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From the Kent and Sussex Courier, 13 April, 1901.
RUPTURE OF A BLOOD VESSEL ON THE BRAIN.
On Tuesday afternoon, an inquest was held before Mr. Coroner Boys and
a jury of whom Mr. R. Wenham was foreman, on the body of Mr. Gustavus B.
Fostar, of the "Station Hotel," and formerly for many years, manager of
the "Hall-by-the-Sea." Mr. W. H. Armstrong, solicitor, watched the case
for Mrs. Foster and family.
Mrs. Louise Foster, the widow, identified the body and said her
husband was 53 years of age. He had been in good health, with the
exception of occasional headache. At about a quarter to six on Good
Friday, he went into the cellar to get a bottle of wine, which he handed
to her on the top of the stairs. He then said he would have a cap of tea
in her sitting-room, and it was handed him by their daughter. He then
said his head felt queer, and he became unconscious and died in about
ten minutes, without speaking again. She gave him brandy, hot water, and
all she could think of. She telephoned to seven doctors, but they were
all out, excepting Dr. Henning, who arrived directly after he was
called. Her husband was an abstemious man; she never saw him
intoxicated. They had been married nine years, during which time he had
not needed a doctor. Replying to Mr. Armstrong she said after he
complained of his head, be leant forward on the table and died.
Harriett Foster, daughter, said when she handed her father a cap of tea,
half of which he drank, he said “Harriett, my girl, my head is very
bad,” and then became unconscious, did not speak again, and died in
about ten minutes. Her father had complained of pains in his head, but
otherwise he was quite well. She did not think he had gone out of doors
for a fortnight. He dined at about two o’clock, eating a good dinner. In
reply to Mr. Armstrong, she said during the time her father had been
married to her stepmother, he had not found it necessary to call in a
doctor. Dr. Hemming said he went to the deceased directly he was
called to him. He found him being supported in a chair at the table. He
had him restored and placed into a lying position, and found he was
dead, and had been a few moments. All the symptoms were perfectly
natura1. He made a post-mortem on Sunday, and found the immediate cause
of death was the rupture of a blood vessel on the surface of the brain,
which would cause general paralyses of the faculties. The effusion was
so great, that he should have thought he could not have lived a few
minutes as stated, but would have died instantly. It was a case of
apoplexy. The heart was flabby, and all the organs were in a state of
degeneration, which would be accounted for by the fact that he was
lately of sedentary habits. The rupture he had referred to was quite
sufficient to cause death. The Jury returned a verdict in accordance
with the medical evidence. |
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