MYSTERIOUS DEATH.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 2125, 17 May 1922, Page 5

MYSTERIOUS DEATH.

A CHRISTCHURCH IXQTJEST. fPf>r Press Association.> CHRISTCHURCH, Last Night. An inquest into the death of Charles Clark, aged 32, a fireman on the Whangapc, who died in the Christchurch Hospital on Sunday, was opened before the Coroner, Mr Widdowson, 8.M., to-day. Dr C. J. Campbell, senior house surgeon of the Christchurch. Hospital, said deceased was admitted to the hospital in a semi-conscious condition. ' He detailed that an examination failed to give any clue to his exact complaint. His condition did not alter, and the/ doctors were at a loss to decide what was wrong with him. It occurred to witness that he might have been drugged. The only treatment given him was for hia bowels. He died early on Sunday morning. Dr Reay, house surgeon, corroborated the evidence' of the previous witness. The condition of deceased, he said, was consistent with drugging. William Munday, a fireman, on the steamer Kaikoura, said deceased was a single man. He was a returned soldier and had been gassed. Silica his return he had not been in good health. As the post-mortem examination had failed to show the cause of death, a microscopical examination of the brain will be made. The inquest was accordingly adjourned.