CORONER'S INQUEST.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1269, 23 August 1872, Page 2

CORONER'S INQUEST.

f _ . An v inquest :;was^e^^^^bjon Hotel yesterday, as 1 ; to theufcatufeifif ~ the death of a woman riamed'Aiice^ox. f) 'tn the absence of Mr Revell,Mrseid,>J,P., officiated as Coroner. Mr Edwin Ashton

was the foreman; of ;,the jury. The x followingi was the evidence :— -a'l - *i

Joseph Tatlock Croft J'taim^prdprietor of the rifle gallery, Mawhera Quay..,. The deceased, Alice Fox, vras ni^ 'daughter, and lately lived with liie as partner in my business. On Wednesday morning'she complained of being ill.' She said she hiuL. not slept since four o'clock; iin the "morn*-" *rig, that her liver was oiit of 1 ''order;' and that she had been retching all moating. At her wish I made a*mustard bliste^Pbr her, and put it^.d^h|ri*ight side. , She kept it on for She continued ill during^tne^day, and about iyein the evening, I went r to call rDr Morice, but he was not at home. About twenty minutes afterwards liagain' called, but failing to find him; I told her I should go. to Mr Williams, the druggist, and' get " somethinig that . might Vafford her relief. I described to Mr ; Williams the -symptoms as told me ?by ; ; the deceased—that she had pain in her liver and kidneys, and a fearfully bad paiir between the shoulder-blades. He gave me the -mixture produced, of which I gave her a table-spoonful.- 'She was then sitting up in bed, and held the spoon while' I filled it. In about a quarter of an hour afterwards she was again vomiting, as she had done during most of the day, About half an hour afterwards I went to her bedside, and, finding her pulseless, I called Mrs Taylor and Dr Morice; The doctor 'came and pronounced her de;^ was with me, during the last nine" weeks, she received no iUitreatrnen'fcthafc'l know 1 of., I r knpw jOf.nojeauad for; a^y^ black mark oh tiei^jn^ S)ie^as shown me her arms sometimes blade marks, which she said had been caused by men pinching her^fm^wKfeh'intHe 1 gallery. Her general health had been good. She' was a married 1 woWaty M for •sy veral years been separated- fjgm her husband. She was in the habitojf.gtmig to the bar fo» drinks when do so, but I never saw her in£slcioaiear She was,abput thirty-twT) years of 'age; 1 Ji ' n Dr. Morice : About 20 minutes to 7 o'clock last evening 1 was called to the White Horse Hotel/ I found there, on a bed or stretcher, the body of the deceased. tion. The body was livid. There was an old abrasion on the right ankle, r ,which had just healed. There was a bruise on the , right'breast, M and two bniisea on the left arm.) The bruises*were Borne days'old. I opened the head. There wasrsome effusion of blood on the right aurf ace/ 'The brain substance was much congested, and there Was a" (f "small 1 extrayasteu 1 ' of ' blood near the' front of the righi ventricle. Tfie liver and kidney3.,were. much, congested. The stomach contained about two ounces of a fluid of a glutinous consistency; The cause of death was effusion onthe brain«L_ By Sergeant M'Ennis : I d 6 ■ not thmili^ the external bruises had .anything to do with., the cause of death. I saw the niixture. produced,. by^heE^hedaide.^-I cannot describe by -merely smeUing or tasting it what 'it 'consia'ts of. I gave Oie stomach to the police. . Hanwell^ Williafas, chemißtV ICrfff, owner of the shooting 1 gallery, came_ tb my shop ,about half-past fiy,e hut, evening, He sai<f his" 'daughter' was simering from pain in the back and could keep nothing on her stomach, and ,tha^ she. complained of suffering in her liver and kidneys. The bot^e I ,pr^duced^, l co i nta^.,,^,/mj^are which I gave to hui^ i TheKmixiure^is composed of bicarbonate bf. potash, 1 dram ; .hydrocyanic acid, 64ropSy; spirito of nitre, £oz; ' tinlcture^oi henbane^^ drams; syrup, \oz\ camphor water to 4oa; one table-spoonful every three or four hours; signed jYSJaake, the mixture bej fore pouring outi" Mr Williams made a special request to the Coroner that the .bottle. ,. of jmixture should" be sealed, Kept in possession of ti^poliQe, r aiii &rH^ded^to.JS^llingtoa for analysis, thecexp^nse^pf whichhe^ was preparea'tb pay. ■ He 'was most aesirous that this ./equest , should.pbe , Complied with*. 1 ' M • ' 'H v The Coroner .saidrtha^ ep^ax there was nothing in the evidence' to indicate that death was even remotely attributable to the medicine-taken -by * the 'deceased. If anything did come out in the evidence, the medicine would ; be retained 'by the police r and-sent to^Vellington-at'the'eX" pense of the .Government.; .He^ .thought, however/'tW Wfer> 'iu^tide ''should be done to^ Mr Williams, and, though.Jthere was'apparentiy "npireiasbn fjbr' hia^requesl being complied' with, he (the Coroner) would take a note of the desire 'he expressed, and duly record it along with the evidence. J! ■ ' ' ' '' The jury concurred in the view taken '* by the Coroner, and Mr Williams, though *. still anxious that there should be, for his protection, the most "perfect inquiry as to the nature of the mixture, expressed himself satisfied with hw. public and formal application being so recorded. Dr Morice, being recalled; I have heard theeviaence of the last witness: 1 I

consider there was no danger in giving the deceased such a mixture in such doses as described. By the Police : I do not think there is any reason for an adjournment of the inquest, for the purpose of an examination of the stomach. By the Coroner : Dr Smith was with me at the post mortem examination, and agreed with me as to the cause of death. By the Foreman : I have already said that I do not think, the bruises on the body contributed in any way. to her death. ' ' 7 Sarah Taylor, of the White Horse Hotel, in reply to questions by the police, said : I knew of no iU-aaage that the deceased had received. Her father and the deceased had had some words on Saturday night at a late hour. I did not hear her, father's voice, but. heard. her screaming. I was asleep and it awoke me. I heard no words except the name of Mr Taylor called out by the deceased. Mr Taylor went to her.' I never knew of any words between them previously. She took drink occasionally — generally gin — but I have not known of her being drunk. Her brother lived with us some weeks. The deceasedand he were on good terms. . James, Taylor : The deceased, whom I have known for nine or ten weeks, appeared to be in her usual health till the day of her death, -tT Hot father and she seemed to live on cood terms, with the exception of one night last week—Thursday, I think— when 1 was awoke by Mrs Taylog saying that; Jpj9; was beating Alice. I forced? open his door. He was standing on the floor, dressed. I asked him if he had been beating Alice, and spoke to him sharply Ift W Ms ; cAhducf/in tHe event of his having done so. He made no reply. She was in bed, and made no complaint. She *f toanodaiihowed m&» mark on her arm which she said had been caused on that night. I heard that Oroft had had _. ' some drink, but He was riot intoxicated. The deceased took more drink than was, perhaps, prudent for a woman to do. The aeceasea never complained to me of any bruise, on her breast. _ , „ , iT j* This conducted the evidence, 'and, nn reply to the Coroner, the foreman of the jury said that there appeared to be no necessity for an analysis of the medicine, or of an adjournment of the iuquest for that 'purpose.! :: i < ; f£ The jury, after a few minutes' consultation, returned a verdict to the effect that death had been caused by effusion on the brain. „..,..