CASUALTIES.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14513, 20 December 1912, Page 8

CASUALTIES.

YOUXG GUtL HANGS HERSELF.

AN INEXPLICABLE TKAGEDY

An inquest was held yesterday afteriiooj, beiore Mi kl. U. Jii&hop, District Coroner, touching tke dc;un oi ii,liz;i Ja.no JltCiiiiery, who was tound hanged in an oumou&o oi her biouier's houoe. ilr Casaidj' appeared on be~ haii of the wiuies.s lii^wood. Wihiam iicCafiory, brother of the deceased, said tnac she would have been twenty-three years old to-day, bhe worked as a booUuindor. Laieiy sac had not been well, Out had not sceined depressed. Sue was going out with a man rained Thomas iiigwoud, and her family had taken no objection to this. Marriage, had not been ducusstd, but witness believed them to be ei.g.igjd. Witness last saw deceased alivo about 9.30 on Wednesday night, wheu she left witness apparently to go to bed. She said sho had lallen out with Bigwood, and they were not going oui together any more. Deceased appeared to be in good spirits and gave no reason for the uiiference between her and Bigwood. The letter (produced) was found under the pillow of deceased's bed. In it sho asked witness to forgive her for what sho was about to do, as she couid not boar it any longer. She declared siio had been a straight ar.d hoi:est girl. "Tom," it continued, "had driven her to it. Her life for the past week had been a misery." Witness said he could not explain in anyway the extreme language used. Deceased had not seemed distressed.

Eva McCaff&ry, wife of the previous witness, deposed to having found the body of deceased. In deceased's conduct there was nothir.g to indicate why sho had broken with Bigwocd. N.o arrangement had been made about marriage between them. Witness could not account for the act in any way. Annio Gay, a neighbour, gave evidenco relative to fii uh g the note (already produced) beneath the pillow of deceased's bed wliich had been turned down but not slept in. Thomas Oliver Bigwood, wood mnchinist, gave evidence that he had known deceased about three months and had been in the hnbit of visitirg at her house. He had been keeping company with her, but there had been no talk of their getting married. Witness last saw deceased alive botween 7.30 and 9.20 on Wednesday night, having met her by appoir.tmpnt. They had no quarrel t but witness told her that ho did not irtend to keep company with her any longer. About a week beforo he had told her that ho thought ho had botter leave off going to see hor. Sho did not appear to toko it to heart much. On Wednesday night she had seemed in the best of spirits. Witness oould say nothing in explanation of the letter. He had heard it read for the first time at the incmest. Ho had rot thought that deceased w&f particularly fond of him. Deceased was a straight and honourable girl. The Coroner said that it seemed extraordinary for a young girl to take her life under such circumstances. If there were no grounds, and there seemed to be nore. for the strong expressions used in the letter, it would br evidence of an unsettled mental state. Ho would record a verdict that' deceased had committed suicide by hang ins; herself while in a state of unsound mind.

At this stage deceased's father said th.at deceased had been with him on Tuesday, and had seemed much depressed. Sho seemrd to bo worried about her relations with Bigwood.

(PKW 0 ««9OrTATTOV rET.FRTIAM.) AUCKLAND, December 19. A body found in tho harbour has been identified as that of Mrs Eliza Hudson, a widow, aged 74 ; who had been living with her married son at B'ukenhead. She had been to Auckland on business and it is supposed that after leaving the ferry steamor in the dark she walked over the edge of the wharf. Mrs Hodson formerly resided in Napier.