INQUEST.

Evening Star, Issue 3902, 26 August 1875, Page 2

INQUEST.

An inquest was held at the Hospital at noon to-day, before Mr T. M. Hocken, District (<orouer, on the body of Alexander Jeffrey, which as stated in our last issue, was found iu the stream of the Water of Leith. The following evidence wa« jrfven :— Eliza Ann Jeffrey, wife of the deceased, said that she last saw her husband between seven and eight o’clock on Monday night. He then left home to go to the Waterworks, where he had been employed as a laborer for the last couple of months. She tried to induce him to stop at home that night owing to the very severe weather, but he refused. He was thirtyseven years of age at the time of his death, a native of Aberdeenshire, and a watchmaker by occupation. Deceased, who was a man of temperate habits, left six children. John Campbell, manager at the reservoir, deposed that deceased had worked for him for the past eleven weeks, o He left the reservoir to come to town in company with the deceased about six o’clock on Monday evening. Deceased was on the day shift, and had finished his day’s work. They had three nobblers together at Hutchinson’s Hotel, and then parted. This would be about half-past six. John Kilgour, slater, deposed to finding the body of deceased yesterday in the Water of Leith, below the Botanical Gardens. There was a mark across his temple, but no signs of violence on th o body. Dr Yates had examined the deceased’s body but only found one bruise on the head, and that not of a suspicious nature. This had not been caused by a blow, but probably by deceased’s head striking against something in the water. I'he jury found that deceased was “ accidental y drowned.”