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On this Page 70
ACCIDENTS AND OFFENCES. .
On Wednesday, 3rd May, a livery stablo
keeper named Frank Sims, aged 26 years,
a resident of Malop-street, Geelong, ? com
mitted: suicide by hanging himself by the
neck by a rope firmly fixed to one of the rafters
of the roof of a closet at the stables. Tho
young' man' appeared , to have been very
greatly depressed in. spirits for some months
past, owing to the deaths of one of his sisters
and his father. The deceased committed the
rash not immediately. after he*had partaken- of
breakfast, about nine o'clock. .
A terrible accident occurred on April 28, at the
Tarnagulla flour mill, recently started by the
new proprietors, Messrs. Comrie and Co. One
of the boilers under ordinary pressure of steam
suddenly burst, and a man named ; Henry
Smith was instantaneously killed. Two men,
named Hargreavea and Henry Joyce, were
also seriously injured, and Hargreaves died at
tho Dunolly Hospital on Saturday. The pro
ptietor and others invited to the starting of the
machinery and the banquet to follow, had a
narrow escape, having just left the boiler shed
for an inspection of the works on the second
floor. Doubts are entertained whether Joyce
will survive.
An inquest was held on 1st May,, at- the .
Balmoral Hotel, Fyansford, on the body of
George Webb, a farmer, who was found
drowned in tho Moorabool River. The evi
dence showed that the deceased, who wns m
the habit of drinking to excess, left the Bal
moral Hotel on the 23rd April to go to his
home, a mile away ; -that he had to proceed
along a dangerous track by the river, and that
he never reached his home. It was clearly
shown that the deceased left the hotel with his
coat onj and that' when his body was dis
covered the coat was found to be missing. 'In
medical evidence showed that deatli was oc
casioned by drowning, and the jury returned an
open verdict.
A youth about seventeen years of age, son
of Mr. Walker, biscuit manufacturer, of Mel
bourne, accidentally shot himself at Worrougli
station, about eight miles from Seymour, on
the morning of the 11th April. It ap
pears that he and his brother, left bit.
M'Kenzie's residence at an early hour wiUt
the intention of having a day's shooting.
After proceeding a short distance tho Jotter
went back to the house for Bome purpo.se, ana
on returning found his brother lying almost in
the creek with a large gunshot wound in tne
neck. He .immediately called Mr. M'Kenzie,
but the unfortunate young man died before on)
assistance could be rendered. Later in the uay
an inquest was held, and a verdict of ac
cidental death.returned. . ...
A wonderful escape from a serious railway
accident occurred at Traralgon on 18th Apr'
to the morninp passenger train from Melbourne
to Sale. Immediately after leaving tho station
and between it and the bridge across lrarsi
gon Creek, about 300 yards distant, a cow go'
on tho line, and all the carriages, with tho ex
ception of the post office and guards van,
passed safoly over it— tho two luttor #.lei»vin»
the mils about 3 00 yards on tho station em
of tho l.ritlne, nnd continuing runninir pn w
Hk-crers till the train reached the nml-»e

the bridge, which is about 600 feet long
and 30 feet high. In the centre for about 30
or 40 feet the marks of the wheels were plainly
discernible in the gravel and beams, which
undoubtedly saved the entire train from de
struction and averted a serious calamity.
A most deliberate attempt at murder and
suicide was made on Sunday, 23rd April, in the
Bxford hotel, situated at the corner of Russell
and Little Bourke Btreets. A Hungarian
named Arthur Sieber fired twice at a young
girl named Elizabeth Maher whilst the latter
was engaged performing some' household duties
in one of the rooms of the hotel. One shot
took effect in the girl's left Bide, but the injury
was not of a very serious character, the
bullet, which was about -f of an inch iu
length and weighed 210 grains, being
shortly after tho occurrence extracted
by Dr. Maloney. Sieber also fired at . a
fellow lodger named Matulicb. and a Con
stable Moloney, but both bullets missed their
murk. He afterwards Btabbed himself with a
kuife, inflicting a wound in his left side about
six inches deop. There ia every probability
of his recovery.
An inquest was held at Sale, on April 20, by the
mayor, on the body of Henry GiBlingham, a
commercial traveller, in the oinploy of Messrs.
Clias. Andrews and Co., of Flinders-] an o, and
late with Messrs. Banks Bros, and Bell. The evi
dence showed that deceased had been nervoua
and shaky for the last two or three days. The
most important evidence was that of Sarah
Sullivan, the servant at the Albion Hotel,
where deceased was staying. She stated that
during the night she heard the deceased curs
ing and swearing and threatening somebody ;
also smashing things in the bedroom, and last
of all a heavy breath drawn by him. He was
found dead in bed in the morning. The medical
testimony. showed that deceased had died from
asphyxia, and that there was every appear
auce that he had been drinking. The verdict
, was that deceased died from suffocation, in
duced by himself whilst suffering from the
effects of drink. The deceased is said to have
loft a wife and six children, and an aged father,
all dependent on him for support.
Two sad and fatal accidents occurred at the
Blnckhill races, which took place at Gillain's
Hotel, near Kyneton, on the 12th April.
In the handicap, a lad named Robert White,
son of Luke White, painter, of this town, was
engaged in riding Friendless, belonging to Mr.
J. Casey, of Woodend. He was leading com
fortably, when coming down an awkward
incline the horse collided with a stump, and
White was thrown head foremost against
another stump. He was picked tip almost
immediately, but . expired muttering some
words. There was a mark on'- his forehead
and some injuries to his neck. Death resulted
apparently from dislocation of the neck. . This
accident threw a . gloom over the pro
ceedings, and it was proposed to discon
tinue them, but afterwards it was ^deter
mined, to carry out the programme by
running tho -Hack Race. For this event there
were only two entries, and Edward Jordan,
Ron of Mr. C. E. Jordan, mining agent, rode a
horse belonging to Mr. Johnston, publican,
Lauriston. Just about the same spot where the
previous accident occurred the horse shied, and
Jordan was thrown with his head against a
stump, his skull being split open and his throat
receiving some very severe -wounds.- He only,
lived a short time after the .accident. Jordan
was cautioned by his friends, and, having some
misgiving himself, walked the course with the
horse previous to the race. The ground was
very unsuitable for racing, and, where the
accidents took place, is, us the results proved,
an exceedingly dangerous spot. Both lads
were aged 17, and the sad occurrence cast a
gloom over the district.
What was at first supposed to be a brutal
caBe of murder on the part of some person*
attending 'the Friendly Societies' grounds on
21st April, was reported to the police on the
following morning. It appears that a lad who
attended at the 'grounds, early on the 22nd,
in the hope of finding any articles of value
whioh had been lost the day before, noticed
the dead b'jdy of a man lying in a ditch near
the fence. A bulldog which ? had been
sniffing some blood near the ditch attracted
the attention of the lad, who came upon the
body. He at once.reported the matter to the
police and the body : was removed to the
morgue, when it was afterwards identified as
the remains of .Thomas Watson, a stonemason,
aged 18 years, residing at Emerald-hill.
From the appearance of the place in tho;
vicinity of the body it seemed at first pro
bable that the deceased had been murdered.
There were marks of a struggle, the ground
was cut up a good deal and there was a clot
of blood some yards away from the ditch.
Added to this there were marks of violence on
the body. . The face was scratched and bruised,
and there we're: appearances of rough1 -usage on
the chest. The'Iad who found the body'stated
that lie saw the deceased fighting witli some
other men in the gardens the day before. They
had called him ' Flossy.' :. From the state
ments made by William -Wood and James
Pnce, two residents of Emerald-hill,
suspicion rested upon a man named
'['ham Watson as being conriectedwitli'th'S'1
affair. ^ Watson was. arrested on a charge of
gambling, and upon the circumstances Bur
rounding tho finding of the body coming under
the notico of tho police a second charge of
Violently assaulting tho deceased was brought
against him and he -was detained in the look
up. At tho inquest it transpired that de
ceased wn3 intoxicatod on tho clay of the
?Wght Hours Fat'o, and had been fighting in

