The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1901-01-05 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

LEAP.  About halfonat three on Saturday moraw last a London hawker, named Eclwia AAA Mocking, aged 28 years, who was iode• lug at the cocoa-rooms. No. 1, Hamiltone street, fell from a third storey !window, a distance of 35 feet. Re alighted in a crate of soda-water syphons at the rear of tli• hewn, staining a fractured skull and other Injuries. from which he died at the Borough Hospital on Saturday evening. Mr. Cecil Holden (the borough ' conducted an inquest on the body on Monday afternoon, and at the utry urerol startiing facts were rev coroner) Hobert Dillon, a porter at Burton's coma. rooms, in Bridgeetreet, said that he ad, mittsd the deceased into the place on ' day ni&t, and showed him to his bedrocin about half-past nine. Deceased was tire only occupant of the room. Witoees noticed that he had a " wildiish look in lifu eye," although he seemed perfectly sober. William Bighfleld a compositor belonging to Manchester. maid that he was stopPluil with his brotSser-in-law, at 7, Hamiltonstreet on the Friday night. His bedroom was at the rear of the house, and conr mended a clear view of the win• dow of ,deceased's sleeping apartment. About a quarter.past three witness wee awakened by a sound of the meshing of glans and cries for " Help." He went to hie window, and on looking out he saw the deceased man breaking six penes of glees in the lower part of the window, and heard his cries for help repeated. Witness aroused he brother-in-law, end standing together they saw Hacking break the four remaining Panes in his window. Then he slipped the latch, raised the lower wash, and clambered out on to the gill. Remade • sort of "dive." head foremost, into the yard below, a distance ol over 80 feet, and fell into a hamper contain.. lug soda -water gyphone. Witness could not observe anyone with deceased in hie Teens, and he observed deceased very distinctly. Witness and his brother-in-law then went out for assistance, and when,,,they got down into the yard they found thPpolice had arrived. and had already bandaged the deceased's wounds, awaiting the arrival of the ambnlance—a very quick piece of work, he thought. Robert Burtoo, the proprietor of the omenrooms, said that when he first heard the noise of the breaking glees he imagined that someone was trying to break into the pities. or that one of the lodgers had delirium tremens; and immediately he went out to find a Policeman. There would be about twenty lodgers in the house that night. Witness entered deceased's apartment along with the police, and found the aoor closed, though not looked. Inside the bedroom everything was in • very disordered state. Theo bedclothes and the bedding were all lying in a leap; one pillow had bean flung into a oorner, and the other had been jammed between the drawers and the wall. Deceased's clothing had been tossed about, and the window was wide open. Evidently a struggle of emu kind had taken place in the room. which wee a small one, but there was nothing to indicate that anyone had been in the room besides the deceased. P.C. 37 (Connel) said he waa in the Police Office. Brandon-street, a little after three on the Saturday morning, when be heard Lb* mound of breaking glass, and than he hurried down in the direction of Hamilton-street. whore he met Mr. Burton. When he went into the yard he found deceased in the hamper, in a sitting posture. Witness lifted tint uP, and asked him was he hart very much. Deceased attempted to get up and said. "Let's make a good job of it. We might as well finish it, now we have started." Witness bandaged his head up, and Burton telephoned for the ambulance. Deceased lapsed into unconaciousness, but before be did so he told witness his name, and said that he was a hawker, belonged to London, and had friends in Liverpool. Thome* Visitor& market salesman, of 33, Landadale-road, Liverpool, said he had known the deceased for six months, and lot ta..) beet few weeks deceased had lodged with him. Deceased wee latterly very quiet, and occasionally was very much depressed. At times he took rather snore drink than wee good for hies. On Thursday deceased got. up in the night, aod drank almost a pint of whisky and a pint of gin, whioh witness had got from a goon club, and which had been left downstairs. Witness last saw him on the Friday afternoon, when they playtd • game of billiards together. Deceased made sonic remark about that being the last gains he would play, or wotde that "effect, and in witness's opinion he wse it that tido quite sober. an two occasions when decesaed was stopping with witness he had opened his window during tlie night. When be wee spoken to about it, he explained that be had opened the window because he felt very hot. A verdicit of "Suicide during temporary insanity" was returned.