DRURY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 324, 25 November 1864, Page 5

DRURY.

FINDING OF A H UMAN ISODY.—INSTINCT OF A BOG. [ritov ofi: own fOKur.si'OMiHXT.] November 23, ISGI-. Nr.ws wns brought into Prury yesterday that tlie skeleton of a II 1:111 hail licen (bund <iti Mr. Waller Kuiiciman's Oivm at rokckohc, which wns supposed to lie 1 lust r f a soldier who had been missing some months back —one of Captain Myers company of \Va kato Militia. The polii e were immediately communicated with, the result beinjr 111:tI 1111 inquest was held on the rein.tins this dav. at 'S o'clock,.at Uavcn's Great Jfoutli Head Jlotei, j)rurv, be'ore C. Me'sop, hsq. The tir-t witness called was Andrew lVttersori, who deposed : I mil 11 settler, now liiing 011 .Mr. \\ alter Kiuieintan's farm at l'okekohe. Yesterday niorniu_; I had to "io to Mr. Coonnra's house I'm- some buit r, niv ildit • Bob" heinj with me. When I bad pro ee'e ! ed part, ol' the w.,y, the cl= 'Lj fame before me and balked, tsl 11 ran into the lm>h. and, by its aeti mis, showed nte he wanted me to billow him. I took no notice of him. lhiitkinii lie was iitt-.r iiueks ; but 011 ! in v ret urn with the butter he nuain endeavoured to I take me into tile hush at 'he same place. t still ! would not follow him, hut proceeded some thirty o: i forty yards toward* home, when the 1104 came an t 1 jumped on my bad;, p Ibm; me by the- coat and ' barking in such a manner that L turned back with him. On rcachini; the place where he lirst attracted inv attention, lie turned oil' into the bush about thirteen yards, an i L saw on the ground somel'ning white" which 1 loi.nd to be the remains of a human bcim;. They were in a. very concealed place, a lew Minis from a' stream of water. This handkerchief. Slow before the Court, wa< found under a tree a short distance (ro:n bun, tied up, \>ith a little ti-trec in it, as a bundle ; uml these three oottles lay near him, t wo of them empty ami the third about halffuil, of what I. believe to b- rum. I came down to Dt-urv and told Mr. W. lutncimun. Walter it..llcilll.nl, sworn, saith : 1" a:n a settler ol Pokekohc, now residing at i >I*ll ry- csterdny the Isst witness came to me at JJrury. and said lie had fun id a skeleton oil the fai"n at l'okekohe. I commm I with the clerk of the res dent magistrate, ami 1!. morning went with the police ani the las: witness to-the place where the remains lay. Tlun were just outside my farm in Williamson's bush Looking at. 1 he remains, they evidently showed that the man bad lain d iwu on his back with his ar;nouistr. tclied. 111 a natural position, and about fouyards apart lay the three bottles and handkerchief; the latter tied up as a bundle. 1 suppose the bod\ to be that of Denis Comiuerford, who 1 b lieve u'ooui iMav last, set fire 10 mv house there, and burned it down his pipe and cover being found ill the remains of the embers. 'J'h-; spol where the house stood w.i# hall'-a-mile from where these remains were found Oil the remains were a pair of setve trousers, boots, short lesjyiiig.s, Crimean shirt, and slop, and tli regimental cap now pro luecd was about three yards from the body. There were also the lemains of a pair of braces. I saw these remains put into the e dliu. .A t the commencement of the native war 1 1 had to let my house anil reside elsewhere. On a iiiiiiiary camp be ug 1 i< lied in the locality, the solders, 011 "••ins; to and from I he camp, made it a place to stop and rest themselves in. ,l,,hn Allen, said: I am a shoemaker nt I'apakura. 1 hive seen the remains oi' a human body, ami ;,ithou"h unable to swear to tile identity, they brine i so dec-.Miipo.-ed, I think f.oui the tlron- resemb aiice thev bear to him tliat tliey are those of Dennis Com: mei-ford, whom I la-t saw'a ive about, six lie was then g 'imi ..p to his c imp at l'okekohe. Itc was about oG or 00 years old; had projecting eyebrows, and a malformed nose. At times he \va> -iron to drink hard, and when drutik was very helplo"*3 Henry Overbury d -posed j lain a wheelwright m Drurv. " I did not' know Comiuerford at all. Om> evening about sis months back a mail in militia clothing asked roe whore ho could buy a pocket handkerchief to tie up three bottles in. I sont htm to Wilson'a store, ar.d saw him eotao out wiili oao in his hand. I should not bo able reoogniso it, as I took no p.irtic-uiai- Bt/.ico. Thos. CaiTurv, sivom : I am a con-taUo, and this diy I proceeded to Pokckohe wi.h Mr. litineinia 1 anil I'attersi-in, :uid collected tho romains now before the jury, and put them into a coflin. I know th? 111:111 Commerford when alive, and Iv-Jievo from tho look of tin' >kull they are his, his eyebrows were so very projecting. Dr. William Montague Welby : Turn 11 oi < the -tul o 1 have 0 1 live rem.iuii nov ui-d.-i" Lv/coand iiavo i-xuuuu»l thorn.

They form the skeleton of a man about 50 years old. There fire no fractures nor signs of violence on them. There is one peculiarity a bout"the ekull, the eminences of the frontal bones are very prominent. The nasal hones .show no malformation, but the cartilage oftho no«e entirely gone, I cannot form any opinion as to the shape of the nose in lift?. From the state of tllo tendons, I should say death has taken plac within twi.lve months. I also examined the inside of the remains to see if there were any indications of death by stubbing, but could detect none. Some documentawere rend bv the Coroner, received hv liirn 011 or about the *24th of May last from Capt. Myer. stating that on the night of the Ist of May .Mr. W. Kuucinnn's house was burned, and tbat a private of his company named Commerford was missing fr-»m that date. That from th t man's pipe and pipe-cover being found unions the ruins, it was supnosed ho \v;i> burned to death in the he having lit m fire and fallen asleep in it when drunk. The coroner call vl the attention of the jury to the tact that almost all the inquests he had attended the primary of the death had been drink. Verdict 01 the jury was— <k That we are of opinion that the body here piodneed is that of Dennis Cummeribrd, formeilv a private of the oSth Hegiment, and that the sail D. Com inn-ford came to his death it Pokokoho in the course of the last six months, but how or in what, manner there is no evidence to enable us to determine. Whilst wailing for the arrival of the jury, I strolled through Kaven's Great .-on h Koad Hotel, and for settlers and their ladies, or for any one preferring comfort wiiu the advantage «>f a private sitting-room if required, 1 can truly say I know of no country hotel that equals it. Two large rooms, one handsomely fitted up :»* a dining-room, the other for the use of the rougher portion of the visitors for similar purposes : a spacious kitchen with all modern appliances for cooking, and a.sanctum for the sp cial use of the proprietor. On the same iloor, semi-detached, are two fine apartments furnished most luxuriously for ptiß-itiing-rooms, shaded by a fino broad veranda!:, at the b.u k of these two smaller rooms complete the ground Iloor. Ascending by a broad staircase fmm th-? centre <",f the hotel, you Jind arrayed on both sides .seven large bedrooms, commanding extensive views aiJ round, and lastly, :tt the end of the staircase, you eider the largest room in the h>use, fitted up expressly f.:r lu>l *ing meetings. By another staircase are Iho bedrooms for the accommodation of labouring men.