocci, W. Stewart, and W, Anderson. Constable Boyle conducted the inquiry on behalf of the police.
Evidence was given by Dr D. G. Radcliffe, of Balclutha, who stated that he had gone to the camp to which the deceased had been carried after the accident, and had found him to be suffering from a wound in the left leg. The main artery had been severed and the thigh bone completely shattered. After to the wound witness had had deceased transported to the Balclutha Hospital. He was suffering greatly from shock. He lingered until the following morning, when he died at 5 o’clock. The actual cause of death was shock, accentuated by the long interval that elapsed before he could be medically treated. The wound was consistent with that caused by a softnosed rifle bullet.
Alan Norman Macfarlane said that he had been farming at Clydevale with his brothers. During the Easter holidays it had been customary for some of them to go deer stalking in the Blue Mountains, and this year he had arranged to go with his brother “King.” Each had a .303 rifle, and they were using softnosed bullets. They were out shooting each day until the date of the accident. After breakfast on the 24th they travelled about three-quarters of a mile from camp, and then separated. They heard a stag roaring, and the deceased went after it, while witness kept straight on. and came on another stag. He waited expecting to get a shot. The stag was below witness, and moving about. Witness thought he heard a movement in the bushes, and caught sight of what he thought was the blade of antlers, and fired where he thought the stag’s body would be. Immediately his brother called out, and witness dropped his rifle and ran to him. His leg was doubled up under him. Witness examined the wound, and with his brother’s belt made a tourniquet above the wound. Witness left to go for assistance. He telephoned Balclutha for a doctor, and his brothers. Witness explained how his brother was brought in from the mountains. The scrub was thick in parts where the accident had occurred, but there were clear patches, although the visibility was not good. There were places where one could not see a deer if it was only three yards away. Witness had done a lot of shooting in the last four years. His brother must have changed his plans to be where he was when witness fired, and witness thought he must have heard the same stag that witness heard.
Evidence was also given by William Macfarlane, father of the deceased, and James Frederick Simmers, of Popotunoa, who was one of the party that carried deceased out.
The jury returned a verdict that deceased died from shock, after being accidentally shot in the leg. A rider was added commending the action of deceased’s brothers and the others who had brought him out of the mountains. The acting coroner expressed his sympathy with the relatives of the deceased.
The funeral of the deceased took place to the Balclutha cemetery to-day, the cortege including over 60 motor cars. -Otago Daily Times, 29/4/1935.
OBITUARY
MR W. K. MACFARLANE
Mr William Kingsley Macfarlane, the victim of the tragic deer stalking fatality on the. Blue Mountains last week, was born in 1906 and spent his childhood at Brydone, Southland. Later he removed with his parents to Canterbury, where he completed his primary education at Waimate by gaining the Waimate High School Board of Governors’ Scholarship. He afterwards attended the Waitaki Boys’ High School, where he matriculated in 1922, and qualified for a higher leaving certificate in the following year. He had also taken an agricultural course with a view to going on to the land. The knowledge thus acquired was put to practical use after leaving school on his father’s farm in North Canterbury, but two years later, at the age of 21, he was entrusted with the management of the Hinemoa Estate, Clydevale, where he carried on farming, latterly in conjunction with his brothers. Among the younger generation of farmers in the district his was an outstanding personality, characterised by unselfishness, bright, cheery optimism, and by industry and devotion to duty. His well-stored mind made him an interesting companion wherever he went. The traditions of his old school were worthily upheld to the last during the long journey from the mountains, when he uncomplainingly endured his painful injuries for a lengthy period before reaching the hospital. -Otago Daily Times, 4/5/1935.
Balclutha Cemetery.
No comments:
Post a Comment