DROWNED IN TARUHERU

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16869, 5 February 1929, Page 12

DROWNED IN TARUHERU

DEATH OF MRS. FRANK INQUEST HELD A verdict, nf death by drowning was returned when the circumstances surrounding the death of Mrs. Emily Frank, whose body was found in the Taruheru River early yesterday morning, were investigated at the inquest tins morning by the acting coroner, Mr. H. K. Hiii, J.l\, and a jury comprising; \Y. .1. Wheeler (foreman), G. F. Henderson, W. .1. Scholium, and W. Fryer. Sergeant Mclntyre conducted the proi ceilings on behall oi the police. I lustav Frank, idowor of the de-

a :!, gave evidence of identification, iliiu; that they w 're married 29 years

ago, and had o'ded in (iisho.tie for 25 years. Dece; i was 54 years of age, and resided with witness and three members nf lid' family at 152 Stout street. About two years ago deceased suffered mental derangement, and had to be removed to a memo! hospital, where she. remained for 12 months. Prior to this she had always enjoyed good health, liein • physically and mentally strong. Wli . ■ in the hospital her mental conditio : iurove.il sufficiently for her to be allowed to return home, and for the past

'2 in rinlis she. had resided with him. Off and on during the past six months, however, the trouble reamed, ami deceased '.va obsessed with the idea thai some imaginary person inteiide I doing her family harm. In the day tune she was normal, hut the t rouble became evident at night, and witness frequently sat up with her for several bonis until she

".'cH to sleep. Slu' never at any time i pressed any intention to lake her lifo. Ilurine, the dav she wr.r- -veil enough to

■ o shopping in town i-y herself, and witness never had anv fear in leaving her at home, where she did the housework her self. On Sunday night, deceased was very restless until 3.30 a.m., being unable to go to sleep, and witness attend ed her until then. She did not mention the hallucination, and at 3.30 yesterday morning she became more restful, and retired to bed. Witness went to sleep, and on awakening at 4.30 a.m. found that deceased had left the bed ar ! ym out of the house. Becoming anxious, witness awakened the boys, and they commenced to search the locality and the riverbank alongside witness -1 property. They found no trace of hei however, and it was not until witness reported the matter to the police that he learned of the discovery of her body in the river. Witness' house was about 100 ft from the river, and it would be a simple matter for Mrs. Frank to have gone down to the river and been drowned. It was possible, but not probable ihat she might have gone down to the river and fallen in accidentally. MEDICAL EVIDENCE.

Dr. R. M. C+unn, who made a postmortem examination on deceased at 11 a.m. yesterday, deposed that there was a considerable amount of frothy fluid exuding from the mouth and nostrils, and there were several small recent wounds on the upper part of the chest wall, an isolated wound on the neck, and one on each upper eyelid, the right eyelid showing slight extravasation of blood. There were no other marks of violence. The wounds were jagged, and could have been caused by snags in the river or by crabs; they could not have been caused by a knife. Some of the wounds must have been caused either immediately before death or very shortlyafter, and the body could not have been in the water more than 12 hours. The lungs were voluminous, the left lung showing slight adhesion to the chest wall. A section of the lungs showed a considerable amount of frothy liquid in the lung tissue. The heart was normal, and the brain small, but otherwise showed no microscopic abnormality. The wounds could not have been self-inflict-ed, bv deceased clawing herself, or there would have, been scratches. There was nothing suspicions about, the wounds. In witness' opinion death was due to drowning. Whare Kcwa, farmer, of Te Karaka, stated that at about 6.15 a.m. yesterday he, with two other natives, was leathering pipis on the mudbanks in the Taruheru River between the Derby street and Peel street bridges. They saw a body caught against one of the piles of a small dboat jetty, appearing to have drifted down the river with the outgoing tide. At that time the mudbanks were bare, and the water was flowing in the channel only, the body being quite close to the channel. Witness saw that the woman was dead, and immediately reported the matter to the police. Constable J. L. Brown deoosed that at 7 a.m. yesterday, in response to a telephone message from Mr. J. C. Nisbett, he went to the ietty in the Taruheru River at the back'of Mr. Nisbett's property, and there found the body caught against a pile. The tide was receding, and it appeared that the body had been caught as it drifted down with the tide. The body was clothed in a singlet, night dress, dressing gown, and shoes, and was lyiri" at the edge of the channel. A'verdict of death iby drowning while suffering mental derangement was re turned.