THE TIMARU POISONING CASE.

Auckland Star, Volume XVII, Issue 243, 15 October 1886, Page 2

THE TIMARU POISONING CASE.

(By TfiLECJiarn-OwN Corkesl-onde:;t).

Chrlstouurch, this day. Until wo hco to what ueo tbeexp'jrt witnesses arc to be put by thedefenceit is impossible to say when the.trial will conclude. Should Professors Black and Ogftton be disposed of to-day itmay b i reasonably inferred that tho

mo for the Crown will bo brought to a

Close on Saturday, but should the cross

examination as to the tosts bo inordinately lonp, itmny bo tho middle of next, week baforothe defence will ba reochod. So far no duo baa been given aa to tho defenco to bo

sot up; indeed, there is room to doubt -whether, on the p^-rt of tho male prisoner, there bo any; and it eeoma that Mr Joynt is undecided whether ho will calf witnesses. lam informed, however.., that Dr. Duthie, of Christchurch, on behalf ot tho defenco, examined Mrs Hall at Woodlands a day or two agin and as the Attorney-Genarol has intimated hie intention of claiming his right to reply, nothing U; to be gained by not calling any availublo evidence that may prove of the slightest advantage. Both of tho accused contiuuo to bear a culm demeanour-Hall especially being marvellously cool, and oroupjint; his time by comparing tho evidence now given with tho depositions mado tit tho preliminary investigation. At a lato period of the procouJings of yesterday, 11-iU'e counsel complained that ho was sufteiing from ticline^, and asked that he be allowed to sit—a request that Hia Honor readily complied with, seeing that Hal! bad been standing in tho dock the whole timo binco the comincnceinout of the trial.

YESTERDAY'S PROCEEDINGS DESCRIBED. Yeaterday was chiefly devoted to the taking of the testimony of the police witnessed, but the evidence given was almost a rep< tition ot that elicited at the Magisterial inquiry. PolieDmen, as a rule, show a tendency to over zoal in giving evidence, and a^ a rtsult very often fail to satisfactorily stand the test of cross-examination. Tliuto called yesterday, however, gave the notion they wore desirous of timply narrating the facts in a plain unvarnished manner, and this fact was very patent to thu leading counsel for the defenco, who discovered that it was an almost hopeleta tack to tackle theso witnesses in the hopo of condemning thoir ovidenco. Inspector liruham was first called, the Crown Prosecutor of Chrhtchurch (Mr Martin) loading tho examination, lie told his atory in a way that might be expected from an o'licer who had had many ycaas' training in a Police Court in the conduct of criminal charges, and as a result hU (statement was scon disposed of. A fact elicited from him was that when tho prisoners wero informed that tho warrant had been issued at tho instance of Dr. Mclutyre, they not very unnaturally made eomo very uncomplimentary remarks concerning that gentleman. Another piece of information which came out for the fir-t time in crorsexamination was that as soon as Detective Kir by left the room on the night of the arrest to got Homo brandy Hall revived from his fainting condition. It was at this time that Mies Houston intervened and endeavoured to assist Hall to make awaj with the piial containing antimony which ho had jo bis trousers pocket. Inspector Broham, it may be worth mentioning, was tho officer who succeeded in electing a very clever capturo of Cyrus Haley, the notorious fireraucr in Auckland, some years ago. He has been, I am informed, a thorough athlete, and tho grand picture lie presented in the witness box, erect, in uniform, gave evidence cf an early soldierly training. Detective Kirby came next, and he corroborated his chiefs narrative, so far as concerned the various incidents of the arrest, the search of the house, the impounding of certain articles', and tho statements of the prisoners. Bo h witnesses held that Hall freely and unreservedly stated that whatever had been done in connection with the matter he did alone, and it may ba said tho only bright spot in Hall's conduct throughout the terrible tragedy that was just about to be investigated was hi* sincere desire that he alone should fcutfer, and that tho woman Houston should go unpunished. In one important particular, however, the witnesses joined issue, and that was in respect to the femaleJpriEoner'a remark "Antimony! That's what you got for your pbotournrihy." inHpuctor Broham took it from tho tone in which tho words Mere used that tho idia hud ju?t flashed across Houston's mitiil,while the dttcctive conceived that an interrogation was being put. In crossexamination Mr Hay elicited the fact that a good deal (jf plunder was tiiken out of Houston's beJroom, but nothing of any implicutory or damaging character was found, and Or Mclntyre had parsed all tho bottles found thoro as unsuspicious. The detective caused a laugh when he added that a bottlo of Florida wator was tho worst thing ho found. The other police 'witnesses did not detain the Court many minu'es. Constable Hicks, the watchhouso-keeper at Timaru, added another lick to the chain by tho confessional statements made after the arrest by Hall. During tho momentary absence from the room of Inspector Broham, and not observing tho presence of Hickg, the rnalo prisoner approached Houston and remarked : " You aio quite safe, and will be able to get clea-. It is I that am in for it. I cannot possibly get off." Iso reply was made by Houston to this observation. Cross-examination by Mr Joyntonly tended to show that tho witnoss was intelligent, observant and capable, and as he was weli posted (having- taken the precaution to note tho language at tho time) tho questioning was not persevered with. Constable Strickland followed. He had been detailed to enter the house by the back- door on the night of arrest, and he rejoined the rest of tho party under Inspector Broham about half-an-hour after they had gone in at the front door. He was only now required to prove that ho received certain articles from nurse Ellison and to identify a cork which ho fuund on the dining-room floor and subsequently handed to Professor Black.