the grounds. The coroner in Humming up tha
evidence, said there could be no doubt but that
the cause of death was suffocation. The man
had most probably fallen into the trench, Btill
it was possible that he had been thrown into it.
It was evident that he was insensible.- partly
from the effects of drink and partly from the
effects of the blows he had received during the
fight. The man had clearly not been murdered,
for although there were scratches ' and bruises
on the body there were no marks of violence
found to warrant any such. assumption. He
had either fallen or been thrown into the
trench on his face, and the cutting was too
narrow, being only 2J feet in width, to admit
of his turning over, and he had thus been suf
focated. After a short consultation the jury
reurned a verdict of accidentally suffocated.
William Watson was accordingly discharged
from custody.
A distressing suicide by shooting took place
on Thursday, 4th May, about eleven o'clock, at
Lygon-street.Carlton, tho victim of his own rash
handbeing.TohnThomas Blencowe,a tailor, who
has carried on business there for some years. It
appears from what we are able to learn that
recently the wife of the deceased had suspected
that he had been paying undue attentions to a
younggirlworkinginhisshop,hehaving,itis8aid,
on one occasion taken her to the theatre. Mrs.
Bloncowe accordingly went ? to the girl's
mother about it, and induced her to take her
daughter home. This seems to. have affected
Blencowe very much, and caused much domes
tic trouble, making him behave in a strange
manner towards his family. The deceased held
the rank of sergeant. in the Carlton Rifles, and
attended drill on Wednesday, 3rd May, at the
orderly room. On his return he bought a
bottle of wine and drank it, an unusual
thins for him to do, as ho wns a striotly sober
man. He went to bed about ten o'clock. On
rising on Thursday morning his manner was ex
ceedingly strange, and ho refused to allow the
shop to be opened, but on. his wife
insisting he sent her the keys. He partook
of a little refreshment in his bedroom, after
which he went down into the yard and paced
moodily up and down for some time, returning
at length to the house. A person entered the
shop, but. he refused to see him, and sent
Mrs. Blencowe to attend upon him. She had
hardly turned her -back when she heard the
report of a rifle near the kitchen door. She
scroamed for help, and fell fainting on the
floor. Constable Dawson Thompson was on
duty near ? the'place, and on entering by the
back gate beheld a sickening spectacle — the
body of the deceased lying stretched on the
kitchen -floor, with- his brains scattered about
tho apartment, while his volunteer rifle lay
beside him. Dr. Leonard was hastily sum
moned, but of course the man was past all
aid.' An examination showed that he
had put the muzzle of the weapon to
his left eye, as that side of his head was
completely burst out. The shot had travelled in
a diagonal direction, and death must have
been instantaneous. . The deceased, who was
53 years of age, had been married twice,
and he leaves a grown up son and
daughter by his first marriage. He
was a man of quiet and inoffensive habits, and
was much respected in the neighborhood,
wheie much sympathy is felt for his unfortu
nate widow. An inquest was held on May 5,
before Mr. Candler, the district coroner, and
the jury returned a verdict that the deceased
had shot himself, but there was not sufficient
evidence to show the state of his mind at the
time.

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