A STRANGE FATALITY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 372, 7 April 1881, Page 2

A STRANGE FATALITY.

A strange and fatal accident happened to a child named Catherine Christina Corridon at Ballarat - recently. About noon she seems to have ■ become thirsty, and, following the example of the other children, endeavored to get a drink of water by putting the water-tap in the back yard of her parents’ residence into her mouth. The child seemed to have got to the tap by putting bricks on the ground on which to stand, -and unperceived, to have got the tap fastened in, her throat. When she was discovered she was all but suffocated, and considerablo difficulty was experienced: in releasing her. As soon as this was effected she was taken to the Hospital, but she died before reaching the institution. A magisterial enquiry was held the same day. Mary Corridon, residing at the corner of Fitzroy and Corio streets, stated that her child was two years and. threemonths old. Between eleven and twelve o’clock that morning the child was with the other children in the house. Her eldest child called out that the baby had got the water-tap in her mouth. Witness went outside and found the tap in her mouth, and was unable to remove itThe tap was not running at the time, but the child seemed choking, blood oozing from her nose and mouth. Witness called for assistance and had the child released, but she died before reaching the>«pital. The tap was 2ft from deceased had some biickoSii -ortrerTcTget to it. Michael Joseph Cojridon gave corroborative evidence, adding that the mother had always taken good care of the child. Dr W. Warren, dent surgeon of the hospital, stated that he had examined the body and found all the appearance of a person being suffocated. Internally, the heart was gorged with dark blood, the lungs were fjill of frotfiy.matter, as were alyp the.larynx and brachea. The cause of death, in hist opinion, was suffocation. The jury found that death was caused by suffocation bythe water-tap getting-accidentally fixec| in the deceased’s mouth.—Argus.