SALE OF POISONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11058, 9 May 1899, Page 6

SALE OF POISONS.

CRITICISM OF THE ACT. A SOUTH MELBOURNE SUIOIDE. The exemption of photographers from the provisions of the Poisons Act came in for some scathing criticisms in Melbourne rocontly, when Mr. Candler, tho city coroner, hold an inquest on tho body of a young married woman named Jessie Rosina Bentley, who died at South Melbourne. The general evidence) showed that Mrs. Bentley had been suffering greatly from pains in the head, and had told ■ a neighbour, a week before her death, that slwr'had boon thinking of "doing away with herself, becauso hor brain felt as if it was turning in her head." Tho other, however, paid no attention to the remark at the lime, not thinking tho woman was in earnest. (hi the morning of April 10 tho husband, Henry Bontloy, was reading tho morning paper, when his wife, who was still in bed, asked him if there were any suicides reported. Ho replied in tho negative, and some minutes later loft for the kitchen. Florrio Slndo, a girl of 14, employed as a servant, had previously taken a cup of tea to Mrs. Bontloy, and sho explained that. when her husband was in tho kitchen, the defeased had called to her to take the baby from her. Mrs. Bontloy then washed herself put on clean underclothing, and went back to bed, whilei tho girl left tho room. During her absence Bentley was alarmed by a sound in his wifo room, and rushing in found her Rasping, and evidently dying. Ho ran out for assistance, and the girl Sfade and several neighbours returned to see the woman die Hie cup was then empty, and as the postmortem examination by Mr. Mollison, M.K.C.b., revealed a strong smell of prussic acid it was submitted, together with the stomach of the deceased, to Mr. Blackett, the Government analyst. ' In his evidence Mr. Blackett said that ho had ~ found cyanide of potassium present in .ho deceased's stomach in largo quantities, while the tea which remained in the cup also contained the poison. The dose was more than sufficient to cause death. The drug was used by photographers, electro platers, and for gold extraction the sale? n01 ' : IS tWe a " y P ro,libi «on °* Witness: It is very lax. Photographers are exempted from the Poisons ActfX is assr ThoyUSßc^eofVotas! The Cormier: Can they purchase it from chemists without the ordinary foXY r ° m . Witness: The chemist has to enter'tho silo in a book. I may also mention that Linexempt from tho Act, photograph s are To? roniured to keep their poisonf ffl up. ° 0 ' The Coroner:Do you consider this » Am, gorous state of things for the comm^nityf Witness: Yes, terribly danger™ Ua mde of potassium contains 40 per cent of prussio ncid. l cent of Detective Macmanamny said that h„ la made inquiries and was satisfied that the case was one of suicide, and the coroner in summing up gave the same opinion""'J" added that the fact of the womTn washiW herself and putting on clean clothing at (hn? time of the dav was apparently L», wish to be found in a cleanso™ v Condi ? a Sim had chosen this poison on Z™tT quick action, but how she goUt V'i not been able to discover TTnW 7 !"i d there was no safeguard on the SfrfK Rraphio materials, and it was P osribfc °£ might have procured it by nretonK f„ I an amateur photographer. I " ° mV° bfl to procure this. deadly po&TW? 17 Blaekett had pointed out this stito >» • ' w.-highly dangerous to the~Lv hmg9 , The ,ry returned a verdict of S .M IM that there was no evidence to show it woman's mental condition at the «m e V be Bh ° Uld