THE REPORTER.
CORONER'S INQUEST AT HYDE.
An official examination into the death of Jeremiah Dickson, who had been killed by the overturning of a dray, was held at Redmond's Hyde Hotel, Hyde, on May 29, before J. S. Hickson, Esq., Coroner, and a jury comprising the following gentlemen: Messrs Laverty (Foreman), Annett, Redmond, Booth, Burke, Mundy, A. Kinney, Laughton, Kelly, Lumley, McNally and A. Kinney, jun.
William Brennon, shepherd at Taieri Lake Station, gave the following account of the melancholy affair: — On May 27 he saw deceased's horses standing close to the creek near Taieri Lake Station. He rode up to the spot, and found that the leading horses were standing apart from the dray with their harness off. The shatter was lying on his back, and one of the wheels of the dray was turned up. When he saw how things stood, he (witness) jumped off his horse, and looked about to see if he could find the deceased. He then inserted his arm among the articles in the dray to try and shift a bag containing articles of some description j but he could not do so. After trying, in vain, to right the dray, he went back to the station, and asked the Manager (Mr Macintyre) if Dixon was about the place? He (witness) then told him what had happened, and said he believed the deceased must have been killed by the overturning of the dray. Witness and Mr Macintyre then proceeded to the scene of the accident. He pulled out of the dray a bag containing several horse-shoes, and saw the body of deceased. He went round to the front of the dray, and tried to lift a bale of rabbit-skins, but could not do so. Mr Macintyre then came up, and he cut the strings of the tilt. The bale of skins was opened and some thrown out. Mr Macintyre raised the corner of the dray, and he (witness) pulled Dickson out by the arm. He was dead, and the body was cold.
By the Foreman: At first, he was under the impression that the horses had bolted. Deceased was lying on his back, and must have been suffocated by the bale of rabbitskins falling on him. He saw deceased before he left the station, and he then appeared to be in his proper senses.
By a juror: He accounted for the dray overturning by the right wheel having gone over a large tussock of snow-grass. A heavy wind was blowing at the time, and this no doubt contributed to the occurrence. The tussock was sufficiently high to have overturned the dray in almost any weather. The horses were remarkably quiet animals.
Donald Macintyre, Manager of Taieri Lake Station, corroborated the evidence of the witness Brennon.
D. Crawford, clerk, residing at Gladbrook Station, recognised the body of the deceased as that of a man named Jeremiah Dickson. He had been in the employment of the station since February last. He did not know what his age was, nor in what country he had been born. The deceased was supposed to have had a brother in the employ of Messrs Robs and of Dunedin.
James Kennedy, Constable-in-charge at Macraes, having given evidence of no importance,
The jury arrived at the verdict that the deceased had come to his death through "Accidental Causes." -Mount Ida Chronicle, 12/6/1884.
Northern Cemetery, Dunedin.
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