THE INQUEST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2805, 18 December 1907, Page 37

THE INQUEST.

An inquiry intp the cause ©f death wai ' held at the Morgue on the 12th met. Th« Coroner (Mr C. C. Graham) presided. and! Mr F. E. Hilliker was selected as foreman of the jury. Sergeant King watched the proceedings on behalf of the police, and Dr Blomiield was present on behalf cf the family and relatives of deceased. Alexander M'Farlane. plumber, identified the body as -that of his brother Willaiin. M'Farlane, 49 years ot age, whoijk lie last ssffo alive on the 7th inst. Deceased, the witness stated, liad been drinking to excess of late, and witness had seen him on mor«, 1 than one occasion the worse for liquor. Ha w*s in the habit of getting up early in the morning and going for a long walk. He had) complained to witness recently that he was light-headed, and could not turn round, and - witness attributed this to the effects of drink. Deceased had suffered from asthma for ft number of years. His wife and family, who recided in Canong&te street,* had lived apart from deceased for the p?st two and a-nalf years, and deceased rended by himself in ' Steep street. Deceased had been out of employment for about seven weeks, and seemed low-spirited and distressed. Alexander Watt, carpenter, residing ia Steep street, stated that he knew deceased, who had been, drinking during the last seven or eight weeks. Witness had a conversation' with him shortly before 8 p.m. on Monday, find he then complained of feeling unwell, and) the symptoms caused witness to remark that they were the effects ,of drink. Deceased com- 1 n'ained that hi» couTd not keep any food in his stomach. He then stated that he would* go to his house and go to sleep. Deceased! 1 ' said, nothing to indicate that he contemplated! suicide. Dr> Roberts stated that he- had examiner) -the body of deceased, which was fully dresser?. There were no evidences of external injury.' Tho internal organs gave no indicatipn of suffocation or drowning. The lining of the stom«ch was congested, which indicated* catarrh of the stomach and alcoholism, buft there was nothing to show the cause of death." It wii3 quite evident deceased entered the mud while Jiving, and that he had! struggled! alone;, as there was considerable mud between the fingers. He thought death' was due to exhaustion and exoosure. The bine condition of the nose and lips indicated! this. If deceased was alcoholic that would! predispose him to collapse under condition* of exposure. The lungs were full of air, and in a normal condition, which would 1 not be , the care if death was due to downing. He would think deceased had been in the water for not lens than 24 hours. There was no water in«ide the body. Gray Hunter Russell, engineer, residing in Stuart street, deposed that on Tuesday at nnon he saw something flouting in the water about 200 yds from the embankment next to Stuart street. Later on the object apoearetl to be stuck in' the mud? and witness thought it wan the body ot a horse. Others who looked at it thought it was a bundle of clothes. At noon on Wednesday, as the tid» was falling witness Icoked at it again. ' The obiect was then about 100 yds nearer the shore, and he then got classes and. saw that it was , a hunir.n body. The police were at once in- • formed of the matter. Witness, thoutrht that if deceased had been struggling in the mud he won'd have gone beneath it, a* tha material wa* soft and very deep. Witness was about the locality froni 6 a.m. till dark at night, and had not Feen deooated. To Sergeant King: Deceased might have lain down on the solid orround near tV-*> ; cement works and died, and the body would! possibly be carried by the tide to where it was' found: or it might be that he had) walked off the Victoria wharf and drifted to where he was found. The Coroner: Dr Roberta's evidence it against the theory of drowning.— The Witneas : Yes, that is bo. One of the jurymen expressed the opinion, from his knowledge of the locality, that it was* an impossibility for deceased to have walked to where h« was found. Dr Blomfield gave evidence that in August / lajit he attended deceased for asthma, and excessive alcoholic drinking. Deceased, he> thought, was a periodical drinker. The jury returned a verdict that deceased! died from exposure and exhaustion while in » weak state of health, but that there was no evidence to show how the body came to bo in the position where it was found.