FOUND IN A BOX.

NZ Truth, Issue 161, 18 July 1908, Page 5

FOUND IN A BOX.

A CHRISTCIIURCH SENSATION.

Peculiar ftkppsal q! an Infant.

Dr. Pearson's Extraordinary Advice.

a dead infant is found m a box. m a public thoroughfare, the; impulsive mind immediately jumps to the conclusion thftt the law has been fractured m some way or other, but. the recent Christchurch case of this description evaporated without causing : auy person to be popfiped m his Majesty's moral sanatorium. On Sunday morning a re-cently-born male child was discovered m North-street, St. Albans, "enclosed" m a wooden spit of clothes, and the police made inquiries. There was very- little concealment. The parents pre ip pppr circumstances, and were repfeijented at the subsequent inquest py Mr :. Dqnnelly.. It appears that Dr. Pearson attended the woman, who was . delivered pf a Stillhqm child... Pearson holds a high English diploma, but is not registered m New Zealand, consequently, although he is not barred fron_( practising his prqfes-r sion, he is not qualified to give a certificate as to the cause of death. The doctor is a well-knqwn figure, who is seen occasionally m a ■ belltonper, anti(, pf course, other clathihg. ''■'.-' The . dead child of the poor couple mentioned was buried ip the garden, but beipg under the .. impression, likp niqst l^V -.persbp^, that '

A STILL^BQRN ; CHILD can't be buried on the premises, topkthe body 'up again. They cqiu.uit?d pi|Pearson op the point, and his;, advice 'decided them;; dm repiqvinc the i'" body. The story told latef ?.&:||bat: the defunct infant" was being taken by bight to some suitable place fprnburial, when-; the bearer placed it m a hedge opposite -Mr Clark's house, until he procured a conveyance. He couldn't find it subsequently, and the body was discovered m the roadway next morning by three b°ys;

Dr. Symes made a postrmprtem examination, and stated at the inquest that the infant was about an eight months' child and had been still-born. Coroper Bish-op-remarked that; if ; thp child was stillborn it had no _>! being, and no offence could be committed' in relation to it, and he directed the? jury to find a verdict m accordance with the medical tesV tijnony^. Apparently it isn't,; worth while instituting proceedings' against the parents, excepting under the borough bylaws. It. is an offence to leave the dead body of animals about, but as the child never had being it -is' difficult; to" class it as a dead animal. It' might _cpme lunr der the sanicary laws as a huisance, or the person who; lost or abandoned it might be summoned on the j charge , of creating a public disturbancej although the three hoys didn't disturb anybody worth mentioning. So the cpse rests ias 'it 'is. " • .O ': '■