Inquest.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 20 August 1891, Page 2

Inquest.

i ' . :!' -■■■:■.■ -i.ft. ■■■' .-.;,-: ; , An jnqui.ry into, the dea,tb of ,Wili liam Douglas Smith was coiiifaeaced i yesterday .jao^ing the Court , house,' before the.^Cbjroner, ]£. S. , Thynne^.Es^.:, apd of six. i Mr S,/,ssariup was. ejected iorinan, and Mepsra Honbre, Little, " Bhodes, • W. GV 'Rpjpnspn 1 ' am^ Psborne';were the other members." ....'. 11 The witnesses called were Messrs James Dudsbnyfienry 'Border,* William Hamer, 'Thomas Redmond, B. W; ' Tftibbt.- L P. E/> Jmka -'arid C. Sprang., ... ...,.,.,...,, r , „. James Dudeon deposed to ihaving paid Smith a cheque of £20 0s 6d a fortnight ago, when ftfe left for Foxton. Be -was ;then r in; [good health. ; ; I Henry Border deposed that Smith '<kme for a month's stay at his house. He was then in good health; 'Had received the amount of the cheque in charge. Had given him £5 6s the the day after he arriyedv £1 'the next day, £2 the following day, l the next, and had paid accounts of £4 8s 6d and £1 18s. 6d. There was the balance Of moiiey paid, in hand. Last Friday he complained or the stoppage of his" water; and a s 'dose was obtained from the chemist, and on Saturday this was 1 remedied,. ; He appeared very" ills on Sunday and he sat up with him all night, only going • to bed aTfi^§ eh. Afbtsay mßMlng. He rose" at eight Smitb/was unconscious, and ha died' at it quarter past three.. When he saw him at eight he fetched 'the- chemfsjf 'and constable. ; ' - Smith had- told him that he bad come 1 to layiip abi^asiiehad been hard at work for; some (time. On the firs* Thursday that he arrived he was always calluig* for whisky and gin. He thought he was given to excessive drinking. The constable had directed his attention to the state of the deceased on the following Saturday. The deceased had tried to borrow eeven shillings from him

on the of shirks and socks lie had lately purchased. He had also sold his spectacles for seven shillings and sixpence. He did not take his meals regularly. He was drunk every day the first week he stayed, and during the second week he was not always drunk. William Hamer deposed to having given Hhe deceased a dose and had on Monday telegraphed to Palmerston for a doctor* who, however, could not come. Ho did not think the stoppage of the water- had any- . thing to do with deceased's., death, £. -except as. accele'ratingj*s|[s inflam- - , rnation of the bladder. , rExcessive ; drinking and exposure wotild be the primary cause of the inflammation, . but nothing but a post mortem examination would settle the aptual. cause of death. Thomas Redmond, barman, deposed that he believed the greater part of deceased's money was spen^ in the the house, and that he' appeared as of ter. sober as drunk. He may havejremarked to the constable on Saturday week, when his attention was called to the decea'secl's state, that "he was dead to this world." ,R. W. Talbot deposed that he j never scored lunj- drinks 'up' against deceased. He had been partly drunk and partly sober, whilst staying at the house. . F. E. Jenks deposed that he had 1 . known th^ deceased casually for 14 , or 15 years and had always knbwn him to be a drunken man. : •. . i; ! C, Spring deposed that' deceased ' had'bonl6 : out in the ship. "Oliver Lang " with him $5 years ago . ■ '.He was baker on board. He Avas then known as Smith, but he understood it was an assumed name owing to a disagreement with his father; He never heard him acknowledge to a , wife out here or relations, rl He was about 55 years old, and he was known lor many years as " Whisky Smith." -■ - . -„- , At this stage the jury agreed that it was necessary that a post morljem examination should be made, ,and ( the inquest was adjourned to; 05! o'clock this afternoon to permit i "of this being made.