CORONER’S INQUEST.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LIII, Issue 5918, 13 February 1880, Page 6

CORONER’S INQUEST.

An inquest -was Reid- yesterday afternoon at the Hospital, before the District Coroner an 1 a jury of 12, of whom Mr A. E. Preston was chosen foreman, touching the death of William M'Millan. After the body of the deceased had been seen by the jury, the following evidence was taken: — Mary Jane M'Millan deposed : I am the wife of the deceased. His age was 43. He had been a little ill; he got hurt, but was belter. He had been drinking very heavily of late—before he went to Kaiapoi for six weeks —and ho eat almost nothing. I last saw him on Saturday week. It was at my place outside the yard. He said he was going to Kaiapoi. It was at my house at the South Town Belt. He has not been living with me since Christmas. He was half-drunk when with me on Saturday week; it was about 2 o’clock. He left, and I believe went to Kaiapoi. I saw no more of him. I saw him at the Hospital on last Monday. He was looking bad. He did not say he thought he was dying. He never said he would make away with himself, but threatened to make away with the rest of us. Ho presented a knife at me once, and threatened to take away the lives of some of the children, who he said were not his, I never complained of him. To the Police : My husband has no property. My son has. M.j husband had £3OO about when he began this drinking fit. It was his own money. He would let me keep it. He had his money in the Bank—the Colonial Bank, some of it. He had £l6O or £l5O there. He would not show me his book. He had money in another Bank. He told me had lost £l6O, Alfred Buckley, Inspector of Police, deposed : On Saturday evening last I heard that the deceased was occupying a railway gate house, by permission of the authorities on the Kaiapoi Railway. Hearing that he was depressed in mind, 1 thought it my duty to visit him. I did so in company with Mr Bourke, the station-master. We found the place ail in darkness, and the doors and windows all fastened. It was 10 o’clock at night. We knocked at the door and not receiving a reply went to the window of the bedroom. After repeat.’d knocking we could Lear a faint voice inside. I asked him to get up, and told him wo were the police. Wo heard him get up and go to the door. We wont to the door and saw through the glass part that he had fallen from it. Mr Bourke forced open the door, and then we found him lying on his back on the floor with his throat cat. The wound was not bleeding. I ran and in twenty minutes got Dr Ovenden, who sewed up the wound and bandaged the neck. Deceased then could speak pretty well, and eaid he bad done it at 2 o’clock the day previous. He said he had done it because he was suffering great inward pain from dysentery. He was removed the following day— Sunday—to the Hospital, by the orders of Dr Ovenden. Where he was the floor and bed were covered with blood. Constable Henry Johnson deposed: On Saturday night last about 10 o’clock I accompanied the last witness to the gatekeeper’s house near the Railway Station in Kaiapoi. On coming up to the house and seeing it dark I knocked at the window and asked if anything was the matter. He said his inside was bad. I went for Mr Bourke but could not find him. On returning I found the house had been entered. I went in and saw deceased lying on the door leaning on his right elbow. His shirt was saturated with blood in the front, and his bands were covered with blood. 1 could then see a large wound in his

throat. It -was not bleeding at tho time. He stood up and walked into a room off the kitchen and lay down on a mattress, which, as well as the floor, was saturated with blood. He then took up a razor, and raised his wm. 1 took it from him. It was open at the time, and covered with blood (razor produced), i then searched, and found a purse close to the bedside, containing 8s 6d. I ala ?^ a knife close to the bed. I remained m charge of him till the doctor arrived. He did not speak till after the wound was sewed up, when he could talk distinctly. Next morning I remained in charge of him, and asked him questions, in reply to yhich he stated that he had lost some money m Chriatohurob, and was tired of life, and that that had induced him to out his throat. Husked me if I had found any money. I told him, “ Yes 8s 6d." He said that was all right. Inspector Buckley said the reason why evidence was given as to the money found was that deceased had said in the Hospital that ho had left money at Kaiapoi. Witness continued: I searched ms box, and found the papers produced. There is among them a receipt for £IOO, banked some four years ago. , To the Police : I am not aware that deceased was drinking at Kaiapoj. On the previous Saturday night, I saw him come up by train, and did not see him again till I found him as above staled. Inspector Buckley, in re t ly to a juryman, stated that there was no drink found in the house. . xr • William Bourke, station master at Kaiapoi, deposed: Deceased went to Kaiapoi on Nov 18. Ho was under my charge as a crossingkeeper. I never saw him under the influence of drink. He was doing duty till Deo 24. After being dismissed—ho was suspended on Dec. 23, for not attending to his duties—he was allowed to occupy the house. He left for a few days and came back, having never given up possession of the house. Nothing remarkable happened till Saturday. On my return from the Institute I met Inspector Buckley on the road outside my place. He told me he wanted to see M*Millan. I got a railway lamp and we went across to the house, and afterwards burst open the door. (Witness repea‘ed the evidence given by the Inspector and the constable.) Deceased _ had looked very desponding for eight or nine days previous to that Saturday. He used not to come out in the day time. I had entered into no conversation with him. He complained of being troubled with family matters at home. He told me on one occasion that he had troubles with his wife. I knew they had been in the Resident Magistrate’s Court here. _ I don’t believe deceased has been drunk while at Kaiapoi. To a juryman; We knew he was in the house. Constable John Francis Barlow deposed: Some time in the commencement of January deceased reported at the police station that he had been robbed of money —something about £l5O. He was under the influence of drink, and had been drinking for some time before. I had seen him in a state of semi-drunkenness for weeks in Christchurch. I arrested him for threatening the life of his wife. He was taken before the Bench and was discharged on promising not to go near his wife again. He was suffering from the effects of drink then. When complaining of the loss of his money he gave conflicting accounts. He accused different persons of robbing him. His Bank-books showed that he had drawn the money from the Bank and from the Savings Bank.

Dr Prins deposed: Decased was brought to the Hospital on Sunday afternoon. He had a wound in his throat, which had been stitched. The trachea had been divided. He was in a very low, nervous condition. He had also bowel complaint—passing blood. He was treated in the Hospital, and yesterday bleeding from the bowels commenced profusely, .and he sank under the effects of it. The immediate cause of death was hemorrhage from the bowels. He was in a low condition from having lost blood, evidently from his cut throat. The low condition hastened the death. The jury found that the deceased died from “ Hemorrhage from the bowels.”