ALLEGED RESULTS OF DYE

NZ Truth, Issue 1017, 23 May 1925, Page 6

ALLEGED RESULTS OF DYE

Woman*« ttait FsOls Out-

Damages Awarded by a liiry.

"Oh vanity, thy name is woman." . Acsse which, came before Mr. Justice , Herdman and a jury of twelve at • Auckland was remarkable for its emphasis of the old, saw. It was shown ■ that a woman, m order to camouflage : the streaks of grey which were making ' a tiny appearance in.her almost golden < hafr, sustained injuries which caused ' her to suffer indescribable pain, to her • acalp,- which became a mass of sup- ' ptirating sores; her nose spread half j way, over her face; "her neck, became I painfully irritated; the disease spread to her hands, arms and one foot; she was for one week unconscious, she ' temporarily lost her sight, most' of- the : boarders she kept, and her livelihood ' thereby; and— last, but not least— she ; required to have her hair cut, the - hair, the woman's glOryiVf or which she J had undergone untold agony. '. l MALiVJNO; OR INEGTO?^ . k \ The parties, to the action were ■'Lilian I Thomas, boardinghouse keeper, Mount i [Eden, who sued Maud Hanna and Mrs. •■ Marie Antionette Stewart, for ■:..•-£ 5 94 ] 'expenses and general datriages caused 1 Iher through injuries Resulting ' from ] (defendant's treatment M>t . her hair*. by i ithe use of some deleterious substance i Iwhich was not the treatment which i -defendants contracted to use on plainI tiffs hair. Mr. ..E. -WT'lrider was j;on 1 : duty for plaintiff, wtiile' Mr." Quartiey 1 ■was for the defence; VrVv , t ■ .7 ■] Briefly outlining the case, Mr.' lnder i said that plaintiff* contracted . with > de- 'i fendants to treat" her hair with a pre- A paration known as -5 malvino, but she i alleged .that that.,. 'treatment was not j given, a solution known, as inecto i being applied.- . JHe explained that, 1 plaintiff" knew' the difference between i the two preparations by the effluvium. Malvino was a harmless compound ■with, a Rotorua smell (plenty of sulphuretted hydrogen),, whereas inecto , 'was a dangerous 'mixture' which- had given rise m many -cases ito injuries such 'as those inflicted- on plaintiff,, but it had' a somewhat lavender scent. ' Plaintiff would say that malvino was to have been used 'On'-her hair, biit that before the preparation was applied she drew attention to the^ fact that it was not malvino. The assistant gave the -assurance that it was. tAt all events, immediately ,'plaintiff {left the salon of defendants the trouble . (Started. He submitted that- the dam-' isigfi and, loss sustained by plaintiff and : the pain she had suffered were due -to fthe breach of contract by the' defend- . Sants m using a preparation, other than > malvino or('by negligfeht use.of/.m'al•|yino. '' • ; '. . ,- v '• •■'J^.''C;.'''''"-~-/^"i /■..-> \ - '" lalian Thoma^r- -ai- .slight, 1 smartly.(dressed woman of .:;probably 'middle tage, said that; immediately she left the 1 defendants', premises..' irritation, started 'iii; her, head found 'ilae brow and on . . the back of the neck/":; This became so violent that m a. day vor so she had; to call m a doctor, whb'afterwards called iii. another, who, handed the ' sufferer, j on to a skin specfalist. She-had to • " take to bed; she said; her hose ,be : , ■ - came swollen half"- way across- her ! lace, she became .