TRAGEDY OF ILL-HEALTH

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8341, 30 January 1913, Page 3

TRAGEDY OF ILL-HEALTH

NURSE'S ARRANGEMENTS FOB HER OWN CREMATION.

BREAD OP CANCER. LONDON, December 22. Fear of cancer was the motive which drove Miss Florence F'oster, a nurse. 01 VV eslciih-on-bea, to a sensational suicide at Woking last Tuesday. Before taking her life she made elaborate preparations for her own cremation, and the scattering of her ashes to the winds. shortly after noon aiiss Foster arrived at Woking from London, having travelled with a through ticket from Southend. Leaving the station she engaged one 01 the private motor cars on hire there, and was driven to tne post office. She then requested to be driven to the crcgnatorium. Arriving at the entrance gates she alighted and went to the superintendents office. Here sho handed to Mr Sargent a large sealed envelope, with the request that it should not be opened for a little while. Re-entering the motor Miss Foster expressed a wish to be driven iuto the country, and when the driver' was passing through the Hermitage Woods at the back of Inkerman Barracks, she called on him to stop. Making a casual inquiry as to the amount of her fare the lady walked into the wooo, telling the driver to wait for a quarter of an hour. While be was waiting the chauffeur heard the sound of a shot, but this being a frequent occurrence, owing to the military being in the neighbourhood, it did not arouse his suspicion. As Miss Fos ter did not return, the driver left his car and walked into the wood. He had not gone far before he discovered her body. She had partly r,|moved her garments and had a bullet wound in the lower part of her chest. Two revolvers were close at hand. The man promptly informed the police, and Inspector Benstead and Dr Beer were soon on the spot. The woman was found to be dead, and the body was removed to Woking Mortuary. The docu ments proved that the lady was Miss Florence Foster, agod thirty-five, of West-cliii-oji-.iea. The revolvers found in her possession were each, loaded in one chamber, and one of the weapons had been discharged. When Mr Sargent opened the letter left with him at the. crematorium he found that it contained ,£l3 and a letter dated from AVestcliff-on-Sca, which read: I have enclosed two £5 notes and a P.O. for £3, a total of £l3, out of which purchase me a £5 Sin shell —just the light wood you like for cremation. I request you to hold the money until I have been cremated, and in no wise to give it up, as I desire my body to be cremated. The ashes can e put in a white urn until December 26th, 1912, and then blown to the four winds. A perforated casket at the top of a tree will do very well. If there is any funeral service I suggest the Fifteenth Fsalm in the Book of Common Prayer, and the twentyfirst hymn in the Ancient and Modern Hymn Book to be used. I have written to the London Crematorium Company- and informed them of the aforementioned fact. If there is any superfluous money, please send in my name to the treasurer of the Royal Ophthalmic Hospital City toad London. Apologising lor troubling you, Believe me, yours very truly, Florence Foster.

Miss Foster is said to have been possessed of considerable means. She had ou previous occasions coriespondtd with the crematorium authorities ■with reference to the disposal of her remains after cre*:natirni, but when she called on Tuesday afternoon the superintendent had no knowledge of her identity. In an interview Mr Sargent said h© had supplied details of cremation to Miss Foster last summer, and in a letter to him she had 'CiiiiJidaiued of cancer/ saying that her doctor had told her she would not live over Christmas. She also visited Woking crematorium, said Mr Sargent, on November 7th, Svhen she signed the visitors’ book. Miss Foster, who was a trained nurse by profession, had for some time been suffering from ill-health and had been depressed. Her friends know of no reason except the state of her health that could have led her to commit suicide. She was in comfortable circumstances.