A FATAL QUARREL.

Taihape Daily Times, 16 October 1919, Page 3

A FATAL QUARREL.

DEATH IN ‘AN HOTEL. _ FLAX VVORKER COLLAPSES. BLENHEIM, Oct_ 14. A regrettable occurrence happened at Wairau Valley on Saturday, following a football match, in which George ()’Lear_\~', flaxmill hand, met with his death. -\ffel' the match the players adjourned to the hotel to hold a meeting and er:-ange a return match. ‘After ‘the Heetiné’; some of the company adjournvfl. to the ’(apl‘oonl, Where drinks were s;7‘:'v.ed by the licensee, Charles Albert Gasso_ I The evidence is confiieting regarding £ll9 number of drinks served, but the Wi4..iol‘it;v’ of rhr_- \Vil‘lleSS(3.\' said. that fcur were served to all.

A brother of the deceased incurred‘ the displeasure of the licensee by‘ rhi-owing rubbish into the firapl.ace,l '.\'hicll had just been cleaned out. George O’Leary intervened, and an al-1 t(;‘-reittion. ensued. Gasser was heard to‘ ;«:a};, “Don.’t call me :1 —-——.” Almost irutnediately after George O’Lear_v fell :~.;;,;;::.i11st the window, but all the wit--nesses .:.‘efu.-:9d to admit that any blow ".'*.‘a.~'. .s'tl'llCk. Tire decc-ased came again toavards Gasse showing a cut above the left. ;<>_x'e. .-‘-..1m0.~‘t immediately he collapsed ion to the floor and never recovel’7ed ~:-onsciousness. i The above shortly are the facts asiadduced by the evidence at the inquest_ ' Dr Russell Adams, whO.l.lerformed :1 post mortem examination on the be(l\;_ gave. interestiiig evidence. He, sdifl he found the deceased lying on a couch in thg passegfe. Life was extinct. Witness informed the deceascds brothel‘. Con O’Leary, and after a. short interval returned to town. At the re,quest of the police he ‘performed a post niorteni exmnination. There was a tbruise over the left eye of recent origin, and an old scar-at the tip of the right shoulder blade. The exam?ination disclosed acute dilation oif the ‘heart. This was the cause of death. 1 The Coroner: If there had been 87 disturbance and the d».-r:eased hurl received a blow would that have affected the heart‘? ,Witness: Yes, a blow on the head partially stunning {L man who was a returned soldier would affect the nervous mechanisms of the -heart and produce acute dilation with cessation of the action of the heart and de:lth_ In a similar manner a good swimmer was sometimes drowned. . The Coroner. W'ould death take place when the deceased collapsed‘ and fell on th floor? \Vitness‘: Yes. The Coroner: Did the bruise. on the .f.':e-c-e indicate that a blow had been stru':‘e;? With:-ss: Yes. The C-01'C-1181': Can you .’r.'ol'm any Opinion as to how the blow was struck? ‘wiiiiess: By a fist. I should say. It was not severe enough to have been can.~':ed. by an instrument. §

The Corona-2': Was it such a blow as would affect the he:-zrt in the way you have stated? . Vvitnessz Yes. -

Continuilig.-»x witness said there was only one recent external mark on the body. There was no evidence to Show mat the deceased had been smu-}~:

*>'(:2'(.-. than Once. Even the mr-.lk -in the face wn;< only a slight one There was not 3 mark on the d.ec:v:.lsL-G’; hands‘ to indicate that he had struck anyone. Ho, hm‘. no persona! 'i<no‘\\f—-‘l-*d.ge. nl:ut.:=.-I'lled prior to doa’rh, of tho ":md2'tion of the dcceasod’s hr-:21-t Intoxicating liquor might have some of"<‘<‘t‘ 011 ihe Seqllencéof events If

fho deco-used had done a lot of running about Hrat day as a football referee the heart might have been .f:‘.figuod. The decnmod did nofhave a normal hc~art_ His recent examination disclosed the fact that the hearf. had been diseased for some considorn.ble ‘cime before the date of death. The rnark above the eye could have been caused by fallillg and striking the roundefl edge of a form, but the fall could not have been -.1 violent ono. Death could nof have resulted from any d?.rc~ct phys'ica.l effect of such :1 blow‘ us fhe bruise. 'mdic:lte('l. The inquest 'c\'.l= nrljcmrnc-d I'.:l.’ril tomarrow.