INQUEST.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 4426, 31 December 1888, Page 3

INQUEST.

' An inquest wns held in the Bush Hotel, Qoraldino, ori Saturday last, before O. A. Wray, Jtsq., coroner, touching the death of Bridget Brophy, the two year old daughter of Mr Kyran Brophy, of Pleasant Yalley. . Mr W. Coltman was chosen foreman of tho jury/ Kyran Brophy deposed that at about 7.30 on Thursday evoning the child got out of its bed and wont outside in its niglibdress. Ho had his attention attracted to the child by seeing it running about and screaming. He did not at tho timo take particular notice of the child's screaming, ae it did not appear as if it was in agony,' but very shortly afterwards he noticed, that the nigut-drcss was in flsnws. Ho ran over and caught hold of tho child. The only means ho bad of extinguishing the flames was by rolling the child in the grass. Ho put flour over her and rolled her in a shoot when ho took her in the hbußfl. He went for Dr Fish as tbo child appeared.to be in pain, but tho doctor could not come over till the afternoon as he was engaged in Geraldine, but ho prescribed for her. A fire had been lit that morning under a boiler uied for washing, and he thought that the child's night- dress hnd caught fire there, but she afterward*) told him that the had picked up a box of matches near the boiler, an£ had etrack ono on the fenoe. .He found the box of matches at the spot indicated, and came to tho conclusion that it was a match she had struck that had set fire to her night-dress. Deceased was generally careful with matches when sho found tkem. She died the following morning at 40 minutes past one. . John Bfbphy,- brother of deceased, corroborated his father's evidence. Dr Rah depbsed to Mr Brophy coming to him on Thursday morning, but at he could not leave Geraldine till the af tornoon he prescribed for the child and gave the father instructions as to what to do.' When he went to Mr Brophy's he found that his instructions had been most carefully attended to. The child was very seriously burnt about the body and limbs and its case was hopeless from the first. The burning of tho nightdress was quite.sufllciont to causo tho i'pjuries. . ■''*'.'.■ . 1 'Iho jury returned a verdict that tho deceasod had mot her death through accidentally Betting fire to her clothes, no blanio being atluchableto anyono.