TRAGIC ERROR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23015, 19 October 1936, Page 10

TRAGIC ERROR

TWO PERSONS POISONED FATHER AND DAUGHTER SHEEP DIP MISTAKEN FOR SULPHUR (Special to Daily Times) AUCKLAND, Oct. 17. A father’s error in mistaking yellow sheep-dip powder for sulphur resulted in his own death and the de^ 11 of his infant daughter at the isolated Native settlement of Thom’s Landing, near Te Kao, in the far north. The victims were:— Mr C. GRIFFITHS aged 40 years. ANNIE GRIFFITHS, his two-year-old daughter. The Griffiths family has just moved into the house at Thom’s Landing, which is one of the shipping points for the most northerly gumfields, and on Sunday Mr Griffiths mixed what he thought to be sulphur with treacle as a medicine for his family. He took a dose of the mixture himself and his baby daughter also was given one. Mrs Griffiths and her son, however, did not take the mixture on account of its taste. Three hours later the little girl was dead, and the father died shortly afterwards. POWDER FOUND IN HOUSE. It was found later that instead of sulphur Mr Griffiths had mixed a yellow sheep-dip powder with the treacle. The powder had been found when the family first entered the house and was part of a tin which had been purchased and, shared bv a number of families at Thom’s Landing as a flea and insect powder. On Sunday Mr Griffiths though l the substance in the tin was sulphur, and —nxed it with the treacle. Shortly after taking the mixture both victims became violently ill. Mrs Griffiths set out on horseback for the nearest telenhone, where she got in touch with the Native school tc her at Te Kao, M" A. H. Watt. EFFORTS TO SAV~ LIVES The nearest doctor is 65 miles awav at Kaitaia. A district nurse is stationed at Houhora, 35 miles away. On hearing the symptoms, Mr Watt recognised the seriousness of the case, and immediately telephoned Dr J. Rule, of Kaitaia, who diagnosed the trouble as poisoning and recommended treatment. By the time Mr Watt reached the settlement, however, the girl was dead, and the father was in a grave condition. Nothing could be done for him, and he died shortly afterward. An inquest was held before the coroner (Mr A. H. Watt) and a jury. A verdict of accidental death was returned, the cause of death in both instances being due to acute arsenic poisoning