The Pontypridd District Herald and Rhondda Valley, Llantrisant, Caerphilly, and Mountain Ash News. — 1893-07-22 (Pontypridd, Mid Glamorgan, Wales)

THE STRATFORD MYSTERY.  At the King's Head, Church-street, West Ham, on Monday, Mr. C. C. Lewis, the coroner for South Essex, held an inquest on the body of Robert Stroud, who committed suicide in the public bar of the Cart and Horses public-noose, Maryland Point, Stratford. Mrs. Stroud, the widow, said that her husband was an Army pensioner, and latterly engaged as a general labourer. He was addicted to drink, and when she last saw him he was the worse for drink, and looked very wild. Witness went out, and when she returned decogyed was gone. Ever since she had known him (they had been married 15 years) he had drunk a good deal, but for the last three months he had ben much worse. On one occasion she had Waken • leaded revolver from him, and had epoken to the relieving officer about this. On Thursday morning he had attempted to hang himself, and he had often said he should commit suicide, remarking that "he could not help It; something was always telling him to commit suicide."—Jamea Hart, a gentleman living at Maryland-square, Stratford, said that on Thursday evening at about 5.30 he was going to London, and called into the Cart and Horses opposite Maryland Point Station. He. had been there perhaps three minutes, and saw the deceased in another compartment take a spill from a socket on the wall, and immediately afterwards the witness heard an explosion, and the deceased, who had advanced to the door, fell face downwards into the lobby of the compartment and near witness's feet. No one else was in the compartment. Witness did not see a revolver or an empty cartridge case. Witness remained in the house till two police-constables came, and then went to catch his train.—Similar evidence was given by David Horlock.—William Blake, house-surgeon at West Ham Hospital, deposed that a post-mortem was made, and it was found that the inside of the mouth on the right side was stained with powder, there was a wound in a downward dis.ction between the jaw and the cheek running atiound the jaw and passing down the neck into the rifilt side, and dividing the internal jugular veins. The cavity of the °best was pierced on the right side, and the missile had broken the third right rib. The progress of the missile was then lost eight of, and its ultimate billet was never discovered, though over three hours had been spent in searching for it. fhere was no doubt whatever that a missile was used, a small bullet, possibly.— Dr. Grogono corroborated this, and said that his opinion agreed with Dr. Blake's, that this missile did not come from s cartridge, it must have been from a pistol or revolver.—The Coroner said it was strange that though every inquiry had been made no pistol or rovolver had been found. —Sergeant Walpole, the Coroner's officer, said the house had been thoroughly searched, but no revolver was found, and it could not have been thrown away into the street, or the constable outside would have seen it—Dr. Grogono said years ago he made experiments with firearms on a dead body, and found that it would require a tremendous force to send a bullet a long distance in a body. Rad cartridge been used, the man's lip's would have been blown sway. It would have been a difficult matter to take the cap out in the first instance, and then it would have been difficult to ignite the powder through the small touch hole. Tito bullet must have been fired from some firearm or retainer. —Tho Coroner said where the firearm went to was most extraordinary, but there was no doubt as to the cause of the death of the man.—After some further discussion at to how the bullet was propelled, the Jury returned a verdict that deceased committed suioide while in an unsound state of mind.  worse