DEATH OF AN INFANT.

Thames Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 8073, 19 June 1895, Page 2

DEATH OF AN INFANT.

A. SEBIOUB CHAttGE. HUSBAND AND WIFE BEFORE THE COURT. THE EVIDENCE. At the Police Court to-day, before H. Eyre Kenny, E*q., S.M., JoUn Ciarkeu and bis wife Mary Ann Clarken were brought up on remand, and charged that on May 16th, 1895, at Thames, they feloniously did kill and slay their infant child E izabeth Clarken, aged about 2 years'. Ser»t. Gillies conducted the case on behalf of the police, and Mr CJendon appeared for the accused. On the application of Ser^t. G'llies the . name "'Elizabeth Clarken" in the charge ' was amended to " Lizz c Clarken, otherwise known as Ei'z;ibetli." Sergt. (fillies diew utention in opening the> case to sections 148 and 149 of the Criminal Code Act, 1893, which clearly showed the responsibility of parents to obi de i, and he would show that there had been continuous negluct of the child. Ho ihen called

Albert Bruce, who deposed that he was a Justice of the Peace and a Coroner of the colony of New Zealand. He was also Secretary of the Thames aod diromandel United Charitable Aid Board, Knew '.he accused, John tnd Mary Ann Clarken.

They resided in Upper Albert street, Tbauies. On the ] 7th of May last be visited their residence and saw, in company with the jurr, the dead body of an infant. Witness was theu acting as Coroner, ai.d was about; to hold an inquest on a child, whose name was given as Elizabeth, and who was rejoitcd to be lying dead in the liouee of John Ciarkeu, Witness

ound the dead body there. Witries< a<id the jury returned to tha Queen's Hotel' wh'ta the inquest was bein-j heM, and there held an inquest on the dead bo ly of the child that bad been viewed at Cla ken's houss. In the police report to the Coroner the name of the dead child ap-

peared as " Elizabeth" Clarken. Held the inquest that same day. After that inquest witness registered the death in the Death Registry Office. Jn consequence of information received witness registered tho child as ''Lizzie, otherwise known as Elizabeth Clarken." At the inquest the accused John Clarken gave evidence. The accused was sworn before him as a witness. The evidence which the accused then gave was read over to him, and he made his mark,

which witness as Coroner witnessed. [The depositions of John Clarken taken before the Coroner were here put in and mark cd]. Witness here read the depositions of John Clarken, which were substantially the same as appeared in the Star. Those notes which he had just read were in witness'hand-writing. They were taken by witness as Coroner, holding an inquest on the body of the child. The signature "A. Bruce, J.P.,"was in witness' hand-writing. The accused seemed to, clearly understand the depositions when read over to him. Two years ago—July Bth, 1893— in consequence of reports made by the police to witness as Relievng Officer for the district, he supplied the darkens with blankets and clothing for the children. Rations were also issued to the family. Rations w rere continued at that time for three months. Witness did not at that time visit Clarken's place. In consequence of a report made ;by Sergt. Gillies witness in his official capacity as Relieving Officer visited the accused's housff, in company with Sergt. Gillie % en April 20th last. Cn that occasion Jolin Clarken was there, and two or thvee children. Mrs Clarken was lying in bed after her confinement. The baby just born was in bed with her. The room in which she was lying seemed to be in a destitute condition. The bedding was insufficient. The two lower panes of, the window were knocked out, and an old garment stretched accross. There was a general air of destitution over the whole dwelling. 'Jhere were several holes in the floor. It would cost 5s to replace the glass in the windows, The children were very poorly clad. Witness didjnot notice Lizzie Clarken in particular. 'Jhere seemed to be very little indeed in the house —not sufficient for ordianry comforts for an ordinary working man's house. On the same date witness, as Relieving Officer, ordered blankets and food for the family. Rations had been continued ever since then, and were being supplied to the family at present. Witness had been Relieving Officer for about eight years. During that time he had never before seen such a complete case of destitution —taking into consideration home, surroundings, and everything else. Witness on that date (April 20fch) ordered a quart of milk to be delivered daily at Clarken's house. The quart of milk had been continued daily up to the present. Witness had known John Clarken since he had been on the field, and the wife since she had made application to the Charitable Aid Board. During the last few years the acensed's habits had been intemperate. The man was always known as a good worker, and but for his intemperate habits would have bad work sufficient to hate kej.t his family without applying to the Board. During the last three months Clarken had been suffering from an i< jured shoulder, and therefore rations had been issued. The fi>3t witness knew of the injured shoulder was on April 20th, when he visited the house with Sergeant Gillies. Prior io that Clurken wes an able-bodied man, and able to work. Cross-examined by Mr Clendon—Six jurymen sat wiih witness on the inquest, and viewed the premises and the dead body. Witness produ ed depositions (marked 2) re the finding of the jury. His Worship then read the finding as pcblisbed in the Star, to the effect that deceased died from general weakness. Witness visited the bouse on the2oth of April between 11 and 12 in the day. Witness stood a couple of feet from the bad and examined the clothing in a superficial manner. From that superficial inspectoo he concluded that the bedding and c'othins; were insufficient. From what witness saw the only food in the house was cold potatoes. Witness' knowledge that there was no other food arose from the face that he did not see any about. He examined the food also superficially. Witness saw some children in ths house, and from their condition thry appeared perfectly healthy. They seemed fairly sturdy. They did not appear insufficiently nourished, but more in

