SUDDEN DEATH OF DR. PERSTON AT THE THAMES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XV, Issue 5130, 26 April 1878, Page 2

SUDDEN DEATH OF DR. PERSTON AT THE THAMES.

Dn. Pbkston', house surgeon of the Thames Hospital, and one oE the moat successful practitioners at the Thames, died suddenly yesterday morning, the reason assigned being an overdose of chloral. The information gathered as regards his death is still bald ami rague, but it is known that he has been ailing for three or four days. His illness, however, was not considered dangerous; in fact, he wa» able to more about. His death occurred in the water-closet connected with his own housr An inquest into the circumstances connected with his death will, no doubt, be held, at which full details will be elicited. Dr. Perston has been a resident at the Thames about five years, and had removed to the goldfields from Whangarei upon the strength of inducements held out to him that he might be elected successor to Dr. Fox as hospital surgaon. This position he attainad and occupied up to the time of his death. Of course there is at present nothing to guide us in forming an opinion as to how a medical man iheuld make such a fatal mistake an to take an overdose of that insidious potion chloral. The relief which it affords might perhaps offer an inducement to a suffering patient to overstep the limits, but that a skilled physician should make such a blunder cannot be accounted for. A singular feature in connection with the death of Dr. Perston is the fatality which appears to exist regarding his family. His brother, who occupied the position of auctioneer and commission agent at the Thames, and secretary and rate collector to the Xauwaeranga Highway Board, prior to tha arrival of the doctor from Whangarei, deliberately shot himself in his own house on the ere of a meeting of the Board of which he was secretary. The first iutimation the astonished members had of the event was when, after waiting some time for his appearance, they saw a stream of blood trickling under a partition iuto the apartment which was used as a Board-room. Mr. R. M. Perston, a nephew of deceased, a young man of about 30 years of age, was admitted to the Lunatic Asylum some time since as a hopeless lunatic, and there he died a few months ago. Of Dr. Perston's abilities as a physician and surgeon, there were no second opinions. He was an M.D. of the Glasgow University, and had for some time occupied the position of assistant at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London. He came to Whangarei about 15 years ago, and started a fish-curing establishment. This was not a success, however, and Dr. Perston at length availed himself of the invitations and inducements held out to him to cast in his fortuues with the Thames. He leaves a wife and family to mourn their bereavement.