AN EXTRAORDINARY BUNGLE ABOUT A BURIAL.

Gisborne Times, Volume V, Issue 85, 18 April 1901, Page 3

AN EXTRAORDINARY BUNGLE ABOUT A BURIAL.

[N.Z. Herald.] The violent death of William James Codling this week, by throwing himself over the Cemetery Bridge, was succeeded by quite as extraordinary circumstances before he was finally buried, as the following narrative will show. The circumstances are stated, not with the intention of fastening blame upon anyone, but in the hope that the publicity given will prevent their recurrence. The inquest on Codling was held on Thursday afternoon, the day the body was found, and as the body had not been identified, the Coroner issued his warrant to the police for the burial of an unidentified body. All unidentified bodies are buried by the Charitable Aid Board, unless sufficient money is found upon the body, and the police accordingly gave I the warrant to Mr Strathern, inspector to the Board, who instructed Mr Dickenson, contractor for funerals to the Board. Mr Dickenson on Friday mornin" went to the City Council, paid his fee, and the City Council officials telephoned out to open a grave in the public section of the Waikumete Cemetery. In the meantime, on Thursday night, at eight o’clock, the deceased’s father and sister had gone to the morgue and identified the deceased

as son and brother. They state they asked the police present if they could remove the body before daylight, and were informed that they could remove the body as soon as they liked. They left the morgue and went to Mr Little’s, Hobsonstreet, that night, and instructed him to carry out the funeral arrangements. Mr Little promised ho would bring the body as soon as possible during the night to Mrs Lowe's residence. Mr Little went about ten o’clock the same evening, taking a trap and a coffin to remove the body from the morgue, calling on the way at the High-street police station for the key. On application for it the police rang up to the barracks for the officer on duty at the inquest, asking if the body might be removed. Mr Little states he was informed that the reply received was that the body could not be removed till the following - day at eleven o’clock by verbal announcement. On Friday morning at nine o’clock Mr Strathern noticed in the Herald that the body of deceased had been identified at eight o’clock the previous night. He went^ 1 at once to the High street police station, and stated that as the body had been identified the Charitable Aid Board would

leave the relatives to attend to the burial, unless it were shown that they were unable to do so. At half-past eleven o’clock on Friday, Mr Little went to the High street police station for the key of the morgue, to remove the body. Mr Little states that the sub-inspector said that ho did not know the body had been identified. Mr Little replied that the relatives were not responsible for that; and the body had been identified at eight o’clock the previous evening by deceased’s father and sister. Mr Little removed the body from the morgue, coffined it, and removed it to the

residence of Mrs Lowe, deceased’s sister. On arrival ho found that the relatives had not obtained the warrant for the burial, and he had not received it. About four o’clock Mr Little got a message from the High street police station, asking by what authority he had removed the body. Mr Little replied that he had got permission either from the officer in charge of the High-street police station, or a sergeant. Mrs Lowe went at length to the Charitable Aid Board and demanded the warrant. Mr Strathern said that ho could not give the warrant to her, as the coroner’s warrant had been given to Mr Dickenson, tho contractor for the Board, and referred her to the subinspector of police. Mrs Lowe then went to tho police station and demanded the warrant. The sub-inspector told her that he would have to get the warrant initialled by the coroner, and the proper name of deceased filled in. About six o’clock that night (Friday) a constable left the warrant at her residence, and she at once took it to Mr Little, but at that

hour he of course could not bury the body, although the grave was dug in the Anglican Cemetery, and it had to re-

main where it was. It was subsequently decided to hold the funeral on Sunday, to enablo the deceased’s two brother's, who reside at Whangarci and the North Capo respectively, to arrive in Auckland and be present at the funeral to pay the last tokens of respect. A singular incident of this case is that, although Codling was supposed to have met with his death on Wednesday night, 'the body seemed so perfectly natural that the friends refused to have deceased buried until a medical man had examined the body. Mr Little called in Dr Parkcs,' who made a close examination, and decided that the man was dead. The only-token of death .was'the-appearance of the retina of the eye, and' the appearance of the body to Mr Little was exactly the same as when- he removed it from the morgue on Friday forenoon. After all, William James Codling now sleeps peacefully at rest in tho Anglican ComotcTy, Symonds-street. It might bo well toadjourn the inquests on unidentified bodies till tho day after they are found. The coroner (Mr Gresham) has made an excellent suggestion that - the features of unidentified bodies' should be photographed, and the suggestion is under the consideration of the Justice Department with a view to its probable adoption.