need of cic-fchiDj:. (Jn April 20th witness first ascertained tbat darken was unable to work. Witness understood it was owing to an affection of the shoulder—a fall, or KOtnuthiujr. During the last twelve months) Clarken had been interaperae. He had been diunk perhaps about half-a-dozen fime?. Witness had seen him. Witness could not tell the specific time and exact location. Had seen him drunk in Albert street] and Pollen .street- He was rolling about. Had never seen Claiken take liquor. Witness did not know that Clarken was a prohibited person. Witness had no personal knowledge that a certificate of the death of the chiid had been given. Distress was not very common on the Thames. T<iere was a less proportion statistically of poor people here than in any other part of the colony. Mr Clendcn: "I do not agree with you," Witness : " It ia my business to know."

To the Court: Witness was not satisfied with the verdict of the jury. The letter produced (marked 3) was written by witness to the Minister of Justice. In the letter witness advised that-ihe whole matter, in view of Dr. Williams'"' evidence should be gone into, Thomas Owen Williams deposed that he was a duly qualified medical practioner, residing at the Thames, and was at present in charge of the Thames Hospital. Knew both the accused. They resided in Upper Albert street. In consequence of instructions received from the Coroner witness held a post mortem in defendant's house on May 17th. Mary Ann Clavken was present, but John Clarken _ was not. Witness found a female child lying in the room, and on the same day gave evidence at the inquest as to the result of his examination. The body which witness examined was that of a female—of a very small emaciated child. The condition of the skin was quite blanched. There was veiy little flesh on the tone a, The limbs were quite frigid. There were no marks or bruises on the bodj, but a few scabs on the head, which had very little hair on. Witness made a dissection of the body, and noticed no fat in the tissues. The skio was also wy

thin, and during the dissection hardly any b'ood oozed out of the tissues. Witness did not find any of the organs diseased, and on opening the the stomach he did not see any trace of irritation or redness. Tnere was a small quantity of wh'tish milky fluid in the stomach—about a tnble-

sr.oonful altogether. The food in the stomach alight have sustained life for a certain time, but would not h*ve done so for any length of time. Witness considered the immediate cause of death was syncope, a;id the remote cause owing to ihe want of sufficient nourishment or of an improper quantity. Witness attibuted the cause of death to want of proper nourishment. Witness could nut say what the liquid in the stomach was. It was partially digested.

