YOUNG WOMAN'S DEATH.

I*-, REVELATIONS ■AT INQUEST. If f<>'ifw',' 1f ' ——*• - ■■■■:.,;'',■;• -:y. ■■■■;;.-: I, V • A SEARCH FOR DOCTORS. ?' . WXBGED ILLEGAL OPERATION. i ■:■■. ■■-.•* ■■. • — '■■... ~, ' ' The death of a young woman named Phylf - >' •■ > lis Adelaide French, 20 years of age, -in private hospital in Grafton Road, on April I formed the subject for a prolonged !20 last formal tho .subject Queen's Hotel, (oronial inquiry in the Queen's Hotel, t ':"'"' gymatub-stvet't, yesterday. The evidence I .'' -«fmedical witnesses was to the effect that : ■ death was caused by an illegal operation. 1 The District Coroner, Mr. A. It. Harris, i 1 •presided at the inquest, and tho jury was •' /imposed as follows :•--• Messrs. John Bousie (foremen), Terrance Smith, Wm. Offer, ' ' lao. Belcher, Herbert Forbes Porter, and, W. lsa.tc Stcmson. Ghiof-DetectiveMar-i ' '*»cfc conducted tho inquiry: Mr. R. A. ginger appeared for Wilfred John Clarke, I '? - „ a o of the principal witnesSto. ■*£■ | ■■'..'■ The first witness was Dr. Frederick .William King, ho said that on April 18 ho 1 was called by a Miss Warner to No. 7, i Upper Union-street. Miss Warner., told " &m" that the patient whom he saw was a Mis James, who had had a miscarriage. jj 0 made an examination, and did not use K '. * m instrument. There was nothing to M V show she was suffering from any septic. trouble. There was a nurse in attendance, and ho left instructions. No one ' Ustd him the actual cause of the miscar'^riage. On April 19 a message was left '■ ; i ' " asking him to call at the house again. He ■' , ' was engaged otherwise, and as there ' Uemed to be no urgency he did not go. "The Girl's Dead." .- ; .■'■' "'• '<:■■•' t '■■'■■■■' ;', ■:.-'■ ■ ■■".'. ...■, ; ,' Dr King said that ho called on the 20th, -and the lady next door said, "Don't you ~ Hknow what's up ? The girl's dead." On *' entering,the house ho found Miss Warner »wav, but she returned soon after. She "told him she had seat for Dr. Smith on •'"■■': the previous afternoon. She said ho had .come, but declined to- take the case m hand, because witness had had it in his . hands- Afterwards Dr. Milsom had; been , '■ called in, and ordered the patient's "ire--S - moval to a private hospital. Witness was then told by Miss Warn*? that the patient v.ai 4ead. He saw at the house Nurse I tome, but declined and Miss Warner. 'in ? '■' hand, because witness had had it in his ' hands. Afterwards Dr. Milsom had; been ? called in, and ordered the patient's xeI « inoval to a private hospital. Witness was i -then told by Miss Warner that the patient %."■■■■',-'waf -dead. . He saw at this house Nurse Bunco, Mr. James, and Miss Warner. 'i * ,' . The man Clarke was called[in at this * . > stage, and Dr. King said that', he was the \ 1 -man who had said he was James. This |,> matt .witness continued). said he had taken, |; '. - the deceased to the hospital as .Mrs. I James, and that he was arraid of trouble* \- •;.' '.:.i ,:«n 'that account. ■■:' Jamas asked witness to l| .go with him to Dr.-Milsom.. They went) 1 M •■"£( .straight to ■ Dr. Milsom's house, and as. 91'- l they, were'going- the man said that his ■ . name was Clarke. He afterwards left .Witt |j * with Dr. Milsom, and had not seen him m pince till that afternoon. , t ■ A Perfectly Healthy Woman. IP:''-";'" Believing the* deceased to be a married I . woman, witness said lie considered that m ■■■''•''• the. miscarriage was a natural on*. As W. ■ '7. far as he could-ascertain, deceased was 'a 11|: ''' '"perfectly healthy woman, but he was only IWy ■■ ■ in the house about 10 minutes. i Chief-Detective Marsack asked whether ml, i it rras likely that a healthy woman in v dell ' ceased** condition would have a. miacar- &' ■ ;'riage.---Net' unless she had met' with >, ? sever© accident, or had been interfered '■•'■ . witK. ■'■•. :•;,■':•■.') ■ '■;'■ .. '";'-' '•■>*'.■■•' If .'*?.- On the first occasion did Miss Warner or anyone else say anything about deceased %■"- ' having met with. any accident?