POISONED OATS

Lyttelton Times, Volume CIX, Issue 13127, 15 May 1903, Page 3

POISONED OATS

AX IMPORTANT JUDGMENT. [Per Press Association-.] 'NELSON, May 14. Reserved judgment in an important suit in ivhich W. B. Them and family sued L. T. Bowdcn, grocer, for damages suffered through arsenic present in rolled oats, "K " brand, was given to-day in the District Court bj- Judge Robinson. The- objection raised by the defence that the family were not parties to the contract was held to be fatal. consequently only the plaintiff Thorn's claim could be regarded, he being tho actual purchaser. The Court awarded plaintiff £'so damages and costs, on tho ground that the buyer relied on the skill and judgment of the seller of the specified article supplied in the ordinary course-' of 'business. Thus, under Section 16 of the Sale of Goods Act, 1895, an implied- condition that t'lio goods should be reasonably fit existed. A.i to the contention that no implied condition of fitness -was present, this case depended entirely on the interpretation of the section quoted, and not the issue of tort or common law. The only case throwing any real light on the subject was Gillespie v. Chancy EYgar and Co., decided in 1893, under Section 14 of tho 'English Bale of Goods Act, referring to a supply of coal, where it was held that the words " provided that, in case of a contract for the sale of a specified article, under a patent or other trade name, no implied condition as to fitness for any particular purpose " were obviously intended to meet a. case, not- of the supply of raw commodities or materials, but of manufactured articles. The question of costs is now being argued, and an' appeal is probable. In connection with the poisoned oatmeal, a question has arisen as to whether the mysterious death: of Miss Stoney here, some years ago (when considerable sensation was caused, under the surmise of murder or suicide) was not due to accidental poisoning-