^unconscious for about '\ a week, lost her sight for a time, and ' ] altogether suffered, agonising,, pain ; of body and stress ; of. mind. She had incurred £32 Os 6d medical expenses ; •had paid £13 2s 6d for a jriurse -who had to be ; called ..fn; • had paid ; £18 wages for ahousekeeper to carry on, [plus £1 a week for/ her board lor, nine weeks; had bought £4 17s 4d worth of imedlcal jifecessarifes ; tan^d Had-Vlost £40 consequent .von xboaird^rs leaving ■her" establishment through: lack : ' of adequate attention. In addition . V she claimed ..£ SOO general "damages. Above and beyond everything,' shfe had lost 'the 'beauty/ of coiffure/ which- 'was formerly hers, . by. .the cutting, , out of iher hair, which was' still coming out. The Judge: What is this* stuff, mal- ' i*vino;;.iised for? '■•j.v.w'.^/'v-'.-/ i!^. 1 ■.-■:.■ v,-- . Mr. : r lnder: For ' tK^ purpose of dy'e;ing the hair, sir. '?;'.- - ! f r; ; The Judge: . ,: .; : .;. : : : Witness:' 'Mid-lbr^wii.: • ££■/ '£■■<>/&:*.>,■ : Plaintiff V's^tedV that; when ..Mrs. jStew&rt caw what ihad been done as a result of the /treatment she remarked <tha'tv;there niust have ; been inecto on ;the'-b.rush used- - 1 She -also asked,,plain r 'tiff ■tf&Aell the doctpr to send her the .'bill and/"^Hie would settle .up. ' Mrs. Istewart' further remarked that she jknew there was a deadly poison m drtecto; and there were bottles arid {bottles of it on the premises.. In. con(elusion, plaintiff described • a test '.that liad- been made on ■h.eiff'arm >in ..:.the^ presence of doctors/when malvino was applied oridne part, and a (w^fch she recognised ' as .having . the, earn* smells as i'sbgt< iU^d/- ;on ; hej- ; hdir) on another "part: She, dispUiyed;, her arm, and showed an area of apparent Vskhi- infection which kept her- continuu tally scratching: on the part where t ne llatter fluid- had: been applied. ; v Under - crOss-examihatibp; r plaintiff , said shej had- never used anything , bu t imalvinp'Va her hair.'' She recalled; One little occasion m Wellington when, before going oiif for an evening, a friend gave :her irie'eto to put on a small patch of grey hair. -She 'simply dabbed a j little on the hair and brushed it over. There were no after effects, /and that would be eighteen . months prior to the Ireataient by defendants. She denied «v(4 r having said anything to -Mrs. Stewart about a mosquito bite haying caused injury.: to her foot. Mr. Inder: The poor little mosquito must be found not guilty. ;. ; .•■ In regard to the boarders, plainyn* (fitrenuously denied- that they left;! for any other reason than lack of attention. She, did not blame the housekeeper, who, besides 'looking! after her house, had ; to attend to plaintiff m iher illness. She had been ordered to i hospital or to get a nurse, and she ichose the latter, which permitted of Ithe boardinghouse being carried on. .Mrs. Morris, who acted for plaintiff S during her indisposition; and Sister Katherine Miller, a nurse, gave cor<roboratiVe;evidencei '^ ■ ■■' .",'. a ; ; ! ;./ ' " ,i' ; A TEST OP;iNECTO/ .'•;- Dr. Macky put.- plaintiff's; 'trouble i down to dermatitis m one of its most (aggravated forms.:;^Plaintiff fcad been tyfery ill, and was still suffering slightly.

