SUPPOSED SUICIDE.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 271, 16 November 1888, Page 3

SUPPOSED SUICIDE.

DEAD BODY FOUND AT COX'S CREEK.

FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES,

Shoiitly after six o'clock last evening two boys named William Butler and William Trevarthen were rowing in a boat at th e mouth oi Cox's Creek, Ponsonby, when they saw the dead body of a man lying face downwards on the beach at highwater mark. The tide was then on the ebb, and the body had evidently beon washed up on the beach a very short timo previously. The boys reported the matter to Constable McCoiuiell, of Ponsonby, who proceeded to the spot indicated, and took possession of the remains. It was apparent that life had been extinct for about 24 hours, and the Constable, having obtained the use of a spring cart, had the body conveyed to the morgue in Custom-street. Hero the body was identified by Thos. Amsell, a boarder at the Pier Hotel, as the remains of Henry T. Sharpe, whose mysterious disappearance had previously been reported to the police. Mr Amsell states that Sharpe occasionally took his meals at the Pier Hotel, bub that he had not seen him there for several days. The deceased was a man of between 30 and 40 years of age, and was employed as a clerk by Messrs Forster and Co., plumbers, etc, Albert-street. So far as can be ascertained he has no relatives in Auckland, and it is not known whether ho was married or single. He was a man of respectable appearance, and his body when found was well clothed. He had on a coat and overcoat, and it is presumed that he must have been in stormy weather immediately prior to his death. The pockets cf his clothes contained some keys, but no money, and two photos of a lady marked " Worksop, England." Sharpe was last seen on Tuesday evening in the vicinity of the wharf. It is probable that that is where he got into the harbour, aud that the body drifted with the next tide to the spot where it was picked up. Deceased wag known to have been in financial difficulties for some considerable time, and he had been worried in mind becauso of his inability to meet a P.IST. which was overdue. A chu;:ge of embezzlement was also pending over him, and these facts lead to the supposition that the man committed suicide. An inquest on the body wan proceeding at Zcigler's Hotel when we went to press, Dr Philson, coroner, presiding.