The Press. — London, England, 1855-12-15 00:00:00

1190 house on the Ist of June, and remained till Mrs. Wooler died. It would hence appear that the pri soner had no desire to conceal the real condition of his wife; and the dates are further important as mark ing that the fatal malady of Mrs. Wooler commenced before the above ladies arrived. Both assisted in giving Mrs. Wooler the medicines prescribed, and Miss Wooler testified that she never observed any thing but perfect kindness between her uncle and aunt. Some letters of the prisoner, written to friends and relatives between the 29th of May and the 16th of June, were read to show that he had given false reports of his wife's illness. On the 16th of June he wrote to her brother, Mr. Bucknell (the prosecutor in the case), that his wife was fast sinking, and that it was only on the Bth he had ascertained that her disease was in the upper lung. The only discrepancy between this account and the fact is that Dr. Hazlewood says he announced that he did not consider the disease of the upper lung to be dangerous. As to the in creasing illness and positive danger of Mrs. Wooler there could be no dispute, and the prisoner received no hint from the medical men that the disorder was other than natural. On the 17th of June the doctors changed their treatment, and administered antidotes, continuing to do so daily; so that, on the supposition that the small doses of arsenic continued to be secretly administered, the poison and the antidote were given together. As the patient grew worse, the symptoms of arsenic were more strikingly developed. Tingling of the hands is one sure symptom of the presence of arsenic. Her medical attendants, however, did not ask her if she felt this sensation, but, while Dr. Jackson and Dr. Hazlewood were in consultation on the 23rd of June, the prisoner came in to them and mentioned that his wife felt tingling of the hands, and asked what it could mean. Dr. Hazlewood went back to the patient, and she then said that she had felt it for some days, and had asked her husband to mention it, but that be had forgotten to do so ; but it is certain that she might at any time have mentioned this symptom herself, and if the prisoner had any motive for con cealing it why did he volunteer the information on the 23rd? A nephew of Mrs. Wooler, Mr. Bucknell (the son of the prosecutor in this case), was a pupil of Sir John Fife, and, at the prisoner's request, Dr. Hazle wood wrote a statement of his patient's case to Mr. Bucknell to be laid before Sir John Fife for his opinion, but Dr. Hazlewood omitted to mention the tingling of the hands, for the reason, as he says, that had he done so it would have been to state that Mrs. Wooler was suffering from arsenical poison. This important symptom was therefore omitted, and with out it the symptoms might all be referable to " high inflammation of the mucous membrane of the ali mentary canal." Dr. Hazlewood states that the omission was his individual act, as he conceived that to announce the suspicions of himself and Dr. Jack son would not save the life of the patient, while if they came to her knowledge the shock might hasten her death. The poisoning process was therefore suf fered to go on unchecked till the patient, on the morning of the 27th of June, breathed her last. Some prejudice was excited against the prisoner by reports that he had shown indifference during his wife's illness, and at her death. It was shown, how ever, that he had sat up with her till twelve o'clock on the night of the 26th, that he had risen at three o'clock on the morning of the 27th, and that then, as previously, he had spent much time by her bedside, reading the Scriptures to her, and praying. On the morning of her death, the prisoner expressed much anxiety for the arrival of the medical men, and ran out to meet Mr. Henzell, entreating him to make haste, as his wife was dying. After the death, Miss Buck nen entreated him to leave the room and to go in the garden to refresh himself. The prisoner went down stairs with Mr. Henzell, and while there a bell was heard ringing violently, and the prisoner asked Mr. Henzell to go in the garden, where bees were being hived, as the sight might amuse him. They watched the bees together for some time, and took some turns round the garden. The prisoner did not then seem much distressed, but on previous occasions he had often been noticed in tears. Other circumstances of suspicion were stated against the prisoner, as that one day when he was absent his wife improved. Dr. Jackson stated : On the 17th of June I administered an antidote. It was iron. I thought she rather improved, and grew stronger. There was quinine also. On the day prisoner went to Auckland I administered another antidote. It was ammo nia and citrate of iron and water. The purginga were reduced from sixteen to three times; the pulse was reduced thirty beats in a minute. Her pulse became fuller ; her countenance looked better. But Dr. Jackson, from the moment he suspected poison, seems to have been prepared to find circum stances point to the guilt of the prisoner. Milt was not until two days after the death that the doctors announced their suspicions