— No.;■■' -~ Witness said that he would have, ex-- %' '"''"■ pected ' 'to' have: been informed deceased met with an accident . To the Foreman Witness asked when ? the miscarriage occurred, but ha 1 could not remember what Miss Warner reph'ed. The ■" reason why : he did :: not call on receiving' the measagpon the following night was. ] -. ' that he did- not consider the ''case serious, ' I;®;"'"-;, and because his own private business prevpjited him from until; 11 p.m., (I — ;*,rich ho thought too late. until It p.m., |; i 1 jftiiich he thought too late. ?"' vTo Mr. Singer: Witness did ask -i what vV' was the.cause of the miscarriage, but. the fe V;• patient said she could not say, as she had ;■.';■ !no idea, . . .;;, .;, /;;-..- :.:, ,.% /[ r - At Ho. 7, Union-street. :; Dr. Roger Bennett Stanley Smith, of '••',', lackland, said that on April: 18, at about u- *n t he had a call to go to No. 7, "Pnion- ■ ■ ,'. street, la-see I *'patient,- whose name :.waß- - ■ . given as Miss French. .He went round at four p.m., and "Miss Warner came to the door. " She acted peculiarly, as if she - . . wondered why witness was called. The U- ' ;: ' • message ' : in his call-book - was the result of ■', '■ ~ a message from deceased's mother. When he called at the boose therefore, as far as i',• ■''„ Miss Warner was concerned, he called unexpectedly. , He asked her if she- had rang up for him, and she said she had not. , He'went into the bedroom and saw Miss : -!;' '*. French. , She seemed, cheerful, and he ( , ::■''*sked what was tho ; matter. Deceased made some trivial answer. - Miss Warner •i- , ' ''^B*IJ, "Oh, 'it's :no "use trying : .to. deceive , ' the doctor, tell him all about it." Wit- : ■v\i%j gathered from what they tolcl him - ■ that' Miss French had had a miscarriage, .:and- that she had been bad for two or £;"-' : . three days. : He. waa told that Dr. King | .'. had attended-the- ease, and he therefor© v -said he would not interfere with it . Miss I'/--. Warner said that everything seemed to be going on all right, ana that a nurse was &"'. '■-)■ 'in'attendance, / ,- : ; Continuing, witness said that he after"v -'-ds told Miss Warn* that he considered * .the case serious, and that whatever- doctor .'shad attended her should be called -in |again. His examination was an external ' «ne only. He formed the opinion that the Jifttient was suffering from septicemia, and ~te told Miss Warner so. , > ; ' To Mr. Singer : He might have said 'blood-poisoning. /'; ; Witness sajjd that he considered the patient to be a healthy young woman, and 1 it was not likely that*she would naturally ■ h---e a miscarriage, but it was not impos,%l^',,c. Both deceased and Miss Warner '- t>l.i witness that deceased had had a fall down -the front. steps. Miss War- .' ner rang him up at hi& residence the Allowing' night, and said they could not \ jet Dr. King. Witness visited the house I -v^aa' Sunday, the 21st, but '.he-was informed -j < ,* previous to that by the nurse in attendance I '*•* Miss Warner had gone out to make,l other arrangements. He was informed on the Sunday that Miss French was dead. 1 A Lady In a Motor Car. Dr. Edwin Henry Milsom said On Fri- ; day, April 19, at about 8.30 p.m.,..he re,g!vcd a telephone message from the ' Eawlingstone private hospital about this . <"3«?. He was told a lady had called in a motor car, and that she wanted the ad- ■ ■ fission of a young married woman named - Jure. James, and that the matron did not ■V?ah to admit her until tho patient was , wen by a medical man. He was told Mrs. •*mes had just arrived from the South. A . \r-otor car containing Miss Warner called ; «« him at the Grand Hotel, and took him •.-■;. a house in Upper Union-street. He , *aw the deceased in bed, and Nunse Barren ' if j a^**n dance. The patient said that she ■ : .had had a miscarriage. He was introduced > to her as Mrs. James, and he found that the was seriously ill, and in a moribund Condition. She was quite rational, and " > appeared to understand what was going w. She showed signs of acute peritonitis. ,*l3 was told, that tho miscarriage occurred '*' 'lj am. on April 18. They said she '~ -«ad fallen down the steps, but when he asked where were the bruises, the state- , , - *ht was altered to the effect that tho defeased had over-reached herself, and had ; ' 3«ar.redoff a chair. , % . j " l •.