CORONER'S INQUEST.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 15 November 1880, Page 2

CORONER'S INQUEST.

♦ — An icqu : ry was. held nn Saturday afternoon nt the Court House, Into the death of Eiehard Horton before G, C. Bowman, E^q.. J. P., Coroner. A jury of 13 was sworn, of whom Mr M'T^iael Dalton was chosen foreman. After the jury had adjiurnod to View the body at the morgue and returned Dr. Thorpe was called, who being sworn, B'a'ed his name to he Henry Stanley Thorpe, a legally qualified medical practitioner residing 5n lieefton. At the request of the coroner I have this day performed a post mortem examination on tho body at the morgue. The examina tion proved that no external marks were found on body ; the internal examination proved the cause of death to have been asphyxia, caused by totat immersion in water. James Wearn : I am a miner employed ot the Golden Fleece mine. I was at work on the morning of the Cth instant, and was working wiih the deceased Eichard Horton ; did not observe any. thing unusual in his behaviour, lie left m. after having worked nbout threeq'tarters of an hour to go for soma drills, but as ho did not return I went iv search for him. On not finding him I reported io Jacob M'Kenua, the underground manager, that Horton was missing. We went to a deserted winze about 500 feet from present workings. The water in the winze was standing to within 30 feet of the top. I went down to the wafers edge a-ul found tiie cap of deceased fio.it ing on iho water. (Cap produced and recog-* nised.) By a juror : I was acquainted with deceased for a long time, and did not n^liei* anything strange in bU behaviour. The winze is out of the way altogether, and it was not necessary to pass it for gelling the drills. John Trennery : lam manager of tbe Golden Fleece Extended Compauy. I was acquainted with the deceased, who was emvloyed by me as n miner in the claim. I was on the claim on the morning of the oth instant. The underground manager reported to me that he thought that Horton had done away with himself, as ho could not be found. I then made inquiries from CoJiii^h and Woarn as fo his previous bchnviour. Cornish (old vrm that iJirk. meaning Ifor'.on, had threatened to nut an end to himself, and Ibnf, be had slated lliat the wit ze, where the body ttfimvr.rds was found, would be a suitable place f..r the purpose. Cornish and Hor-!,-.n had lieen wor!Ai_ a fortnight before •jintii'2 in n cross-cut about 50 f:et from the whiz- 1 ; subsfq-iently he wa< removed to a different part of the mine. My suspicions having been aroused that, (he man had commit;' ed suicide, I gave orders ou Snndiiy last, the -7ih instant, to hale tbo water out of the winzj, and baliug lias been continued until 6 o'clock yesterday evening. At oat l? 0 feet of water was in the wir:Z3 on commencement-—it was reduced to about 20 feet. A stage was then erected, and hooks were fastened \9 a batten and for finding the body.

which took place about ten minutes after* wards. The body was then lifted to the surface and brought to town. The deceased had no busioes. to go near the wiuze, and strict orders had been given to prohibit men from going into the drive leading to the winz.-, under pain of dismissal. About £13 is owiDsj fo him for labour. He was formerly in ray employ, but left about eighteen Donths-.ago, and returued about five or six weeks ago, when I again smployed him. I have beeD in the habit of seeing him daily, but no ! iced nothing unusual about him. I saw him on tho previous doy. By the Foreman : Subsequent to the report of the man being missing, I was told lh;it he had been peculiar io his manner. I was not toll so previous. Eaekiel Cornish : I am a miner working in the Golden Fleece Extended mine. I was acquainted with iforton when he WiiS a boy in school, and have known liim ojain the la?t month. About three weeks ago I noticed something peculiar in his manner. As we were working together at that time he all of a sudden stopped working and commenced e^flfc on. askmjfii_^b^^*-^flßij that he did not kcow what lud com." over him, and that he wished he W2s dead, end had a good mind to drown himself in the winze. I spoke to him, and he got calmer. Ho was 32 to 34 vear3 of age, and a native of Cornwall. To the best of my knowledge he has no relatives in tlie Colony. James Hodgers : I am a miner work* ing in tiie Golden Fleece mine, and was acq*_aiuted with Eichard Horton. He came to my place t*bout fivo weeks ago, and slated that he felt bad, and told me that he had formerly ho-t his chest, and on using the long handle shovel ia the lower diggings the pain had como on him again. List Sunday week he spoke at random, aad said that he would do i away witli himself,. as there was nothing but misery and darkness before him. I did not believe him, or else I would hare reported the matter. I have known him for four and a-half year?. By a juror : I noticed nothing peculiar in his manner previously. He requested me not to mention what he had said, as he wa3 working it off and getting ail right again. William Ed !y : I knew the deceased for four weeks, and lived in the same hut. On the 3lvl instant ho got iii after breakfast and commenced cryiug, and said that he was afraid of going out of his mind, and that he was sometimes tempted to jump down a shaft. After coming from my shift, I mentioned to (he men that there was something wrong about Dick. By orders from Mr Tren* nery, I reported to the poiic. when he was missing. The police reported having found £3 16s ou tho body of the deceased. This closed the evidence, and the Coroner summed up ; n hereupon tho jury, relumed a verdict : " That the dc# ceased Hi chard Horton committed suicide by drowning, during a fit of temporary insanity,' 8