INQUEST.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10721, 9 February 1897, Page 4

INQUEST.

j , —« j An inquesl was held in the courthouse, Port I Chalmers, yesterday afternoon before the ' coroner (Mr E. H. Carew) and a jury of six, of 1 whom Mr F. W. Willmot was chosen foreman, j touching the death of an illegitimate child of . ■ Elizabeth Diake. i Jaue Drake, stated that she was ihe u^u^aixr .•, of Elizabeth Drake, residing in a brick cott?.ge I ia Wickliffe terrace, into which they moved on , Thursday last. Her mother was a widow, and I there were six children—four boys and two I girls—witness being the eldest; hernge was 18. j Her father died in April, 1895. About 11.30 ■ p.m. last Saturday her mother went to bed, and j witness retired to bed shortly afterwards. Her j mother slept in a room by herse'i?. Between ' half-pae.t 3 and 20 minutes to 4 ou Sunday ! morning her mother called her, and when she . wenb into the room she told her to tell her 1 eldest brother to go for a doctor. Witness at I that time did no!; see anything of a child, nor ' j had she any idea of her mother's condi- ] tion. When she went back into the room ; shortly before Dr Cunninghamo came she saw - the child, but did not handle it, and could not I say whether it was dead or alive. Before they ! moved to their present house she slept in the ■ ■ same room as her mother. Since the child was ! born che noticed there were some new baby [ I clothes. Not to her knowledge was any of the ' i neighbours or.anyone else in the house either on Saturday night or Sunday morning. Dr Cunninghame stated that at 3.45 a.m. en Sunday he received a message, and at once proceeded to Mrs Drake's residence. On arrival • there he saw the body of a chiltf, which was dtad. He had made a post-mortem examination. The child was unusually large, and ; ; weighed 131b. There 'were no marks % of i violence, and on opening the obest found the lungs had nover expanded. He afterwards ; j applied a test, and found no aii- iv the lungs. • The largeness of the child and the delay in its j birth, no one beiDg precent to assist the mother, : in all probability caused its death. The jury returned a verdict that the child i accidentally died during birth, caused through I the mother having no assistance at the time of : the birth.