A Shocking Case.

Hastings Standard, Issue 79, 28 July 1896, Page 2

A Shocking Case.

BODY OF AN INFANT FOUND. SUSPICIOUS CIKCUMSTANCES. Yesterday afternoon as some plate layers were returning home from work, at a point on the line a little beyond the gasworks near the Makirikiri creek, one of them (Mr Sullivan) thought he heard a noise as of some substance falling from the culvert, and stopping the trolly he and a man named Musgrove descending discovered a bundle wrapped in a piece of old petticoat and tied with a string. On removing a portion of the covering they were horrified to discover a human ear, and a little further investigation proved the parcel to contain the remains of a newly born baby in a most advanced stage of decomposition. The men replaced the body, and hurrying into town reported the affair to Sergeant Mitchell. The Sergeant, with Mr Sullivan, acting as guide, at once proceeded to the spot, and having placed the re,J mains in a small sack brought them back to Hastings. Dr Tosswill submitted the remains to an external examination, and reported it to be that of a fully-developed newly-born female infant, and had lain in the water between a week and fourteen days. The matter had been reported to the Coroner, by whose order a post mortem was made by Dr Tosswill. From the appearance of the body there can be no doubt that the child, which had only lived an hour or so, and had not received the ordinary attention given to newly-born babes. The entire surroundings of the case are of an extremely suspicious nature and the police are investigating the circumstances connected with it.