The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-14 00:00:00

DIP°.

IJIRY.

MAIDSTONE, JAN.' 13.

This afternoon au adjourned inquest was held at
the Old English Gentleman Inn, Tovil, near Maid-
stone, before Mr. T: Kipping, the coroner for the
borough, upon the body of Betsy Brooker, the wife
ofalauouring man residing at Tovil, whose death
was suspected to have been occasioned by the im-
proper use of instruments by the medical gentlemen
who were called into assist the deceased in the cfmtse
of a premature delivery.
M. J. Gorham, surgeon, Tonbridge, who made a
post mortem examination by direction of the coro-
ner, deposed that he saw no appearances to induce
him to think that, with proper treatment, things
would not have taken a natural course, and that -
death had been occasioned by a severe internal rup-
ture, or wound, the result of some externaald,mie-n
me-
chanical violence. An instrument such as had been
used would be likely to cause the injury, n
his opinion, it was most unjustifiable and cruel, as
well as unnecessary, to have made use of such an
instrument in a case like the present. He also said
he considered that the use of such an instrument,
under any circumstances, would be very dangerous
and almost necessarily cause the death of the patient.
Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Ayerst, the surgeons 'who
had attended the deceased, and who were both
present during the proceedings, put some questions
to Mr. Gorham, in answer to which he stateuh(mas
of course unable to say what the condition of the
deceased was when they were called in, or whether
the injury existed at that time.
Mr. Fry, a surgeon, of Maidstone, said that he
was passing through Tovil on the afternoon of the
28th, and saw the deceased standing by the fire.
He had previously sent her a bottle of medicine,
and she said that she felt better since she had taken

it, and did not at that time appear to be in very
great pain, and he did not think that the rupture
could have then existed. The witness then pro-
ceeded to state that he assisted at the post-mortem
examination, and he concurred in the opinion ex-
'messed by Mr. Gorham as to the cause of death,
and that the rupture was the result of external
violence. _ _

The Coroner, at this stage of the case, said, that
from the turn of the evidence he thought that
Messrs. Ayerst and Baldwin ought to have an op-
portunity of consi'leriug what course they should
take, and of bringing evidence before the jury if
they thought proper to do so, and the inquiry was
consequently adjourned until half-past three o'clock
to-day for that purpose.
The jury having answered to their flatness the
proceedings of the inquest were resumed.
Mr. Blundell, the superintendent of the Maid-
stone borough police, who has been actively en-
gaged in producing the necessary testimony, was in
attendance, and Messrs. Ayerst and Baldwin were
also present. The former is a very aged. man, and
is stated to be between 80 and 90 years old. He
has been in practice in the county for nearly half a
century. A. professional gentleman named King,
from Maidstone, was present during the latter part
of the proceedings, to watch the case on-his behalf.
Mr. Baldwin had no professional adviser.
The Coroner then read over the evidence that
had been given on the former occasion, and the
witnesses were re-called ; and, in answer to ques-
tions suggested by Mr. Baldwin, Mrs. Weller and
the sister of:the deceased stated that a number of
instruments were produced by Mr. Baldwin, but
only two of them were used. They also stated that
Mr. Baldwin said from the commencement that it
was a very difficult case, and he refused to act
unless he had the assistance of some experienced
medical practitioner ; and •all that was done ap-
peared to be with the sanction of Mr. Ayerst.
In answer to a question put by the Coroner,
Mr, Blundell said the jury were now in posses-
sion of all the evidence that it was in his power to
lay before them, and there were no more witnesses
to be examined.
The Coroner was then about to sum up, when
Mr. King made an application for the postpone-
ment of the inquest, to give him an opportunity of
laying additional evidence before the jury. He
was, of course, he said, unable to gay what view the
jtiry might take of the matter, but it appeared to
him that there was little or no evidence to support
any criminal charge, and he was anxious to show
by conclusive testimony that there was no founda-
tion for suggesting that he had acted in any other
manner than as a man of skill and humanity.
The,Coroner said that the application was an un-
expected one, as every facility was given to Mr.
Ayerst and to Mr. Baldwin to obtain legal assist-
ance, and to produce evidence on the former occa-
sion, and the inquest was adjourned for that pur-
pose. In so important an inquiry, however, if the
application for a postponement was made upon the
understanding that the object was to adduce addi-
tional evidence, lie did not think it cught to be
refused.
The inquest was accordingly adjourned for a
week.

SUICIDE OE A BANK MANAGER AT
BOLTON.

