Obituaries Australia

Under the above heading, a Raymond Terrace correspondent supplies the following to the Newcastle Pilot — A man named Kenneth Snodgrass was conveyed to Raymond Terrace on Monday last, December 27th, suffering from a sloughing wound on his left cheek, 4 inches long, and 3 inches broad, which was covered throughout with thousands of maggots, many of which were ¾ of an inch long. So thickly was the wound covered with maggots that it would have been impossible to have placed a pin's head in any part of it without touching some. To all appearance the man was also almost dead from starvation, and no food was found in his house. He was quite helpless, being almost insensible, but it is not known how long he had been in this state. The maggots had eaten away the whole of his cheek, and there was an opening through it into the mouth, into which they had extended. They were also in his left ear, eye, and the nostrils. No hope was entertained that he could recover, and all efforts to rally him proving ineffectual, he died on Wednesday morning. Had he been placed under medical treatment a few days earlier, the probability is that he would have recovered. He had been for many years living the life of a hermit, having no apparent means of support. It is a great pity that he was not taken up by the police to be cared for, as if that had been done, the gross neglect of which his death was the result could not have occurred. The deceased was well connected, being the son of the late Colonel Snodgrass, who was at one time acting Governor of this colony, and was also related to a member of the present New South Wales Legislative Assembly.