TOOK SECRET TO GRAVE

NZ Truth, Issue 1213, 28 February 1929, Page 5

TOOK SECRET TO GRAVE

- Coroner Fails To Solve t - Mysterious Death e•■ • ;

■ MARRIED WOMAN'S TRAGIC END r

I (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Christchurch Representative). Whose was the hand that sped Marguerite Dowries, a young married woman, to her death? A coroner's court has found that she died from complications following an illegal act, but the curtain of death had already enshrouded the source from which the true J facts could have been obtained, and the closing of the coroner's inquiry leaves Mrs. Downes's death another , unsolved riddle.

MRS. DOWNES, who was twen-ty-four years younger than her husband, lived at s 19 Clare Road, St. «' Albans, and acsl cording to the evin dence given at the y inquest, she had kept her condition *, a secret from c everyone but her ii husband. n Even her sister, cl who was her usual o confidante, was unaware ol' Mrs. n Downes's approach - c ing motherhood, o and her sudden death In the Christr church Hospital on f January 24, came s as a severe and c painful shock to her c relatives. Elizabeth Boak, of 30 Carlyle Street, Sydenham, . the deceased woman's sis-

ter, last saw Mrs. Downes alive seven days prior to her death, and she was not then aware of, her state of health. Mrs. Downes had informed her sister that she had received medical attention m Ashburton, and that she ins tended going into hospital about c January 22 for an operation to be perx formed for an abscess on her side. Up till January 7 of this year, t Joseph Downes, the husband of the woman, had lived at home, but ii since that date he has been working at Ashburton. ' '. His wife visited him a week after he 8 took up his residence there and she was then m good health. Downes said that at that time he 6 knew of his wife's condition, f He arranged that she and the family '> of three should remove to Ashburton. Mrs. Downes returned to Christi church on January 14 and nine days 1 later Downes also went to the city to 4 gather his belongings m preparation 1 for the family's arrival at their new

home. To his amazement Downes discovered that his wife was m a maternity home, and that a certain

event had taken place. His wife's exL * planation was that she had fallen ' down the steps at the back door of her I home. ■ She gave no indication that any } operation had been performed or that she had taken any drugs. \ One of the witnesses at the inquest p was George Lako Austin, a linotype operator, aged 25, who had boarded * with the Downes family for some time, " having known them for abovit five j years. ' He said that Mrs. Downes told 7 him after her return from Ash--1 .burton that she; proposed going into Nurse Davidson's hospital for a rest, and that the doctor had \ promised to give her a good overr haul. c On Tuesday, January 22, Austin took 1 ' her bag along to the home, and the 8 following: afternoon he took one of the children to see her. ' v • Mrs. Downes had never told him c what her illness was and he had no £ knowledge of the cause of it. h Detective - sergeant J. B. Young (for a the police): Had she been attended by anyone prior to going there?— Not

Coroner's Comment

of January 22 she called aguin and appeared to Nurse Davidson to be miserable and m pain.. The nurse took, her m, and as she had sick turns she was put to bed. At two o'clock the next morning her condition became acute, and a doctor was called. Twenty minutes after his arrival a certain event took place. Mrs. Downes gave the nurse no information about herself except that her illness was caused through, her falling down the steps. The following day her condition did not improve, and she was removed to the hospital, where she died from acute septic inflammation and general peritonitis. Between the time of her admission at a little after five o'clock on January 24 and 9 p.m., when she died, Mrs. Downes was not m a fit condition to make any statement. Her explanation of the cause of her sickness was opposed by the testimony

to 'my knowledge Mr. E. D. Moslej (the coroner): Have you e-vei given her an j money m addition to your board?— No. Did you ever procure instruments or drugs for her?— No. And you are entirely ignorant ol anything unusuai that happened t c this woman? — Yes. The evidence ol Josephine Emma Gameron Davidson, a registered nurse, of 1 Braddon Street Addington, was to the effect that Mrs, Downes had called In December and had made arrangements for accommodation m May of this year. • On the afternoon

of Arthur Bushby Pearson, pathologist at the Christchurch Hospital. The woman had already borne child r e n, and he

thought it possible that she could have brought about her condition herself. Alter conducting a post-mortem examination he was of the opinion from the evidence he had observed that the woman had been subjected to certain treatment either self-administered 'or by somebody else. "The case has a very nasty flavor," said Mr. Mosley. in summarising the evidence, "and it is evident that the woman's death was brought about by unnatural means. "I am quite satisfied that an instrument was used either by herself or by somebody else. "It is perfectly evident to me that it was not brought about m the nursing home, and not the slightest tinge of suspicion should rest on Nurse Davidson." A verdict of death In accordance with the medical testimony was returned, the coroner reiterating, as an addition to his finding, that the septic condition was brought about by some unknown person. >