DONALD WATT'S DEATH.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14472, 15 March 1909, Page 5

DONALD WATT'S DEATH.

An inr|ur-.i was held 011 Saturday b?fore the Ciiri.-iui- (Mr C. C. tindiam) 1 anehiiiy th« death of ihjnehJ Watt, who was found d>ad in his Itur. near the Cement Work 6, North Duuedm, on J'lichiy morning. Mr Ocrtion MattlwaW, giving evidence as to the po.-t moiiriu, said the right hand and arm of <leeea->ed were badly burned, us if he had fallen into the tire and been unatite to erc'.ricatj liiii'i-oh'. 'There were no other external marks. Life had apparently in:t for about 10 or 12 iiotiis. V/itii-Vi found ;i. litryj abscess on the liver and the lr ;'in,riiir; of a isuiccroiu h on the bevel. Tiic other organs were normal. Death, lie concluded, had been caused by O 'onenl exhalation, pro--1 !u-<!iiL, r ti the 1i: - ii-c:i siato of ttio body. Tho imiii-'-iliato c.:hhc of death would seem to havr- l:e ( -n heart failure. Tliero .T" t;:i suspicious circumsiances. Thomas Jl"niy JJowic, ivatorniiin, I'elidiet Jiay, -aid ho had known deceased for ai.li:-> time, but. dtiriii? that ami; ho hail never known him to work, though ho juid never eomplaiii-ed of ill-health. Deceased had hew unwell since Tuesday night, when he of Voting giddy. Witness procured medicine for liim. On Friday moriiiiig witness went to tho hut and found deceased, fully dressed, (sitting- over a hn-ge lire. iJcccascd said to him, " I'm t'.ll right now. Tho giddiness lias gojic; bii!" I shank! like «ome more cf that, jnctli* cino." Witnc.-* went. to lowu for it, ami relumed alxuil 11 a.m. lie looked in through the window, and saw deceased lying prostrate, half in and half out of the lire. Whereupon iviincsj hurried io the Cement Wcrks, and got Mr Ada-rason to eoino round with him. They entered tho hot. and found deceased dead upon tho h:-arih v;Hii one of his arms charring- in tho lire. The police wcro telephoned for. (inly .recently deceased had assured witness that, he had never had an illness in his life. To the Cororor: Deceased had been of a k-inperate habit, lie had never known hii/i to drink. Walter Adamson, an omployce at Tho Cnnent Works, sa.id lie had known decided for 18 months, ond had always l>eJteved him to have been in good- health. Shortly after 11 o'clock on Friday the nrc« v:ous wmwvs told him that tho old man had falbn into the fire. Going to his hut' rhoy found him " pretty w tho fire," ai:c apparently quite dead. Tlio body wtr, partly leaning againM a chair, which was Irttlled up closo to tho fire. 'It- was stili warm. There was no si-ti of any disturb-illl-CO. 1 Tho C'oronor brought iji a Tcrdict in aecordnnco with 1 lie jnoflitoJ w tlio elFect that deceased 3iad died from liahuvil doa-Ui duo to heart failure rosultiint on an on the livcT,