Next came Constable Daly, who received fifteen articles from Inspector Broham on August 10, to bo handed over to Professor Black, at Dunedin. The witness told how jealously he guarded the box containing tho exhibits—how he locked it up in a bag and slept with it under hia head, and how equally cautious ho was after the analysis that tho articles should not be tampered with till their production in Court. This constables added another slight link to the eh in of evidence, the witness deposing to tho discovery of tho doctored brandy, and to handing it over to Professor Black for analysis

M'lud Hamersley was then called, but as sho was not in attendance Patrick Casey's evidence ■was taken. This witness and another police, Conslable Mainly, deposed to finding a tin of kerosene, rags saturated with keroser.e, etc., in tho garret in Hall's house on tho ovening of the 21st inst.

On Professor Black being put into tb*b witness-box, His Honor expressed some surprise at tho export ovidence being tendered at that advanced period of the day, whereupon the Attorney-General explained that eomo of the witnesses ho had intended calling; wero not within tho precints of the Court house at that moment.

Mr Joynt thereupon i-uggusted that Mr Cotter (tho Timaru gaoler) might be called, but Sir Robert Stout waa unwilling to cisturb the order of procedure as sketched out ira his opening-, and ao it was decided to havo Professor 81.-ick.

This Tvitne.os (James Gow Black), examined by tho Attorney-General, then gave evidence to the effect that bo was Professor of Chemistry in tho Otago University, und Doctor of Sdei-sco in the Chemistry Department in the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen. Ho described minutely tho various substances given him for analysis in connection with this caeo. En passant, ho was asked if it wero possible for tho substances to havo been tampered with in courso of analysis, and his reply was given in such a tone as to leave no doubt that tho suggestion was altogether too ridicuious to be entertained. In some of tho articles he had found tartar emetic (in tho pookots cut from the malo prisoner's trousers) and colchicum-bofh poieonn -in others ; b^t no antimony. In tho ice water takon on tho 13th August there wore larire quantities of antimony The vomit md urine wero also four d to contain antimony. Tho brandy spoken of as doctored by Inspector Broham was examined by Profeator OjiS^on and witnes?, and no antimony was discovered ; but it was foutid to contain colchtcum in Ur[r o quantities. On the cork found on the 110 r i.i Hal 's diningroom immediately aftGi1 h'u arrest tartar emetic was discovered.

It being now rivo o'clock, and no convenient s.'f»p having occurred for a break in the evidence, an adjournment waa made till today.