"NO BREAD!"

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 318, 3 June 1911, Page 6

"NO BREAD!"

THE CROW'S NEST TRAGEDY. POVERTY AND PRUSSIC ACID. A WHOLE FAMILY POISONED. (Sydney Sun; May 22.) One of the shocking tragedies of which Sydney of late years has had little experience was discovered at North Shore on Saturday night, when, in a house empty of food and destitute of furniture, the bodies of the Bastard family—husband, wife, and child —were found.

THE FIRST NEWS. The discovery of the tragedy might have been delayed for days, as the family had no intercourse with neighbors, and little was known of them, but for the receipt at North Sydney Police Station, at about 7 o'clock on Saturday night, of an unstamped letter, sent through the post. The message read by Sergeant McDonald was as follows: "Please call at 130, Alexander Street, Crow's Nest, and remove the bodies of Segur Stafford Bastard and his wife and son. Prussic acid has done its work." This letter would indicate that the tragedy, accomplished by the poisoning of the family, had been well thought over. The megsage must have been written and dropped into the Alexander Street pillar-box by Bastard on Friday night, with the idea that it would be delivered on Saturday morning. That it was not delivered then was due to there being no stamp on the envelope. THE POISONING. It is reasonably clear that after placing the letter in the pillar-box Bastard returned to the bouse, and tfte parents, first administering the ueauly prussic acid to the child and witnessing its immediate effect, held the last draught each to the lips of the other and fell down ;tnd died, the body o<f the woman being alongside that of the child on the lloor. There wis not the slightest sign of struggle. Death had come to them swiftly and painlessly. In an instant after taking the poison the parents were dead by the side of their fine little boy, and three lives had gone. The Bastard family died practically of starvation, in abject poverty and dire necessity, in the heart of one of the most prosperous communities in the metropolis.

"XO BREAD." The whole story of tue sad tragedy is pathetically told in two words written, evidently, by the trembling hand of the starving woman on the back of the photo of her little boy. on wbieli probably her eyes at the last had rested as she speculated whether he might be left to the eare of the world to which she and her husband owed so little. Surely no column of detailed description of the home of the people, or calculation of the cause throwing off of their burden could present a sadder story than is given in what may have been the last words of tliß unhappy woman—"No Bread." Though little was known of the family at North Sydney, where it is stated they lived for about eight months prior to the event of Saturday, it is stated by persons who saw them in company occasionally that they were exceedingly devoted, and idolised the handsome boy, without whom tliey were never seen.

•\KDENT SURFERS. Though the Bastard couple were not known in the district in which they had last lived, they were well known by surfers at Bonili as anion;; the merriest "sports" of the rollers. The man more ilisin revelled hi the pastime of surf bathing and surfing generally, and by his ultra-joyousness, bordering to some extent on the hysterical, he—and his wife equally enthusiastic—attracted considerable attention from the less riotous of the gambollers on the beaehes. The man, a fine, shapely fellow, of orer sft. 10in., and about lfist. weight, was a figure on the beaches in the season. Mr. Bastard, who, it >• stated, was at one time on the stage, was a particularly attractive woman at her best, a lino figure, and with undeniable claim to be considered goodlooking. The couple were married at All Saints' Church, Auckland, New Zealand, on October 10, 1901. Bastard, whose age was then 27, was the son of a warehousemen, and Miss Bullen the daughter of a schoolmaster, both of Auckland. He was a chemist, and she a young woman of 22 years, whose home was with Iter parents.

NO BED CLOTHES. A little additional light is thrown on the tragedy in the report made by the police to the City Coroner. The throe people were last seen alive on Friday by some of the neighbors, nothing further being heard of them till 7 o'clock on Saturday night, when the letter which told of the terrible happenings in the house reached the police. It bore the post-office stamp of Saturday, the time on it being 10.40 a.m. The writing was evidently that of a woman, a fact that leads the police to the opinion that the note was written by Mrs. Bastard at the dictation of her husbaiid. When the police reached the cottage there was plenty of evidence of poverty. With the exception of an old mattress on the bedroom floor the place- was devoid of furniture. There were no bed clothes, and with the chilly waather that lias prevailed lately the uiif.oruna.te people must have suffered intensely frem the cold. The mother was fully dressed with the exception of stoijciags and boots. The boy's feet were bare, while the boots worn by the father showed signs of hard wear. His body was lyin" on its back, the right .hand bein«' cx°

tended towards, but not touching, a large-sized buttle which contained a quantity of prussic acid. WHAT TDK AUTOPSIES REVEALED. That an abundance of food had not lieen enjoyed by the family was shown by the results of the post-mortem exam-I inations conducted by the (lovernment medical officer (Dr. A. A. Palmer). The ' body of the father was fat, while those I of the mother and son were well nourished, but in each case the stomach was empty. This condition indicates that the unforunate couple had not partaken of a good meal for some considerable time before death. The husband's organs smelt strbngly e" the hydrocyanide acid. His heart v. id liver were enlarged and diseased, while his brain weighed 4'/ a lb. The average weight of a man's brain is 81b., and the fact that Bastard's weighed more may indicate that his capacity was above or below normal. The doctor also found his skull to be thick. THE BODIES IDENTIFIED. The bodies were identified at tho Morgue this morning by Messrs. Beeclier and Alfred Bullen, brothers of the deceased woman. The scene in the death chamber was pathetic, the two men crying pitifully as the coverings were removed and the white features of their relatives exposed to their gaze.