TRAGED in the VILLAGE

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 271, 15 November 1935, Page 17

TRAGED in the VILLAGE

? BY HILDA HINL

CHAPTER lll.—(Continued.)

The next ■witness was George Millman, general labourer, who deposed that he was passing the Rectory at about 0.30 on the previous Tuesday when Miss While rushed out of the door and said: "Come in quick; there's been a terrible accident." He followed her i into the house, where there was a strong smell of gas, which was most pronounced jn the upstairs bedroom, where deceased lay on the bed. In general, he corroborated the evidence of the last witness. "now did Miss White's demeanour impress you when you saw her?" asked the coroner. "What zackly do 'ee main by that?" asked the witness. "I mean did she give you the impression that she had been taken by surprise, that she was acting as a person would act •> ho had found something she did not expect?" "Sure nuff! 'Ow should 'er look? 'Er 'ad 'ad a surprise, 'adn't 'er? Aw! I see. You main 'er might a turned the gas on 'erself an' was play actin'. Nor, sir, tcd'n li-i-ke it." A titter went round the Court, and Mr. Millman looked pugnaciously at the audience. "You c'n laff—" he began. "That will do," said the coroner. "I don't think we need trouble you further." Police Sergeant Blarney deposed that he was called to the Rectory by the last witness and found the state of affairs already described in evidence. Ho examined the gas taps, which seemed to be quite normal. He did not think they could be turned on by accident, or that it was conceivable that they should all be accidentally turned on at once. He inquired about the gas main, but Miss White appeared to know nothing about it. He found, it at last in the scullery, but it had become stiff, there was no lever and he was unable to turn it with his hands. He telephoned to Dr. Godha-.-t at Trevarthan. There were no questions for this witness and, in a tense atmosphere, the coroner announced: "Amos Petherick." If the Anglican curate's demeanour deeerved to be called supercilious, that of the. dissenting preacher demanded a different description. His eyes seemed to be fixed on something invisible to the others. There was something trance-like or somnambulistic in the way in which ho glided rather than walked to hie place beside the coroner. Before opening his mouth he had overawed the court as he overawed his congregation. . "You are tho Reverend Amos Petherick," began the coroner. "My name is Araoe Ezeehiel Petherick. I know nothing of 'reverend.' All these things the gentiles do."

"I beg your pardon, Mr. Petheriek. May I describe you ae Pastor?" "The Lord has called jne to be pastor —which means shepherd—of Hie flock in Bodithiel." '"Very good. You are the pastor of the independent congregation worshipping in Salein Chapel." "That is eo." "You knew the deceased?" "I did." "When did you last see him alive?" "Last Tuesday afternoon at about a quarter to five." "You called on him last Tuesday?" "Yes." "At what time?" "About half past three." "Will you tell the jury the circumstances of your visit?" 1 "Certainly, sir. The Apostle Paul—" "Excuse me, Mr. Petheriek," interjected the coroner, "we want as far ae possiblo to confine this inquiry to the relevant facts, and I hardly think it is necessary to introduce the apostles." The pastor turned an eye on Mr. Greenwood, before which, as he subsequently confessed, he quailed. "I must ask you, sir, to let me give evidence in my own way. I have made it a matter of specific prayer, whether 1 should permit myself to give evidence at this inquiry, or whether it'is not a contravention of the precept that we should not go to law before unbelievers. The scriptures arc lees clear on the matter than one could wish. I have decided to give evidence, but I certainly shall not do so unless I am allowed to rely on the promise that it shall be given me in this hour what I ehall say."

"Very good, sir. Proceed in your own way." "The Apostle Paul laid it down that they who preach the Gospel shall live by the Gospel. Now the man of sin was not content to do this." "You are referring to the deceased ?" "I refer to Lionel Turpin. He, I say, was not content to do this. He was the possessor, of land and houses and the gold that perisheth. It had pleased Providence to give into his keeping the building in which the Lord's people in this place gather for worship. He had notified me that, under the powers which he had, ho proposed to eject us from Salem Chapel on some date to which he gave, an idolatrous and Popish description." "In other words, ho had given you notice to quit on Lady Day?' "That is 60." "And you went to plead with him to reconsider hie decision?" "Sir, we plead with no man. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, hut against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Aβ the witness, declaimed this Pauline text he brought into play all the subtle modulations of his voice, and there was nobody in court who did not feel strangely moved. _ The coroner realised obscurely that he must fight this impalpable influence which was threatening to turn the proceedings into something more like a Methodist revival than a coroners inquiry. „ , , , "Are we to believe," he asked abruptly, "that you went for the purpose of wrestling with an old, bedridden man ?" . ' . "I went, sir, to denounce the wratn ot God against the children of disobedience." "Mr. Petheriek," said the coroner, 1 must warn you that, by the language you are using you may do yourself an injury. As far as wo can see at present there arc two persons who had the opportunity to murder the unfortunate man whose death we are investigating. You are one of those two people. I must warn you that the uncharitable language you are using is calculated to create a prejudice against you."

' "Uncharitable?" replied the witness, with a look of bewilderment. "Do I understand that you presume to lecture mo on Christian, charity, a subject I have studied for years upon my knees with the .sacred"Scriptures in my hands? For the rest; it is a small matter to me to be judged foy-you or by any man's day." "Absurd, I know," confessed the coroner subsequently, "but I never felt so clioap in my life." "Go on," ho said feebly. "Tell us what happened when you visited the deceased last Tuesday." "The man Turpin was in his bed," proceeded the witness, "and I delivered him.my message." "What was your message?" "I recalled to him from Scripture what has, happened to those who have set themselves against the Lord's people. I warned him-—" "Now," interjected the coroner, "let mo warn you, Mr. Petherick, bo careful what you are saying." • The witness did not deign to notice this. "I warned him," he went on, "that he would not be allowed to do what he was proposing to do, that he would bo struck down in his sinful pride." "Did you say how he was to be struck down ?" "That was not my business." "Did you notice the gas taps while you were in the room?" A curious hush fell on the room as those present awaited the reply to this question. The witness' faco and manner seemed, at this stage of the proceedings, to undergo one of those abrupt changes to which those who knew him were accustomed. Instead of the inspired mystic, ho had become a level-headed man of the world. "I did not," he replied briskly. "Did you turn on the gas taps?" "Xo."

