WEST BRITON AND CORNWALL ADVERTISER - transcribed by Julia Symons Mosman 2 JANUARY 1857 - CORONERS' INQUESTS . The following inquests have been held by Mr. CARLYON county coroner: . On Friday, the 26th ult., at St. Mawes, on the body of Alexander LANGLAND, aged 30 years. The deceased was a gunner and driver in the Royal Artillery stationed at St. Mawes castle and from the evidence of John WOODWARD, a bombardier of the same service, who had charge of the men at the castle, it appeared that the deceased and another man called Richard CAIRNES were not present at the tattoo at half-past eight on Wednesday evening; but about half-past eleven he was sitting in his quarters and heard a noise outside; and on going out he saw gunner Cairnes on the drawbridge, looking over it. Witness asked what he was doing there; he replied that he came over the wall and he thought the deceased had fallen into the ditch. Witness looked into the ditch and saw something lying on the ground; deceased's jacket was open and he saw the breast of his shirt. Witness immediately unlocked the door leading to the ditch, and raised the deceased to a sitting posture, and left him with Cairn! es until he got further assistance; he was cold and speechless. . As soon as assistance arrived he was carried into the castle and laid on the first bed. Mr. HARDING, surgeon, was sent for from St. Mawes, and attended him; but he died from the injuries he had received between three and four o’clock on the following morning. . Richard CAIRNES, gunner R.A., deposed that he and the deceased left the castle on Wednesday evening between six and seven o'clock and remained at St. Mawes till eleven; they then returned to the castle; deceased was the worse for liquor but was able to walk without assistance, and they had both drank alike. . On arriving at the castle, witness got over the wall near the castle ditch, and deceased attempted to follow him; he saw him on the top of the wall and saw him fall from thence into the ditch, a depth of about twenty-seven feet. It appeared that the deceased before he died recovered sufficiently to be able to tell those who were near him that he had fallen in the way described, and he hoped it would be a warning to others. Verdict, accidental death. . The jury at the same time expressed a hope that some steps would be taken to confine the men to the castle after hours, so as to prevent the recurrence of such an accident. .............. . At Chacewater, on the 29th ult., on the body of William WHITFORD, an illegitimate child, aged about three months, who was carried by the grandmother to the sexton at Chacewater, to be buried on Saturday last. From the account she gave of the circumstances attending the death of the child, suspicions arose that everything was not right, and an inquiry before the coroner was deemed necessary. It was satisfactorily proved, however, at a post mortem examination, made by Mr. MOYLE, surgeon, of Chacewater, that the deceased had died from natural causes; and the jury returned a verdict to that effect. ............... . On Tuesday the 30th ult., at Redruth, on the body of James Edmund SNOW, aged six months, son of Mr. James SNOW, of the Dunstanville Arms, who, it was alleged, had died from not having been properly attended to by Mr. ROWE. . James SNOW, the father of the deceased, deposed that deceased had been a healthy child till about eight o'clock last Sunday morning, when he and his wife were awoke by his making an unusual noise as of violent gasping; he was then lying on his mother's arm, and the breast and sleeve of her night dress were wet from his perspiration. Witness thought she had covered him up too much with her clothes, and took the child from her and rested it on his own arm, and turned back the bed-clothes. Finding he was not as he had been, and that he did not take notice of things, and was breathing quick, witness jumped out of bed and sent a man to fetch Mr. Rowe, who came in about half-an-hour and saw the child. . Mr. Rowe also appeared to think that he had been covered too much with the clothes, but said he thought he would be better in a few hours; he then left and afterwards sent a bottle of medicine with directions that a tea-spoonful should be given every four hours; he also sent another bottle containing a liniment to be applied over the chest. Witness did not recollect receiving direction that it was to be applied to the spine as well. Mrs. Snow gave the child one tea-spoonful of the medicine about ten o’clock; she had previously taken the child into the kitchen, and Mr. Rowe had consented to his being taken there. . Witness remained in the kitchen about one hour and a quarter after the medicine was given, and then went out and remained about a quarter of an hour. On his return he observed a great alteration in the child's appearance, and that he was looking worse; and he then sent for Mr. HICHENS, surgeon, who attended and saw him about twenty minutes afterwards. Mr. Hichens said the child was then dying and he could do nothing for him; but that the parents might apply mustard poultices to the legs if they liked; Mr. Hichens then left, and the child died in about a quarter of an hour afterwards. Mr. Rowe did not come again to see the child. . In reply