-■.■■"-. -...:■■ | , No Satisfactory Information. |:,,,:i.-,':::- : .-W. , I,, 'Whet; he *" to aSc6r the date of , ■ *te accident, witness said ho was given ::,."w!h mixed statements that he decided it V WW 1 hopeless to get satisfactory iaforma- '. . •[» »^. B -,He advised the patient's immediate _-..::--««tnoval. to a hospital, and as soon as he Paired his instruments he attended her /j.'-'^vV'f,■ Rawlingstono hospital. Ho con*w& with Dr. Fenwick, and the patient i\ ■ ,*s treated under an anajsthetic. She Ijraoved to her own 'room,'arid, died ' ;,; > -'* J;. 30 «■"»• next da-v----f ' ' •Jbfcrt!** added .at, in a conversation I «a, the man calling himself James, he

said, there were signs of an interference, and that w U Je patient had only'a faint chance ofi recovering. James mad© some ™W- i effect thafc ** fac a » he knew : 5° tll «Sf, had been done. * James seemed titoed.aiiad overcome. At two p.m. on the" dJth., no performed a post-mortem examination on the deceased at the morgue. There I were no external marks 'of violence or evidence °{ any disease other than the cause of ; death. ? ; Ho found very extensive peritonitis, .and » largo hole in the uterus, and in addition a small perforated hole in" the vagina. An Instrument Used. Uhief-Detective: Marsack: Do you consider it possible that these wounds were self-inflicted? Witness; I do not think ,the large wound on the uterus ; could have* been self-in-flicted. What was the cause of death?—Septicemia, from the septic arid injured condition of the uterus. ';'->;*' How old were the wounds?— They , must have been inflicted, somewhere between the ■ 13th and the 18th, i.e., between one arid five days before death. v \ What do you gay happened ?—That somebody used an; instrument with force. I consider that an illegal operation had been performed deceased to ] procure an abortion, and that the result of the operation was the septicaemia, - which was tho cause of death. / -^ Witness . said that James asked him on the 20th what was going to happen. He said to him .that tho matter was in .the hands of the police, and that he could not ,give a certificate of death. Ho was told by James, or Clarke, jpreviously, that. ho was a friend of- Mica;, French's i family, and had taken her to a hospital as his wife, so that no unkind questions would bo * asked. James called'at witness's rooms on Saturday, the 20th, and asked what was to be the next procedure. Witness said there would be an inquest, and James would be required. , James said : " What if I can't bo ; found ?/-■■:' Witness said the detectives would soon find him. • • 4 Deceased's Employment. Charles Edward Swales, : a Karangahape Road confectioner, said that the deceased had been in his -employ from New Year time till April She left hie shop on April . 10 in good health and spirits, but did not :: return next morning, and he had not seen i' her since. He was informed a few days later by Miss Warner that she was seriously, ill with influenza. He had seen the witness Clark© in deceased's company. ; After a warm exchange of words between Chief-Detective Marsack and Mr. Singer,; the witness : 'Clarke v was allowed i to remain in the room. ] ■ ' ■ s The jury, however, objected to Clarke's ■; 'presence, ;;; and though the Coroner made no order, the witness left tho room., 1 Jean* Dal ton ■ Foote, > matron at the* ' Rawlingstone private hospital, said that on ■ April 18,' at about eight pint., Miss War- ■• ner , called upon her, in company with a _ young man, who gave his name as James. She. gave' general evidence regarding de- ' ceased's admission to and 'treatment 'in- ( her hospital. Miss Warner Gives. Evidence. . Emmil Hilhnan Warner, a single woman, living with her sister at Devonport, said that jn April last she kept a, boardinghous© in 1 Union-street. Tho deceased: was staying with her. A commercial traveller named Wilfred John Clarke ' came to see her very, often, but witness was always in the room with