A FATAL ERROR.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 783, 8 June 1933, Page 4

A FATAL ERROR.

Man’s Death from Strychnine Poisoning. COMMENT BY CORONER. 't Per Press Association. AUCKLAND. June 7. ‘‘The cause of death was strychnine 4 poisoning. It was the result of the ?, drinking by deceased of a preparation a which he believed to be slippery elm : bark but which was in fact nux p VOm, ca ”—This was the finding made t b y the Coroner (Mr W. R. M'Kean) r at the conclusion of the inquest con- > cerning the death of Charles Boddy. who died suddenly at his home on Mav 1. 6 1 he Coroner added that it was most unfortunate that an error had been made m the supply of an order for slippery elm bark. Nux vomica had been substituted by the vendors. An employee ot the firm concerned had made a statement admitting error on his part and, added the Coroner, it was not proper to make any comment re- ' garding that. 1 “It seems to me,” Mr M’Kean continued, “ that where poisons are kept in the same room with other drugs an error of this kind is one that may be expected to occur. It seems to me very desirable that poisons, even in ware’’ouses, should be stored in a room in which no harmless drugs are stored, j There is a slight similarity perhaps in ' appearance between the two. but anyj body who is accustomed to dealing j with nux vomica and slippery elm bark should be able quite readily to detect 1 the difference. A man in a hurry | might pick up a bag on a shelf in which that bag should not have been placed and might easilv give another substance for it.” The Government Analyst (Mr K. M. Griffin) said he had knowledge of threeprevious occurrences in New Zealand but there had been no deaths. “An error has been made in this case and it has been fatal,” said the Coroner. “It is an error that might easily occur. J shall make a recommendation regarding the storage of poisonous drugs.” Widow’s Story. Lillian Jane Boddy said that her husband gave her a parcel. She put the contents in a glass jar and labelled it. On the evening of May 6 her husband placed some of the powder in milk and drank it. He remarked: "That was rat.,er bitter.' 1 After he had gone to bed her husband called out and. on going into his room, she found him trembling, with his arms spread

out. Dr Drury was summoned and, after examining her husband, left a prescription.. The doctor was summoned again later and announced that death had occurred. She handed him the glass jar which she had labelled “ slippery elm bark.” Dr Drury said he first gave deceased some bicarbonate solution and ordered a sedative. When called again late in the night he found, that deceased had passed away. Then, upon hearing for the first time that deceased had complained of slippery elm bark being bitter, witness had it secured and handed over to the police for analysis. Druggist’s Evidence. Mr Barrowclough said he had advised George Alexander Rowson not to answer any questions other than those concerning his name and address. He did not wish him to be subjected to cross-examination.

The Coroner said that Rowson was not bound to give evidenep. It would be sufficient for the police to prove the statement made to a detective. A statement made to Detective Snedden by George Alexander Rowson, an employee of Kempthorne, Prosser, was read. This set out that on May 5 he received an order to make up a pound of slippery elm bark. He went to a shelf in the warehouse where slipper}- elm bark was kept in a paper bag of seven pounds. Tie used a scoop and placed one pound of what he thought at the time to be slippery erm bark into a small paper bag. He tied the; bag with string and labelled it “ slippery elm bark ” in ink. He then handed it over to a member of the staff who checked the orders. He returned the original bag to the shelf. The statement continued that nux vomica was stocked in similar seven-pound bags on a shelf in the warehouse about 12ft away from where the slippery elm bark was kept. Nux vomica bags were labelled as such and were marked “ poison.” A torn paper bag which the detective showed him with “ slippery elm bark ” written on it was the bag he had used in making up the order. He examined a small particle of the powder remaining in the corners of the bag and found it was nux vomica. I was very busy on May 5 when I was making up the order,” the statement added. “There was no one with me at the time. I cannot understand how I came to make the mistake in placing nux vomica in the bag instead of slippery elm bark "