+Obb.

A painful sensation was created at Bolton, on
Monday, by the intelligence that Mr. R. S. Bar.
low, of Snow-hill, manager of the bank of Messrs.
Hardcastle, Cross, and Co., Bolton, and a gentle.
man highly respezted in the neighbourhood, had
committed suicide. It appears that Mr. Hard.
castle bad arisen early in the morning and gone
into his bath-room, where he had blown out his
brains by discharging a gun at his head. He had
fixed the gun between his knees and moved the
trigger, it is supposed, with one of his toes. The
probable motive of the unfortunate gentleman was
disclosed in the following evidence, given at an in-
' quest held. by Mr. W. S. Rutter, county coroner,
on Tuesday.
Mr. Thos. Lever Rushton said he was connected
with the deceased as a partner in the banking firm
of Hardcastle, Cross, and Co., of Bolton. Mr. Bar-
low was managing partner, and had been so since
the death of his father, in 1819. A few weeks ago
the deceased came to his (Mr. Rushton's) office
in a state of great agitation, and said that
he had come to tell him of his unfortunate involve-
ment with a person to whom he had lent a large
sum of money. He also said that he had mentioned
it to one of the other partners. This led the com-
pany to investigate the general affairs of the bank.
The partners had a meeting on Saturday last, and
they bad a conference with Mr. Barlow as to what
he proposed to do with the account in question.
The deceased expressed great regret at the state of
the account, and said that he had been led into it
little by little, and that nobody could tell the
misery he had endured in consequence of it. This
led his partners to ask how lie stood in his own
personal affairs ; and he told them that he had bor-
rowed a few thousands from a friend, which had to
he paid back on the 15th January. He was told that
he would not be allowed to pay this mony out of the
bank, and that he ought to make good the other loss,
as it had been shown to them that he had been warned
against the party alluded to. He said that if there
was a loss he would take it upon himself. He said,
however, that he could not pay it then. He was
asked if he had any proposal to make but he said
he had not. He was in a state of extreme agitation
and distress of mind. This was on Saturday after-
noon, between two and five o'clock. No conclusion
was come to at the meeting. When it was broken
up Mr. Hardcastle and witness had an interview
with the deceased immediately after. Witness said
to him it was a pity he had not made some pro-
posalth in g to
thep
thearmtneeeretio
required
qaus
ti
dhe he a d
wouldoffered
llietiwie
I haveostosu dohltadod done
i l
nabaeny
now,n
Lim
I would leave
leniently dealt with, as it was a matter of great
said,thoughthba' i
fw
doneß i
un
st yourso oßushton)
would
rseeg;reit
thtoougahltl. He
I had told
l that
communicate it to
them. He said, " Oh, t • cer ' I will leave my-
so
self entirely in their hands."
hmyself
di
e entirely
n ( t
rWitness said he
was glad of it, for lie was sure they would
be lenient with
him. This appeared to soothe
him, for up to
that time he had been quite
hysterical. Mr. Hardcastle and witness then
shook hands with him,
and in parting witness
made an arrangement with him to meet the party
who owed the money to transfer some propertywhich
he held as security to the bank. They were ta
meet witness at his office at 10 o'clock on Monday
morning. This was to transfer the property to the
bank, that they might make the best of the

account.
Mr. Rutter—Did he mention the person's name I
Mr. Rushton—Oh, yes, the matter is well known,
and I don't see any reason for concealment ; the
person Mr. Joseph Holden, the builder. I don't
think it was so much the loss of the money that
affected the deceased as the feeling that he had lost
the confidence of his partners. He was a man of a
high sense of honour. (Mr. Rushton was much
affected in speaking of the character of his friend.)
He had the means of meeting the loss ultimately,
but not then available. The loss on the account
would be about 15,0001. ; but be felt, more than
this, that he had lost the confidence of his partners.
I never saw him after that evening.
The jury found a verdict of " TemprasY
insanity."

.--- - -.------
An application under the reeent Lunacy Ackuri i!
presented to the Sheriff on Saturday by a retospec iv:
looking man, for auth,,rity, in terms
into and detain his wife in a lunatic,
otiern'aii as abso•
described by the certifyiog 0
~n; /rear, To the statutory
lutely frantic,
and a dangetW the supposed cause of her
query in the ecbec'ule
bass
le answer was—" The failure of
insanity, the remart _tavow
Daily Mail.
the WeeterF 23Ank I u °amyl thle;tl she being