THE CHLOROFORM MYSTERY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9166, 22 September 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE CHLOROFORM MYSTERY.

ARREST of BARBER. William Barber, the missing chemist's assistant, of Walthamstow, was arrested at 9.300n Saturday morning, July 28, in Highstreet, Brentford. He admitted his inden-tit-y, and said that Sirs. French took the chloroform while he was in the shop. He endeavoured to restore her, but failing, became nervous, changed his clothes, and left the house. Barber, who was in a deplorable condition, unshaven and untidy, and without his vest, which he had pawned, was then searched, and was found to have only twopence-halfpenny in bronze upon him, besides the pawn-ticket of his waistcoat. On a further careful examination, however, Detective-inspector Glass discovered upon him a small bottle of fluid which was afterwards found to be prussic acid, and, as with this he also had a written statement containing his version of the " Walthamstow mystery," it is not unnaturally believed That he had contemplated committing filicide.

THE FOLICEMAN'S STORY.

Police-constable Buchanan made the following statement: —At 9.40 1 was on duty in the High-street. I saw a man, who, being a stranger, attracted my attention. Having a description of the man wanted for the affair at Walthamstow, 1 compared it with the appearance of this man. iinding the description corresponded very much, I stopped him. After putting several questions to him, which he answered rather unsatisfactorily, I told him 1 should take him into custody 011 suspicion of being the man wanted for—; but before 1 could say any more he said, " Yes, I know who you want. I am the man Barber." I then took him to the station. He made the following statement- in answer to questions put to him by myself and the inspector :—"I did not administer the drug to her. She took a dose out- of the bottle in my absence, while I was serving in the shop, as she was suffering from toothache. 1 do not believe she meant to poison herself. She did not appear to be a woman who would do so. \\ e ■were great friends, but there was nothing improper between us. 1 tried to restore her but failed, and ran away in the excitement of the moment, and I did not exactly know what 1 was doing. I admit taking the monev, but I got robbed of it the firstnight by some women, as I got drunk. Barber has been wandering about from place to place in the metopolis, and has slept cutin the open air on two or three nights. INQUIRY INTO THE MYSTERY.

The funeral of the deceased on the -6th June occurred on the second anniversary of her wedding day. Mr. French, in reference to the arrangement for supplying Mr. Barber meals, said he had implicit confidence in his wife, and always felt that lie could safely trust, her anywhere. Mr. Barber was also a particular friend of his, in whom he fully trusted. Both he and his wife sympathised with -Mr. Barber, for he was very respectably connected, but he was discarded by his friends, some of whom carry on a large jewellery establishment at the \\ est End. \\ hen his wife had the toothache a fortnight previously Mr. Barber forced some carbolic acid down to the nerve, and stopped the pain. She had the toothache on Saturday week, and lie thought it very probable that she might have been going to have some more carbolic acid dropped in. He was not quite satislied about the letter that the errand boy brought in the afternoon, but his belief was that it was only a note to ask her to come up and have the other tooth seen to. He was quite aware that there had been some talk about his wife being at Barber's so often, but she went out oftentimes for things they wanted, and other legitimate errands for him and her mother. He believed that the chloroform was used for the teeth without any bad motive. In reply .to questions, he said that he must certainly admit that during the last fortnight Barber had been very strange in his manner. He seemed very depressed, as though he had something on his mind. hen at dinner the other" Sunday he burst out crying, and put his hands up to his facs. He asked him what was the matter, and pressed him to tell him. His wife, too, also seemed much concerned about it. Barber then again brightened up. wiped his eyes, and said, " Oh, it is nothing ; I was only just thinking about .my mother —how kind she was to me ; and I was looking at Annie and was thinking how much she is like her in her ways." Many people he knew said very cruel things about his having neglected to look after her, but lie had a very heavy business to see to, and in the day time he could not be much company for her. He might, looking at things as he sees them now, nave been a little too indulgent towards hei, but if he had made a mistake in that way, it was because he liked to see his wife happy and cheerful. He only wished he could recall her to life again, poor thing. Considering the amount of liquor that Barber had taken during the last fortnight, he inclined to the opinion .there might be something heavy on his mind, __ • Dr. Thorpe, during an interview, said he did not think anything more than what they knew would be found in the contents of the stomach. He had administered chloroform to over 300 patients, and his opinion was that the deceased died from an improper inhalation of chloroform, either taken or given ■by an incompetent person, who did not 'understand its various effects upon the system. There are no less than three stages in the effects of chloroform. The first effect was to produce great excitement, and •a resisting contraction of the muscles. The •second stage was where the muscles lost all power, and the arms would fall by the patient's side, and feeling would be gone. That was the stage in which an operation should be performed. The third stage was where it might have been suddenly given ■without the proper admixture of air. The effect then was to paralyse the brain nerves in connection with the lungs and breathing system, thus preventing the patient from breathing in the necessary amount of oxygen. That was the stage he found Mrs. French in—she had lost the power of proper respiration. Whether a person could inhale a sufficient quantity of chloroform herself, or whether it would have to be forcibly administered, would be a very delicate question for medical experts to settle. Dr. Tidy was proceeding with the analysis of the contents of the stomach, and he already knew that the case was exciting great interest among the medical profession. He would like to mention one thing, and that was with reference to the mark found on the deceased's lip outside. He was of opinion that it was the mark of carbolic acid not administered that day, but some days before. One of the medical gentleman said he did not think a mark would remain any length of time. He had since tried an experiment on his own arm, and found that the scar of carbolic acid would remain a considerable time.

