PECULIAR POISONING CASE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 65, 18 March 1925, Page 5

PECULIAR POISONING CASE.

SIX PEOPLE AFFECTED. ONE MAN DIES. MELBOURNE, March 10. Mrs. Pengelly. wife of a farmer of Quambatook, with her three children and a maid named Miss Smith, wen*, for a holiday at Vinifera, near Nyah, where they stayed at the orchard of her brother, Mr. A. Williams. Employed at the orchard was a man named George Chalmers. The whole of these persons were suddenly taken ill last Friday. They were brought in to Swan Hill Hospital, suffering from the effects of poisoning , . On Saturday the man Chalmers became worse, and succumbed, while the others are in a serious condition. The local police are making inquiries into the probable cause of death of Chalmers. It is suspected that the party drank water from a copper that had previously contained a solution for fruit spraying. Mr. Williams, the owner of the orchard, a returned soldier, is a patient at Caulfield Hospital, suffering from poison in his system, and it is now thought that his illness can be traced to a similar cause. A post-mortem was held by Dr. Legge, and the contents of stomach forwarded to the Government Analyst. The inquiry was opened on Monday morning by the deputy coroner, Mr. Gray, and adjourned. It was later reported that the condition of Smith was very serious. Mrs. Pengelly and children are not out of danger, but Dr. Legge has hopes that they will recover. Chalmers rallied on Saturday night, and said that he felt well enough to leave the hospital. Three hours later he was dead.