Inquest oil the late A. Hatton.

Hastings Standard, Issue 411, 28 August 1897, Page 3

Inquest oil the late A. Hatton.

DEATH FROM HEABT DISEASE. ACCF.L Kll ATED BY SHOCK. Deputy-Coroner Beilby and the jury sworn to enquire into the cause of the death of Arthur Hatton sat at Stortford Lodge Hotel at 3 p.m. yesterday. Mr A. C. Lewis watched the proceedings on behalf of the proprietor of the Stortford Lodge Hotel. pj~Tosswill, sworn, deposed that he%ad made an examination of the body of deceased at 9.80 that morning. There were no external marks of violence. On opening tbe chest the heart was seen to be surrounded with fat, 1 and on removing the heart that organ •was found to be extensively diseased, the walls in some places having become almost bony. The lungs were healthy and the liver was slighty enlarged, but all the other organs were sound. The cause of death in his opinion was the sudden failure of a diseased heart consequent upon a shock. The fact of the heart being surrounded with fat showed disease. To Mr Whibley : Death might have occurred at any time by a sudden shock or excitement. Elizabeth Mary Stock deposed she was the wife of the proprietor of the Stortford Lodge Hotel. Deceased came to the hotel about 12 o'clock on the day of his death. He generally called in on his rounds in order to give the horse a rest. He was sober and in his usual health when he came into the bar and called for a drink of whisky, which was served by her. He remained half an hour or so. Messrs Wyatt and Black were in his company, and when he left the bar he appeared all right and in his usual spirits. Shortly afterwards she heard that an accident had occurred to him. That was all she knew. Joseph Wall, sworn, said he saw a horse and trap bolting round the corner of the l'ri tiiley-Pakowbai road at about 2 o'clock on the 26th. The driver seemed to fall between the horse's tail and the cart. He tried to stop the horse, but was unsuccessful, bo he went to where the man was being held by Mr J. Wyatt in a sitting position against his knee. He recognised the man as Arthur Hatton. He asked Mr Wyatt what was the matter, and he replied, " I think he has breathed the last breath." Wyatt and witness then carried the body to the verandah of the hotel, after which they placed him on a stretcher in one of the rooms and sent for Dr Tosswill. He was present when the doctor, after examination, pronounced life to be extinct. Mr Black was also attending to deceased. To the Coroner: The accident occurred about 1| chains from the hotel. To Mr Hunt": He could not say if the cart tilted, but it did not round the corner sharply. « To Mr Lewis : Hatton was always in the habit of driving spirited horses which started suddenly. Probably he did not get his seat properly in the first instance. There was no dashboard to the vehicle. William Black, sworn, said he knew Hatton and identified the corpse as his remains. Saw him between 12 • -.and 1 o'clock on the 26th inst, and was talking to him when he was getting on his cart in front of the hotel. He was then sober and in his usual condition and spirits. He next saw him lying on the ground about 1£ chains from the hotel and be ran ovei to help him. Deceased was striving to reach a sitting position, and witness supported hiru against his knee. "Witness said " Are you hurt Arthur ? " He never replied but sighed heavily a couple of times and bis head dropped. Hatton was dead when he was brought to the hotel. Deceased had one drink in the hotel. The horse started suddenly. To Mr Lewis.—He was in the hotel nearly the whole time Hatton was there, which was about half-an-hour. The accident occurred about 1 o'clock. John Neild, laborer, deposed to identifying deceased as Arthur Hatton. He saw him alive about 1.45 the previous day when he (witness) called him ont of the bar of Stortford Lodge Hotel. • Deceased used to supply Stonycroft with meat, and as he was an hour and a-half late witness called him from the bar in order to get the meat. Deceased said he had only got part of the order which he would take up to the house and send back to his shop for the remainder. Witness said he would wait and go up with him, and after about five minute 3 he called deceased again and insisted upon his accompanying him. Deceased, however, went back into the hotel, and witness went into Hastings for the meat. When he returned he saw two men supporting Hatton on the road, and he asked if he was hurt but receiving no reply he went on. Hatton should not have been permitted to leave the premises in the condition he was. When he called deceased from the bar witness noticed that he was slightly intoxicated, and when he (witness) went to Hatton's shop he told the boy that Hatton was intoxicated. To Mr Lewis: He knew deceased was intoxicated because he staggered when approaching the cart and from the manner in which he held on to the cart whilst he was speaking to him, and it was for this reason that lie said he would wait for him and go to town irifh him. He was certainly not taking charge of his conveyance. To Mr Whibley: He was not present when deceased was getting on to bis cart. To Mr Hunt: Hatton was a genial, civil and obliging man, for whom he had the greatest respect. To Mr Lewis: Hatton said he understood witness when be asked about the meat, but he (witness) thought he did not, as he first pMii he had not got the meat required and afterwards said he had. Witness did not look in the cart to WW there ae he would

have preferred going to Hastings with him. When he said he had not got the joint witness said he would go to the shop for it, but deceased told him not to go. Black and King were outside the hotel when Hatton came out, both being perfectly sober. Mrs Stock was behind the bar. Did not see Hatton have any drink in the hotel. Hatton was naturally of a ruddy complexion and walked straight. He did not notice if he usually had a roll iu his gait. He had no doubt deceased was intoxicated. Witness arrived at the hotel at 1.45, and left to go to Hatton's shop in Hastings between that time and 2 o'clock. He rode to Hatton's shop and was back at Stonycroft at 2.50. Passed the hotel between 2.15 and 2.20. James Arthur King, drover, sworn, said he knew deceased, but not personally. H- saw him last alive a little after 1 o'clock on Thursday. He was not speaking to him. As he did not take particular notice ho could not say if deceased was drunk or sober, but as far as he knew he was soh?r. He heard Beamish's man ask Hatton for the Stonycroft meat, and he replied he had got it all except the shin of beef. The man asked if he should go to the shop for it and deceased said " Yes, and I will go on to Stonycroft with the meat." Beamish's man then went towards town. To the Coroner—Deceased seemed to be sufficiently sober to transact business. Did not hear Beamish's man ask Hatton to accompany him to the shop, but it may have been said without his hearing it. He did not see Hatton stagger. lie (Hatton) was leaning against the verandah post while speaking to Beamish's man. He saw deceased going towards his cart and immediately afterwards the horse went off. The next he saw was Hatton lying in a heap on the ground. If the deceased was very drunk he would have noticed him. This concluded the evidence, and after deliberating the jury returned the following verdict :—" The deceased, Arthur Hatton, died from heart disease accelerated by a sudden shock owing to his being thrown from his trap on August 26, 1897."