THE POISONING CASE AT PARNELL. CORONERS INQUEST.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXXII, Issue 5726, 29 January 1876, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE POISONING CASE AT PARNELL. CORONERS INQUEST.

Ax inquest was held at the 01.1 Windsoi Castle Hotel, Parncll, before T)i Pinion andajmyof fomtcen, to mqune into the cause of the death ot John McClcaij —Mr H. Hollow aj ha\mg been chosen toieman, the jury weie swoin, aud went to the residence of the deceased to Mew his body. The follow ing e\ ulence w as then taken • — Vnmc WeCleai'y, daughtei of the deceased, doposed that deceased had been in the ainiy, and at one time was working on the lailway He lived in Windsor sheet, and was fiftvhve years of age His health w a-, good Of late he had been chinking v ei V h< a\ il\ . bee 1 • generally: snnits did not agieewith him, he did not caie foi them Ho was tips\. when ho died. Witness, had often he.nd him talking to himself, and li.ul once 01 twice seen him shaking all over He usually slept w ell at night. He looked very stiange, and was unusually silent all the day on which he died Witness and anothei gal on coming home, about half past seven in the c\ fiung of the 20th instant, saw deceased and his wife Bitting on the \ei.uulah On then going into witness's bedioom, Mii McCleary came m to them and told witness to accompany her fnend pait ot the w i\ home. She did so, and when she c.une back saw her father sitting in the fiont loom with a bottle m his^ light baud, fiom which he was pounng the poison into a tumbler in his loft-hand. At mst witness thought it was drink—dark brandy. Witness lan in and said "Yon are not going to take moie drink." Deceased got up holding the tumbler tight. He had put the bottle on the floor. H« went into the kitchen and asked witness foi some waterwlmh she it fused to give him. She called foi liei mothei ittei asking him to give her the tumbler \\ ltness got hold of his aim and tucd with ,ill her might to take it f mm him Befoie she could pre\enthim he got the tumblei to his lips and diank the contents Witness tiled to dash the tumblei out of his hand Deceased then handed witness the empty tumbler, and asked again for some watci. The water had a strong smell The bottle contained a lotion foi a bad leg which deceased was sutleiing fiom He got it horn Mr. "Robinson, chemist, befoie the beginning of the month when he lecened his pension. Theie was about a table spoontnl in the tumblei. Deceased camo into the yaid and witness ga\ e him some watei I To then ntiuned thmugh the kitchen and went on to the veiandah. "When witness ]>ci=cti\cd the smell she exclaimed "Oh, fathei. \ ou ha\c drank poison He made no lcplj Deceased sat down on a chan on the \etan.lah. Mi" McCleaiy w as not picsent keeping oub of the wa\ toi fcai she should say an\, thing to decease d "V\ ltiicsj told her mothei that hei fathei h.id diank the poison. She would not believe it A\ ltness went on to the \eiandah and 'aw hei fatliei writhing as if in pain, still sitting on the thair. Witness took bold of him, and called her mother, who came illicitly and thin Muit toi the next dooi ncighbom, Mi I owe Mr T ow e came and took deceased frrni w tness, whom he told to get Mime inustaid and watci r l lus Mi Lowc_gi\e to deuased, who .bank it Dr Wnght find other people then came \\ itness s uncle went tor Dr. Wnght, who came soon aftei 8 o clo. k. Deceased was then on his back m the veiandah. Witness wc.it immcI nortly after deceased was hi ought n mil laid upon the He was dead tl-oi . He died about aquaitei of an limn aftti having taking the poison Tlie liquid In di ink was < ail obc ae id It is sd labelled on the liottlc, and inaiked '" poison." — To the Coioner • I do not think my iathei intended to poison himself 1 think he took the liquid to be daik biandy '1 he bottle was a biandy flask, pud mothei k. pt brandy in a similar bottle. The nnistaid had no Uluct upon tlie deceased — To a |uiyman • Deceased could not icad. lie had been chinking for the past month.