THE TIMARU POISONING CASE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 7947, 2 December 1886, Page 2

THE TIMARU POISONING CASE.

(UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION.) Ximaru, December 1. The murder ease was resumed to-day. W. A. Meaaon repeated the evidence given at the inquest. George Kaye, of Timaru, deposed : I went to Woodlands to nurse Captain Cain in January last, and remained until his death. Hall came to the house every day, He used to come at night sometimes, about 6 o’clock, but did not remain long on these occasions. T left the room whenever Hall came in. The Captain was very often sick. 1 used to find him sick after I had given him' his cough mixture. The mixture was kept on a side table with the grog and the wine. I sat up with the Captain the night before ha died, and 1 saw no difference in him.till about 2 o’clock. 1 saw a change in him then which I.took for death. Mr Stubbs was sitting up with me that night. I do not remember seeing Hall there when the Captain vomited. He used to say, “Botheration; can’t the doctor* give me something to. stop this ?”, Jowsey Jackson, blacksmith, deposed : I made an invalid bedstead for Captain Cain. I took. the bedstead to the house about 1 p.m. on the 15th, and George Kaye gave ms a glass of champagne, which was taken out of the room that had been occupied by Captain Cain up to that day. P. W. Stubbs, agent: I knew the late Captain Cain for many years. X went to see him on 13th January, which was my first visit daring his sickness, lw;s thereon the evening of the day the invalided came. Hall was at the house. I asked him how he thought the Captain was, and he replied, “Very bad indeed.” He also remarked that the doctor gave no hopes of him, and that he could hot get over it. I thought Captain Cain was better than on the day before.

! Patrick Mclntyre deposed: I am a duly qualified medical practitioner at Timaru. I began to attend Captain Caiu in July, 18S5. I visited him on the 9th and 10th of July, ou the 31st of August, sth of September, 3rd and 7th of November, and from the 17th to Slat December inclusive daily. I visited Captain Cain almost every day from the end of December till his death. He was suffering from kidney disease und dropsy, and also general debility of the system, continuing from his previous illness. I first prescribed for the vomiting on the 24th December, and 1 did not know of its existence before that date. In my prescriptions there was nothing to produce' vomiting. I also prescribed stimalants, spirits and tonic; at one time champagne, at another claret and Australian wine, and probably port. I would not expect any of these stimulants to canse vomiting. None of my prescriptions contained atropia, colchicnm, or antimony, or any preparation of these things. Captain Cain once complained to me of his whiskey m'ak. in9him sick. This was a few weeks before his death. 1 last saw Captain Caiu the day before bis death. He was then much worse than he had been for some weeks before. The administration of atropia, oolcblcutn, or antimony to anyone in Captain Cain’s position would certainly accelerate death. Cross-examined by Mr Perry : Captain Cain was suffering from chronic kidney disease daring his last illness, and probably Bright’s disease. Couldnot examine himthoroughly to see. The legs and body, particularly the left hand, were much swollen during thelatter part of the illness. I only remember one sore on the body, a small ulcer, and there was a small deep hole in the sole of one of his feet, but bis legs'-bad not gangrened. -1 considered his recovery hopeless throughout ■ the last ill. ness, and I told the members of the family that he might die at any moment or live for weeks or months. My prescriptions during Captain’ Cain’s last illness were palliatives, to a certain extent curative. 'The medicines given for the-kidney disease and the dropsy were palliative, and to reduce the dropsy. I did not expect to cure either the kidney disease or the dropsy. The symptoms at the beginning of' Cdptain Cain's last illness were general debility, with increasing dropsy, particularly of the legs, and afterward extending up to the lower parts of the’body. Thera was also dropsy of both hands, moat marked in the left hand. Ho also suffered from chronic bronchitis and vomiting. For the latter I first treated him on the 24th December. X also treated him for diarrhcea dating the last month of his illness. Dropsy acting on-the heart was not in my opinion the immediate cause of death. It was kidney disease, and dropsy in a constitution already enfeebled through impaired heart action; I never told Hall that dropsy would

soon reach Captain Cain’s heart, and death would immediately follow. Richard Bowen Hogg deposed : I am a duly qualified medical practitioner. I remember holding a post mortem examination with Dr Ogston at the Timaru. Ho*plialoa September 27th. We removed the stomach, a por« tion of the small and large intestines, the bladder, a portion of the liver, the spleen, and the kidneys. There was also some liquid put into the bottles taken from the chest and from the bladder, and from the peritoneal cavity. The analysis was com* menced on the night ot our arrival in Dnnedin, by myself. Professor Black, and Dr Ogston at the University laboratory. Wo discovered antimony in all the organs. 1 should not expect to find traces of colchionzn or atropia in a body nine months burled if such poisons had been administered during life. In one suffering from heart disease and dropsy it would certainly have the effect of accelerating death. Cross-examined by Mr Perry: We did not test for atropia or colchioum. The urinous tiuid in the bottle containing the bladder was tested. In the bottle containing the bladder and the urine were probably the kidneys and some liquid from the peritoneal cavity. In another bottle were the stomach and the portion of the small bowel, and in a bottle there was another portion of the stomach and portion of the liver and spleen. • A separate analysis was made of part of the contents of each bottle. There was no difficulty in getting results, although the analysis took a considerable time.

The Court adjourned till to-morrow morning.