A SUDDEN DEATH.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20450, 3 July 1928, Page 3

A SUDDEN DEATH.

VERDICT OF NATURAL CAUSES. An inquest concerning the death of John Nicholas Cuttle, 23 years of age, ■who died suddenly at the Terminus Hotel on June 25 was continued before Mr H. W. Bundle, coroner, at the Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning. Sergeant Dunlop represented the police. Evidence was given by William Daw. kins, licensee of the Terminus Hotel, who said that the deceased had been in his employ for six months. During that time, he had been in good health, and on the evening of June 24 he was in the commercial room. On the following morning at 7.45 witness was informed that deceased had been found lying on the floor in his room. When witness went into the room he saw the deceased lying on the floor dead. Dr G. Fitzgerald was called in but could only pronounce life extinct. Dr Brennan, in evidence, expressed the opinion that deceased’s death was due to coma caused by a brain attack. Annie Forbes, cook at the Terminus Hotel, said she knew the deceased well. About 6.15 a.m. she heard groans. She looked into his room and saw that something was wrong. His door was open, and the deceased was lying face downwards on the floor. She spoke to him but got no answer, and she called one of the other girls, and the barman was also called. The deceased was lying on the floor and was partly undressed. Witness had known the deceased for five years and had never known him to have an illness. To Mr White: It appeared as if deceased had been ill, and a man’s assistance was required. Robert Henry Daley, barman at the Terminus Hotel, said he had known the deceased for about three months. He had always appeared to enjoy good health. On June 24 he was called early in the morning, and he found the deceased lying on the floor trying to vomit. He was semi-conscious and was mumbling. It looked as if he had slept in the bed. It never entered witness’s mind that the deceased was ill. He drank occasionally, but never to excess. He used to have a “ night out,” by which witness meant that the deceased was sometimes late in coming in at night. The blankets were off the bed, as if he had rolled off the bed. To Mr White: The deceased was groaning when witness went into the room. Witness did not see any indication of drink about the deceased, and his breath did not smell of drink. Witness did not go back to see the deceased again. The deceased leant back and appeared to snore. Michael George Fitzgerald, carpenter, residing at the Terminus Hotel, and occupying room 17, said that on the morning of the deceased’s death he found the deceased’s door partly shut. The deceased was lying on the floor, face downwards. It appeared as if the blankets had been put on the floor by the deceased to lie on. Witness formed the opinion that the deceased was dead. On the evening of the previous day the deceased appeared to be in perfect health. He had known him for about a year, and had never known him to suffer from any illness. The witness' Daley said that there was no chance of the deceased spreading the blankets on the floor to lie on. The licensee of the Terminus Hotel said he thought the deccaseu had pulled the clothes off the bed in his struggles. He had not taken them off. The coroner reviewed the evidence, and said that Dr Drennan had made a post mortem examination, and from his report the cause of death was clear. There had been some suggestion made as to marks upon the man’s face. These were slight bruises. Dr Drcnnan’s opinion was that deceased had died from coma, from a cyst. There was no reason to doubt that that wag the cause of death. The cyst had suddenly attacked the man: it bad become operative, and there could be no suggestion that he was suffering from anything else. The verdict would be in accordance with the medical evidence—namely, that Cuttle had died from natural causes on June 25.