It would be somef' time before she fully recovered, but she would not be the, woman she had -been. Her nei*vea were now affected. He also described the test made on plaintiff's arm, arid said tb,at malvino and inectb. had been used. The latter brought about a condition similar to that set up when witness saw plaintiff • first. The injuries he had treated could not, have been caused by malvino, but were consistent with the use of inecto. - Under cross-examination, witness said/ plaintiff was'Jeyidently . prone to inecto poisoning;.-^ lot of 'things, including 'sunlight,;t;bpuld cause dermatitis.' It was unreasonable to suspect soap. ... .;2?sfe£w— -.: : - ■: Mr. Quartley /suggested that pota--toes, tomatoes,. ' qi;f':eer,tain hothouse plants, if smelt; couid -'cajusev 'de.rma-v titis. ■", V v '" : '^'-' '• "?; The Judge reckoned-- that- human beings ■seemingiy;\led;;:a;.p?ecarious'-;ex-istence. (Laughter.) v ; V., ; >i ..^ Dr. Wilson, a skin specialist, said the condition he treated m plaintiff was similar to several cases he had Had m the Old Country. He consid-' ered the injuries received by plaintiff were consistent with the effects to be expected from the constituents of inecto. , V v For the defence it was contended that dermatitis .'might, be due to idiosyncracies or sensibility of the skiri produced m a skin, disease m varying forms. It was denied that inecto was used, but that a preparation known as malvino rapid was -employed. This, it was stated, smelt somewhat like inecto. v Evidence was given along these lines Ijy Christina Olive Hackett, who had given the treatment m dispute. She applied the malvino rapid with a" perfectly new and ■: white tooth /brush. She explained the practice m ■the salon of sterilising all •brushes used, and explained that a different set . of brushes was kept for malvinc and for inecto. About one-third of the clients of the defendants used inecto. . : INFLAMMATION.'' Marie Ste\vart, a partner m the defendant firm, said she first saw plaintiff on Thursday! Diecember 18, when she asked to see the young lady who had treated her previously. That person being out, witness asked if she could do anything, arid plaintiff replied that she had had. trouble after her hair had been stained. Witness examined Mrs. Thorrias, and found that she had a slight inflammation round the forehead. Plaintiff told witness Dr. Fullerton had told /her (plaintiff) that 1 * it was /caused by the preparation she had used'on her hair, and that- he nad given her a lotion. Witness offered to, use -an olive oil treatment and' shampoo, to take off the stain, but plaintiff said 'she pre-; f erred to use the lotion given her by the doctor. * ' s Next day the plaintiff called again. She- (witness) rubbed the scalp, and gave plaintiff a shampoo, after which she said she felt much easier. A few days later witness saw Mrs. Thomas m ■ Dr. Mackay's rooms, where plaintiff complained' that she felt much worse, arid that defendants were the cause of all" the trouble; Witness denied that she said that the assistant must have used a brush with inecto on it,' but she < may have said, that if an . inecto brush had been used she would pay medijsal expenses. / ! ; . ■1 'Mr. Inder (cross-examining) : Who, invented the -"quick;. process" 1 method? —We', experifnented ourselves. \ We know . Mrs. Thomas had been using tHe preparation for four years. ' ■ Can '.you suggest why she did not get this serious ' complaint before ?--' no: ■-.. ■ -■; : : '-v.-' •■■■■■■■ ■•' ■■■'■■ ■. -. ■■■■■ . '. • CANv^BE tiARMJIUii. -; . ;": You" know that;; the! second preparation mentioned m this, case can very easily prove harmful to some people? — Yes. : ■::, : ■■>--■.:;;.,:...;,. .-,.■..• ■■ -.-■ • His Honor :■. Where, do you keep it?; In * the same room as the other preparations?— Yes, on the, long shelves, with partitions between.^ ; ' ■■•Mr...lnder:, >l W i hy ; is it that you digress ; from.;, theY/! instructions of^'-tho 1 manufacturers'?— Because);/we found it satisfactory;';-' ■■% :o.^- : s l ' : -i:'.'M i i. ■ : :S'" ' •■?£ '■■■-. Mi\ ifider : ; First; ; v or : ' all you. get ?a--new "quick .proce|s;" and Uhen i.digress from the instructions?— Oh, yes;., as experts we " can do* that.-,?;' . .-. ' v fe:;{' Dr. Milsom said that slilp'hur might have caused -. v the ■ condition of skin trouble as described-: m; .plaintiff: \ m regard to dermatitis; witness said that the presence of- 1 primroses on . a tabll' would bring but an; excema on a sußr pected person. ; : . .•■•'. '^'y : .^' .''■■•■ \•" . '%s This ended the case, for, the defence. 1 Mr. Quartley thereupon moved for a non-suit, oh ,gthe;' grounds: (1) That, there was -ndA '.evidence to go to the jury; .arid (2)|?jfciiat if there was .any evidence it, was equally consistent with the damage b'eirig caused . by. 'or . not being caused by the plaintiff. ■(■ ;llis ; Honor: That, is a matter , for the jury. :-. . ■^';^i^ i *- ; ;; C>' : '.V.v -y^/y: ; .:r ;- : Mr. Quartley put it tp the jury that the fact that plaintiff's hair was dyed to within one-eighth; of an inch of the scalp when she came for treatment went to suggest: that , she had some sort of preparations oh her hair, land that. the application m- the toilet rooms ran the. preparation down to the /roots, causing the troubled k • .-. v "'■;'.: ?••..' .;' '■ ; jury pott^ plaintiffV ■ , Mr^ Justice Ilerdmari, submitted the followirig issues to the jury: (1) Did' deferidants, m. breach of an agreement made by' them with plain-ti-ff to^ ■treat, the^ flatter's hair with the first preparation, treat it with some deleterious .; substance, riot being, that preparation, thus causing the plaintiff/damage? . ;..'.- ■'■'/ "■'-. ■ ; (2) Did defendants 'treat plaintiff's hair m an unskilful, riegligent, and improper manner, thereby "causing her injury,? . . \\ ; : . . •■; '-, it ': ' ' ■:"-.'; '■'■.■'■.-'. / (3) .What damages (if any) is plaintiff entitled to recover: (a) by way of special damages; (b)' by way of general '.damages? .' ■• ■ ;•', ['.,■■'■■■..',"., '. 'i . .- '■ ■'■:•. ,."■.'■ ■ The jury found plaintiff's allegations were pro ved..\ . ■.:■-? :•■ ' ' ; ' ■ .■ ; '.-.'- : : ' ; li Special damages totalling £133. :4s 4d and general damages > of. £75 were awarded. ,' :.'.-'[ ■.;■::■'; -\' : \ ■ '.'.''y ,''■ Mr. Quartley said he would like/ time to consider the ' question of /proceeding with his non-suit point; and the Judge therefore adjourned the case lor ffurr r ther consideration. \ v ~ : s ' ■••■;■-.