CORONER'S INQUEST.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 168, 18 July 1871, Page 2

CORONER'S INQUEST.

| 0 An inquest en the body of the late Mr. Man sob Sinclair was held yesterday afternoon, at the residence of Mr. George Blick, before Lowther Broad, Esq., and a jury consisting of the following gentlemen : — Messrs. AW. Lightfoot (foreman), A. ,S. Braithwaite, J. T. Lowe, A. W. Scaife, W. M. Stanton, J. R. Dodson, E. Everett, W., Stavert, W. C. Hodgson, J, Burnett, J. R. Mabin, W.Milner, and T. R. Fisher. The jury haviafg viewed the body, Robert Shallorass, Ipppector of Police, was called, who stated that on

Tuesday morning last a little before nine, he was at -work in his garden when he heard two reports of firearms, and on looking towards Mr. Sinclair's house, he saw deceased walking away from the back of the house. A minute after he heard a third shot, and immediately afterwards another one. The two last reports came fiom that portion of the paddock which was farthest away from the house. He knew noihing of the accident until some time after. Deceased was frequently in the habit of practising with a pistol in the morning. He saw nothing of him after he walked away from the house .subsequent to the two first shots having been fired. [The pistol was here produced, and proved to be a five-chambered revolver, four of which had been discharged, the fifth being still loaded. The weapon was .a most dangerous one, unless very carefully handled, as it was shown that it would go off at half-cock.] „ Harriet Blick stated that on Tuesday morning Mrs. Sinclair called to, her over the hedge, and said, "Oh\! cope here, Manson is shot," and asked her to send for Dr. Squires, which she did, and ihen went to Mr. Sinclair's house, and found deceased standing up in his bedroom. She caught hold of him and asked how he had done it, to which he replied that it was an accident. She helped to get him into bed. and had nursed him to the time of his death. She never heard him make any remark afterwards as to how the accident had occurred. Firing was frequently to be heard in the neighborhood, and she knew that deceased was 1 in the habit of practising in the morning. W. B. Sealt said, I am a medical practitioner. On Tuesday morning last, I was called in. about hall-past nine th see the deceased, I found him lying ..in bed with a bullet wound iuto the body, about li inch below the breast bone, and 1% inch to tho left of it. I found him in a state of geeat exhaustion and vomiting blood freely. Ou my asking him how it bad occurred, he said that he had been removing the chambers of his pistol after firing ouce or twice, as the lock was stiff, aud that he was holding it in his left hand with the muzzle pointing towards his body when the hammer fell on oue of the loaded chambers causiog it to explode. He said ha felt as though someone had given him a tremendous poke with a sharp pointed stick, and was knocked fiat on his back. Feeling that he was shot, he walked into the honse and acquainted his mother with what had happened. I have been attending him ever sin.cc. George Williams said, lama medical practitioner. I bave made a post mortem examination of the body of Manson Sinclair and found the following appearances : — The wound of entrance was an inch and a half below the ensiform carti- ( lage, and the Bame distance to the left of a line from it to the navel. The wound was diamond -shaped, and a quarter of an inch in diameter, with a bruise of an eighth of an inch rc^-tnid it of a dark purple color, aud another outside that to the extent of an inch of a green color. The wound in - the bai;k where the bullet was extracted was A\ inches from ihe spinal ridge. There was a dark bruise 10 inches long, and 3 broad on the skin along the angle of the ribs on the left side. The ordinary dark stains usually observable after death were very marked in the depending parts of the body, showing that decomposition was proceeding rapidly. The track of the ball was as follows : — lt had passed from the orifice described through the extreme point ot the left lobe of the liver where it overlapped the stomach, through the stomach, which it entered in the front part 4 inches from where it joins the intestines, and passed out afc the back part 2-|- inches from where it joins the gullet ; then through the thickest part of the spleen ; thence through the diaphragm, completely fracturing the tenth rib. It then passed upl wards and lodged under the skin betweeo\ the eighth and ninth ribs. The left lung was not wounded, but was in a complete state of gangrene or mortification. Tbe stomach, liver, and spleen were all. more or less, mortified. The wound would quite correspond with one inflicted by the pistol produced. The immediate cause of death was mortification. ; W. W. Squires, a medical pract^ouer, said, On Friday morning last, T was; sent for* to see deceased, but being in attendasce/ upon another patient, I was unable to"go at the time, and did not see hitnuuntil 3 p.m. Drs. Scaly Hind Williams had then seen him. The former described the wound to me, and, as it had already been dressed, I did not disturb it. I found the patient in a very weak state, but from what had been told me; I felt that he was just rallying from the collapse caused by the injury. I then took charge 'of the case, and Drs. ; Scaly and Williams attended with, rae afterwards. . With, the exception of being sick once, on , the) following morning,. he displayed no bad

symptome, but in the weakstate in which he was, we did not think it right to search for the ball. On that occasion, however, Dr. Scaly, while raising him in his bed, felt the ball-just below the skin, and we at once extracted it from his back. He continued to go ou steadily and well until yesterday. I had left him at noon doing ns satisfactorily as could possibly be expected, but shortly after one, his brother came for me saying that he was complaining of great pain. He gradually sunk from that time, and died at 5 o'clock this morning. I made a post mortem examination in conjunction with Dr. Williams, whose evidence I have heard, and quite agree with it. Having heard the , particulars of the accident from his mother/ and Mrs. Blick, I never asked deceased any questions about it. This concluded the evidence, the jury stating that they did not deem it necessary to examine Mrs. Sinclair, after hearing the statement of Mrs. Blick. The Coroner said that it now remained for the jury to come lo a verdict. The cause of death was clear, but it was for them to say whether the shot was fired by the deceased or by someone else, and if by the former whether it arose from a sheeraccident, or was done intentionally, and,, in considering this, they should remember that the deceased had stated positively that it was an accident, aud words uttered in articulo mortis were always accepted as evidence. The jury at once found that the deceased bad come by his death by the accidental discharge of a pistol. Some remarks were were also made with regard to the danger attending the use of such a weapon as that produced, and the extreme caution required in handling it. ,