18
Enclosure No.1.
COPY.
The Honourable Colonial Secretary.
1. I attach a certified copy of the telegram sent by
Police and also a Police Report, based on information obtained
from the Superintendent of The Great Northern Telegraph Co.,
which shows that the $41.98 charged is the correct fee.
2.
The Police are under no obligation to send telegrams
and do not usually send them in cases of this nature, but in
this case, an exception was made, as a letter left by the
deceased for her relatives in England had to be retained for
the Coroner's Inquiry. When in similar cases, the deceased person
has no relatives in the Colony, it is customary for the Police to
inform the relatives at home by letter. Had that been done in
the present case, the writer would not have heard of the death,
until close on a month after its occurrence.
3. The letter to the Police, referred to, was received
about the same time as the one sent to the Government. I decided
not to reply to that letter until the conclusion of the Death
Inquiry. The Inquiry was concluded on January 22nd, 1936, and
I replied to the letter on February 6th.
4. Following the suicide, the Police were busily
engaged in taking statements and collecting information for the
Coroner, which included information from Tientsin where the
deceased worked for some years prior to coming here.
5. An inventory of her belongings had to be taken and
all her property, including money, was handed over to the Official
Administrator.
6. I submit that no undue delay was made in this case
and that having regard to all the circumstances, there was no
cause for complaint of the manner in which the Police handled
this case.
28.3.36.
(Sgd.) T. Murphy.
per Inspector General of Police.