Riponshire
Advocate 16th July 1887
The eldest
son of Mr George Topper of Beaufort met with a peculiar accident on Monday
afternoon last. He was out shooting and a he approached The Dukes Company
Mine, he was hailed by an acquaintance.
Topper went
to the landing stage and commenced a conversation and while standing there,
rested the butt of his loaded gun on a slab. In a few moments the gun which
Topper still held in his hand by the barrel slipped off the slab and the
hammer of it being well down on a cap caught the edge of the slab and the
weapon went off.
The charge
entered Topper's clothing at the hip and ripped coat vest and underclothing
to the shoulder and the shot catching his left ear slit it open in such
a manner as to leave the shape of an ear only imaginable. Upon closer examination
it was found that some flesh of young Toppers left breast was completely
shot away and a shanghai which he carried in his pocket was torn to shreds.
It is fortunate that the injuries were not more serious not to say
fatal. The force of contact with the slab broke the hammer of the gun clean
off.
Two pears
grown by Mr. Topper weighed 2½ lbs & 1¼ lbs each.
