INQUEST.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 178, 4 January 1875, Page 3

INQUEST.

An inquest took place on Saturday afternoon at the Mitre Hotel, on the body of a man named John Morrison, before Dr Coward, coroner, and a jury, of whom Mr Saunders was chosen foreman. The jury having viewed the body, the following evidence was taken : Jno. McKenzie, master of the brig Wave, being sworn, said —The deceased was an able seaman ou board my vessel. I saw him last alive at 0.30 on January Ist, he was then on board ray vessel and appeared to be in good health and sober, lie had beeu on shore during the evening. I did not see him come on board. I saw him and shook hands with him and wished him a happy new year. At 6 o’clock on Friday morning, W, Williams, the steward, called me and said one of the men was in a fit or dead —he thought dead. I went down and saw at once he was dead. He was laying on his right side, with his head down and his face turned to the mattress, his right arm behind him and his left arm on top. There were no signs of his having struggled in bed, he had his trousers, shirt, and shoes on. All the crew were on board and slept in the same place (the forecastle). During the time he was with me he was generally sober, but was once or twice a little the worse for liquor. He was not under the influence of drink when I saw him, as the last thing he did was to go out on the jibboom and burn a blue light. I have never heard him complain of any illness since he has been with me. Charles McLean, duly sworn, said— I am a boy on board the brig Wave. I knew the deceased, John Morrison, for three mouths. 1 saw him last at 1.30 a.m. on January Ist, in the forecastle. He was not very sober then. I met him on shore about 9 pm. ia the evening. I met him in the street, and we were talking for a while. He was sober then. I saw him go to bed; he was helped in, as he was not able, through being under the influence of drink, to go alone. He had some rum on board the vessel—one glass. He was un able to undress. He had his boots, trousers, and shirt on in the bunk when I saw him last. I slept in the same place. I did not hear him make any complaints during the night. We turned in at the same time, I saw him early next morning. I was called up about 6 a.m. on January Ist; he was then dead. Five others slept on board. I saw him dead on board the ship. I heard no disturbance on board during the night. The deceased had no quarrel that I know of with any others. Since I have known him, he has been a very quiet, sober man, I only saw him undn: the influence of liquor once before. I should think his age was between 35 or 40.

By Jury—l saw him go out on jibboom to let off a blue light on New Year’s eve, about midnight. He got the rum before he went. It was so dark I could not see the condition he Was in when he went out to burn the light. The second mate gave him the rum. I think the rum was mixed with water. Donald McKenzie and John Nichol helped him to bed that morning. William Franks, duly sworn, said—l am an A B on board the brig Wave. I knew deceased John Morrison. I saw him last between half-past one and two on New Year’s morning. He was then on the forecastle. We were all joking together, and he appeared quitp well. He was under the influence of liquor. He had some rum to drink. Between half-past one and two he went to bed. He was not undressed ; he had his waistcoat, trousers, and shoes on. He was laying on his back when he first got into bed. X was Bleeping about six feet from. him. I heard him make no complaint during the night, and do rot know of any quarrel. I saw him have two glasses of rum on board. I did not see him drink any spirits on shore. It was pretty strong. We put some water in, He and I drank it together out of the same pannakin. On shore he had four pints of shandy-gaff from eight o’clock in the evening till about twelve. I saw him go on the jibboom. I was on the foreyard at the time. Ho was quite sober then. I have seen him twice under the influence of drink during the three months I have known him. I never beard him complain of illness, but believe he has been ruptured. He got the rum after he went out on the jibboom, Dr Rouse, duly sworn, said—l was called yesterday morning about half-past seven to see the body of deceased on board the Wave. He was lying in his bunk on his right side, but the upper part of his body turned over on to the face, which was pressed into a hollow on the mattrass. He was quite dead and stiff. I noticed some moisture about the hollow on themattrass.andalsoaboulhis beard and moustache. His face was very black. I noticed a spirituous smell. I performed a post mortem examination of the body this afiernoon. I found the skin over the face, neck, and chest much congested, the small veins bleedipg freely. The loose tissue about the throat was full of blood and air.

The lungs were congested greatly, exuding blood and air. The heart and vessels were healthy. The stomach contained a partly digested meal, and from its appearance. I should think he lived about three hours after taking it. The rest of the contents of the abdomen were healthy. There was a single truss on the right groin, but no protrusion. The brain had a small amount of fluid in the ventricles. My opinion is that he died from suffocation, lying with his face in the hollow of the raattrass. There were no.marks of violence on the body, James Wallace, a constable, duly sworn, said, I went on board the brig Wave yesterday morning about 7.30 a.m. The deceased was laying in his bunk dead, he was lying on his right side, his face was down, his nose and mouth turned in the bottom of the mattrass. The neck of his shirt was so tight I conld not get my finger in between it and the flesh; there was a white stripe round his neck, caused by the tightness of the shirt. This concluded the evidence, and the jury returned a verdict of death from accidental suffocation, in which the coroner concurred.