"Let us be quite clear. When you say that you did not turn them on, do you mean what I or the members of the jury would mean if they used those words? Do you mean what men of the world would expect those words to mean?" "I do not profess to know how men of the world understand things. I can answer only for myself. You ask me if I turned on the gas taps, and I tell you I did not." '"Now, Mr. Petlierirk, you appear to have been with the deceased for nearly an hour and a half. In that time a great deal may be said. How did Mr. Turpin receive your admonitions?" "He niado an attack on my services. He offered some remarks of his own on the nature of my ministry and what he was pleased to rail his own priesthood, which I shall not soil my tongue by repeating." » "Did ho refuse to withdraw his notice?" "Ho was never asked to withdraw it. I have already told you that I did not go there to plead with him." "Yon went to threaten?" "I went to warn." "Did anyone come to the room while you were there?" "Yos; Miss White camo in with tea." "I believe at the time she arrived the relations between Mr. Turpin and yourself were very strained?"

"They were what they had always been." "You have heard the statement made by Miss White in this court?" ""Yes." "Do you corroborate it?" "Yes!" "Have the jury any questions?" asked the coroner, but nobody wished to interrogate the pastor, who returned to his place, and the coroner called, on Dr. Godhart. The medical evidence contained no sensations, but it was followed with close interest by an audience which felt vaguely that the doctor should be able to clear up any mysteries that might exist in the ense. Dr. Henri Godli.irt deposed that ho was a duly qualified and regietere-l medical practitioner, residing at Roseloa. Trevarthon. He was summoned by telephono to Bodithiel Rectory at about 0.45 on the previous Tuesday evening and there found the deceased in the condition described by previous witnesses. He was dead when witness arrived, but death was recent. "Evidence of the cause of death will bo given by another witness," said the coroner, "but perhaps you can tell us something about the deceased." "He had been under my care for the last two years," said Dr. Godhart, "and was previously under that of my predecessor, Dr. Trothewey. He was confined to his bod with a hemiplegia, or one-sided paralysis, affecting the left side." "You have heard a previous witness tell us she had a feeling that, if he had made an effort, he could have left the bed, although as a matter of fact, he had never done so. Is that your opinion?" ' "Xo. I think Miss While is mistaken." "Is it, in your opinion, a possibility that the deceased could have turned on the gas in this case himself and returned to bed?" "I do not think so." "Would you rule out that possibility?" The doctor hesitated a moment. "Yes," he said. "I would. Moreover, the condition of the bed when I saw the deceased was inconsistent with his having done so." "Perhaps it will be as -well to recall a previous witness on that point," said the coroner. "Miss White, do you agree that the condition of the bod was hardly consistent with the deceased having left it and returned to it?" "Yes, sir." "We may take it then," said the coroner, "that while there may be some difference of opinion about whether the deceased could have turned on the. gas himself, it is highly improbable that he did so." Returning to Dr. Godhart he asked: "As the medical attendant of the deceased, did you ever hear him threaten to take his life?" "Never." "Do you consider him likely to have suicidal tendencies or to commit suicide impulsively?" \ "Extremely unlikely. No man is likely to be bedridden for three years without some mental effects, but in this case they took the irritable not the melancholic form. My definite opinion is that if the deceased had been guilty of insane violence —and he was never near it—the violence would have been directed against others, not himself." "Will you tell the jury when you last saw the deceased alive?" "On Tuesday morning at about half , past ten." - ' '

"Was there anything abnormal in hie ■ condition then?" ' "JN T o. Ho wae not in a good temper. - He made a number of complaints, which - [ believe to be unfounded, about the * inattention of his housekeeper and talked t of altering his will." "What did he say?" 5 "A<s far as I remember, his words ' were: 'I can't dispose of my body ae 1 : am now, but I have at least control of ' my estate and I shall not give it to the ungrateful. Will you ask Mr. Twining to call and ece me when he is in Bodi--7 thiol next week? I shall make a new i will.' " I "You told Miss White that?" "Yes, unfortunately." "Why do you say unfortunately?" ' "Excuee me, sir. I didn't mean to say that." , "How did she take the news?" "Very calmly and well." ; "Did you visit the house again than day?" I "Yes. In the evening after I had I completed my rounds, I called at the rectory a little before five.' , "You were in the car?" "Yes." ; "Now, according to the evidence, you must have reached there soon after Mr. Petheriek left. Did you see anything . of him?" ■ "No, eir." , "Did you see anybody?" \ "Only" the postman. I gave him a . lift as far as the rectory and took a newspaper from him for Miss White.' , "Did you on that visit go to the deceased's bedroom ?" "No sir." "You were not in the room from the time you left it in the morning until you were called there to find the deceaeed dead at night?" "That is so. I had a cup of tea with IMiee White and left at about half past five." "Did you sec anvonc round the house then?" "There may have been stray villagers about. I couldn't say. Miss White asked if I would post a letter for her at the pillar box a couple of hundred yards down the road. There was a little group of flien round the box and I handed the letter from the car to one of them, but I (jNn't notice facee." i (To be continued, daily.)