them. He often brought deceased home from the shop.' She could not say he had been courting deceased. She did not know he was married." Clarke ; and deceased had known one another since childhood. Clarko was brought to ,witness's" house by deceased's mother, who said {to witness, " Phyllis >■■ will marry,; ho man ' but Mr. Clarke." Later, witness went to Botorua, and while there wrote to Mrs. French* saying -that Clarke was.paying t attentions ■■,„ to ' deceased.. Before she v went away' she told deceased to go and ' sleep at a neighbour's house, bat she found . out on her return that deceased had not done so. -.■;:■ . ■.■-. - . ;-.■■■ _ ■ Though sleeping * fairly regularly with deceased, witness was not aware of ..her • condition. Witness remembered the night deceased went to see Mr. Swales, her em- , ployer. The following morning deceased complained of sickness,- and did not go to work.. For some days. previous she had not been eating her food well. Up to that day (April 11) "witness did not know '; deceased was pregnant. • In the afternoon deceased went out, and witness told her not to let Swales see her, or they would ':. think she was not very ill. j She was away - three-quarters of an hour; on her return she said she had been looking at the shops. !' From April 10 to 17, with the exception , of l the absence mentioned on the 11th, and , going to her mother's with witness on the i : 15th, she did not leave 5 the house. De- , ceased slept. in witness's bed all that week. i. On Wednesday, the 17th, deceased seemed i; worse,- but she and[witness went to bed , about the usual time. " Preferred Death to Hospital. On the evening of Friday, the 12th, continued- witness, while deceased was at- ; tempting to I remove , the * verandah blind, she stepped from a chair to the verandah rail and fell to the ground, partly on her feet and partly on her side. When she got 1 up she was very pale. After they had '; both retired on the night of the 17th, about the middle of <' : the /night,- deceased awakened witness, and complained of feeling cold and sick. Witness got up and ; fetched her some tea and a hot water bag. Deceased vomited after drinking the tea, : but she did not shiver so much. Witness laid down again ; beside her. About an hour^; later deceased complained of severe pains, and soon after deceased had amiscarriage. Bight up to this time witness -had hot 'the slightest idea as '• to the deceased's condition. .Directly • witness saw what i was ; the trouble :-l she informed the deceased, who said, ," Oh, Emmil, : forgiver. me." .Witness - then , sent for' Nurse Burrcn, who arrived at about three a.m.'or four a.m. Witness eventually buried the foetus in the garden. Witness suggested calling in Dr. Smith, brit deceased said he would tell ; her mother/ 'Deceased also said she would sooner die than go to the hosptial. Deceased suggested that to deceive the nurse, she shonld call herself "Mrs. James." Witness did not mention "Mrs. James "to the nurse. She could not remember telling the doctor that a " Mrs. James " was ill. Mr. Clarke was in the house on April 17 and 18. He fetched the nurse. • Either witness or deceased told Dr. King about the fall. On the afternoon of the 18th the girl did not seem: to be very bad, but got worse later. * As the nurse was not satisfied they sent for Dr. King again, that evening, but could not get him. Dr. Smith also arrived unexpectedly. During that night deceased took to shivering again. Clarke Seeks Dr. King. The following morning Mr. Clarke went out, saying he would fetch Dr. King by hook or by crook, and returned with the news that Dr. King would come in the afternoon. He did not come, although they had everything ready, and in the evening Dr.