THE ABANDONED CHILD.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 236, 7 October 1887, Page 5

THE ABANDONED CHILD.

PROCEEDINGS AT THE ADJOURNED

INQUEST,

AN OPEN VERDICT.

The adjourned sitting of the coronial inquiry into the circumstances attending th e death of a child whose body was recently found at the rear of the Thistle Hoteb Queen-street, was held at Gleeson's Hotel, Customs-street West, at 10 o'clock to-day. Dr. Philson, coroner, presided, and the fol" lowing composed the jury :—Messrs Thos" Thwaites (foreman), John Lynch, S. MeConnell, W. Pressley, W. Chappell and John Coldicut. Sir William Wasteneys (instructed by Mr W. J. Napier) watched the proceedings on belialt of Mary O'Connor, the mother of the child. Mr Thomas Cotter was also present in a professional capacity to watch the proceedings. Mary O'Connor was stylishly dressed in a black redingote, black dress, brown suede gloves and a much-be-ieathered brown velvet hat. During the whole of the Kitting she kept her face buried in a white cambric handkerchief.

Prior to the taking of the.evidence the Coroner informed the jury that they must not misunderstand their province—they were not present to try Mary O'Connor, but merely to inquire as to how the child came by its death.

Detective Richard Doolan deposed to finding the body of the child on Monday, September 26th, and its removal to the morgue by Constable Martyn, whose evidence was previously given. On the 27th ult. witness, accompanied by Detective Herbert, proceeded to the Thistle Hotel, and from inquiries made there, they were led to suspect that Mary O'Connor was the mother of the child. They examined her bed, and found the sheets stained with blood ; also her nightdress. Witness saw Mary O'Connor, told her of his suspicion, and asked her if she had any objection tc be examined by a medical man. She oftered no objection, and was examined by Dr. Tennent in the presence of Mrs Coylo, licensee of the hotel. The doctor advised her removal to the Refuge, which was done. She mado no admission to witness.

By Sir William Wasteneys : He did not examine Mary O'Connor's bedroom very closely. Did not see blood on the iloor. The sheets (produced) were taken from her bed.

Detective Patrick Herbert also gave evidence. After the lirst sitting of the inquest witness went to the Thistle Hotel, where he found Detective Doolan with Mary O'Connor. Witness showed her the brown skirt produced at tho inquiry, and in which the body of the infant had been found. She denied that she had ever seen it before and said that it did not belong to her. Witness then accompanied the other detective and the woman to the Hospital, and while waiting at the Hospital for a permit to admit her to the Refuge she asked witness if the baby was buried yet. Witness ropl'ed in the negative, whereupon she asked if she would be allowed to hoc it before burial. Witness replied that it would be better not. She then admitted that it was her child; that it was born on the Saturday previous before dark; and that she believed it was dead when it was born. She also stated that she had got the skirt in the cellar of the hotel and put the baby whjie it wa.s found on the same day that it was born. Witness understood her to mean that the child was dead born.

By Sir William Wasteneys: I did not caution her before she inucle the statements, as she was not in custody. 1 cannot give the exuct words that she used in stating- that the child was hers. Sergeant Clarke here asked the Coroner if it would not be well to re-call Detective Poolan to depose that Mary O'Connor had been taken into custody that morning. The Coroner : That has nothing to do with us.

Sir W. Wasfceneys : On what charge has she been taken into custody ?

Detective Doolan : On a charge of con cealment of birth.

