THE MISSING TELEPHONE

NZ Truth, Issue 1210, 7 February 1929, Page 7

THE MISSING TELEPHONE

What Tragedy of ;<&pk Revealed At Inquest (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Christchiirch. Representative). , Despondent with what life had to offer to a man who had reached the allotted span, Terence Shannon, a 70-year-old resident of North Brighton, sought the solace of death by his own hand.

WITH maniacal strength he fought the succouring- hand of an elderly doctor practising m the seaside suburb, but had human aid been more quickly available than it was. Shannon might possibly have been spared to live a few years longer. It was nine o'clock m the morning when Shannon, armed with two razors, kept his daughter and a friend at bay , while he attempted to take his life. j Three hours elapsed before he was m ! hospital only a few miles away. It transpired that the local police station, which caters for a quickly-:.' 1 growing suburb, had not been conneoted with A telephone since. May I of last year. Shannon, a quiet and likeable old man with occasional eccentric habits, had worked . at one position m the country for over t\vent5 r years, and recently went to reside with his daughter, Mrs. Kathleen Elizabeth Marriball, < at Marriott's Road, North Brighton. Early one morning the daughter's attention was attracted by her father's , queer demeanour, and she later found , him sharpening two razors. ; "This is the end; I am ruined," was the old man's only comment as ! he walked towards her with an ! opened razor, and a few minutes later he had inflicted an ugly wound : across his throat with the weapon. i On January 7, Shannon had threat- .; ened to attack his son-in-law, and on • account of moodiness, his daughter had i UlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllliniilllMlllllllMllllllllMlllllllllllllllllllllllillllllMlllllllJMMli

been advised by the police, the priest and the doctor to have him com/nitted. to an institution. • ■ ' ' Dr. W. E. Stevens, who practises m the suburb. waß called, but Shannon displayed violence, and after a- grim struggle with the injured man, the doctor was powerless to dress his wound, and could merely hold him. down and keep the , drea,d weapon out of his grasp. After considerable delay, accentuated by the refusal of a telephone subscriber m the district to permit the use of: her telephone to call the city police and ambulance, telephonic communication was established, and three hours after his attempt to take his life, Shannon was admitted to hospital, but m such a condition that death followed. •■■■'•'.' Shannon, it was stated m medical testimony at the inquest, would have run a serious risk of loßing his life even had he been admitted to hospital with the greatest possible despatch. The man's death "served, however, to disclose the danger of being so much out of . touch with the police as having no telephone attached to the station. It is poor economy when it is gained at the cost of .public safety. In the pase of serious accident, or crimes of violence; ready communication with the polioe is essential if the safety of the subject is to be considered, and this fact prompted the . coroner, Mr. B. D. Mosley, to add a rider to his verdict on the death of Shannon. i|||||||||llllllllllll!l!linillllUIIIIIIIIIIIIIINIIIIIIIIIllllllllll!IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIH«