AN EXTRAORDINARY CASE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1449, 2 January 1886, Page 3

AN EXTRAORDINARY CASE.

The adjourned inquest on the body of John Hazlehurst was held on Wednesday at Wcodend. The boy had been ...committed some time ago to the Burnham Industrial School as a negated child. He had since been boarded out with Mr and Mrs Green, of Woodend, North Canterbury. On December 214 the boy died suddenly, apparently from the effects of sunstroke; but when the body was examined by Dr Ovendon, he found it discolored in many places, and concluded the marks were the result of bruises. The inquest was adjourned for further inquiries, and resumed on Wednesday, when the Greens were entirely exonerated from the imputation of illrusage that had been raised against them, and at the same time it was shown that the case was one of the most remarkable that had ever occurred. Mr Whitefoord, the Coroner, said that as the boy had been an inmate of Burnham, the Government had determined to make' the strictest enquiry. Mr Martin, the Crown Prosecutor, who was present, said from enquiries made there was every reason to believe that the child Hazleburst was taken every reasonable care of. Mr Green said that the child was never away from the house on the day of his death, i»o that if hrjured it must have bean on hi« premises. Dr» Symes and Guthrie said they had examined the body and came to the conclusion that the marks on the body were not the result of violence. In their examination they arrived at the fact that traces of hereditary disease were present. It was a well-known fact that the boy's mother was an unfortunate woman of the lowest class, and Dr Ovendon had no knowledge of those facts when making liis post-mortem examination. The evidence adduced showed that Dr Ovendon had been mistaken in'his previous opinion, in fact he admitted as much, but the cape was such an extraordinary one that there waR no wonder he waa deceived.

Drs Syines and Guthrie in their report said—On Saturday, Dec. 27tb, Wfc examined the exhumed body of John Hazalhursfc in the presence of Dr Oveodon j for the purpose of ascertaining the cause of death. The general aspect of the corpse is that of a well nourished lad apparently about nine or ten years old. The most conspicuous feature at once arresting the attention was the extensive discoloration of the akin, especially thas covering the limbs. This appearance is perfectly startlina, and leads directly te the conclusien that the deceased aiust have been the victim of terrible violence, an opinion which gathers weight when taken in conjunction with blood stains on the clothing, and the actual existence of at least two wounds or sores. It has only been af tar- the most _ searching scrutiny, the closest investigation of detail, with frequent and lengthy interchange of opinion, that we have been able* to establish a position which explains these phenomena apart from violence. The report went on to say that the boy wa!e suffering from constitutional syphilis arjd that the appearances could all be accounted for by the diseased state of the bfood, and the fact that there was one ofc t*o sores on the body at the time of death. The skin itself was uninjured \lvhere the discolorations occurred, and %he post mortem appearances of the vital /organs were those of sunstroke. The 'doctors concluded that the degenerative influence of the disease on the blood, and its sudden conjunction with so peculiar a disease as sunstroke, would in a boy of j' dweased's age (niae yews) explain the

phenomena, which were startling and unique.

The jury ultimately returned a verdict to the effect "That the daceaaed died from suiiftroke, no blame being attached to the Greens in any way."