— John William Kobinson, chemist, Pamell, deposed that ho had known deceased by sight three or four years, and by name about six months. He had never On Friday or Satmday last deceased got, from witness three penny- worth of caibohe acid foi Ins bad leg Deceased had frequently bought the same quantity dining the last siv months There was between two and tin eo drachms of pine caibolic acid It was put into the bottle piodiieed Ah it was already labelled "Caibohc acid. Poison," witness, not having .i simiLu punted label, did not place anothei on, but left that which had the name oi Mi King on C'aibobe aei.l is not ainoiu' the poisons named m eithei schedule o l the °> lie of Poisons Act, 1S71, which hive to be ugiitcied, or to be labelled "poison ' A\ itiir«s did not make a piactice of supply ing it unless he was satisfied that it was t.) be piopeilv ajiphed It is a coiiosive poison Y\ itne-s had nesei heaid of its ben g taken internally as a poison. It is not in. ntioned in Ta\loi -, " Poisons ' Two oi tlnee diaclnu-i would, witness behe\ed, be fatvl Ob\e or cas t oi oil would be the best antidotes foi it Wa'ei would not dissolve it unless when boiling. The oil should be administucd befoie any emetic, as that would then enable the poison to be rejected Witness had told deceased that it was poivjuoiis. — To a juryman : This was pme aeid, and m a tumblei the smell would not be so stiongas tli.it still in the bottle--William Lowe, shipwright, residing in Snhsbiny stiect, two doois from deceased, deposed "that he hail known deceased about two \e-ais He had seen him intoxicated onee oi twice He de'senbed his being called foi, and aduumsteiing the inustaid and water, as deposed by the lust witnes-> Deceased did not vomit There was a strong smell, like oil of tai The smell fioni the bottle produced is the .same. Deceased rolled off the chair. Witness saved him fjom falling, and laid him at length on the floor Dr Wnght ai rived just then. The deceased was not bitn.th.mg then, noi could witness feel any pulsation Dr Wright crammed him, and said life was extinct. Witness then assisted to ean^ him into the house, and lay him on the sofa — Fiedenck William Wnght, medical practitioner, deposed that he had known deceased for about two >eais He was a man given to intemperance Witness was called to deceased about 2~> mnnites past S on Wednesday evening. Witness went, and found him lying quite dead on the veiandah Thoie was a fiotliy exudation, moie of a saponaceous character. Witness could not pei ceive any smell of carbolic acid pioceedmg from him. Witness was sufienng fiom a cold, and had just had the bottle fiom which the poison had been drunk placed in his hands by the people of the house. Witness had made a yosl inortan. Time wiie no marks of external violence The lips were con ugated and discoloiued. Caibolic acid destrojs the skin. The whole body was blue. The witness described the appealance of the brain There was no sign of apoplexy. The contents of the chest weie generally healthy, but there was extensive ossification of the aoi tie valves. The lungs wcie engorged with blood, but not diseased The .esophagus was denuded of its mucous membianc, as if by some corrosive. Tlie stomach contained a grumous fluid The liver had an abscess m the right lobe of about the size of a hen's egg. The intestines and kidneys were healthy. The cause of death, no doubt, was the taking of eai bohc acid, which would produce a powerful shock to the system, paralysing flic heart. The symptoms would probably be similar to those caused by creosote, which is akin to caibolic acid. No medical works treat of caibolic acid as a poi c on. Witness would i ccommend that it be added to the schedule contained in the Sale of Poisons Act — To a juryman ■ The man craving fora drink would take it from such a bottle as that produced. Witness had known a drop of carbolic acid to be given in an eight ounce mixtuie for a diseased stomach. He would lecommend that druggists should sell the acid only diluted one to forty. That would make a person sick, but he would not like to take much of it Foi manufacturing purposes it could, of course, be sold to proper pei sons with proper pie cantions. — The jury found the following verdict :— " That deceased died from having, by mistake, swallowed carbolic acid whilst

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