prisoner's examination. On July 30, William Barber, chemist's assistant, of Walthamstow, was charged at Stratford petty sessions, on suspicion of having caused the death of Annie Mary French, by administering to her a certain noxious drug. When placed in the dock, and when the clerk read the charge, the accused sobbed audibly, and evidently felt his position most acutely. The husband of Mrs. French was in court.

prisoner's STATEMENT. From statements Barber has made to the police, it transpired that he had three phials of poison In his possession on leaving Walthamstow. He is said to have led a riotous life during the week throughout which he eluded capture, occupying the greater part of his time with loose women, and spending the stolen money upon them and cab fares. The following written statement he handed over to the police on his arrest:—"Mrs. French had complained of having suffered .from toothache for some weeks, and I had on several occasions rubbed on chloroform or camphorated chloroform. I had told her at any time when the toothache came on to come down immediately, and then I would give her a draught to take, and would rub her gums with chloroform, and 'would afterwards apply some strong caustic, such as carbolic or nitric acid, to destroy or ■wither the nerve, and on this occasion I had intended to carry this one [bottle]. I fetched in the bottle for this purpose, one bottle containing a solution of morphia, of which I intended to give her a dose to allay the irritation. Just as I was about to prepare the draught some customers came into the ijhop, and Mrs. French said to me, in a lather pettish way, ' Go and attend to your customers.' I left her in the room with the preparations, and on my return I found 3he had taken the whole of the contents of the strong solution of morphia. On my discovering this I thought it was possible she

had pitched the contents of the small bottle in the fireplace, but on looking around, I could not find anything in the fireplace. I looked at her closely, and found she was reeling about, upon winch I rushed into the kitchen and got a little brandy, which I knew was a stimulant, and some sal volatile which was in the shop. I gave her a strong dose ot sal-vola-tile and brandy, and undid her dress round the neck, put some cold water in a bowl and bathed her forehead, and tried to keep her moving about. Immediately aftei doing this "he fell from my arms on to the couch, and said, 'lam dying.' I then took hold of her and looked at her, and saw she was chanoin" fast, and could not recover. My first "bought was to rush for the doctor, but knowing that at that part of the day lie would probably be out, I thought it. better to stay with her. I gave her more sal-volatile, which seemed to take 110 effect., and in my fright I rushed away, not, know ing what to do with myself. I rushed upstairs and changed my clothes. So far as operation or outrage is concerned, 110 such thing ever entered my mind, as there was nothing of the kind necessary. I took the money". way, about £6 or £7. Regarding the letter, it was nothing to do with it whatever, as she was coming, so the boy said, as soon as she was dressed. The note only referred to some cigarettes which I had asked her to make for me, she having done so 011 several occasions."

The inquest was concluded 011 August 7, when several witnesses were examined.

The coroner said since the case was first opened the evidence given made it more mysterious than ever. The law of the case was that, if poisons were given by an unqualified medical man, he would be guilty of murder ; but if the deceased took the poisons inadvertently then she was guilty of her own death. There was no doubt that death was caused by morphia poisoning, and the question was, How came she to take it? Could she have helped herself to it ? Would she have known where to find the bottle? These questions would suggesthow very difficult and mysterious was the matter into which they had to inquire. Going over the evidence, the coroner dwelt upon" the mysterious manner in which Barber held communication with the deceased by the shop-boy. As the door of the shop was locked when an entry was sought, it was evident that it must have been locked from the inside, and Barber must- have got away through the back. The efforts made by the doctors to restore the deceased were referred to : and the coroner said that was the whole of the evidence. There was the question then for them to decide how deceased came to die from morphia ; did she take it herself, was it administered, and, if the latter. by whom was it administered? So far as he could see, there was no evidence to lead them to any conclusion. It was, however, in his opinion, a very strafe thing that she should have taken it herself. Barber absconded, and that may have been owing to his becoming frightened, which made the matter one of suspicion against him. The only two present were Barber and the deceased ; and as Barber had been charged before the police, it was unfair to call him to give evidence before the court, even if such a course was desirable. The jury, after a short consultation, brought in a verdict to the effect " That the deceased died from morphia poisoninr, but whether administered by her own hand or by any other person, there was 110 evidence to show."