To Mr Clendon: Witness considered the fluid was of the proper nature to feed a child. It might have been twelve hours after death that witness made the 'post mortem examination. I here was no visible sign of actual neglect on the body, which had been laid out. Sores on the skin sometimes accompanied teething, but he could not say'that teething produced sores. The fact of the child being of premature birth —a seven months' child—could possibly account for its puny condition, ft wus an acknowledged xacl that a seven months' child was a difficult child to rear. Assuming that a child for several months prior to death had been unable to keep food on its stomach, that would have a material influence in producing such weakness. Prom his observation witness would consider that the child was 12 and 18 months old. By syncope witness meant failure of the hearts action; One of the causes' that would produce that was bodily weakness, Ihe only conclusion which witness could come to, owing to the healthy condition of the cnild generally, as to the cause of death, was the one he had stated. That conclusion might, of course, be a wrong one. To S-r«t. Gillie—Win e=s held th* poss mortem before 12 o'. lock in the day. During the last six im>rit*i3 witness had not attended the deceased child at the Hospital, and there was no record of such, ; ■; there would hava been bad it Leen attended to at the Hospital. Wi ne?s had an opportunity.. of seeing the in'oiior of Cterked's house durum the inqu. at. Some of the children were theie. Tue house generally W:s a *cry hid one. The appearance of the place generally wes one if extreme destitution. rih; windows were broken in the bedroom wheio the deceased was lying, in the bedroom nex', and also in the kitchen. The g!as3 in the window in the bedroom was brolen and a garment stretched across, which hardly afforded protection against the wind. Witness only saw one large and 6*ne small bed. The one in the room where t»ie chi!d"!;wa* was made up. In the other room the bedding was all jumbled up. The kitchen had a fire in it, but there was very little furniture. Witness had known John Ciarken for years. Remembered Sergt. Gillu s bringing John Ciarken to the Hospital on August 2nd, 1894. He was under the influence of liquor, and had a cut in bis forehead. Ciarken was in that abusive state that his language was coarse. Ciarken remained in the rjcapi al till August 13th under witness' treatment. Cla ken was ta T.ren away on the 13th by the polic?. To Mr Clendon : There was a time—in the latter end of December, 1894, and the first part of January, 1895, when witness was away for three weeks from the Hospital. iDrs. Callan and Payne attended at the Hospital at that time.' Six months previous to the post mortem, witness had not attended professionally to the child. To the Courl;: If a child two years old were fed exclusively on milk, it would need a quart per diem. Children at that age could eat other farinaceous diets — bread, etc. It would be absolutely impossible to say at the age of two years whether a child was a seven months child or not. At birth, if a child was a seven months child, the nails would not extend to the tips of the fingers. If the nails were fully developed at birth, that would be a strong presumption that the child was full grown, In rep'y to a further question by His WorsMp witness said that when Ciarken was brought to the Ho9pitel he presented the appearance of suffering from chronic indulgence in liquor. He was so dirty and uncared for that he was placed in a separate ward. For some time in March John Ciarken was an outdoor patient at the Hospite,', suffering from a dislocated shoulder. Witness attended him. A man with a dislocated shoulder would be incapacitated from working six weeks at the outside. During the time witness wes attending Ciarken for this injury the accused was perfectly sober.

Elizabeth Mart deposed that she was the wife of Charles Hart, residing at Upper Albert street. Had known the accused for some year?. Witness' residence was not far from Clarken's house. Witness.garden ran close to Glai ken's house: Wi'ness also knew the child now deceased. Rdmembered that child being lorn in May, 1893. Saw the child thai evening, wben it was about an hour old. It was a heauti ful baby—one of the best witness hid seen. It appeared to be fully grown. The naila were fully grown right to the tips of the finger?, and the child was a full nine months' child. Witness had no doubt at all about that. Witness had no doubt at all about the child. Witness never saw the child after. When the last baby was bora, in April last, the accused sent for witness. The accused told witness to do the game for this baby as she did for the last. The house was in a terribly delapidated condition when witness went

in, and was desolate of everything. Witness did not stop long, {and did not see the child Lizzie, deceased. Mrs Cox and Mrs Connon were-in the house. Witness saw no such thing as comforts for a child two years' old. Knew from her own knowledge that John Clark en had been intemperate during the last two years. Considered Clarken an able* bodied man, and well able to support his family if he were not intemperate Witness sent some gruel to Mrs Clarken when she was confined with the baby now dead. She had also given the children pieces of bread in their hands on several occasions. To Mr Clendon: Witness had no children of her own. She had an adopted child. The child now deceased was given into witness' hands, and she could not I help noticing the nails. Also saw the infant's feet. The first aud only time that witness was in Clarken's house was on the 17th of April. She was only there five minutes. In that time she saw that no children's comforts were in the house. Witness had done a great deal of nursing of children. About two months ago witness saw Clarken the worse for drink. He was near his own home, To Sergt. GilUes-^Tbe occasiou oo

which wi.nes«Mw Clifiten he wWfur hquor was a lit le »eh, r « the him. uf tfcc i [Left siting.]