Mrs Mary Coyle, licensee of the Thistle Hotel, deposed that she knew Mary O'Connor, who was lately in her employment in the capacity of general servant. She had entered witness's employ on September 2nd. When Mary came to her iirst, witness asked her if she was a '' married lady." She said she was not but that she had been living with Mrs O'Connor who kept the Eaglo Hotel. Witness then had no hesitation in accepting her services. Mary O Connor slept in a room by herself over the kitchen. She continued in good health until 24th ulfc., when she complained of a headache, and witness told her that after she had Rent in dinner she might go and lie down. This she did about 2 p.m. At. 5 o'clock witness pent np to see if she was yet able to get up. She replied that she was not able to get up, that her head was still bad. Witness sent her up a cup of tea at about 6.30, and the girl Celia McGee brought down news that Mary had been retching as if she had had a bilious attack. Witness went up at 8 o'clock and found her undressed and in bed. In reply to enquiries -by witness the woman Paid she had been very ill whereupon witness told her that if she was not better in the morning she need not get up. In the morning at 7 o'clock, however, ?Mary brought a cup of tea to witness's' room. Witness remarked in her mind that she did not look so stout as she generally did, but had no suspicion. She went about her work just as usual, and went to church at about 7.30 a.m., returning before 8.30. She cooked dinner and tea, and Avent to church in the evening. On Monday witness heard of the° discovery of the body of a child in the hotel yard. On Monday and Tuesday Mary O'Connor attended to'her work just as usual. Witness then referred to the visit of the detectives, and the woman's denial of any knowledge of the child, and the visit of Dr. Tennent. The doctor asked her to make a confession and save further trouble. She still persisted in her denial, and the doctor then, with her consent, examined her and advised her removal to the Hospital. Witness subsequently asked her who was the father of the child, when she mentioned the name of a young man. Witness never observed the woman making baby's clothes. The Coroner here asked Detective Doolnn if any baby linen had been found in the woman's boxes.

Detective Doolan : No,

Examination continued : Witness was present when Detective Doolan examined her boxes, but saw no baby linen. Witness never saw the young man who Mary stated was the father of the child until after the body was found. He then came to her hotel,but only as an ordinary person. By Sergeant Clarke : I did not ask Mary if she was a married woman in consequence I of my observing anything peculiar in her appearance. I did it merely because once before I had had a married woman ia my employ who had passed as a single w °By an 'Sif William Wasteneys: Mary's general conduct gave me a very good impression of her character. She attended church regularly. By Mr Cotter: When the man came to the hotel he said to me that Mary had been telling lies about him—that he was not the fathe? of the child. By the Coroner : I did not see the skirt produced until it was shown to me by Detective Herbert. When Mary complained of her head, she said that her menstruation i had not been regular for 10 months.

William Butler, barman at the Thistle Hotel.identified the skirt in which the child was wrapped as one which had been for some time in the hotel cellar.

Dr P. Honeyman's evidence as to the post mortem was read over. It was to the effect that the child had been born alive, and that death had probably been caused through hemorrhage through the naval string being unsecured, or perhaps suffocation.

Dr. Honeyman was again called, and deposed that on Wednesday 28th hehad madea further autopsy of the child. He examined the abdominal cavity, and had the child measured and weighed. Its length was 19 inches. The navel string was 19£ inches long. He believed that the string had been separated from the placenta at its connection. He thought that the child had been born while the mother had been standing, and the rupture of the string caused by the child falling to the floor. The weight of the child was 6Albs. The brain was healthy, and there was no evidence of injury. There was no appearance of fracture of the skull. The stomach contained some green, glarial, slimy substance, but no food. The body had never been washed or attended to, and death might have been caused by neglect and exposure. He, however, could not say if the child had been exposed. He was certain from the expansion of the lungs that ifc was born alive. A child born under such circumstances might have died through the mother being weak and unable to attend to it.

By Sir William Wastneys : In case of a first birth a woman would not know what to do with the child. He believed that the child had been born suddenly, which would account for the rupture of the cord,but that was merely a theory. This concluded the evidence.

The Coroner in summing up said that it was pretty well established that the child was born alive, but there was no evidence that the mother had anything to do with its death beyond not doing jwhat she had done and consequently he could not see that the jury could do other than return an open verdict.

The jury after a few minutes' consultation returned the following verdict: "That the newly-born female child whose death was concealed, died either from hemorrhage through the navel string being left untied, or from suffocation at the time of its birth, and was found dead and exposed, but whether the neglect Ava? caused through the ignorance or incapacity of the mother, or malice with wilful felonious intent, there is no evidence to show."