Denton and Haughton Examiner, etc. — 1882-04-08 (Denton, Greater Manchester, England)

DEATH OF A VOLUNTEER  CAPTAIN.  Dr. Thomas has just held an inquest at Church-street, Paddington, London, on the body of Mr. Walter Rowley Gil hey Hawley, aged 30. The deceased was a captain in the Lancashire Rill.. Major-General Hawley, RE., of Eastbourne-terrace, London, identified the body as that of his son. Deceased was separated from his wife, and lived, unknown to vitae., in apartments at Portsea-place. He last saw him four weeks ago, and was informed of his death a night or two ago. From what he had heard be had no reason to think that his son died other than a natural death. He was a very high-spirited man, and not likely to have committed suicide. He had made inquiries in regard to hie pecuniary circumstances, and found that they were satisfactory. Jane Hugh.. of 18, Ports.-pface, salt that the deceased had lived in that house since June last. When she last saw him alive he was well and in good spirits. On the day of his death the tea was taken to hm as usual, and as he used sometimes to lie in bed ill day, no notice was taken of him until eight at nimt, when her niece came to witness and asked her to go and look at the captain. She went to the room and found him lying dead in bed as if asleep, with book by his side. His face looked " atreaky." Shoat once sent for Dr. Rayner. The candle had burned mt. Louisa Holland, the niece, gave confirmatory evideno, and added that on lighting the drawing-room gas at tight she looked through the door and saw the deceased wad. At nine in the morning, whilst dusting the iron room, she thought she heard the deemed call out " Halm !" General Hamley, reply to the coroner, said tha on the previous night the deceased was at a concert in Invis-square. Dr. Rayner Mated that he found the decetted dead in bed and the cloth. undisturbed. Rigor mrtis had get in, and death had occurred six or eight houreoreviously. He had made a post-mortens examination and send no external marks of violence. [A number of bottles 'ere produced, all of them containing poisons, and labelled 'poison," one containing morphia and another belladonn.] Examination continued The bottlm produced contned various liniments, which might have been used for neutligia and sciatica. Ile had heard that deo.sed used morph: for subcutaneous injection, and had examined the body, nod marks. Only one was discovered, and that upon A thigh. The brain of the dece.tsed was h.lthy, and ithout congestion; but the vessels were very full. T 1 heart was large, the left side empty and the right ill, but the organ Itself was quite healthy. The lung were the liver and kidneys healthy, tit stomach was empty, or nearly so, and natural, at the intestines natural. He (witness) had conjectured at the deceased most have injected an overdose of torphia. The coroner said that be had had three tch cases very lately, and in neither of them was the. the slightest suspicion of suicide. Ile had no doub that a proper analysis of the body would give certain pdtive results, as in the well-known Lamson analysis. rAn injector found in the bedroom was produced, on filch was an infinitesimal portion of the poison, and Get.; theiley stated that he himself used such an injenr, although he was not aware that the deceased reed one.] In reply to the coroner, Dr. Rayner sat that ten drops of the injection would be a full dose, rd the evaporation day by day would make the remaireg solothm oonsiderablystronger. General Hawley said tat the deceased was excessively impatient of pain, tail himself of which, even temporarily, he would resort I a lame dose than ordinary. The coroner ago, called attention to the danger of the mlf-admirisration of poisons and the unrestricted sale of them. Ater a short deliberation tie, jury returned a •erdict that he " Deceased died by accidentally takng an ovedose of morphia."