A TRAGIC OCCURRANCE.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 10986, 8 June 1901, Page 7

A TRAGIC OCCURRANCE.

SAD END OF MRS PLUNKET. SENSATION XN THE CITY. The grounds attached to the Choral -Jail, better known as tbe Temple of Truth, were yesterday morning the scene of the closing act in the life of Mrs Atkinson-Plunket, formerly .known aa Mrs Worthington, who came to this city when the Students of Truth cult was first founded by Mr A. B. Worthington,* and who Avas recently married to Mr J. S. Atkinson, dentist. When the n*Avs was- known in town that Mrs Plunket had been found drowned at an early hoar morning in an ornamental fountain a great sensation was created. It appears that Mrs Plunket has been ill for some time, and has been much depressed in mind, 'her mental state approaching melancholia. Although she was asked to allow someone to sit with her she would not permit this, preferring, so it is stated, to be alone. About midnight on Thursday her attendants left her much in the same state of health as she had been in for some time, detecting no signs that her symptoms had altered or become more acute. Mrs Plunket's sleeping apartment Avas at the east end of the residential pori tion of the Choral Hall building, and a considerable distance apart from the othei bedrooms, so that none of the other occupants of the house were in a position to hear any movements made by her.

It has been customary for the servants, as soon as they rose in the morning, to proceed immediately to Mrs Plunket's room, tc ascertain if she* required any attention. This course Avas followed yesterday, *but the servant found on entering the be"sroom that the bed was unoccupied, and she at once informed the other .residents —Mr J. S. Atkinson, and .Miss Franc Gai-tin, who was one of Mrs Plunket's most intimate friends, and has been - closely connected AA*ith the Students of Truth movement. A searoh Avas at once instituted, and resulted in the dead body of Mrs • Plunket being found in an ornamental fountain in the grounds on the north side of the hall. Hei teet Avere found bound together with an elastic band, and her body Avas wrapped in a -blanket. The fountain contains about two or three feet of water. The rim of the fountain is almost level Avith the ground. There "was no indication as to the time when the sad event happened, and though Mr Atkinson, pending the arrival of Dr. Jennings, made every attempt to restore respiration, ho was unsuccessful, and when medical aid arrived all that coulc" be done was to pronounce life extinct. The police authorities have carefully examined the ground in the vicinity cif the ornamental fountain or basin in Avhich Mrs Plunket's body was found, and have been unable to detect any sign of a struggle having taken place. As the deceased wa_ knoAvn to have been in bad health, bodily and mentally, it is supposed to be a case of suicide.

Mrs Plunket's age is' stated to have been fifty-three years. Since last Avinter she has been suffering from nervous debility, accompanied by mental distress, and was attended by Drs. Jennings and Morton 'Anderson. Her mental tagitation was most pronounced between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., and fS- gradually subsided by 10.30 p.m., when she usually retired after having a hot bath. Mr Atkinson sat Avith his wife from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., when Miss Garstin relieved him, and sat "with Mrs Plunket till she retired. On Thursday night Mr Atkinson and his wife sat in a room nearest the Choral Hall and listened to the concert, and at ten minutes past ten _vi_ss Garstin relieved Mr Atkinson. Miss Garstin was the last person who saAV Mrs Plunket alive. Aftei Mr Atkinson left she talked Avith Mrs Plunkett till 11 o'clock, and bade hei "good-night" at 11.45, after offering to sleep with Mrs Plunket or to get the nurse to do so, both offers being declined by Mrs Piunket. The nurse, Miss Grace Hodgson, left Mn_ Plunket at 8 o'clock, and it is understood t3_at Mrs Plunket frequently expressed the opinion to her that she could not live. Mr Atkinson Ava£ Avakened by the housemaid, Miss Ethel Willis, at a quarter past seven yesterday morning, and was informed by liar- that she had found Mrs Plunket lying face downAvar__ in the pond at the fountain. Miss Willihad found an elastic band garter confining I both Mrs Plunket's ankles together. Whilst I trying to revive his wife, Mr Atkinson found that her limbs moved quite freely, shoAving that rigor mortis had not set in. £ BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. Early in 1890 Mr and Mrs Worthingtan, as they were then known, with tAvo children, a boy and a girl, arrived in Christchurch and took up their residence in Office road, St. Albans, commencing Avith' a few people to hold -what Avere called' classes of the Students of Truth. Foi some little time the number was only sufficent to fill one of the rooms. By and bye, hoAvever, the numbers increased, and in June a move was made to the Oddfellows' Chambeiis, where Mrs Worthington took part in the work. Subsequently the OddfeiloAvs' Hall Avas taken, and classes were instituted, in the working of which -he took par*.. At a still later period the moA-ement for the building of what wa£ called the Temple of Truth AA*as carried out, and on the occasion of the laying ot the foundation stone, and also in the formal opening, Mrs Worthington and her twe children took a prominent part. For some time after the occupancy of the Temple matters between Mr and Mrs Worthington progressed, as far as could ba seen, smoothly, although she made several attempts, which were' always resisted by him, •to obtain the ascendancy. ; She formed several societies in connection with ths body, of which she was the head and moving spirit. The efforts made by Mr; Worthington to stand forward prominently at last led to open rupture. - The children made a statement repudiating the name of Worthington, and announcing theii names to be Plunket. Mrs Worthington. prior, to her coming' to New Zealand, had been married to Dr. Plunket, but a divorce had been granted in America. This was followed by a series-of statementpublished by Mrs Worthington, in Avhich she attacked Mr Worthington pretty severely. This rupture caused an entire separation between the parties, Mrs Worthington, as she had been known up to thk time, following tha example of the children, and discarding the name, she cook that of Sister Magdala, by which she had bean knoAvn in connection Avith one of the organisations she started. The three, Avith Miss Franc Garstin, vs. ho also had been associated with Mrs Plunket in her work, then left the house next door to the Temple, Avhere she was residing at the time of hei death. Some portion of the followers went Avith her, and, after a short, but, exciting, paper Avarfare batween Mr Worthington and berself, she settled down in a small office in Chdnoery lane, and took up the work of mental healing. For some, little time she remained there. In the meantime hei girl had been adopted by a gentleman in Christchurch, and, the boy went to America. FolloAving upon this Sister l\iagda_a, a_ she AA*as called, removed to a flat in Luck's Buildings, still continuing t_ carry on the mental healing in conjunction with Miss Garstin. At a still la/tea.'date another move was made to the house next to the Choral Hall, .vhich she had left at the time of the rupture between herself and

Mr Worthington. Here Avhat is known as the New Zealand School of Mental Science was founded, and has been carried on up to lier death. Some four or five months ago Sister Magdala—or, as was announced in the marriage notice, Mrs Plunket —married S. Atkinson, a dentist here, of the firm of Messrs Atkinson and Neeley. In the marriage notice it Ava* stated that no change of name Avould take place, i.e., that though she had married Mr Atkinson she wished still to be called and known as Mrs Plunket. . The inquest will take placs at half-past eleven this,' morning, before Mr H. W. Bishop, S.M., at the Choral Hall.