THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER MURRISON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13006, 25 October 1905, Page 6

THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER MURRISON.

THE ADJOURNED INQUEST.

AN OPEN VERDICT.

The coroner (Mr. T. Gresliam) continued the adjourned inquest at the hospital yesterday into the death of the wharf labourer, Alexander Mum son, who was found lying in an injured condition in the passage of a house in Lower Chapel-street on the morning of Tuesday, October .10, and who died in the hospital on the following da Chief-Detective Marsack conducted the caso for the police, and Detectives Bailey and Miller were also in attendance.

Dr. James Moir, in his evidence, said that lie was called .to the house of Mrs. Locke, in Lower Chapel-street, on the morning of Tuesday, October 10, and saw Murrison lying on a bed. He was breathing heavily, and there was an abrasion on the cheek. The man was in a dangerous condition, and witness ordered his removal to the hospital. He afterwards made a post mortem 011 the body at the hospital. On the head were marks left after the surgical operation of trephining. The tissues around the head were contused. The brain showed that a recent effusion of blood had been removed during a surgical operation. The skull was not fractured, and no other injuries were apparent over the surface of the brain, but on an interior section of the brain there was considerable effusion of blood. Tills would probably be caused by the bursting of some of the blood vessels through a violent blow or fall. The lungs and heart were in a normal condition, but the kidneys were in a diseased state, and of an abnormal weight. The cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage. To the Chief-Detective: One fall could account for all the injuries found oh the body. An ordinary fall might be sufficient to cause the injuries. The condition of the kidneys would tend to make the man subject to sudden fits, and to fall through dizziness. . Dr. C. G. Aickin, house physician at the Auckland Hospital, said that the deceased was admitted to the hospital 011 the order of Dr. Moir on the morning'of Tuesday, October 10. He was unconscious', and had a convulsion before being put to bed. He had a contusion on Jie face and an abrasion over the left cheekbone. He had numerous convulsions during the day, and the symptoms pointed to pressure on the left side of the brain. An operation was performed the same evening by Dr. Craig, to relieve the pressure. The skull was trephined, and the blood clots removed. This caused a slight temporary improvement in the symptoms. The patient, however, did not recover consciousness, and sank gradually and died at ten o'clock the next evening. Witney was present at the l post-mortem examination, and corroborated the evidence given by Dr. Moir. The condition of the kidneys would make the deceased prone to dizziness, and also to spontaneous hemorrhage on the brain, or apoplexy. The hemorrhage might have preceded Ihe fall. The jury then adjourned to the house where Murrison was found, and, after inspecting the premises, took the evidence of Mr. Thomas Hamilton, who is an invalid residing in the house. Thomas Hamilton, father of Mrs. Locke, and. an Imperial and old age pensioner, deposed that at about half-past eight on the evening of Monday, October 9, he heard Murrison go out of the cottage. At about 11 o'clock he heard some one rolling about the passage which adjoins witness room. He did not get up. He afterwards heard some groaning, but 110 voices. Murrison slept in the same room,as his grandson, Samuel Locke, and they were always good friends. Samuel Locke said that he had known Murrison for some years. They were always good friends. On the Monday evening, between eight and nine o'clock, he saw Murriso.n near the Waitemata Hotel, fitness went nome at- about half-past nine. He And Murrison each had a key of the door of the house. He went to bed as soon, as he got in, and Murrison was not home then. Early in the mornitf g lie heard Murrison call liim. Witness got up, and saw Murrison in the passage in a crouched position. Murrison said he had pains in the legs. Murrison often suffered' from weakness of the legs. He lifted Murrison up and laid him on the bed. Murrison called him again during the night, and complained of the pains in his legs. Witness awoke at about six the next morning, and saw Murrison lying on the floor alongside his bed, face downwards. He got up at about halfpast six, and told hi» mother that Murrison. had been drunk all night. Mrs. Annie Locke, board'inghouse-kee]>er, and mother of the previous witness, staid that Murrison had lodged with her for about seven years. On the Monday evening Murrison had his tea early, as he said lie was going to work. Witness went to the theatre, and returned home later in the evening, a boarder named Jamieson being i.n charge of the . house during her absence. When she came home Jamieson told her that Murrison had not- been to work that night, but had made a jug of tea, and had taken it up to his room. Early in the morning her son told her that Murrison was drunk up in the cottage, and when she went up she did what she could for him, and seeing that the man was in a peculiar condition, she sent for Dr. Moir and the police. William John Hamilton, brother of Mrs. Locke, gave corroborative evidence. Detective Miller said that he had made exhaustive inquiries into the case, and had found the circumstances consistent with the evidence given. The Coroner in summing up said that Dr. Moir had stated that the cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage, and that the condition of the kidneys was such as to cause dizziness. This opinion was borne out by Dr. Aickin. The other evidence supported the probability that Murrison met his death in a perfectly natural way. It. was for the jury to say how death resulted. There was 110 evidence to show that the deceased had met with any violence. The jury returned a verdict that the deceased met his death through injuries received' by a fall, but that there was no evidence to show what caused the fall.

The licensee of the Criterion Hotel (Mrs. McCnllough) desires us to state that, from inquiries made, it has been ascertained that Murrison was not at that hotel on the evening upon which he is supposed to have met. his injuries.