CHILD'S DEATH.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 13393, 29 May 1914, Page 6

CHILD'S DEATH.

DANGEROUS- ROAD AND BRIDGE.

An inquest was held tjiis afternoon, before Mr R. M. Florance, S.M., coroner, concerning the death of the little boy, John Murton.w.ho was drown, ned yesterday afternoon m a creek that i*uns m. front, of his parent's residence m Crawford road' :

Dr. ;\7. P. Pinter deposed that at. ab0ut, 4.45 p.m. lie '.-was called- by tele-) phone, to No. £2 Crawford vibad tv see a child- who was said to- have; been drowii? cd. Ho came at once, and found that neighbors and friends had been tryir,; a»;tificinl respiration, and applying stimulation by' rubbing hot applications to the body of the child, who was apparently about live, ypars of age. The body was c'jld, and tlujre' was a, slight abrasion on the bridge of tlie nose. Witness examined the body,, but found life to be extinct. Tho fade was of a pale, 'ashy color, and there was considerable frothy mucus coming from (the nostrils and mouth. Witness applied artificial respiration for some time, but produced no effect. He was satisfied that death had occurred before he arrived on the scene, and that the cause oi death was asphyxia produced by drowning. "There are two points I would- like to draw attention "to," said Dr. Porter. ''The. iir."t« is the unprotected state fof. th<? bridge leading from Crawford road, into the house, there boiii,-* no sides to it, but simply, a ■.-hand-rail and posts, ft is (piite. .conceivable that even a grown up person on a wet ami stormy night niight slip and fall into the creek. The second point is the bad state of tha road, 'preventing .medical men getting to a case; hurriedly. Il was unlit for traffic, rind with the absence of lighting it was a danger to the public." Dr. Porter pointed out that m a caso nf urgency it mi#ht he a (juestion of a few, minutes between life and death., although m this case he did not say it wasf He thought he should take tlifi opportunity of impressing on the Rorough Council the necessity for doing something- to the rond. „.- ■ The coroner said he fully endorsed tho doctdr's 'opinion with l'egard to the state

of the road, which, he said, was. in an insanitary condition all along. Mrs Merton stated that the deceased was 3 years and 10 months old. .Witness was a -widow, and was residing ■with her mother, Mrs Kelly, having just gone there on a holiday. About 4.15 p.m. on Thursday they missed the boy from the back of the house. Being afraid of the creek, they had always kept an eye on him. They sent the other children tcK look for him, but they could not find him. Witness went straight out of the front door on to the m-idge, and saw tho child m the water, a willow- branch having stopped him from floating down. Witness ran along the bank and jumped into the water and got the body. She screamed for help, and her mother and two men came and assisted her out of the water. A friend went ■■ for Dr. Porter, and a neighbor rang up for another doctor, and Dr. Singer came after Dr. Porter had arrived. The neighbors tried artificial respiration, as witness and her mother did not know what to do. No other children were with deceased at the time, as the others were playing at the back. Ho could not have been m the front very long, as they had not:jnissed him for long.' He may have been swinging on the rail and fallen, or have slipped off the bank. Mr Geo. Williams owned the house.

The Corbner: Has he. ever been applied to to make that bridge secure'/ V Witness : No ,* my mother has only \>een m the house for a little over a

week.. ■ y ■ . "The result of the evidence leads me to the conclusion that this; poor little chap died by drowning, yesterday, and that no blame' is attachable to the member? of tho household," said the Coroner : "but," he added, "there is blame attachable to someone or other who is responsible for thiit bridge and creek not being' properly fenced off."