to the prisoner. On the 29th of June a letter came from Dr. Jackson, declaring his suspicions of poison, on which the pri. THE PRESS. soner summoned to him the three womeu in the house, Ann Taylor, Miss Lanchester, and Miss Buck nell. The account of what took place is thus stated by Ann Taylor : He (prisoner) stood a while, and called Miss Lanchester and Miss Ilucknell (my mistress's sisters and myself into a room, and read the note to us all. He said, I think, " Atrocious ! Poison ! Where could it be ? It could not be in the food, Ann?" I said, " No." He then said, " Where could it be ?" I said I did not know. I asked where the medicine bottles were, and he said that 1 had better luck them up in my box, for I had made the food. I ac cordingly got all the bottles I could find and lucked them in my box. - - - An inquest was held on the 30th of June, and adjourned till the 13th of July, when a verdict was returned of death by poison, but no person was accused. At the urgent request of the prisoner, made at the adjourned inquest, the body of the deceased was exhumed, and portions of the internal parts were sent to Dr. Taylor, of Guy's Hospital, and Dr. Richardson, of Newcastle, to be examined. In both cases the costs were paid by the prisoner. He was arrested on the charge of murder soon after the conclusion of the inquest. Of the fact that the deceased died from arsenic slowly administered there can be no doubt. Dr. Taylor, who was assisted by Dr. Rees, detected arsenic in all the parts sent to him—in the rectum, the heart, the liver, the lungs, and the small intes tines. From all the portions analysed about a grain of arsenic was collected ; and the conclurnon of these eminent men was, that it must have been adminis tered at intervals and in small doses. Dr. Richard son came to a like conclusion. Another fact was remarkable. As the stomach of the deceased would not bear medicines, injections were ordered. The prisoner had a syringe, but after a time it became stopped, and some days before the death the prisoner borrowed a syringe from Dr. Fothergill, of Darlington. The tube was new. But on its return, twhen poison was suspected, Dr. Fothergill cut up the tube and there detected the presence of arsenic, though none was used in the manufacture of the instrument. This fact is of the more significance as it shows that arsenic was administered almost to the last, and in the very injections ordered by the medical men as an antidote. The medicines were given to the deceased by various hands, and different persons assisted in using the syringe. In addition to Miss Lanchester, a neighbour, Miss Middleton, sometimes came in ; and these ladies, with Miss Wooler, and Ann Taylor, were the only persons who attended de ceased till within two days of her death, when Miss Bucknell arrived. Ann Taylor deposed:— Myself, Miss Lanchester, and Miss Middleton, admi• nistered the medicines. My master also did so sometimes at the first. I have seen him give her medicines frequently at first. He did so down to a month or five weeks before her death. He did not during the last month, because he could not lift her head from her pillow to please her. The injections began to be administered about a week after Dr. Jackson came. Master administered them first, and then I assistei him. This continued till her death. Either I or Miss Lanchester assisted him. I made the injections in the kitchen and took them up stairs. He used some• times to put the laudanum in. I did so too. I prepared the injection in a basin. He never prepared any himself. Miss Lanchester deposed : During the last month of her (Mrs. Wooler's) life I stayed in the house. I occasionally administered her me dicines to her. I twice assisted Ann Taylor in giving her injections. Mr. Wooler was, I believe, in bed on those occasions. Miss Middleton stated:— She resided at Haughton, half a mile from Burdon. Was frequently at the prisoner's house during the last month of deceased's illness. Occasionally gave her medi cinec, and had seen Mr. Wooler give them. Was not present when injections were administered. Margaret Wooler said I gave my aunt medicine three times. Was not present when any injections were given. The Indian ba. ket of the prisoner, to which fre.. quent reference was made, was kept in the store closet, and of this closet Mrs. Wooler, while well, kept the key. When too ill to attend to household affairs she gave the key to her husband, and he gave to Ann Taylor the articles she required for the house. When by direction of the doctors the evacuations of the deceased were preserved, Ann Taylor took charge of them, and placed them in the coach house. On one occasion it was discovered by Mr. Henzell that the urine sent to him was not from the same person as on previous occasions. The other urine contained arsenic, but this portion contained none. Mr. Htinzell deposed : On tie next day, the 24th June, I asked Mr. Wooler if the specimen he last sent was procured from the same source as the others, as it differed materially. He said it had, and called Ann Taylor, and asked her if she had sent the urine to me as he had directed her. She said yea; she had taken it from the