ALLEGED POISONING.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1179, 5 October 1894, Page 41

ALLEGED POISONING.

Napier, September 5. Detective Kirby yesterday afternoon proceeded to Patoka, in consequence of information received, and arrested a man named John Restall on a charge of attempting to murder, by means of arsenical poisoning, 10 employees on the Rhodes’ Estate, at Patoka, situated about 30 miles inland, their names being Abraham Lincoln, William Buck, Thomas Whittle, John Egan, John Preston, James Montgomery, William Jones, Michael O’Connor, John Lydon and Alfred Hughes. Th« particulars of the case, so far as can be gathered, are to the effect that on Monday morning last all the employees sat down to breakfast and partook of some stew which had been prepared for them. All at the table with the exception of the accused who, it is alleged, avoided the dish, ate heartily of the stew. A few hours afterwards, all who had eaten of the preparation were seized with severe pains in the stomach accompanied by violent fits of vomiting. Information was at once sent to Napier, and Dr De Lisle proceeded with all haste to the scene of the trouble. On arrival he found the men suffering from all the symptoms of arsenical poisoning. Emetics were applied, and gradually the patients began to show signs of recovery. It is understood that some misunderstanding had arisen between the men and Restall, causing a certain amount of bitterness and ill-feeling to exist. In consequence of this, and other information which the, police are in possession of, Detective Kirby arrested the accused on the charge above stated. A quantity of the stew was preserved, and taken charge of by the detective, who handed a portion of it to Dr De Lisle for analysis, but the result of the test has not yet been made known. The remainder of the stew in the possession of the police will probably be sent to Mr Skey, the Government analyst, at Wellington. Restall will be brought up at the Magistrate’s Court tomorrow morning. The police also took possession of the accused’s property and clothing, and now are busily engaged searching for traces of arsenic or anything else of a poisonous nature. Restall, it may be mentioned, was employed as gardener

on the . estate, and'was' discharged for supplying the . men 1 with ? drink against orders. ' •• • ■■■'•". . - ■ : -Napieb, September 6. John Eestall was brought before the Magistrate’s'. Court .this morning charged with attempting* to murder by means of arsenic 10 employees at the Patoka station. Accused, who is about 54 years of age, was remanded for a week. On the night previous to the poisoning the cook employed on the station had been having a carouse. The manager charged Eestall, - who was gardener on the estate, with bringingdrink to the • station, which accused admitted, and he was .discharged - there and then. Subsequently Eestall heard men in a whare joking, and appeared to become angry, supposing they were making merry over his discharge and loss of whisky. Next morning* he expressed the belief that some of the men 'had betrayed to the manager the fact that he had brought whisky to the station, and said they were a queer lot. The cook was suffering from the effects of the drink brought to the place by Eestall. Two others prepared the meal for Monday morning. One of the men assisting ,in the cooking happened. 5 to leave the fire for a few minutes, and noticed on his return that somebody had interfered with the lid of a ' saucepan. This he thought strange, but nothing was said at the time. Eestall sat . down with the other men to partake of . breakfast, but did not eat the stew. Shortly afterwards he rose from the table and left the whare. The fact that he did not eat was noticed and commented upon by the men, who wondered what was the matter i with him. Later, when the stew had been Cleared away, and the men had left the whare, he came back. Finding the cook had fried some bacon he sat down and ate heartily with the cook. He went away to another part of the station. Within about ten minutes after the conclusion of breakfast, every man who partook of the stew began vomiting and retching violently. < .Traces of arsenic were found in the stew ' .Vomit of the men, who are now recovering. On examining a drum of arsenic u,sed on the station, the manager found marks of three fingers on the surface, evidently caused bysomebody taking out a good pinch of arsenic. • . ' . • - Septembers. 1 Egan and Buck, two of the men poisoned at Patoka station, have developed serious secondary symptoms of arsenical poisoning, • and have been brought to the Napier Hospital. Constable Stephenson, of Napiei*, arrived in Wellington on Saturday night,. bringing'With him the, stew; which is sup- . posed to have, poisoned 10 of the employees on the Patoka Station, for submission to Mr W. Skey> Government Analyst.