to a question by Mr. Rowe, witness said that he observed the child's eyes were much larger than usual; and in reply to the questions by the jury, witness said he had observed before last Sunday, that the child occasionally perspired very freely at night; but on those occasions, the perspiration soon passed off again. When he took the child from his wife, it was breathing very quick and with difficulty. Mrs. Snow called Mr. Rowe's attention as he was leaving the room, to the child's foaming at the mouth; he said it was phlegm coming from the stomach, and it would relieve him. . Mr. James HICHENS, surgeon, deposed that he was called to the deceased about noon on Sunday, and found him on his mother's lap, before the kitchen fire, in a dying state; the arms were extended, the thumb flexed on the palms, and the pupils of the eyes were very much contracted - all indications that the child had a convulsion. He told the mother it was too late for him to do anything, but she might apply mustard poultices to the legs if she liked. . >From the evidence given by the father of the child's symptoms when he sent for Rowe, witness should say the child had a convulsion at that time; and if so, the remedy given was a useless one. The child ought to have been immediately placed in a warm bath, ought to have had a dose of calomel, cold applications to the head, and an injection if necessary; also blisters to the spine; and if these remedies had not produced the desired result he should have tried the effect of the leech. . The child was a small child when born, and was weak perhaps for about the first three months of his life; but after that he gained strength, and witness vaccinated him. Witness saw him the eighth day after his vaccination; he was then doing well, and he perfectly recovered. Mr. Hichens was asked by the jury whether the child had died of apoplexy. (Mr. Rowe having given a certificate that that was the cause of death) and he answered that it was an almost unheard of thing for a child of that age to apoplexy, and he did not consider that this child had apoplexy at all; the pupils were contracted and there was a cerebral spinal irritation. . Sampson Taylor ROWE, assistant to Mr. BLEE, druggist, Redruth, deposed as follows: I was sent for about eight o'clock last Sunday morning to step over to Mr. Snow's, as soon as I could; I was told their child was ill; I was prevented going immediately, but I saw the child about half-past nine; he was then in bed; I found the breathing very short, the hands somewhat contracted, and a dark appearance round his eyelids - more particularly the right one; the pupil of the right eye was very much dilated; I was told he had been covered up very warm, and that he was found in the state I then saw him, when the parents awoke. . >From the dilated state of the eye and the other symptoms, I came to the conclusion that the child was suffering from apoplexy produced by want of oxygen. Not to alarm the parents, I promised to do the best I could for the child, and hoped there might be a chance for the better. I sent a liniment to be applied to the spine and to the chest, which I thought would be more speedy in its effects than blistering; also a bottle of medicine, composed of infusion of senns, very weak, and a little peppermint, and a small quantity of aromatic spirits of ammonia. . I also spoke to the father of a warm bath, and advised one for the child if he was not soon relieved. I forgot to mention that the child was foaming at the mouth when I first saw him. I did not think it necessary to order a purgative as I understood the bowels had been freely relieved in the course of the night. The child's thumb was slightly fixed on the palm, and it occurred to me that convulsions were approaching; my impression was that the child was suffering from apoplexy; there was a cold clammy moisture about the head. I was told that he had been sick, but I could not ascertain that he had been actually so. The pulse was quick but weak. I did not call to see the child again; I afterwards heard that Mr. Hichens had been called in, and that the child was dead. . At this stage of the proceedings, the jury suggested that Mr. BOASE, surgeon, should be called in, and that the evidence should be read over to him; and this having been done, Mr. Boase was asked whether, in his opinion, the remedy supplied by Mr. Rowe was a proper one under the circumstances. Mr. Boase said it was not what he should have done himself. but there did not appear to be anything in the medicine to occasion the death of the child. Assuming the case to be one of apoplexy, the treatment described was not such as ought to have been had recourse to; there ought to have been more active remedies; if witness had been called to a child of that age, he should have inquired whether there were any symptoms of teething, and should have examined the gums. Witness would not go so far as to say that the treatment betrayed such gross ignorance as to cause the child's death. . The jury, which was composed of Mr. John Charles LANYON, foreman, and fourteen other respectable inhabitants of Redruth, returned the following verdict: "That the deceased, James Edmund Snow, died of convulsions, and that his case did not receive that amount of attention which it required; we arrive at this conclusion after hearing the evidence of Mr. S.T. Rowe, druggist's assistant, and receiving the testimonies of Matthias John Boase and James S. Hichins, surgeons; and, although we do not think the evidence sufficiently strong to return a verdict of manslaughter against Mr. S.T. Rowe, we are unanimously of opinion that he betrayed great ignorance in the treatment of the case." . ............................ . The following inquests have been held by Mr. HICHENS, county coroner: On Friday last, at Redruth Union Workhouse, on the body of Elizabeth HOCKING, single woman, aged twenty-six years, who was suddenly taken by puerperal convulsions, whilst in bed in the hospital of the union workhouse. Mr. HARRIS, the medical officer, was sent for, and immediately attended on the patient; he remained all night in the hospital, and did not leave until about half-past eleven the next forenoon. Mr. ANDREW, surgeon, of Redruth, had previously seen this woman in the course of the day; and Mr. VINCENT, surgeon, of Camborne, also visited her about nine o'clock at night. . The patient had no knowledge whatever after the first attack of the fits, down to the period of her death, which took place about nine o'clock the next morning. She gave birth to a full grown dead child within an hour of her death, whilst perfectly unconscious of what had taken place. From her symptoms previously, it was believed the child had been dead some days. Five women who were in attendance on the patient were first examined, who all gave corroborative testimony that the patient had been well and properly attended to by everybody connected with the case. . The nurse was next called who refused to be sworn, and as this was the only legal admissible evidence at inquests, the coroner said he could not examine her. She was a very important witness however, and it is much to be regretted for the sake of fairness, that she would not be sworn as to the statements she might make. She was urged to do so, but still refused. . The three surgeons were afterwards examined on oath by the coroner, when it was stated by Messrs. ANDREW and VINCENT that nothing more could be done, and that the greatest amount of medical skill had been brought to bear on the case. Mr. Vincent stated that nine out of ten such patients die in these cases of first child birth. It is believed that disappointment in matrimony, alienation of family connexions, and absence from home have a decided influence on the unfortunate young women in this locality, coming as they do from all the parishes of a populous union. . The jury was a respectable and intelligent one, and all were perfectly satisfied that everything which attention or experience could suggest had been done. Verdict, "died from natural causes." The inquiry lasted several hours. . ...................... . On Monday last, in the parish of Phillack, on the body of George Whittaker, aged 27 years. The deceased had been drinking pretty much on the 25th, and being on the evening of that day at the White Hart Inn, at Hayle, went from the house into the Inn yard, and the Innkeeper's son having gone into the yard a few minutes after, found him there lying on his face in a state of insensibility and speechless. He was taken into the Inn at once, where means were used to endeavour to recover him to no purpose, and he was taken to his own lodgings, where he was attended to by Mr. MUDGE, a surgeon, by whom other means were resorted to, but without any good effect, the deceased having died shortly after. Verdict, "natural death." . ....................... The following inquest has been held before Mr. JAGOE, county coroner: On Wednesday last, at Callington, on the body of Mrs. FACEY, aged 65 years, wife of Mr. Arthur FACEY, of Dupath, farmer. Mrs. Facey, whilst engaged in her usual household occupations, fell down in front of her fireplace and suddenly expired. Verdict, "died by the visitation of God." . ....................... . The following inquest has been held before Mr. W.R. PENDER, coroner for Falmouth: On Tuesday last, at the King's Arms Hotel, Falmouth, on the illegitimate female child of Miss A.F. DASH, of that town. The evidence was rather of a lengthy character, from which it was evident that no surgeon, nurse, or necessary preparation had been made previous to the birth, and the child was left for a long time on the floor before the surgeon, Mr. DONNALL, arrived. He stated, however, that the child was weak and small, and he believed would not have lived long even if every necessary means had been provided in the usual way. . The child was born on Sunday morning last, about seven o'clock, and when he came the infant was wrapped up in a flannel and was crying, and he ordered it to be fed. He saw the child twice a day until she died on the Tuesday evening. There were no marks or evidence of violence of any kind, and he thought the child died from natural causes, as it was physically weak. After a long discussion between the jury before they could all agree, they returned the following verdict: "Died a natural death; and the jury cannot separate without expressing their great disapprobation that no sort of preparation was made for the birth of the child."