CORONER'S INQUEST.

Evening Post, Issue 273, 22 December 1865, Page 2

CORONER'S INQUEST.

An inquest wns held yesterday afternoon before Dr. Boor, Coroner, at the Thistle Inn, Thorndon Flat, on view of the body of a man named Alexander Hay, painter, who had died suddenly that morning. After the jury were sworn, the following evidence was given :— William Weir sworn, said — I have known the deceased for the last six months, he wa9 a painter by trade, and lived in Mulgravestreet ; about ten days ago he did not rise at his usual hour, and complained of headache ; by the advice of his mates he took medicine, and went to work afterwards ; on Monday and Tuesday last, the 18th and 19th, he still complained of pain in his head ; I spoke to him yesterday, at dinner time ; he was not at -work thai day, he was in bed reading the paper ; it was between twelve and one a.m. ; he got up in the afternoon, and went out, and when I came home at five o'clock, he was in bed unconscious and ¦ moaning ; I spoke to him and he did not answer ; I bathed his head with water for a quarter of an hour, and as he did not seem to come round, I went for a doctor ; |Dr. Boor attended, and when he returned, he breathed heavily once, and seemed dead ; lam a carpenter, and live in the same house with deaceased -, myself and mates often asked him to see a doctor, but 1 believe he did not attend to our wishes ; he told me he had been two or three times to a chemist, and had got some pills and a black draught. William York sworn, deposed— l am a carpenter living in Mr Vaughan's house, Mul-gravc-street ; I have known and lived with

deceased for the last three months ; he appeared to me to be in ill health for the la** ten days, complaining of headache ; I it r him last on Monday, the 20th instant. Dr. Eilgour sworn," said— l am a doctor of medicine, practicing in Wellington ; I received an order from Dr. Boor, Coroner, to hold a post mortem examination on the body of the deceased. Upon opening the head an abscess was discovered in the right half of the brain, in direct connection with a deposited bone, and other marks of inflammatory action at a point within the skull, directly opposite to the mark of the external injury ; the abscess was large, and a considerable quantity of matter flowed from it ; it did not appear to me to be of recent formation ; I I believe tbe abscess to be quite sufficient to ! cause death at any time ; the brain round the abscess was very soft. Thomas Kinsella sworn, said— l am a corporal in the Wellington Police Force ; I received information of a death in the rear of Mr Vaughan's house, in Mulgrave street ; on the 20th instant, about 8.30 a.m., I proceeded to the house and saw the body of a man dressed, lying on a mattress on the floor; I saw no marks of violence on the body, and no appearance of any disturbance ; I examined the body, and found on his person, in his trousers' pocket a purse containing six £1 notes and half a sovereign, in the other pocket, five shillings in silver aud four-pence in coppers, and in the purse I found a bank receipt of the Bank of New Zealand for £141 sterling, a small key and watch seal, also a silver watch and chain. William York being recalled, said—Deceased about two months ago told me that when he was a young man he was firing a gun off, when it burst and inflicted a wound by the side of the nose, a scar of which now remains ; I believe him to be about 28 'years of age. This .was all the evidenct adduced. The Coroner then said the evidence was so clear that it was useles to make any remarks upon the case. The jury found a verdict that the deceased Alexander Hay, age 28, came by his death from natural causes, brought on by abcess on the brain.

Mr. Deck will* preach iv the Oddfellows' Hall on Christmas Day — in the morning- at eleven, and in the evening at half-past seven o'clock. Notics is given by the Registrar, under the Dog Nuisance Act, that badges for the year 1866 will bo ready lor delivery and registration en or before the Ist of January next. The Banks will be closed on Tuesday, 26th instant. The Committee of Management for the Caledonian Games are actively preparing for New Year's Day. An advertisement elsewhere calls for tenders for renting sites for booths, &c, &c. We understand^ that those gentlemen who placed their names, on the subscription lists are cheerfully paying up, and now that the celebration of the New Year is decided on, the committee are receiving every assistance from thoie who hitherto doubting the success of the movement, held aloof. The s.s. Wanganui, Captain Lowe, sailed last night for Wanganui. His Honor the Superintendent of Wellington Was a passenger by her. The s.s. Wellington is due to morrow from Picton, Nelson, Taranaki, and the Manukau ; also, the Lord Ashley, from the South. The mails for Canterbury, Otago, and Southland, will close on Sunday next, at ten o'clock.

The Appetite op a Fish. — The labrum is a fish mentioned by Fliny, and rather vaguely described as a kind of ravenous fish, seeing that every fish is by nature utterly and entirely ravenous. The elegant trout who flies in the wildest terror if you show the tip of your nose, will eat nearly his own weight of bleak and dace on a hot still June evening. A pike has been known to rush at a fish well-nigh the size of himself, and even to dash at a mule's nose! I have .known a fishingfrog lose its life in an insane attempt to swallow a wooden scoops the proprietor of of which objected to the preceding. It is but a short time since an account appeared in the Times of a fish which had swallowed among other matters, two % broken bottles, a quart pot, a sheep's head, a triangular piece of earthenware, and a lobster, while in its liver the spine of a skate was comfortably embedded ! — Dickens's All the Year Round.