UNKNOWN BABY'S FATE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18345, 10 March 1923, Page 11

UNKNOWN BABY'S FATE.

BODY FOUND ON BEACH. DEATH DUE TO ASPHYXIA.' j The adjourned inquest concerning the ; death of a newly-born male child whose ! j body was found on the Stanley Bay \ ! Beach, on the afternoon of February 19, j ! was held by the coroner, Mr. W. R. Mc- I | Kean, S.M., yesterday. The body was { found by a lad aged 15, who with another I j boy was gathering firewood on the beach, i j It was lying on its side, partly embedded I j in the sand, between high and low water ' i marks, and facing the incoming tide. I j The body was unclothed, and blood was i oozing from the nose. Constable Hedlund, of Devonport, who j went to the beach in response to a tele- | ! phone message from the caretaker of the J i Calliope Dock, described the position of | the body. There were no instruments ' ; near it. He made a careful examination i :in the vicinity, but could not find any j i clothing or other article that might have | ■ been associated with the death. The | edge of the infant's mouth was on the j. ! sand. The body was cold, but rigor • | mortis had not sot in. Special inquiries j i had been made regarding the parentage of j : the child or the person who disposed of I the body, but so far no evidence had rej suited. Dr. D. N. W. Murray, who with Dr. i Gilmour had made a post-mortem e-xami- ] ' nation, said the body was that of a well I developed male child. There were no \ j signs of decomposition. There were no | ! marks on the skin to indicate violence. ] The infant had breathed freely, and had | lived less than 48 hours, and probably less j than 24 hours. It had, in his opinion, j been dead less than 24 hours, and had | been immersed in the water only a short j j time, if at all. The cause of death, in | witness' oninion. was asphyxia, probably ' due to suffocation. The condition of tho J ! body tended to exclude death from drown- j c j ing. Witness said that Dr. Gilmour j 1 ; agreed with his finding. ! 1 The coroner's finding was that death j ] was due to asphyxia, probably following i { | suffocation, there being no evidence to | { show how the asphyxia was caused. ( i' ===== 1< ■■■ i