Awfully Sudden Death.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2027, 3 July 1875, Page 2

Awfully Sudden Death.

CORONER'S INQUEST. An inquest was held this morning be for" o Dr Kilgdur, Coroner, in the Globe' Hotel, on.the body of William Necly, Engine Driver at the Bright Smile, who -'died very, suddenlybetween nine and ten ' o'clock last night. The following comprised the jury:— , ' . Samuel Ensor, William Bobbett, James Dance, Peter Graham, James' Garden, Anthony Cullen, J. Cox, Robert Easter, Win; Mumford,' Wm. Martin/ 1-John Philips, Alfred Ledger. .Mr J.,Cox was elected Foreman. ' '"' ' ' :'':" The Jury first retired .to view the body. Alexander Fox deposed—l was sent for in great haste last evening. to see, the deceased. I arrived at his house at a quar.ter-past nine..-;He was.'tnen dead. Those present .informed me he bad been dead ten minutes.; There was no appearance on the body to indicate the came of death. I saw n .bottle of-medicinei the deceased had been'• talcing.' There ,was ' about half a^ -teaspoon in the bottle^ I don't know what the medicine 1 was. I tasted it, -but could not judge H from that. •' I was informed -that the > medicine had been taken for a headache, | but that- threw no light on the cause, v of death, so far as I could judge.' Deceased had finished the bottle; a little.drop only remaining. There was nothing suspicions about it. ' . '"- .>: c:By the Foreman: I «innot!account for the cause of death. -'.^ . ' ' 4 Mary. Neely deposed—Deceased was' my husband. He complained of a pain, at the back-of.4iis head for the last fortnight. He got some medicine from the chemist. Yesterday morning he got a fresh drug added to the bottle. He took three doses during yesterday. *He took a breakfast yesterday morning,, and got his dinner about one o'clock,' and laid down to sleep in ' the afternoon. I noticed that "" he had great difficulty in breathing. He woke -up about 5 o'clock, and I asked him if he was any worse. He said no, and thought he .would have something to -eatL I cooked him some beefsteak, which he ate pretty heartily. He afterwards remarked that he felt a "difficulty in breathing., He coughed up a lot of phlegm. I asked him then if he was any better, and 1 he' replied "yes, that the sensation had departed. He said he would be better' now, as he had been suffering from indigestion. He-then said• he- would have a walk through the room, to see would it do him aay good. He then sat downby the fire for a few minutes, and afterwards laid down on the couch "to"have- a rest. He had been oh the couch about five minutes when' tho cough came on again. He told me to open the door as he was suffocated. ; I opened tho door/ but his cough got "worse, the phlegm heaving up into his throat. I ra'ir for the next-door neighbour. When'lcame b*ckmy husband's lips were all blue. He was trying to throw up the phlegm, but could not. I sent a man for the doctor, but before the doctor camemy huiband was dead. Deceased had always enjoyed good health. I never knew him to be sick." He had often complained to me of a shortness of breath when walking up a hill. He had a difficulty in breathing many years. -Ho was subject to couga.' De«ceased was not purged by the medicine before yesterday. .By the Foreman: Deceased was working at the Bright Smile battery,' and worked up to yesterday morning. • By Sergeant Elliott: Deceased went for his own medicine. He got it from the dispensary in Mary street. , ' _ By the Coroner: Deceased sometimes slept well, but often 7 badly, waking up suddenly. George Robson deposed—l am manager of - tho Mary-street Dispensary. Deceased came in on Wednesday morning and asked for medicine for a disorderedt stomach. I gave him a simple , ' rhubarb mixture, with a' little chlorydine, and compound spirit of ammonia. He , came in again yesterday morning saying he was very little better and ■ wished to take an aperient medicine. He brought i the bottle, and I added a littlcjalup and more rhubarb. He appeared in' pretty good health oxcept for the_ pain in his head. That was the last I saw of him. By the Foreman —Deceased took noth-' ing further than this bottle. Each dose of chlorydine would be ten drops. The coroner reviewed the evidence, and said the probability was that deceased had died of disease of the heart. When he saw the body he came to that conclusion as it-bore the appearance of one who had died from that disease. ,As to the'bottle of . medicine, it-.was quite evident that it had doae ' him\ no harm, as the cvidenpe of/ the wife -showed that the deceased' had ' eaten heartily just prior to his death—if the medicine had been harmful ho could : not have done so. 'Their duty was therefore to determine whether the deceased had died from natural causes. The jury returned a verdict of " Died natural causes." " ■