Inquests.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 22 August 1891, Page 2

Inquests.

An inqileist was h^ld 'at the Albion Hotel Shannon on Thursday to inquire into the death "of Owen McCarthy. Mr Kussell J.P., acted a coroner. Messrs J.lngley, J. ;S. "Wilkinson, J. Bradley, J. Smith, T. McEenzie, A. Kourt and E. Gascoigne were summoned as a jury, and Gascoigne was elected foreman. 1 John Eea a ganger employed' on the Conipahy's line deposed' that -on his way 'to'.vcrk^on'th-e" 18th he saw ■«pme 'clothes lying on the lirieY a ! little ovtar' a mile arid 1 half 'from' Shannon. • 'THfe'e ratl^ farther down J he saw the- body I^irig fl\e feet from 'the l*ails down an enibankment. He reported the matter to the police. The body was dead and cold. Two special trains passed Shannon that night. Was not aware if the engines carried a head light. Osoar Oederlund, a labourer de posed that on the evening of the 17th

he passed on. thfc railway from Shannon to^almerston a man lying on the rails with his chest over the • rails and his head towards the gravSk, He lifted him clear of the line &wt asked him vfrhere he came from, bat got no answer. Believed him too drunk to reply. The man had a gray suit but no hat. '" Edward " Murdoch,"* tebfflttSrtteposed that on Monday afternoon he came from his yfprkJMs- Tom Williams and a man named Gillies and had-a few drinksiogethex. ~3Che deceased came down by train from ;Balmfersto.if aWihad &MM They then hack three. He then left dese^ed^i|^he hotel. He (witness) H^ilid-nbiip^^feceasW was sober -^all^eimy^i^e had said to nim ," you\a^*drlciliit/; > Thomas Gillies a driver deposed that he last saw deceased alive on Monday the 17th. At half past six they had three drinks, following one another pretty smart. Went outside for a few minutes and then returned to the hotel and started " shaking" again, for .drinks,. -.- T^ey shook dice for the first 'th^e^^h^ajjljipne rounds more. THe clecieasie^i drank stout each time. Murdb'cK joined and they had; three /-n^ore. „r . ^tf nine o'clock .tliey. wer.^in??Red .oi^t y o| the hotel. Deceased Had had .dr^nk^ at Palmerston before -he jjpi&il* them. Mr Keith,, his wife^and af yoym|r man, Vereibehind tjhe bar, , o shak- a "^biileing for drinks on the counter, the deceased . was, * drunk." l' The drinks were supplied by those behind the bar. As the deceased waS-gbitig but of .the hotel he was assisted with a push, but did not fall. Archibald' Keith, licensee of the Albion Hotel, deposed he saw the deceased about seven on l^pnday night. He'serve l d hinr : wilih v3 Btout, once, he thought him io.hase- been lively and exciteable, and to have had a littief rfyjuor. r^e/yjeusjs. He stayed in the hotel . two * nours. He thought' he had Md some f more drink at the bar thpughv he : -did not serve him. .He" plowed 1 fne bar at nine o'clock. ... He swore deceased could nq^aiveJ^L^jLs.dfink9rin the house.' .. He .was 'jfyfy &§ stale to walk home,, , Hfs'v son l pus^e|L]fthe deceased out of the Hq&xl '. !f[ 1, * John Walsh deposed tjaftoperj deceased left : his .yprtf (i . s^»n".j^n)fday night' for Palmerston he return on Monday,- f .^Se wfts^native of Ireland and albpirfc y^ara^ pf t f.ge. He had known him for <jb^ { ,las^ : five or six years and .always found* "him steady andnpt aidruqk^rd.j r s y^ Angus Keith^ deposed -t^'at The was f barman iat the .hotel, / deceased for the first .time,. on, {Monday night. ;'He noticed'fee'ha4^ad a little liquor .but was not dr^^; when jbe^am^ in. Seryecl hinii w^tft j^rjnlcs^^eiween half past seveiLand half 'past eight. rEEis; .Mother; N^rjfdjyhjaaFg^i one drink oplyj;;and;hj|s i^pi with one. Would swear f ihese, .were „all the drihkshe had.'v VSvore' t ttfat i aex;eased and witness had' only.had two rounds with the dice. ] - r^« ottuC' Isabella Keith deposed- "that^ she supplied a man ma gra^^BU^ with three glasses of portet,'and ihe'y^Were very small. Did not seej,Jiim supplied with any.more." John Gillespie, deposed, to the finding of the body, ~whioh-~-was terribly v out about. Tljia; deceased he believed must^have lasen{ out of his mind to have taken; 1 off?jfeiS* clothes ' where they were 'fbiind^* and the position they^Were found; In his opinion the deceased'ineliihis A death by being struckrHby the cowcatcher v of the jenigine >whil9fe either or ;lying. onithe:railßv^y; i, wy.xv.ucrt The Jury brought in th^jfoy^ggng verdict ; T --That r^h^rj §ajd^ Owen Macarthy on the flight iP^|fef+ |7th ,of August did tall asleep wjnjs^jlying on th,e rails of the ' Mana;w^a''piail- , way Company's jin^ triea,r. _ Shiwmon and was there, anllj being run over by a.specwilitQck train , passing over Jihe. l l^e, l ,_

<■• • w-.JL. The; adjourned inquest ggr*tajhe cause of the death of William Douglas) Smvfcb, : jtijMs; ir^nie^/a^; five o'clock on Thuxsj|ay afternoon. Joh^MleSpiS deppjie<l ft to having known the decasqd.tf^rjahoukjbwelve years. From -the f ., deceased s statements he jwasiorn in 1827 in England',, He had often said he was . marred. „ He, ; <ha<l, ,^np^n^ lmn., to have always been a heavy drinker. William Bbrmwdale Tripe deposed—l ami a duty<|ua.lij&e# nifidipal practitioner residing ,j?i Wellington. 1 1 hate Jmade apost^pT^Jxexamination of the deceased. The man had had - something the matter wijih his bladder} '"■". SreiimaiediAte cause of death AOaia tfcomj.dise'ase'iof the heart. I found the heart thin, fatty., rand jbbe^leffc Yen^oKilJed i with, / dark /; ijntfoagulate^ J, ,^Brood. Those'are the signs w oftfie failure of . tiori.',of. the chj&a"r£is otken^the.ig^iilt feqn^ exqe3siye*drii|king,' "fiQ^as ip peril of his life at any mo'menf for %±J Jopg: periods I ?put? tt?Y "iqgejl thrpugfe tbewaUjjfitlmiiieart iany ;apparent «eßißtftn<jew [: aaxyao \ ; The" jury , at oaca r^turjwd .that the deceased died;of).lJeftrt^^jß--ease accelerated, byiiezoessiy/! djr^*