THE REGENT-STREET BABY CASE. VERDICT OF ACCIDENTAL DEATH.

Evening Post, Volume XLV, Issue 1, 3 January 1893, Page 4

THE REGENT-STREET BABY CASE. VERDICT OF ACCIDENTAL DEATH.

Aftor Saturday's issuo wont to prens the following ovidonoo was t&kou in tho Kegonlstroot baby oase ;; — ¦ John WMtGi ttdutiutimg his tevidonbo, said (hat htS Wife had to go into thtJ Hospital. Tho baby Was then placed in tho care of Mrs. Lynch. His wifo loft the Hospital on Bth October, ahd on tli'o 10lb they got tho b*by bA'ck. It was thott v/ojl and strong. ItfH arm was brokon on 9th Doo'embor. Witness had boon into towtl, and on his roturn homo his wifo, said that she believed that Uio baby's arm waß out of joint. Mr. Yatoman, who was staying in the houses, advised him to see a dpotor, and ho did so tho same evening. Mrs. White biiid that whon she was taking tho baby bnt of tho bradlo i he waa rftther rbetWsa, and pave a jump in hof urths, and she thought that woe bow uio arm was brokon. About ft *fcedk beforo tho baby's death Mrs. "White was nursing it at tho toa table. Witnoss leant ovor to amußO it, whon it sat up Buddenly and struck its head against tho corner of tho table, causing a bruiso on tho tomplo. Dr. Alexander first drew his attention to the bruiso on tho cheek. Hiß wifo had previously told him that baby had fallen out of bed and hurt itsolf, but he was bo upset whon the doctor said the child would not live that ho did not recollect what his wifo had told him about tho fall. Ho had a conversation with Dr. Alexandor in rogard to insurance. Tvlm, the canvasser, insured the lives of witness and tho baby. _ Witness never paid anything oh his oiVn policy — tho canvußsbr must have paid it — ahd only 2d on tho baby's. Ho did not remember tolling Dr. Alexander that he would got .£2O if the child died. Ho understood from the canvasser that he would only get £1 if it died at the end of twelve months, and JJ2 if at tho end of two yoars. Ho did say he would burn the papers, bocauso ho had been told that it he did not pay tho tir'einium the policy would lapse, and ho Know he had paid nothing on his own policy. Mrs. Whito dusteti some Fullor's earth oVor th* wbiinds on the baby's head to o&sb and Heal them, and not to hi do the marks. Witness did not recollect saying, in answer to Dr. Alexander, that he was afraid his wife was unkind to the ohild, and that she did not care for it as she did at first. He had hoard witnesses say that the house was dirty. His wife was not in a condition to do much, but tho house was always sorubbed once a week, and tho baby was washed every morning. Tho baby was \ «ry aotivo, and while its arm was in splints it was able to shuffle about on its back and side, and once he just saved it from falling out of bed. Harriet White) wife of John Whitej after being cautioned, said that when the baby's arm web broken it was crying on the bod, and she picked it up somewhat suddenly by tho arm. She had novcr done so beforo. It continued to cry whon she put it down again, but only for a short time. She did not know that the child was hurt until she wont to put it to bod, when she noticed the arm was limp. She was too ill herself to take the child out much. Tho blood on tho cheek was caused by tho baby leaning forward and striking sharply the edgo of the table while she was nursing it. One day— last Tuesday she thought it was— sho bad gone into the kitchen, leaving tho child in bod, which was about 2ft high. She heard him cry, and running back found it on the floor. Whon sho picked it tip it eoemed very limp, and she thought it was going_ into a fit. She asked a boy who was passing to bring somoone to assist her, btit he did not do so. She g-ave the baby a warm bath immediately afterwards, and it seemed bettor and went to sloep. After the fall the ohild took very little food, and seemed to bo continually slPoping. The night before it died, witneas remained np watohing it. The next night, being tired, she lay down and fell asleep, and when she awoke the baby was dead. In the conversation with Mrs. Bassett, witness understood her husband to mean that if he prospered in business he would be able to leave money to the baby. They were fond of it. Sho thought nothing about the insurance, and laughed when her husband showed her the paper*, as she did not think he would be able to pay the premiums. Frederick W. Yateman, a commercial traveller, told how on coming homo in the evening Mrs. White said 6 he thought the baby's arm waß dislocated. The Whites always seemed to be particularly fond of tho child. Constable Carroll, of Newton, also gave evidence. The Coroner, in summing np, reviewed the evidence at some length. There could be no i doubt, after the doctor's evidence, that the cause of death was effusion of blood on tho brain, and the question for the jury to determine was whether the injury was caused accidentally or through negligence. His Worship defined the difference between culpable negligence, and negligence which was the result of poverty, explaining that if a porson who had tho charge of a child which required comforts was able to provide them and failed to do so, it would be a blameable act, whereas in the case of a poor person, who was unable to provide such comforts, there could be no blame. As regards the insurance on the chi'd's life, Dr. Alexander must have misinterpreted White's meaning, because it was most improbable that a man who intended to benefit by a child's death would tell anyone about it. The jury, after a short retirement, brought in a verdict to the effect that the child died of effusion of blood on the brain, the result of a fall from a bed, and that the said fall was accidental. The onquiry closed shortly after 5 p.m.