INQUESTS.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume 1, Issue 3, 11 September 1872, Page 3

INQUESTS.

Ax inquest held ye-»1 onlay, nt, the Victoria Hotel, before Oapt:un T'ovey, fJoroner of the district, on tho ill bod*? of Robert Bruton Alkirn-on. |B The follow! g jury was fwovn A loKunder Cook, IB James 800.-h o’‘-reman), tleo*-m> Itedlcrn, Thomas fB iahey. Kdw.vvd »,UtU>, Pat nek Barry, William Grey, ]| John Maxwell, 3 oseph Howard. Henry Ivirk, George *| Young, Da rui li. A 1,. I>i!l, i>sviii Connor, Peter ] I O'Shaughncssy, William Maxwell. After being sworn, < I they proceeded (o view the body, at: the residence of || deceased. On tneir return, the following evidence > I was taken : j| Robert, Herbert Atkinson deposed ; About, half past j| eight o’clock on the evening of Monday, Sentoniber 9, m went to tin' h.mse of vlcciv.acd. Saw nobody, fltruck fll a match and raw deceased lying on (lie floor on his,|| face. Foil, his hand, found it cold, and wont to Mm t adjoining house occupied by a sergeant of the Armec'f Constabulary. Made him acquainted with tho oucuif r<mee, on wmeh ho sent {)’. Armitage. ;■ To the Foreman : 51. y Intht-r sfiß lying with lul- | feme on the lb'or and one leg in rhe bed. Ho wnt'l anto !l»s when in Victoria, but not to nty know* if in New Zealand. * Iji Henry I fali.-tt deposed : About half-past 8 the bmt, ,;| witness calb.-d *’t. n.y house and asked uu to go vthlis| bi n t.o s*-c So.s father in th-.» house adjoining, as ho % though! he "as dead. I liidged !t candle, and found 3 the decease i lying «u the floor hr the rid© of the 1 bunk, with l is s’ tee downwards. The right knee was § on tin* e, Fie bunk. Finding life extinct, I scut 3 for Idr. A raw* o. •: and when he came wo lifted tho 3 body mi to th umdr. 'Fne nose was broken and tho|| face was covered with blood- possession of all if bottles and everything about tho place, and handedtl them ofer to TV. Armitage. |.| To the Foreman : !. am next neighbour to deceased, ill I saw him last alive about half-past 5 on vSaturdoy If. afternoon. Kept--m her 7, iu Mr. Norris's store, IfFred crick WitiuuA Armitage, u. duly qua! i*"d* i medical practitioner, and Member of tho Royaill Collage of Surgeons. ICngland, deposed, that ho wiu;| sent- for on the previous evening (o see dcooiseff Went immodi'itcA, and found him dead in tho po.y p tiou descriood by lari witness. Agisted ro r»wo hint,*; on th© stret-hor. JLfe had evidently fallen, as hio was broken and In's fingers were turning quite bluej'i from which, and the odour, witness judged that ho i must have boon dead two days. Fxamiued him more* 1 carefully the following morning, but found no other : mark of injury. Thought it very probable he bad h id 1 1 an epileptic fit ; that in the convulsions ho bad falhmfpi out of bed, his. feet caught against one of tho and ho was choked with the blood from tho brokeu.3 nose before he could recover from the fit. Did not con- J sidor a post mortem examination necessary. The fall if was a very severe one. as I,lie nose was flattened down on the cheek. Believed the lit to bo tho cause of death, fl He was dressed at the time in all his clothes, loggings #| and boots, lie was lying on the bed, bat not under the clothes. The arms were bent, and tho finger!*?. 1 ! clenched under his chest, as is usual wtlh persona in s li fih _ „ . :; i| James Salt said ho saw deceased about seven o’clock.:® on Saturday, when he said ho was going home i o jl prepare some dinner. Ho was at tho time sensible, 0] sober, and cheerful. Witness was tho last person who Si saw deceased alive. I The jury returned a verdict of, “ Died by fchohlj visitation o God.” ?|j An inque * was held on the body of John Ferraby, jl late of the A nod Constabulary, at the residence of sji Mr. P. Weis , bof ?ra Captain Tovey, Coroner. , A jury was worn in, and Mr. W. R. Bail elected foreman. % W. P. Web deposed to a series of facts connected with the ill-hoaith of deceased, commencing about a $ month previous; and that at the desire of deceased | himself he had invited him to take np his quarters at « witness’s house. This ill-health evidently resulted from excessive drinking, and witness did all in his J power to provide deceased with nourishment, and to wean him from hie diseased appetite. More than.M once during the month past he had broken out against into indulgence, and as often recovered ; but during jy the last attack, his weakness increasing, together with a loathing of food, he failed to rally. Yesterday || morning, when witness and Mr. Anuesley wore assist- || ing him out of bed to dress, his logs failed him, Ida S' head fell back, and he breathed with difficulty, vf Witness then laid him ou the bed, and ran for assist-*- *|. ance; but he was dead «>y 8 o’clock in the mornimr. fi Mr. Remington, chemist and druggist, depof-f i rc f| having visited deceased at his own request, thot rb f*t declined at first to do so. He supplied him withal medicine. Witness described the treatment. AfcT| last, finding that deceased continued to drink largo quantities of spirits, witness loft him, as it was hopeless to contend against tho injurious influence of the, ’ liquor. ■ - Dr. Armitags identified the body, and stated that j the features wero p-acti, and that there wore no marks ~ of violence about his body. Though ho had not attended deceased through his sickness, ho believed',., from information he had gleaned from those him, that death was caused by i excessive drinking.