THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 92, 17 April 1875, Page 2

THE WEEK.

I have frequently read and heard of a gloom being cast over n community by the sudden and unexpected death of some well-known individual, but have never noticed it myaelf to Buch an extent as was apparent last Monday altemoon as tbe news rapidly spread of the aad accident on the Port Road, for as the many who witnessed the recovery of the bodies told the melancholy tale to tbeir friends, the terrible scene presented itself vividly even to those who had not been present, thuß producing a most painful impression upon the whole community. The deepest sympathy has been expressed with the widows and fatherless children of tbe two poor fellows who were so suddenly removed from our midst, and thiß, it is pleasing to find, is assuming a practical shape in the form of a subscription list, which is being added to every day. Thus a small fund will be raised, which will doubtless prove a source of comfort and relief to the bereaved widows, but still there remain the vacant place in the family circle, and the aching void in the heart. No money can compensate for these, but it may soothe the grief of thoee who have been so sorely afflicted to be assured how deep and widespread is the sympathy* with them in , their sorrow. A race meeting in Nelson, no matter how inferior to those to which we were j accustomed of old, never fails to arouse I the sporting instincts whicb, although

latent, do. decidedly exist in so many of out; residents. The distance of the course from the town is not sufficient to prevent their attendance at the meeting, and no amount of rain will damp their ardour. There are races going on, and attend them they must. This, however, only applies to a comparatively few, §nd if racing is to be revived in Nelstin the course must be nearer the town, f6r, after all, it is the town people who are the principal supporters of the sport, as was fully proved at Wakefield on Thursday, when, notwithstanding the rain and the uncertainty that existed whether the races were or were not to be, a large proportion of those who were present were residents in the town and its immediate neighborhood. It cannot be argued, after our late experience, that anfficient interest is taken in sporting in the country districts to justify the continu ance of annual races at so great a distance from the chief centre of population, and if these meetings are to be kept up, they must be in some more central spot, such for instance, as Richmond, which is equally available to town and country. If the Waimea -South aqd Nelson Jockey, Clubs could; amalgamate and. make arrangements for one good meeting, including a steeplechase, which particular description of sport appears to be growing in popularity, we might hope to have our old Nelson races revived in a successful form, but until that is done we shall have to be content with petty stakes, and consequently with third and fourth class horses competing for them. I wish the public would take up the question of the disagreeable penalty imposed upon a juror at a coroner's inquest in compelling bim to " view the body " of the individual into the cause of whose death he is making enquiry. It iB positively disgraceful that such a barbarism should be kept up, for barbarism it is. My own experience in these matters bas been very limited in quantity, but exceedingly unpleasant in quality. It is a disgusting tale that I hive to tell, but it is because the facts ac so diegustiug tbat I am anxious to sco a remedy applied to the evil. The lirst jury upon which I was summoned was iv the Wairau some sixteen years ago, and the circumstances were these : A party of men were engaged in mustering a certain rim, and near to where they found thomselves one afternoon was an accommodaiion house. From this a bottle or two of grog was obtained, and the men, or at least one of them, started again at their work in a etate of semi-intoxication. Thie particular individual had occasion to set fire to some high fern through which he had to pass, and, what with the smoke and the effects of the liquor he bad swallowed, he became balf stupid, and was unable to make bis escape until he was soverely burnt. In hia agony be at last' rushed down the hill and jumped into the river, where he was drowned. His body waa recovered a. few k*»«»-._ later, sewn up in a blanket, and buried. It was deemed necessary to hold an inquest upon him, but ih those days there was no coroner in the district, so that information bad to be sent to Nelson. In the meantime the rivers rose, and it was three weeks before the coroner arrived, and he then caused a number of residents in the vicinity, including myself, to be summoned on the jury. One would have thought tliat it would have been quite sufficient that the circumstances attending the catastrophe should be narrated upon oath, but no; the law required that the jury should ''view the body," and so the corpse, half burned, half drowned, and three weeks buried, v. as exhvmed, as it was quite impossible that a dozen men of ordinary intelligence could possibly arrive at a conclusion as to the cause of death without inspecting the mass of corruption that was so offensive to the senße of sight and smell. What was the appearance of the object that was exposed to our view, I don't think it is necessary for rae to describe in detail. My next experience was nearer to Nelson. A poor woman had died suddenly of apoplexy or heart disease, or some such thing. It was in the height of summer, and the jury having met at the nearest publichouse, were solemnly marched off a quarter of a mile away, to where the body lay. Where this was our noses told us most unmistakeably aa soon as we arrived within fifty yards of the cottage. The room in which wai the corpse was a very small one, and the jury were just able to pack themselves round ihe bed, which stood in the centre. We were there to ascertain bow death was occasioned, so, although not one of us possessed any medical or surgical knowledge, it was absolutely necessary that, we should "view the body." I said the smell was powerful fifty yards away, so it may be imagined what it was in the little stuffy room. The coroner first removed the cloth from the "human face divine," wbich (.For continuation see fourth page )

was swelled to twice its ordinary size, perfectly black, and with the eyes fixed in a horrible stare. Of course a light gradually began to dawn upon us os to the cause of death, and we felt that we were gaining knowledge with every breath of the tainted air that was inhaled. But we did not know enough yet, so the coroner, with a dexterity for which he was deserving of tbe highest praise, whipped the covering off the whole body, upon wbich a postmortem examination had just been held, and there had since been no time to eew it up. There were pale faces to be seen, and retching sounds to be heard in tbat room, but each of us gloried in (he proud consciousness that we were manfully performing a duty which we owed to our Sovereign Lady tho Queen and our country, and when we left tbe place of horrors, it wns with minds so fully enlightened that we returned to the iuquest room, listened to tbe evidence of tbe doctor who had conducted the post- mortem, and calmly, and without question, returned a verdict in strict accordance with his evidence, whereas if we had not satisfied ourselves by viewing the body we should, of course, bave doubted its reliability. I said my story was to be a disgusting one, and I think it will be allowed that I was right, but if tbe mere narration of it is offensive, what must the scenes I have but faintly described — for it would be improper and indecent to place upon paper all we saw — have been in their naked reality to the unoffending jurymen who upon these two occasions had to pass through so horrible an ordeal? Will anyone venture to assert that personal observation of the disfigured corpses bad afforded us the slightest assistance in arriving at a verdict? If not, what possible reason existed for compelling us to go through a thoroughly useless, but most revolting form ? However, if people choose to tamely submit to such a barbarous law, they have none to blame but themselves. A little stir in the matter is all that is required to remedy the evil, but without it we shall always be liable to the horrible nuisance of which I now complain, and, as I think, not without good reason. F.