CHRISTCHURCH.-CORONER'S INQUEST.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 255, 11 April 1855, Page 5

CHRISTCHURCH.-CORONER'S INQUEST.

vAn'inquisition was taken-by the Coroner and a jury of the inhabitants of-Christchurch on Friday the :6th, aifd7by .•".adjournment on Monday th'eTyth, on/the body of-the Be v. J. Twigger, whose body.-'was7found.'- on Thursday entangled in weeds hear the cemetery bridge after having been:missing over a fortnight.

The evid ehqe; shewed that the deceased who was ■unfortunately mnch given to intoxication, left the "'.White Hart public house, on Wednesday the 2lstMarch, about midnight, in company with a man named Thompson,-who parted with him at the corner of Cashel and Durham street. ; Thompson heard deceased splash in to a puddle, arid heard bim exclaim, "I'm into it then." In answer to some observation of Thompson's, he said," All right, my boy, God bless you." A little further on, was another larger puddle extending across the road. This oue lie was not heard step into, but Thompson explained that >from the nature of the ground./. He was then parted from deceased Ivy a gully and rising ground. On heaving next morning that deceased was missing, he examined the locality arid arrived at the conclusion that in endeavouring to avoid the second puddle he had got on to the btmk and gone over it.

Dr. Barker who had examined the body externally, said, that the clothes of deceased were quite undisturbed, his shirt front and wristbands buttoned, his 'waistcoat was buttoned with the exception of the lowest button, neck tie neatly tied, and with the exception of a slight bruise in the knee, no markof violence whatever.

The appearance of the body was that of one submerged about the period, that had elapsed between the missing and the finding of Mr. Twigger, and although the stage of decomposition precluded a certain conclusion, the appearances were'quite consistent with that of a body a fortnight drowned, and of ione who had perished by drowning.

Mr. Hart, landlord of the White Hart, said deceased was in the.habU_at taking as many as 20 glasses of s.piHts^and water in a day at his house. The day of hl£ .disappearance he had not had move than 5. Hetiml been very drunk the day before, and did uot get up until late in

the day. Mr. H. remarked that he was soberer# than he bad seen him for many a day. Elizabeth Barnett said, that qri the night Of 'Mf. Twigger's disappearance she heard a noise as of some one suffocating in water. As she had been much frightened by a drunken rrikvoi | on- the previous night, she did riot get up; 7 Sli^ heard no other noise. On the evening previous to the finding of the body, on going down rto7 the river sidieto draw water, she saw floating down the river an object, which she thought- ; looked like a body. 'She culled to a passer by : but he did;not hear, and she was too alarmed-to / speak to any one on the subject. This7was-/ nearly opposite the newspaper office; (This wit-7 7 riess was called as an opinion had gained ground' 77/ in Christchurch, that tlie river was too shallow 7 at the island - for the body to pass. The diffi- 7 culty was imagiriary, whichwas confirmed by Barrett's testimony.) ~ 7 7 A; witness was called to inquire about some noises heard about the time" of the supposed drowning, but as some drunkenmen were known 7 to be about, nothing was elicited of any importance. After hearing several witnesses more:or less relevant to the iuquiry, theCoi-oner summed? ; upYexplaining that where direct testimony was impossible, circumstantial evidence, if complete , and consistent, must supply its place.1 7He^ shewed that the pidceedings of the unfortunate gentleman were explained by direct testimony :up to past midnight;'that although; some witriessesbad said that dieceased's knowledge of the road was so precise that.he had described and named every inequality of the route, and in a state:bf7 complete/ intoxication had 7in dark nights reached home without accidentj yet bii the occasion in -/question he had, as direct evidence shewed, missed his way and gone into a j^/ddle. An examination of tbVsoot l__Li^~^4r-

-pv-^-r—-~-i^____ ___^—- —— —- j---- SantiWn that if lie had"endeavoured to avoid the7next and larger puddle, he might have easily walked" over the bank, as just at that spot the path was flush with the roadv tile raised footway terrriitiatirigjiisit at that7place. Evidence, and their own exariririation had convinced them tliat the/ passage of the body over7lhe shallows was quite' easy, and/ ator about the time when a'body might be expected to rise, the: body had been found, and a witness had seen a similar object in transitu^ The bod/y; was without'any exiernal matks of violence, and the dress not at all deranged; :He left it tbtlieyury whether this train/ of/circumstantial evidence was sufficient: to warrant them in a verdict that the deceased accidentally fell info the river and was drowned: If not, they must leave the matter open by a verdict cif Found drbwried—a conclusion at all times unsatisfactdiy, as being in fact no result,: but necessary' when the evidence was insufficient for a more decided conclusion. The jriry^upon; eriquii-y, were found to be about eqiudly dividedbetween: the two opinions. After some considerable time spent in explanation and reading the evidence over again, the jury were locked up. Some two- hours "after, they agreed to a verdict' of Accidental Death, to which' by way of rider, the following presentment was added— £The undersigned being a Jury empannelled to inquire into the causes of the death of Joseph Twigger, present that the state of the bank of the river is imminently dangerous to the lives of persons travelling after dark, and desire to urge the attention of the authorities to the necessity * of causing a railing, or some other protection, iinmediatelv to be erected, extending from Hereford Street to'the bridge opposite the Royal Hotel.''

It was mentioned in the room that several accidents bad occurred at or near the spot where the deceased was presumed to have met with the accident.— From a Correspondent.