DOGGED BY TRAGEDY

Evening Star, Issue 20194, 6 June 1929, Page 18

DOGGED BY TRAGEDY

° THRILLING WAR EPISODE n .1 e SOLE SURVIVOR’S SUICIDE 0 I tragedy that dogged tlic heels of tho 3 sole survivor of a llvrillinig episode of ■! flic war was reflected in poignant disclosures at the inquest held in London recently on Archibald Hill, aged fortytwo, french polisher, of Hammersmith, lie was found suffering from the effects of poison in a barricaded room, and was removed to hospital, where he ! died. I An experience that darkened the dead man’s life was thus described by his brother, Henry William Hill: “Jly i brother was in Mesopotamia during the - war, and had a terrible experience. JJe 1 was a clerk on the headquarters staff. ■ at Bagdad. In .December, 10'J]. the i sleeping quarters,.a three-storied wooden • i building in which my brother and about • I twenty other men were housed, was ■ j set on fire by Arabs. 1 ‘‘Archie woke up and found the dormitory full of smoke. He sprang out i of bed, but lie could not find his way out. As' ho was groping about there was a puff of wind, which cleared the smoko a'little and disclosed a window. My brother rushed toward the window, shouting to his comrades ‘ Follow me I’ but before ho reached the window the room seemed to burst into a sheet of flame. . HEAVY LOAD OF TROUBLES, “The Haines burnt my brother’s head and neck very' badly,' but ho jumped through the window and crashed through a verandah to the ground. He broke his leg and injured his right arm. .Ho came homo immediately afterwards, but was never the same man.” Giving evidence at the inquest, slr Henry Hill said: ‘‘.My brother's wife ran away with another man, and then his son committed suicide by gas. That nearly turned his mind, ami wc had a terrible job with him. He had a maintenance order made against him recently, and he was in arrears with it. He said he was in fear of the police arresting him.” Mr Hill added that Ids brother came to see him a tew days before his death, and said Jio could not sleep, and had eaten no food tor four days. He declared lie would kill himself that night. “ I had a long talk with him, and persuaded him not to do so,” went on Mr Hill. “ 1 also went to see his landlord, and asked him to cut o lf the gas supply. Wo did everything humanly possible to keep him from doing it.” Later hs heard that In’s brother Juki been poisoned. The constable who forced tho door of Hill’s rooni said lie found the occupant I lying on tile floor close to a gas ring. | A cup of red fluid was near by, and a j jug of similar fluid was on the table. Five unsealed letters item in the room, one being addressed to “11. R. Oswald, Esq., West London, Coroner.” “I FELT LIKE A HUNTED FOX.” Tho Coroner read tho communication as follows;—“These few lines, first hand may bo useful as to why I am taking this step. I have, had what 1 consider to bo a vindictive ami crushing burden placed upon me, which lias made my life just hell for tho past month, I know from day to day wc all have onr ups and downs, but, after all, life is a very sacred thing—sometiling not to ho tampered with, even under abnormal conditions. No one realises this more than 1. but there is a limit to human endurance when subject to continuous strain and oppression. I cannot carry this out at sea. however, where, had my miserable body turned up flotsam and jetsam, or neither j the trouble would have been negligible. Any notes I have- left kindly return to those to whom they are addressed.” Another letter, addressed to “Dear Bill and Bell,” ran: —“A last farewell. Oh my way home last evening after leaving yon I felt like a hunted fox with the hounds drawing still closer. Convey my fondest love to mother, sisters, and brothers. P.S.— In my last moments T beg of you by hook or. by crook to bury mo near my darling son.” • A verdict of “ Suicide while of unsound mind ” was recorded.