CORONER'S INQUEST.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 550, 9 November 1850, Page 3

CORONER'S INQUEST.

An Inquest was held yesterday afternoon at the Freemasons' Tavern, before Dr. Fitzgerald, Coroner, on the body of William Brown, private of the 65th regiment, servant of Quarter- Master Paul, who committed suicide by shooting himself with a musket. The following witnesses were examined : — • Charles Ratkbone — I am a private soldier of the 65th Regt., at present a servant to Lieut. Paul ; I have been acquainted with the deceased William Brown, who was a servant to Quarter-Master Paul ; I saw him this day, Nov. 8, about a quarter to one o'clock, p.m., in Quarter-Master Paul's stable ; he had a blue cap in his possession, and there was a shilling and a few coppers between him and me ; he told me I could take the cap for the money he was indebted to me ; I then went into the kitchen to clean the knives and forks; after being in the kitchen a few minutes I heard a shot, on which I ran out and looked through the stable window, and saw that my firelock was taken away ; I then went into the kitchen and told Tracy, Mr. Paul's other servant, that the firelock was taken out of the stable ; 1 then ran down to the back ot the acre in the direction I heard the shot fired, and saw the deceased lying bleeding on the ground with his feet lying in a stream of water; he appeared to be quite dead ; the firelock was lying by his left side with a cord, one end of which was tied to the trigger and the other end tied to a stick ; my ball-cartridge box was opened and two rounds taken out ; I noticed a large wound in the right cheek : the deceased said to the horse this morning, poor fellow, this is the last time I will rub you down ; he appeared since the first of the month to be a little disturbed in his mind : the deceased was of sober habits ; for several days past I have heard him say on putting on his clothes, well I suppose this will be the last time I will put this on ; he appeared to me to be quite wild at times ; he never complained of being ill, and I know of no subject which appeared to prey on his mind ; this morning I saw the blue cap with him, and I told him I would give him one shilling and sixpence for it; the answer he made me was, No : when I came back from parade I saw the cap on his bed ; he said to me that I might take it; I then told him I had no money to pay for it, but that there was a shilling and a few coppers between us, and I supposed that would make us right ; he replied, Yes : we have only been together about eight days for this long time, and have been always good friends. Thomas Paul, Quarter-Master of the 65th Regiment — Deceased, William Brown, was on fatigue with me ; I never observed him to be of unsound mind ; he did all my business this morning with the same regularity as usual ; he was of sober habits; I never saw him drunk in my life, nor have I ever heard him complain of anything, nor has he ever been in the regimental defaulters' book ; I had always a great regard for him, and would have done anything for him in my power. Colonel Gold and the Adjutant both stated that the deceased bore an excellent character. The Jury returned the following verdict : — Deceased destroyed himself on Friday, Bth November, between the hours of twelve o'clock and half-past one, by shooting- himself; but whether he was of sound or un-

sound mind at the time he committed the act sufficient evidence doth not appear to the jurors.

The following extract from a private letter recently received from a former resident in New Zealand gives a highly interesting and graphic account of San Francisco :—: — You will doubtless expect a long account of this place, but with reference to any thing exceptiug that more immediately connected with the city I am in consequence of the short period I have been here, only four weeks, anable at present to give you any information, but you may depend upon what I do say as being for the most part the result of my own observation. The town, or as I should call it the city, it possessing a corporation, &c, is situated on the west side of the Gulf of California about 25 miles from the entrance in a shallow bay surrounded on three sides by sand hills, from which and the streets the clouds of dust that arise about 10 o'clock, that being the time at whicii the NT.W. wind commences, are blinding (literally not figuratively). It is composed, like almost all other new towns, principally of wood, but at the same time there are many very excellent stone, brick, and iron stores, all of them of considerable magnitude and which would do credit to any part of the world. In respect to size it is about five times as large as Auckland, the houses being as closely packed as it is possible for them to be, and are built in blocks, all the streets running at right angles with each other and no dirty lanes or alleys. The amount of business that is transacted herein the course of the day is incredible; although I came prepared to find it a bustling place my expectation fell far short of the reality. Almost every alternate house here is either a restaurant, auctioneer's!, or a gambling house, the latter of which are for the most part fitted up in a style of great magnificence and in which gambling is carried to a fearful extent from about 9 a.m. until the time of closing, 13 p.m., the principal games played are Monte, Faro, Rouge et Noir, Vingt et un, Roulette, various games with dice, Billiards, &c. One room in the Parker House (the principal Hell here) contains four Billiard tables, as well as those at which the other games are played, and for which house .'50,000 dols- per month has been payed rental — this of itself would be almost enough to ruin any place, and the effect of it is felt here by those who are in want of places to rent, the more especially for business as these houses are in the best situations in the city. "We have four daily papers published, viz., — the Alta California, printed by steam, the Journal of Commerce, the San Francisco Herald, and the Daily Courier ; the Alta California publishes also a weekly edition containing a summary of the news of the week and a semi-monthly edition for the Panama steamers. Every comfort and luxury which it is possible for the most fastidious epicure to desire is to be obtained here, and taking every thing into considetation remarkably cheap. The dinners at ' the restaurants are most excellent, consisting of soup, fish, meat, made dishes, and vegetables of all descriptions, pastry and coffee, and all for one dollar. We have amusements — theatres — circus — concert — bull-fights — races, from the gorgeous, sumptuous display of the patrician, ot which nothing afforded by any of the colonies can equal, down to the 6d. hops of the lowest of the low. Rents are very high, goad business situations command as high a rental as from l'JOOdols. to 2000 dols. per month, some more. The legal interest upon money loaned 10 per ct. per month or 120 per ct. per arm., some even chaige as high as 15 percent. Themajority of the timber shipped here from the colonies is a dead loss. i.e. boards, butjoistand 2in. planks command a ready sale at fiom 80 dols. to 100 dols. per 100U feet and are likely to continue so, an immense quantity being required for the whirves, and as the corporation are going to plank the city the demand will be still gi eater, boaids however are not saleable, as those shipped from the States are wider and are all planed, tongued, and grooved, which is a great advantage; in purchasing colonial timber you have to engage a carpenter at lOdols. per day to bring it into the state in which the United States lumber is on its arrival. The mines are as prolific as ever and many new ones discovered but in consequence of the immense number there 200,000, the dust is more divided and few make fortunes now by digging although some get as much at 2oz. in the day but these instances are getting rarer every day. Murders are very rife up the Southern mines and up the Yuba river. The adjacent country is I hear very beautiful. I shall take a trip shortly.