THE INQUEST.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12455, 3 February 1909, Page 2

THE INQUEST.

An inquest was held at the Courthouse ■ yesterday afternoon into the circumstances stiffoundinK .the death of .Ellen Jjorigden. Minchih., w ; hicn took^place late on the previbus'night, as state.d above. Mr E. E. Trask, Deputy-Coroner,, conducted the, ■ inquiry, and the jury was as follows: — E. Savage (foreman), W. W.Snodprass. F. Healy, T. W. Bradsh'aw, R. J. Lewis, and E. Grove, Sergeant Dougah represented the police, and "called— ■ . Alexander Burnip, brother of deceased, who said he was.V plumber, at. present working in .Nelson. He had been living with deceased for the past seven weeks, together with a ■younger sister and deceased's daughter, at 52, Nile-street." His sister had complained of pains ,in the head, and' had been attended by Dr. Lucas; Latterly she seemed, to be in her usual spirits, and in good health. iShe a revolver in her room; witness had seen it.- He - identified the revolver produced as the^one. On Monday evening witness had been at a band concert, and returned- honie about -10.10. - There- w&s then no one home. About a quai-ter of an hour afterwards deceased, her sister and\ daughter, came.: home... They -went immediately to bed. Witness was then in bed also. Deceased spoke to him. and asked for a match. He had not one, but he heard one struck, Mr Aitcheson Smith cameto the house about ten minutes or a quarter of an hour afterwards. He came in by the front, door,- and went into the front rboin,' as far as witness could judge by the footsteps. He came back to the 'kitchen after about ten minutes. He Hhen heard his younger .'sister scream, and' immediately "afterwards two shots were fired. He- went to the room, being about two yards behind Mr Smith, who had turned back. His sister was lying on the bed in her night attire, with a wound in her head". 131ood was oozing from her head The youngest sister and deceased's daughter were both lying on the bed. His two sisters slept in the same "bed, and the child m a cot in the same room. Witness went for Dr. Lucas immediately, and upon Mr Smith .sj- advice, lie went for the police. He had no idea of what caused h*s sister to. commit the act.' She had a comfortable ' home; /"and did not want for anything. - She never seemed depressed. • : She had complained _a" good lately of the pain in her head. A Bister had died of brain trouble; Deceased used to do clerical work for Mr Smith. : He thought it was typewriting and private aftairs, but he'nover inquired what it was. She told him that she held a secret position as^Mr.Smith's private secretary. Smith came there pretty' regularly with work for her. io the foreman: His sister went into hysterics at times.!' May Burnip, a little girl twelve years o£, age, said she was a sister ox deceased. 1 and was living with her, her. daughter, and her brother Alexander, in; Nile-street.. Deceased had often complained of .pains in her head, and at times "Dr Lucas attended her. She seemed, however in her- tusual spirits lately, and not depressed in any way. On Monday cn »?S t^y went foV a drive with Mr ; Alt cheson: Smith in his motor Bar.T IWc were deceased, wit- *% S *h ?™ tlTess > witness's niece and M.r.bmith m- the. car ': They left borne after eight.o'clockV They went out as .far as the Black Horse, remained there lor some time— she did not .know how long— and return-Bd-home. When they came home she went to, bed ;l she could: not say what time that would be. . •Mr Smith took the car hack to the ofßce. : He returned about ten minutes or a quarter of an hour later. Deceased spoke to her brother, but witness- did not hear, what s.he said;- A candle . was burning m tho^room. Witness knew that deceased had a revolver, which she usually kept, under the mattress near her head. -Witness did not see it that night when she was going to bed. Smith came in soon after they went to bed He locked the front door, bade them all "Good nieht " and went out towards the backdoor. ff^Mo **">. kitchen when witness heard shots fired in the : room She did nofc see .the first sliot fired. She saw the. revolverin deceased's hand when- she put ft' up t 0 her head; iu 81^ 1 *? 8 abou * a second between the shots;- Witness screamed, and Mr bmitb. came in. Witness had: been JwiagjjntK ' her sister for about B +^ n ■ t." She . hati often s een Smith at, the house; he had brought docu- ! ments there. \ He was very kind to them- and they all -called him "Father. - Deceased had -never said any- I thing to^ lead; to. the' imnression that she would commit suicide r She did typing for Mr Smith. ' I /.William Aitcheson Smith,: City En- ' gmeer^ Nelson; said he had known deceased for about-^en, years, first as Ellen Burnip, and latterly as a mar-ried-woman, Ellen Longden Minchin fehe was about 16 years of age when he first knew-her. She had been working for him for about fourteen months,, and she had been continuously with him since July 19th. She had done typing, clerical work and tracing. Q SheVwas also a shorthand writer; She had suffered lately from P, a "is in the head, so much 's'^ that she bad been confined to bed, and attended by Dr. Lucas. 1 It had been necessary for him to visit the house regularly. He went there on Monday .morning at 10 o'clock, taking some i typing and tracing work. She com- j plained saying: "I don't feel I very well, Dajfldy." He replied : "It does not matter child, leave it " He went; to the house in the evening to see if she had done any work but fte " acl not touched it. She asked ■him to take her for a motor drive, again complaining of her head. After some demur.ion account of work^. he consented, .and theyj went some-time, after eight o'clock. The conversation took place about; six o'clock, after f wliich-he went home^to tea, returning afterwards. - They went' 1 as far as the Black Horse Hotel, staying there . about- threequarters of an. hour. They had refreshment there. : Deceaspa 1 asked for some dry gin, which wit.ness poured out for her himself. They ".arrmsd at the house in Nile-strpo't :^3etween-ten and eleven -o'clock;?. He/i "ieft them thert, and took ; the caw back to its shed. ~As he was going | "dp.ceased asked hith'to come in J [ his way home, and- he 'Said he wpflli'J

