Compiled by Cameron McCullough
BEFORE Cr. W. Stephens, (Deputy Coroner) an inquest was held at the Carrum police station on Wednesday last; to enquire into the circumstances surrounding, the, death of Stanley Ralph Carr, who was drowned on the previous Monday in a water hole at the junction of two drains near McLeod road.
Constable Feehan conducted the case for the Department.
The first witness, William Carr, father of deceased, residing at Station street, deposed that on the 3rd inst. he went to the scene of the fatality. There he saw four boys, one of whom was unknown to him.
Constable Feehan: They were the sons of Mr. Warren?
Witness: Yes.
Constable Feehan: What were they doing?
Witness: They were standing on the bank of the water hole.
Constable Feehan: You spoke to them?
Witness: Yes. I asked: “Where is
Stan?”
Constable Feehan: Meaning your son?
Witness: Yes.
Constable Feehan: What did they say ?
Witness: They replied: “In the water hole,” and pointed to the centre of the water. “I asked them,” continued witness, “if anyone, had been in with him, and one of them said: “No”.
Constable Feehan: You do not know which one?
Witness: No; I asked if Stan had his clothes on; they said he took his clothes off and put them on the bridge.
To Constable Feehan: Had inspected the clothes, and recognised them as the ones which his son had been wearing. The other boys had shown him (witness) the point at which the unfortunate Stan had entered the water; the marks of the lad’s feet were visible in the mud at the spot indicated.
Constable Feehan: .What did you do then?
Witness: I went for assistance.
Constable Feehan: When you returned, was there anyone there?
Witness: Yes, but I didn’t know them.
Constable Feehan: Did anyone go into the water hole?
Witness: Yes, two men.
Constable Feehan: They could not find the body?
Witness: No.
Constable Feehan: Later you saw the body on the bank and identified it as that of your, son ?
Witness replied in the affirmative and gave the age of his late son as being 10 years, 11 months.
Constable Feehan: Your son could not swim?
Witness: No.
Alice M. Carr (single), of Station street, Carrum, in the course of her evidence, stated that her brother Stan on the day in question, came home from school and she had lunch with him; he was then in his usual health.
He went out and returned about 1pm he (witness) saw the three Warren boys go up McLeod road, and they spoke to Stan. That was the last I saw of my brother, added the witness.
Poulsen, painter, Church street, Carrum, said that at the time of the occurrence he was not far from the bridge, and when a boy came and told him of what had happened he got his eldest son, L. M. Poulsen who dived into the water hole, but could not see deceased.
To Constable Feehan: The Warren boys showed him where the lad had gone down, and he (witness) did not requisition the services of a boat, but fished for the body off the bank.
To Deputy Coroner: There was a large schnapper hook attached to the line, and after the third attempt, about 4pm, the body was brought to the surface.
Constable Feehan: What depth do you think the water could be?
Witness: Thirteen feet.
Constable Feehan: Did the hook hurt the body?
Witness: No, it caught deceased under one of his arms.
Robert Leslie James Warren, 11 years old, of McLeod road, Carrum, made the following statement:
In company with my two, brothers, I went to the front of Carr’s shop and saw Stan standing there.
He said: Come here, I want to tell you something. Come for a swim.
We four went to the water hole.
To Constable Feehan: When we got to the water hole, Stan said: “Come on, get undressed and go in.”
He (witness) felt the water, and remarked: “I’m not going in, it’s too cold,” to which deceased said: “Come on, get undressed, sugar baby, I am going to be first to break the ice.”
Stan then undressed, saying: “I’ll show you how to swim.” He then jumped off the bank into the centre of the hole, and went down, graphically described this juvenile witness.
Constable Feehan: Did he try to swim?
Witness:. Yes, but sank and rose twice to the surface.
Constable Feehan: What did you do?
Witness: I took off my clothes and I waded in as far as my chest, but could not find Stan.
Constable Feehan deposed that when he was informed of the accident he was at Aspendale, and the time was 3.40pm. When he arrived he saw men dragging the water hole. He then went and rang Dr. Le Souef, of Chelsea.
A verdict was returned by the Deputy Coroner (Cr. Stephens): “That deceased met his death by accidental drowning.”
The Cry of the Ratepayers – To-Morrow’ Night’s Indignation Meeting At The Palais
As previously announced in the columns of “The Standard,” an indignation meeting of ratepayers (convened, by request, by the Shire President) will be held in the Frankston Palais to-morrow (Thursday) night, at which speakers from all parts of the Shire will take part and with, it is hoped, that degree of activity which will cause the civic fathers to forcibly realise the truism of their having been “weighed in the balance and found wanting.”
Copious opportunity will be given the ratepayers, even at the eleventh hour, to express their righteous indignation at the desperate financial position in which the Shire is placed to-day, also other council matters, including the vexed water rate question.
“You may fool the people some of the time, but you cannot fool the ratepayers all the time” is a trite phrase to quote; even if slightly transposed; at the present critical juncture of events.
To be candid, to-morrow night’s meeting is no mere canard of fluctuating significance, rather it is the outcome of circumstances founded on bedrock facts pertaining to the lackadaisical manner in which the old and tired councillors, in the past, have eclipsed all records as maladministrators, thus bringing the monetary aspect of affairs to an invidious stage of disastrous element unparalleled in the history of puerile procedure.
Moreover, and as we have emphasised on several occasions recently, despite the grave issues at stake, and the flood tide of having reached the “legal limit,” the party machine attributes still persisted in adopting the played-out game of bluff.
But, at last, the ratepayers have taken the matter into their own hands; thus it may be anticipated that during the proceedings at the Palais to-morrow evening, they will demand their rights, and obtain, at least, a partial degree of satisfaction.
Personal
Mr. Lalor, Frankston’s popular S.M., is, we regret to state, at present laid up. We join in wishing him a speedy recovery.
Mr. Swenser, local manager for Messrs. Chitty & Co., who recently was suffering from indisposition, returned to his onerous duties again this week.
From the pages of the Frankston and Somerville Standard, 5 & 7 Nov 1924