* Murray was sent for, but said he could not come, as Dr. King had started the case. Witness thought the girl was getting worse, and the same day told the nurse that the deceased was not a married woman. The nurse then went herself for Dr. King, but could not get him, so left a note at the doctor's house that he was needed at once, as the case was an urgent one. The doctor did not come, so witness insisted on the deceased going to a hospital. Deceased said she would only go on condition she went as "Mrs. James." Clarke said he would go with her.' as " Mr. James." Witness and Clarke then went to Rawlingstone private hospital. They saw Nurse Foote. Clarke said he was " Mr. James" and that his wife had had a mishap. Witness told the nurse of the fall on the verandah. Neither Clarke nor s witness told Nurse Foote that the deceased had only been a few days in Auckland. _ Nurse Foote said she could not admit any patient until a doctor had seen her, and recommended Dr. Milsom. Witness and Clarke then went for Dr. Milsom and -took him to witness's house. He examined the patient, but he did not ask witness a lot of questions.. v At this stage some considerable discussion took place between the. -Detective,, Mr. Singer, and some of the jurymen | as to whether the witness's full i I answers to Chief-Detective Marsack's ques- ; j tioiss. were being taken down. ■■■ Finally i

the Coroner Tilled that Mr. Singer must would sooner die than go to the hospital. Markck had finished. ; / Chief-Detective Marsack: Did you not say to Dr. Milsom that deceased fell off a chair on the verandah . i Witness: No; that is a deliberate lift. Astonished at Dr. Uilsom's Statement. .The doctor (continued the witness) took deceased's temperature and deceased •asked if she was going to die. The doctor ! said how could shel die .with : such a temperature. 1 -Later Dr. Milsom told witness that deceased was' very ill. Witness and Clarke then took deceased. to 'the hospital in a motor car. •At the hospital deceased said.:-*' Oh, I have forgotten ray rings.'' An Operation was then performed, and witness and Clarke waited in another room. Dr. Milsom- then came into'-the room, and addressed - "Mr. James," and said the operation had 'taken: place, and that the girl had been tampered with,* or something to that effect/? Clarke did not apparently understand, and witness, being naturally put abouti at the doctor's statement, said: " Oh, Jack! do you hear what ho says?" He replied in ■'»» affirmative. This was the first witness 4 had heard of any tampering. They went away, and witness did not see deceased again. ■ At no time did deceased say' she had tampered with herself. v • >.-; , -;U . " , Shief-Detectiva Marsack: Did you not some three or four weeks : before the deceased's illness say to some personl.," you know if* there is some person in this street like Mrs. Maxwell?"— Witness: Em» piratically no.- v • ' «■' - '"■ -Detective ' Marsack: Did not this person or some person say, "No, I don't mix up i with cattle of that sort?"— ness Certainly not. v* .-, Chief-Detective Marsack: Do you know who performed the, illegal operation,: or did ■ you 'perform it :' yoursel^T-r-Witness: No, I know no more about-that sort of thing than you do.' . ~'•-■.'"-'' Continuing,. witness said she did not even know bow to administer, a douche. - To the foreman: While witness was in Rotorua [ Clarke was not ■.■ staying at her house. ..'-''\.■'. ~..-. 'To the jury: On: her return from Rotoma deceased told witness , that - she and Clarke had been to the pictures together while she was away. Clarke:came to hoard at witness' house tax April' 13, and remained until after the death of deceased. "-To Mr. Singer • Witness was particularly attached to deceased, who had been very intimate with her family, .v Witness did everything possible for the > girl when she was ill. She : did not tell Foote that Dr. King had "attended the girl, as uhe was afraid the nurse would decline to attend, as* Drs. Murray and. Smith had done on the ground that. Dr. King was attending the case. Witness did not approve of -illegal operations,/, and would never have countenanced one being performed on the; deceased. l She*-would not have had her ittithe house if she had known of any such operation: Witness had-no idea who was responsible for* •*, deceasedscondition, and she.had never hinted as to who was responsible, , ■*■'. ' The inquiry adjourned' ait about 10 p.m. until 11 o'clock this; morning.' ' ..•£.