FARMERS PROTEST

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 254, 27 October 1939, Page 8

FARMERS PROTEST

I ATTEMPT TO SOCIALISE INDUSTRY MEETINGS IN ROTORUA [ Per Prtvs Association.] ROTORUA, Oct. 26. Largely attended meetings of I farmers and business men in Rotorua • last night carried a unanimous reso- . lution protesting against the policy > of the Government in attempting to . socialise the farming industry and expressing the opinion that farmers ■ could not increase production while the present low prices for their produce ruled. Several speakers advocated closing up all the farms for a fortnight and another tipping the , milk down the drain unless prices , were adjusted. Several speakers objected to the i new marketing legislation, failure to ■ increase the guaranteed price, and | the socialisation of transport. One speaker described as eyewash the I statement by the Hon. P. C. Webb ’that ample labour was available for ,' farms. The meeting carried a resolution api proving of the principle of compulsory I military training. come back about 8 to 8.30 p.m. and found she was not there. He said that in the morning he found a note in which his wife said she had left the • camp because she was sick of camp ' life and did not want any more from him. Had Not Informed the Police. Mrs. George said that she asked him •if he had imoimcd the police and ne said, ■'No.'’ He said tnat when he . j wem to Kaikoura he was going to inform the police, but somc-l.ie hud told him not to do that, as by the time he • ; got back nis wile would be back. Mrs ueorge said she was positive that the j I body she saw in tne morgue at Chirst- ( [church was that of her aunt. | Mrs. Mary Ann Southern, of Ric- . carton, motiU'r of Mrs. Patience, said , ; that her daughter was in her sixtieth j - year when sne disappeared. She said that when she went to the morgue she saw the body of a woman which she ’ was positive was her daughter. Dr. A. B. Pearson, pathologist at the Christc.iurch Public Hospital, said that he began a post-mortem examination |of the body of a woman on July 22. 1 Lt was the body of a woman over 50. He considered it had been dead some mon-hs. It was in the condition of a body that had been in contact with wet soil or clay and was preserved from putrefaction. He did not believe 'it couid have been Jong in the sea, ' necausf, although there did appear to be destruction by sea life, there was ( : not much ot it affected in this way. , The condition of the body was con- • sistent with its having been buried in i •’wet soil or clay for some time, then j gon into the sea and then been wash- , ed up. was a bruise in the pit •of the stomach and the ribs bore signs j ■of injury. On the front of the chest, on the left side on the lower part, c ’some of the ribs were separated from ; their gristle attachment and on the ( I same side, at tne back, six ribs were fractured. There had been bleeding from these ribs. Such an injury could [have been done by crushing. It wouid ■ not necessarily be a fatal injury, but it would be a disabling injury and must have taken place before, or i very soon after, death, because of the i bleeding from the ribs. These injuries ' could have been caused by pressure of a knee on the chest. Dr. Pearson continued that it was very unlikely that they would have! been caused by rocks or stones on the : beach. There was a biuise on the left side of the neck under the chin. It was c iraaveiy small and stood £ .. . . It was an inch and a- 1 : quarter at its greatest diameter. It ' was not deep-seated. There was indentation in the windpipe. It was J thi of an inch in length f and half an inch at its greatest width, i That dent could have been produced - by pressure of a thumb on the wind- ' pipe. In most cases of strangulation 1 pressure was higher up. r No Evidence of Cause of Death. c Tii i t was no evidence of the cause t iof death. Ail the organs were welt t preserved, except the brain. There was no sign of a natural disease, but if v ! death had been from cerebral t naemorrnage it would have been im- a i possible because of the condition of ; the brain to determine it. The arteries, ’ however, were in a natural state and one wouid not expect them io be if i • death hau been from cerebral! g Mr. Donneiiy: So this woman had jinjuries to her ribs, a bruise in the pit , of the stomach and an indentation ol the Windpipe. Are these injuries con- 5 I sistent with someone having knelt on , her, fractured her chest by the pressure of a knee and gripped her j throat by the hand? Dr. Pearson: Yes. If the person who did this pul. his 5 ! other hand over her mouth would she 0 i have died quickly?—Y’es. 11 If she had been suffocated in this I 1 ' way traces of suffocation could not n j have been detected by your examina- = Ition?—No. v Traces of suffocation could have p i been apparent it you had seen the t ; body promptly alter death and it had p ' lost its life in this way’. —Yes, if a day a i or so after a Dr. Pearson said that the body bore signs of some sacking and there c .were also ligature marks, it appeared [ as if it had been wrapped in sacking I and then bound up. The trunk ana c upper limbs and lower limbs, down to j t near the knees, appeared to ha\'e been i wrapped in sacking. There was also an ! indication that the woman hau been *] I wearing a woollen singlet. v Possibility of Drowning. Everything appeared against the S 1 possibility ot suicide, but the possibility of drowning did exist. There could not p have been suicidal drowning, because ! the body could not have wrapped itself up. “ To Mr. Gresson witness said that ™ most of the soft tissues of the face b were missing and the skin was mising off the forehead. Looking at that face and head alone it would have been a very difficult matter to identify it. It would need very intimate acquaint- c ance with the person to be able to identify the hands as they were. Ou 4; the whole of the body there was no n birthmark, no scar and no abnormal jy feature of any kind. It was quite im- H possible to determine the actual cause ]e of death. He did not think a heavy jt fall would have fractured the ribs gi