NEGLECT AND STARVATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 80, 21 August 1912, Page 5

NEGLECT AND STARVATION.

AX OLD MAN'S DEATH. ill? HsWl*|!lAl* [«»'«|MJ ?«*I!J»J By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, August 19. An old man named Peter Tumu, a Raratongan, aged about 00 years, was found dead in his hut on the gumfields a day or two ago. The coroner and the police visited the shanty on Friday, at a placed called Tikihapi, near Tangaihu, Northern Wairoa, and they saw wTTat will not readily he forgotten. On the floor, lying opposite the fireplace, was the body of an old man. He was scantily clothed in old and filthy rags, while a piece of sack was under his head for a pillow. His lower extremities were partly enclosed in an old sack. There was no bedding of any description nor any other bedclothes under him not even a bedding of fern. There was a little pile of brush in the fireplace, as if ready for lighting. On the floor near the corpse were several tins filled with water, and a camp oven, also with water in it. There was not a scrap of food of any description in the place. He looked very old, and it was manifest that death was the result of cold, exposure, neglect and starvation. At the inquest, evidence was given of deceased having gone round 'begging whilst in a filthy and vermined condition. A verdict was returned that, death was due to neglect and starvation.