Page 1 Advertisements Column 10

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12398, 13 November 1908, Page 1

I; "ORIENTAL CRIME." THE PEOFESSIONAL POISONER. | Thugee no longer exists in India in an organised form. Its suppression has removed one of the most formidable criminal agencies ever . brought into being, but the "professional P| poisoner," an operator scarcely less m diabolic than Thug, still nourishes in || India. Speaking of his various nie||B thods, Mr Adam (in "Oriental gj .Crime") says: — . || i "He is an exceedingly clever actor H I and a dissembler of a superlative - a I order. He carries out his nefarious ; work under a variety cf disguiGes, not necessarily al«-ays killing his victims. It. is sufficient for his purpose . sometimes merely to render him un- ; conscious. His methods are manifold, and are respectively appropriate to the particular disguise f which lie adopts. For instance, ho may bo a respectable-looking- artisan, ..with . a wife and family— the latter probably ; not his own — who hires a cart and - j subsequently drugs "the driver aiid makes off with the animals and the vehicle, which he disposes of.- This . kind of thing he carries. bii at interi vals during a lengthy 'tour.' Then \ there is the pious poisoner, in priestly j garb, posing as an ascetic, whose i poison is contained in 'consecrated' : * food; he also makes poisoned offerings at temples, and the .genuine priests who partake of them are his victims. There is the 'liail-fellow-well-mefc,' who accosts unsuspecting travellers on the road, and. invites them to refreshment, which is deftly 'doctored' ; the charitable individual who offers to draw drinking water From a well for thirsty women, and, unperceived, drops a little something into it ; tho highly-respcctabis young who scrapes an acquaint- ; ince with young women possessed of jewellery, stupifies them with betel, and makes off with their trinkets ; and the cook who engages himself to a family, prostrates a.ll members by ■. liis carefully prepared dishes, and clears out with all their portable -' affects." . - . . .. Vegetable poison grows by tho wayside, so that" no "sale of poisons" legislation" can cope successfully with this widespread evil.. The usual vonom employed is distilled, from tho ■ dhatura seed. It is often mixed with bhang or ;opium. A notorious "professional poisoner" was Sharafudin, who was finally hanged at. Amritsar, - in the Punjaub. He started as a policeman -'in- the upper provinces, but ivas sent to prison for some minor | offence. - -There he met a poisoner | named Laljeo, from whom he learned Mid trader When they left prison the two men -'operated", in partnership until they quarrelled. - Sharafudin contrived to rejoin the police force, hut was dismissed for insubordination.. In tho': meantime -Laljeo had been convicted and sentenced to a long term. Sharafudin thereupon took possession of Laljee's wife an(V two children. With their aid ho continued his career of poisoner for V years. One of his paramours, thinking herself neglected, gavo information to tho police, and a largo reward was offered for his capture. Eventually he was drugged and civon' over to the police by a confederate of his. From a full confession which" ho made" 't is .estimated that the. number 'of - ; his victims ran into hundreds. New Seeds! New Seeds'. '." CAETER'S' BROAD LEAF ESSEX RAPE SEED. - -■ : . TURNIP AND SWEED SEED ~" 1 ' (all kinds). New Seeds. WD MAY -BICHM'OND &--. . n. HIM I, WAKAPtUKA .jgglte^ Beware of Spectacle llawlcers an i **^7 so-called Opticians • Frarik Kaiford, The Leading Optician. ily store is (^TSJte#^ th e Mecca c£ Gift Hunter*. /Uj Call and in- .. W ■ . spect the large (^^V_ j.^'lnW stook of Clocks, |^^S^^"3 N.S. Silverware i Mi i «J^ an< i- all classes >Su2£«!sir of Jewellery. TEAFALGAR STBEET. NEW ZEALAKO INSURANCE COMPANY, LIMITED. ESTABLISHED iß^y Capital - - i1,500,0e0 Paid-up Capital and Reserves £690,000 Fire, Marine, and Aeiidrnt .Risks of every description accepted. Prompt and Liberal Settlement of Claims. Lowest Current Rates c}t.\jgwl ;-. Accident and Disease Liability nnder— Workers' Compentation for Accidents Acts Employers' 'Liabiliiy Acts! and Common Law Mortgage Indemnity Public Risk Fidelity Guarantee Administration Bonds Burglary and Theft >".:-'■ ■ -■■'-■ —*—.-■- -'■ •• . ■ ".•■-■ ; - ¥', BUXTON & CO., LTD. : " CHIEF AGENTS. J NELSON DISTBICT,