INQUEST.

New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 317, 17 November 1864, Page 5

INQUEST.

Ax inquest wan held at noon, yesterday, at the Filzroy Iloiel, AVakefield-Ptreet, before Or. I'hilaon, Eyt|.» coroner, on the body of a male infant. The following gentlemen were sworn in as a jury— ITenry Chapman (foreman), Wm. A\ r ilivinson, Titos. Sherman, William Thomas, John Scott McNanmra. John Parker Campbell, Alfred Forrest, Pamuel Davenport, .fames Forrest, Thomas Warner, "William Deerness, Frnneis Highway, and Patrick Collin?. The jury having viewed the body, the following evidence was ealled :— James Welsh, a boy of 10 voars of use, was Jirst called, being instructed by the Coroner as to the nature of the oath he took, said, I am the *on of James "Welsh, grave digger in (lie Konmn Catholic cemetery. I live at my father's house at the cemetery. A man came yesterday morning at 5 o'clock and knocked at the door, i was in 1m d, I got out o bed. My father did not send me to the door. 1 opened the door. When T opened the door T saw a man standing at the door. I did not know him. He asked if my father would open a grave for a child, and whether he would charge anything. T said my father would charge for opening a grave. There was n box on the ground at the gate, about, three yards from the door. '.I he man then went and put it into the hut. He then went away in a direction towards the town. }Io did not appear to be in a burn . 1 did not call luv father. . .lie was not an old man He had on a black hat, a black coat, a black wa'stcoat, and a pair of moleskin trousers. Ho was dressed like a bricklayer, for 1 saw lime on his trousers and coat. 1 would know him if I saw him again. 1 have been searching for him all over the (own along with Sergeant Hcott, but have not seen him. "When the man went away I went to bed again. T told my father when f got up at (» o'clock. My father then »ot up and dressed himself. The man had black whiskers all round his face, but no moustache. James Welsh, sworn, stated: 1 am grave-digger at the "Roman Catholic. Cemetery, and reside at a house ' on the ground. Yesterday morning I was awakened • by my son about half-past six o'clock who told me ; that a man bad left, a baby in a box in the outhouse \ for the purpose of being huiied. 1 asked if a doe- | tor's ceitilic.tte had been left. He said no. \ then asked the boy why he had taken the body without a doctor's certificate. I then punished him for having i received a dead body without a certificate. He ought ! to have called me. I never leave these matters in the 1 hands of my sm, or my wife cither. I then went out and looked at the box. I fuiind it hingupon a bag ot lime. There was a hd on the box. It was nailed down. I did not open it before down t«» the police-station. 1 reported the atl'air to Serjeant Scott, i lie came up about ten o'clock and opened the box. 1 ; saw a dead body in it. It appeared like a newly-born infant. It was dressed in calico. I did not take otl' the clothes, and could not tell whether it was male or female. I saw no blood. 1 then closed up the box and kept ituntil about 11 o'clock this morning, when the policeman took it, away to the Kit/.ioy Motel. I never receive a dead body without a doctor's certificate. Richard Pay, being sworn, stated : I am a Graduate in Medicine oft he Univcrsitv of Kdiubuivh, and a member of the Koval College of Surgeons in the same town. I practice in Auckland. At the desire of the jury I have made a post mortem examination of the body of an infant. )t is a newly-horn infant, having attained to maturity. I should say that, considering the weather, that it has not been dead more than two days. There is»no putrid smell, but the cuticle is peeling oil' the body. Under the scalp there was considerable extravasation of blood, especially at the crown of the bead under the left parietal bone. The brain was very much congested. 1 noticed no wound or bruises on the hca t. On opening the chest 1 found a considerable quantity of bloody serum both in the ydeuro and pericardium. Air had never entered the lunns. The lungs were contracted and condensed. On being thrown into tho water they sank immediately. Mv opinion, therefore, is that respiration never could have taken place. The riixht auricle and ventricle of the heart were gorged with blood. The left cavities also contained blood, but not any great amount. The f«eta! communication between the right >uul left auricle, called fovauen ovale, was open, as was also th* communication bet\v» en the pulmonary artery and the aorta, called the ductus arteriosus. This is another proof that respiration had not taken place. 31a I the child breathed these communications would have been found Mopped. The body was not healthy, but had evidently come to its full si;:e. From the appearance of the abdominal viscera, I am ot opinion that the child was not healthy before its birth. The umbilical cord was cut about an inch and a half from the abdomen, and securely tied. There was a considerable amount of blood in the body. It was evi- j dent the child did not die from hemorrhage. My opinio:i is that the child was stillborn. 1 have nothing to lead me to any delinite conclusion as to tin* cause of death. It may have occurred without any blame to anybody, or it may have been murdered by having never been allowed to breathe. There is nothing to leal me to form anv certain conclusion. Some one must have been present at the birth. The j mother could not have tied the umbilical cord herself, i The body hu.s been washed. The jury returned a verdict to the effect that the child was stillborn, but whether it came to ita death through ignorance or design there was no evidence to show.