H.—37

8

To the foreman : There was no open wound. He-thought it was quite possible for the injuries to have been committed when the suit of clothes produced- was worn by deceased, though there was no blood on them except that from the wound on the leg. It would be quite impossible for a man in his state to inflict the wounds on himself. At this stage, about half-past 5, the Coroner intimated that he intended to adjourn the inquiry. Other evidence he could then call was merely corroborative, and he thought that before they arrived at any conclusion every effort should at least be made to establish the identity of the deceased. It was a serious case. The evidence clearly showed that the man had met his death by violence, and time should be given to the police to institute further inquiries. He would adjourn the inquiry to Monday next. The inquest was then adjourned. (Waimate Times, 23rd January.) The adjourned inquiry into the cause of the death of the man, supposed to be a Thomas Sullivan> found dead on a road at the Waihao on the 12th instant was continued at the Courthouse on Monday last, before Major Keddell, Coroner, and the same jury. On this occasion Inspector Broham conducted the proceedings on behalf of the police. The Courthouse was crowded all day long, the inquiry lasting from 11 o'clock to half-past 6, when the proceedings were again adjourned to yesterday morning at 10 o'clock. Annie Smart, wife of Solomon Smart, storekeeper, Waitaki North, deposed that she remembered Sunday morning, 6th January, when an old man called shortly after 10 o'clock. He had a small bundle with him. He asked for a small loaf of bread ; but they were out of bread that morning, and he asked for threepennyworth of biscuits. He asked if witness would boil some meat. She said she would fry him some. He brought tsvo or three pieces of ham in one hand and a ham-bone in the other. She said the ham was already cooked. He said, " Oh, is it ?" He then asked for some tea and sugar. She made him some tea, and sent it out in a jug to him. Witness lent him a table-knife. She thought he was.a strange-looking man, and she sent one of the children after him for the knife and jug, which they brought back. He took a pannikin away with him. It was a pannikin without a handle. She saw him afterwards eating his breakfast by their pump. He was eating bread, and she thought it strange, as he had asked for some. He was about twenty minutes at the place altogether. She saw him walk, but did not notice anything unusual in his walking. She thought the man strange in his manner, and that was why she sent for the knife. He was rather tall and thin, and had grey whiskers round his face. She thought that he wore white trousers, but she was not sure. She thought the photograph produced resembled his face. He had an oilskin coat with him. James Falconer, hotelkeeper, Waitaki South, remembered an old man coming to his house on the evening of the Bth or 9th instant, Tuesday or Wednesday. He asked for a shakedown for the night. Witness said, " Yes, take your swag there." He said, " I've got no swag." He (witness) asked where it was, and he replied, "I've lost it." Witness thought he looked queer,-and said, " You have been drinking." He answered, "No, I haven't." Witness said, "Come up to the stable, and I will give you a couple of horse-covers, and that will do you for the night " ; which he did, and told him to put them back in the same place in the morning. Witness did not see any more of him. At 9 o'clock next morning the covers were all right. He did not know the man's name, but his face was quite familiar to witness. The photograph produced was like him right enough. He had nothing with him. He was walking slow at the time, and witness did not take any particular notice of how he walked. He appeared to be between fifty and sixty. He did not say where he had come from or where he was going. John Henderson, hotelkeeper, Waitaki North, deposed that on Sunday, the 6th, an old man was at his hotel about 10 in the morning. He was coming out of the kitchen as he (witness) went in. He went to buy some meat, and he believed Mrs. Henderson gave him a cold ham-bone. He saw him on Waitaki Railway-bridge on the 9th. He was going south. He had a small bundle in his right hand, either a towel or a handkerchief. Witness did not speak, but passed on. He was satisfied the photograph produced was that of the same man. He seemed to walk tenderly on his feet, as if footsore, but was not lame. The man seemed quiet, but he did notice anything particular about him. Rose Davis, daughter of John Davis, Waihao, deposed that she lived about a mile from McCarthy's farm. She remembered the 11th of the present month. Her brother Ernest drove her that morning to the Waitaki Store at Glenavy. She saw a man lying on the side of the road just as they passed McCarthy's gate. He was on the north side of the road. Her attention was first called to him by the horse shying in the direction where they were coming from. He was lying on his side, with his hands towards the road. She did not notice how his hands or legs were. He was looking towards us, but he did not speak. He did not appear to look sick. They did not stop; she only looked at him as they passed. There was a pannikin, bottle, and a piece of brown paper near his head. That was about 9 o'clock. They returned and passed the same spot at about 11 o'clock. The man was lying in the same place. She did not take more notice of him than before. He was lying in the same position, with his face towards the road. The man was looking at them as they passed, but they did not speak. Seeing the bottle lying beside him, they thought he was intoxicated. Witness did not hear him call out when they passed. She was with her father the following afternoon. He was driving a trap to Waitaki North along the same road. He passed McCarthy's gate. She saw the place where they saw the man the previous morning, but he was not there then. About half a mile further, at the corner of the cross-roads, they saw some object lying on the side of the road known as Frankish's Road. She thought it was a man, but they took, no notice, and passed on. They returned down the same road about half-past 7. She saw a. man lying down in the same place they had noticed going up. She thought it was the same man as they had seen near McCarthy's gate the clay before. Her father called out to him, but, not getting