He came back ten minutes or a quarter of an hour later, going in by thd back door. He found tiiein all in bed. Somebody — he could not say who — asked him to see if the front, door was locked. He found it was not, the key being on the outside- 6f the door. He locked the door:. He passed a fe wremarks ; he pould hot say exactly what they were! He went into the bedroom, and the little girl came to him and said her prayers. He had had no quarrel or high words with deceased— far- from it. He was opening the back door to leave the house ; when the shots were fired. He immediately went back. He could see that deceased had shot herself. Her right arm was hanging down by the bedside. He knew that deceased kept a revolver in the house He had seen it; that produced was the one. He picked it up from tho uoor. : He found that deceased was bleeding from a. wound in the sido of her head, and hSr face was powder blackened. . Deceased was lying on the bed in her night-clothes. She was on the sido of the. bed next to tho window. The bed lay east and west and the window was on the north" side of the room. He asked deceased's sister where the first shot had gone, there being only one wound. Ho thought she replied that deceased had fired it into' the floor. He afterwards made a search with Constable -Drummond, and they. found splinters on the window sill, and a corres ponding mark on the curtains and the blind. Deceased was tinconconscious, when he went into the room, and never spoke. She only breathed for a few minutes. Witness had known deceased to be hysterical, the last occasion being on receipt ; of news of her sister's death, between twoand three months ago He had never heard her threaten. to take her life, in fact she had mentioned to him how thankful she was to. "be out of the bar, and said that her life • was. a different thing altogether. She had expressed a fear gf going like her ..sister. She . had .complained about her sight and pj&ins in the head. Deceased was ., in. witness':, pay " . and employ ' at a salary of £175 a" year and office allowance. * The business was of a strictly private nature, but he was quite prepared to satisfy the Coroner, if necessary,. Reminded by Sergeant Dotlgatt that there would be talk> arid, if he- ■ wished. he c.ould explain how he Came to employ deceased, witness express^ ed his willingness .to . make a. state* ment "for the edification of "Mother Grundy." He said:> "When I first ''came to- New Zealand I was suffering, and her father was a' good friend to me. Years elapsed, and I wanted someone to do some, work for me, and. she suited me down to the ground. Everyone who knew her knew that she was a clever girl. For old friendship's sake I employed her. ' I know things have been said about us, and oh one occasion, in Juljrlast, when, we had to go to Westport, I know it was said that-, we occupied, the same cabin. As a matter of fact., it was my wife and deceased 'who oc- . cupied the same cabin.' They" were friendly.";. : ,^. ; . .=.. . After his depositions had been read over; to .him, witness added ,that deceased was paid £175. a year; itdid •not matter by whom, but the money -passed through his hands. Since deceased had complained of illness wit- ' . ness had done her work for her, arid this had worried Tier, as she thought it was not fair, but he told her not : •■■to' trouble herself about' it. Emily Beatrice Ogilvie, a married woman, residing in . Oollingwoodstreet, said she had known deceased for twelve months.' She visited her on Monday night; when she seemedin good health and spirits. About three weeks agb witness visited her. Deceased was -then in a very excited condition, and said she had a good mind to blow her brains out. She" said she would- do' it "one of thesedays." Witness had seen the rovolver several times, and she, had un« * loaded it. She had slept in the house with • deceased. ■ once or twice. She had given witness 'no reason for wishing to blow her brains out. . Witness had never seen her hysteri- • cal, though she had been r excited. She had stayed a* tho hotel where ■■-. witness lived. .. . .. To the foreman : Witness did not know the pause of deceased's: excitement. •■ " J . \ '". '■■''; ''■- ' '■ " v " ' : To Sergeant Dougan: Deceased had told her that men had come, to the house . and .frightened her. '■■ She said : she would shoot them if they came back ; again. ■ ' > ■-■-■ . .- At this:. stage the inquiry was adjourned to secure the attendance of Dr. Lucas, who~had conducted a post • mortem examination. - • ■ The inquest resumed at -7 p.m., when evidence was given by Dr.' Lucas, who said that he was called about 11.15 on Monday night- to the house of .deceased; in JNile-'street. He found Mrs Minchin lying-in bed . in her night-dress. She was .quite dead. She had a bullet wound in the region of the right, temple. The skin< round the wound was blackened, which would. denote that the shot had been fired at very close range. The wound was quite consistent with the story that it had been: self-inflict-ed. He had that day 'made a post mortem examination of the body. He found that the bullet had passed into the brain, and had injured vital parts. ;He examined the. abdomen, ■ and found everything quite normal. To the foreman: Deceased had been- under his treatment some time previously. When he first saw her ; she had influenza, and suffered a good deal from headaches. He did not .know that headaches woujd cause hysteria, but headaches very often accompanied hysterical attacks. This was all the evidence. In summing up, the Acting-Coron* er said that it appeared that deceased was in a responsible position. The nature of the. position had been laid before him, but' he : did not consider' it his duty^tb divulge that informal tion to the jury. Mr Smith had been ' quite justified in withholding details in his evidence. He reminded the jury that they should disregard outside talk, though it was right that such matters should be. thoroughly investigated. . • ...-..■. '■ After a short retirement, the jury ! found a verdict that deceased met her death by a revolver shot, selfinflicted, during a fit of impulsive insanity. ! ' •