SUCIDE AT MOSGIEL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2857, 16 December 1908, Page 17

SUCIDE AT MOSGIEL.

An inqueet was held at the Mosgiel railway station on .Sunday afternoon on the body of" ■9^Bn' i m^6#J, railway engine-driver, who, on-., the ari*isgL-oI the I.lsj|rain frompunea"!n*''an >S{j*p£day- after.n<l2jlL walked into an outhouse-4fed^c<:mniitted suicide by shooting himself- -ihxbiigh the head. Bfo was 52 \ears of agSiriwwi was married. Mr Leary, J.P., was acting-coroner, and a jury of five, of whom >Mr James Spence was forenjap. wss John S. Cra"wford said he was well acquainted witli deceased, whom he last saw alive on Tnursday. He seemed quite well, but had complained of want of sleep. Robert "Weir, who was fireman of the train driven by deceased from Dunedin, said he liad been one week associated with Major, ytho jia-d. seemed very quiet, only spealc^-%Ji*ft)t';^dto^«^o. " Deceased, had been "quite sddfe'Cjo .fake^eare of the engine. . As soon jt&, tfe# ir^jn ..arrived at Mosgiel deceased Ifit itie »ditgSt&' / --without speaking^ " and went'3o th"c '^on^jiienee by the platform. tfl-d j*pt see deceased wrjte anything"^ a's they "came from. Dunedin. Deceased had ne;ver made any reference to witness of intention, to cammjt suicide. Dt Allan iufd he' eiarriinea the deceased a. little aftei"'2 p?m. on Saturday. He found him lying«dead with a wound at the back of the right ear. It was evidently ' a- bwUet- wo-and, -sufficient -to- -cause --death-. - A revolver wjth one chamber dischargeu was found! under deceased's, body. Alfred Qex>r,ge Austin,.- .railway poj-fceij also gave evidence, ' aid SaJd be hieai*fcji f>\ ;f?hot .^ired,-* paid no -particular ,at££*u» fcion to it. Someone told iiim that a man," was "lying -in «tJie - r eloSet, : irid : oji going there witness tound deceased in a huddled posi-tion,'-3e"aH" "~ — " " "~ v *"" " **"'" John Clydesdale Donovan, railway MLh<4gfa\ittrt§re<i, but *ot t^ jrtply-^ , ia*"^_Jjprf||, feting -stawonmaff^r j&_ raa^he wenfci4o ||ie Jjjio#jj; when informed, and found deceased lying on his left side with a wound behind the righteeg,, «^^^.#«t^tJj^-d J & e su^dJ'fe|^, oiie *dT We N.Z.K. fen.gfinemeri'; nimed John Maj*?*-.-- A.,jre>Aiy€Jcu4a>^hesi(3e deceased?* , right hand. Deceased had always been quite rational in his conversation. They. all knew that he ouffered from insomnia. Alexander Waugh, gvwrd of the train referred to, stated that deceased asked him if the train would stop at Kensington. Witness replied in the affirmative. „ Deceased then asked what time the train would arrive in Mosgtel, and 1 when it would leave Mosgi«l. After witness told him, deceased said : " Oh; there will be plenty of time, then." ' Witness said he had known deceased for about eight] yeans. { Constable Walton gave evidence -as to finding , the deceased and' the examination of tho body by Dr Allan. Witneee searched the deceased's clothes, and in- the^' coat packet he found a pieoe of paper (evidently alluding to deceased's wife), on •. which was writtea with a., pencil: — *• De- < comber 5: 1.15 p.m. train -to Mosgiel. — '; Good-bye, liUlen. I hopo God will forgive you, a-% 1 have forgiven jou. I still love ( you with nil your faults. ' I will end .this • life on arrival at Mosgiel to-day. I am ' quite sane."- Witness said that he also found a letter addressed to Mr H. Y. Wid<lowsou, S.M., in which <dcceasQd *3t for.ti< ,his troubles, and asking Mr Widdow-' 1 ton to take care of hie (deceafeed'a! '! daughter , Ncra. Furthe*- correspondence expla'nutorj of deceased's domestio troubles, J and addressed, to M.r „ Waddowson", wd-s > also found. .<..''''■> Thc^eJettejss were read 'iw-fchte^ury-.' Thie details suggested keen' •me'ntal 0 anxfcty dp. the part of tbo^deoeaeed.j *nd showed that' he considered his doinest-ic v v troubles to be particukirly trying, and such. ,Jo provolco the ii«feomnia'^aad me.nfal pain- wiich cul-' minated zb tVagjcaUy. - Without retiring, the jury returned a - verdict to the* effect that death was due } to a bullet wound inflicted while deceased was temporarily insane:

IXQUEST. XISL^HE-BOD-I