coach•house. SATURDAY, One other principal circumstance of suspicion re lated to the bottles in the Indian basket. The bottle containing Fowler's solution of arsenic was nowhere to be found when inquiry was made for it. The two policemen who searcned the prisoner's house de posed: George Brown, police-constable :—I went to prisoner's house on the .1.3t.h of July. He had been appre hended the night beore. I saw Ann Taylor tak e some bottles out of a box in her bedroom, which she gave to me. I placed them in the storeroom. When I first went to the prisoner's house the storeroom was un locked. The box containing the bottles was locked. Ann Taylor had the key. Miss liucknell was staying in the house. Anthony Robson, superintendent of police :—1 par. tially searched the prisoner's house on the 11th of July. We found an Indian basket, containing bottles of medicine. I searched for a bottle of Fowler's solution of arsenic, but did not find it. On Friday, the oth of August, I received some bottles from Ann Taylor. The search oe. cupied eight hours, and included the stable and coach•house. The premises were watched from the 27th of July, when the prisoner was apprehended. I nowhere about the plus found doctor's tbroken bottles. The nightsoil also was examined. The trial lasted three days. Mr. James in his opening address made some statements which were not sustained by evidence. Thus Mr. James asserted that it was not until after the prisoner had been repeatedly pressed by Dr. Jackson that he consented to call in other advice, when it was completely proved that the prisoner had quarrelled with Dr. Jackson for not earlier warning him of his wife's danger, and had expressed his belief that if Dr. Hazlewoud had seen her earlier she would not have died. The defence of Mr. Serjeant Wilkins was observable for two cir cumstances. He unequivocally admitted that the deceased bad died from the effects of arsenic, but yet pointed suspicion at no person. In summing up, Baron Martin plainly indicated to the jury what their verdict should be, and, in allusion to the severe censures passed by Mr. Serjeant Wilkins on the medical men in allowing the poisoning process to go on for twenty days after they strongly suspected it, said that in his opinion " their conduct, as detailed by (themselves, was reprehensible." At the close of his address the learned judge used these remarkable words : It is for you to say whether you can safely come to the conclusion that the prisoner administered the arsenic. I am unable. 1 may observe that, if I were to make a stir• mine, there is a person upon whom my fancy would rest rather than upon the prisoner. The jury retired at a quarter to six o'clock, and after an absence of ten minutes returned with a ver dict of Not Guilty. The learned Judge said : The countzy are indebted to you for your great attention, and I myself feel extremely thankful for the care you have bestowed. I would have interfered sooner, but thought it more satisfactory to allow the case to be folly heard. It is impossible to mistake the person to whom tho suspicion of the judge points; and the case will probably shortly come before the public in another shape. STRAHAN, PAUL, AND BATES. AT the Court of Bankruptcy, on Monday, the question was argued before Mr. Commissioner Evans whether, in the case of Strahan, Paul, and Bates, a division of assets could be made ofi their estates, the firm having, in addition to their banking business, traded as navy agents, under the firm of Halford and Co. Mr. Commissioner Evans, after carefully review ing the arguments brought before him, viewed the case as similar to that of an individual trader, and gave judgment in favour of a joint account, under which all creditors must come. On Tuesday the bankrupts were brought up before Mr. Commissioner Evans, to undergo their final examination. An elaborate report upon the ac counts of the firm, as investigated by Mr. Turquand, the accountant, was read by Mr. Lawrence. Mr. Turquand, in his investigations, appeared to attribute the cause of the failure of the bank to a debt of Lord Mostyn amounting to 89,973/. 13s. 9d., and the speculations in Italian railroads, by which 209,3821. 3s. sd. were lost : The unfortunate connection (continues Mr. Turquand) with Messrs. J. H. and E. T. Gandell, commencing in 1852, and resulting at the date of the bankruptcy in a debt to the bank of 2iii1,3821. 38. bd., with liabilities in addition to their account to the extent of 103,8701., coupled with the heavy withdrawal of capital in respect to Lord Mostyn's debt and the Mostyn Colliery, may be fairly looked upon as the cause which brought about the disastrous failure of the bank. [These Italian railroad schemes, and the drainage of Lake Capestang, in the south of France, although costing vast sums, appear to have been looked upon by the bankrupts as a certain source of ultimate wealth, and in consequence enormous sums were e:..- pended upon the realisation of the project.] The time arrived when the resources of the bank were no longer able to meet this constant drain upon it. Ac ceptances were then given, and other heavy periodical liabilities incurred, for the purpose of providing the requi