THE WELLINGTON STOIC

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1411, 19 November 1886, Page 2

THE WELLINGTON STOIC

Wkllinoton, November 18. At the inquest on the body of Henry Andrews, who d:ed yesterday. Dr Pemberton stated that he was called to see Andrew* on Saturday. In reply to witness, deceased stated that he had been burned, and he then exposed he injured parts. Witness fou-d, to his astonishment, that the man had received very extensive bums about-the lowest part of the abdomen extending round the buttocks and embracing the inner side of the thigh. Witness saw that no practical treatment had been adopted, and was astonished at the way in which deceased made light of his injury. Be seemed to think that he could be cured in a week by most simple treatment. Witness explained to him the -prions nature of hts Injuries and advised him to go to the Hospital, where he was accordingly taken next morning. Bis stst?ment as to how it had occurred was vory vague although his bram appeared .o be perecdy clear He said that he rtruck ama'ch and set fire to the valance of the bod and had been burned that way, but he afterwards spoke of having get s out riding and thus chafed himself at the injured parts; This seemed to wi ness preposterous, as the injury fiom the burns was so severe and extensive that witness could not conceive how a man suffering so acutely ooold ride at all. Witness had no hope for his survival after having ex amined the deceased, for that he saw that the mm was almost certain to d e from suppuration. Frank Orespin, son of diseased’s landlady, deposed that Andrews, on the Prince of Wales' Birthday, complained of soreness. On Thursday he rspeated his previous ocmpla nts as to stiff lass and soreness, and witness obta’n -d for him carbolic oil and a puff box, with which to apply Puller’s earth. On Friday deceased «as no better. la the evening he got oat of bed in witness’s p esenco, and witness noticed for ths first time thit his nightshirt was covered with some kind <.f matter. Witness insist id upon an ex* amination as to the cans < of his sufferings. Deceased than sa-d, I’ll tell you, but I’ll not tell anyone else. I am afraid that your mother would be vexed about it.” He then explained thit when he returned from hi# rHe on the afternoon of the Prince of Wales’ Birthday he felt very sore* He rubbed some vaseline over him. White he was undressed he struck a match to light a oigarett-*, when the head came off, and ignited the valance of the bed and also caught his shirt. He then lost ail presence of mind, and was not quick enough to pub it out before It had burned him severely. At witness’s request hs showed the extent of his injury, and witness told him he ought to consalt a doctor at once. Deceased treated bis injury lightly, and witness applied carbolic oil and ointment to his wound which he repeated twios during the night, when he also gave him water.- He appeared to be enduring great pain, though he would not acknowledge it. On Saturday morning ha still said he did not think it was necessary that he shoald see a doctor, and at midday he was some what easier. In reviewing the evidence the Coroner said that the case was one of ths most wonderful that he had ever met with. He would scarcely have thought it possible that a man ooald have endured such suffering as deceased must have undergone without making more complaint; but It could be understood that a man who was given to secret drinking, and who lived wlta a family so strict in its ways, would, after injuring himself through carelessness, become so shocked and frightened of exposure that he would bear up against a great deal of suffering under such circumstances. He (the Ooroner) believed that having injured himself in this way deceased, though suffering frightful torture, had still, for the sake of bis character and good name, borne it without oomolalnt. His agonies must have been like those of a martyr, but the inducement being very great he kept the matter to himself. All possible Mention had been shown to him by the people with whom he lived, and the cause )f death could not have other than accidental. The jury returned a verdict to the ■ffeot that deceased met his death from ;be effects of burns accidentally caused 1 >y himself. 1