The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-07-03 00:00:00

F LTRTHER PARTICULARS.

The person who made the entry into the house where the
dreadful tragedy was perpetrated was panted J en kin Thomas
an engineer in the emteoy of Messrs. Chawner and Co., and
ill whose employment also the deceased man Duggan had
been for between three and four, ears Ile was at first en-
gaged as a silversmith in the manufacturing part of the
business, hut latterly tilled the office of clerk in the counting-
house. Ile is spoken of as being a very steady, sober, and
intelligent neon. For the last few weeks, and prior to
his dismissal from the firm, it Was noticed that he was
very low-spirited, and on Saturday week when leaving, .e
of the workmen expressed a hope that he would not be long
without a situation. Duggan replied in a low and desponding
voice, "Oh, I shall never Want !" The wife is said by the
neighbours to have been a very respectable woman, and the
children were always noticed as being clean and apparently
well fed. They were well known in the neighbourhood and
niacin noticed. Duggan was raid to he suffering from an
affection of the Ituigs, which made him low and despond-
ing.
The letter, which was written to the inspector of police at
the Smithfield station, was received there by the acting-
inspector by the first post, and at once opened by him and
acted upon. Mr. Superintendent Foster at once telegraphed
to Bristol, and ascertained that the brother of the deceased
man did live in Bristol, and he was, of course, communicated
with. A reply was received in London later in the after-
noon that the mother of the unfortunate woman Bra.
Duggan) would be in town in the evening.
- -.

Two bottles, containing small quantities of prussic acid,
were found in the house where the dreadful crime use
committed—one being in the sitting.rooin on the first
floor, and the other iu the room above, where the mother
and six children were. In the bed where the mother and
three of the children lay was also found a spoon with
poison upon it. It is thought the children were first
poisoned, Dr. Wilson giving it as his opinion that some
of them were poisoned whilst asleep. This conclusion
is arrived at in consequence of the peaceful ex pr, siren
of their features. When discovered the mother .d children
nets all found undressed and in bed, with the clothes over
them. Duggan was also undressed, and in bed in the back
room. In the sitting room was found on the table * Bible
opened, which It is supposed he had been reading before
going to bed. Ills said he was a Unitarian by faith, and was
a kind and loving husband and father. A light was noticed
by the neighbours opposite in the sitting room as late as four
o'clock on Monday month g, and by its flickering It was
imagined that a number of papers were bring destroyed. It
is supposed that it was after this that the letter written by
Duggan to the police inspector was posted, and that he then
returned home and committed suicide. It is rumoured
that the Messrs. Uhawner have from time to time been robbed
of quantities of silver spoons and other articles, and that
this preyed upon the deceased's mind, although whether he
was suspected or not is not known. lire man Jerikin
Thomas, the engineer, speaks of Duggan as a kind, inoffen-
eive man. and says there was not a steadier man in the world
The two bottles which contained the prussic acid were both
marked as " poimn" although no name of a chemi.t appeared
on either of them. Tire police are, however, informed where
the poison was urchased, and inquiry, of course, will be
made an to how such a large quantity as two ounces was
served. The poison is what is known as Scheele's prussic

From a later report we learn that on the night of the mur-
ders Dogmao took his wife and children out for a walk, and
returned hi me at a little before eleven o'clock. Almost im•
mediately afterwards he left, awl called at the Wheatsheaf
tavern, llosier-lane, and asked Mr. Wright, the landlord, for
a quart of ale. lie then left, awl he was not seen again until
hail-past four o'clock on Monday morning. when a man saw
him dropping a letter into the St. Bartholomew Hospital let-
ter box.

Another account nays that when the bodies of the woman
and children were discovered, the bed clothes were in each
case perfectly smooth, no indications of a struggle were ob-
servable, and the absence of any outward trace of poison
about the bodies, anti their marked cleanliness, leads to the
inference that each in their turn must have been washed
and arranged in the manner in which they were found
after the d.nolly mixture had been administered. On a
omit table in the front room was found a Bible and
a bottle on the side labelled "poison." From the Bible,
which was closed, a paper was projecting about two
irches, and this proved to be the marriage certificate
of the deceased man and his wife, which was performed at
George's Church, in the county of Gloucester. On the
bed in the same room a small spoon was alto found. In the
back room the Midland was discovered in bed with his right
arm slightly raised anti his head resting upon It ; and on A
chair at the side was 10111.1 another bottle labelled " poison!'
Nearly the whole of the chibiren's wearing apparel had been
neatly folded up and placed on the bed where the wretched
man was lying. A further search being made, it was ascer-
tained that several letters or written documents and pawn-
broker's dupile des had been destroyed, the burnt fragments
of which are itt the charge of the police.

The Duggan family appear Cohere been well known In This-
tot. Tuesday's Bristol Post says :—The supposed murderer is
a native of Bristol, and is brother of Dlr. F. J. Duggan, lamp
manufacturer and importer of oils, Milk-street. Ills wife
was Miss Challicom, whose brother now resides in Sussex.
place, Ashley-road. The eldest of the murdered children was
about fourteen sears of age. Duggan came to Bristol at
Whitsuntide for the purpose of visiting his brother, not not
having given any Intimation of his visit, the latter and his
family were at Weston-super-Mare, so they did not meet
At teat time those who haw him noticed soniethins very
strange in his manner. lie cliche of his children as being all
consumptive, anti !Ail they wirolti soon fade away. Ile also
stated that Fred's meaning his brother's) children were In
the same COllii itiOn, and this expression was rt carded as very
remarkable from the fact that lie had not seen the children.
On Sunday he wrote a letter to his brother, in which he se-
quel:aft' Min with his intentions, and bade him goad.liy.
That letter was received within a few minutes of the receipt
of the telegram annomicieg the murder.

On Tuesday evening a post mortem examination, made at
the reqinst of the coroner, by Dr. Wilson, and lasting over
two days, was completed. Four of the bodies were examined
—three on Monday, and one on Tueiday—namely, the
mother, the eldest daughter (Emma), the youngest boy
:Beorge Henry and the father. The results went to show
that all four had been poisoned by prussic acid. There was a
strong odour of the acid in the blood and contents of the
stomachs of all of them, and in those of the mother
it is said to have been alino+t overpowering. The
same odour from the mouth of the body of the father
was very perceptible on Monday morning, when Dr.
Wilson was first called in, and the post mortem examine.-
timi in that case was particularly directed towards any
evidences or otherwise of brain disease. It disclosed a scar
on the right eyebrow and some opacity in the membranes
ft the brain, but in othPr respects the brain was healthy.
'rhe lungs were congested, and there were indications of in-
cipient consumption. The body, besides, hail been rutitured
on the left side, which would of itself. in Dr. Wilson's opinion,
produce depression. In the itoniach a small quantity of
reddish gild wsa found, which smelt strongly of prosaic acid,
and which, on being isubmitted to a chymical test, gave every
indication of that poison. About nineo'cl token Monday morn-
ing, when Dr. Wildon examined the bodies, the rigor InOrtitl
had commenced in these of all the six children, but not no
iti those of the father and mother, and he thence formed the
opinion that neither the father nor mother hail been then
long dead. The appearances varied much. The teeth in
most cases were clinched, with the tongues slightly protruding,
but that 11141 not apply to the bodies of the parents or of one
or two of the children, the distinction in that respect pro-
bably aching from the difference In the dose. It is Dr.
Wilson's belief that the poison was administered in a spoon
as the innocent victims lay in bed, and probably as they
slept. In toe case of the eldest child, aby if thirteen, his
body, unlike all the rest, was found slightly turned on one
side, as if he had resisted.
Each id the two bottles which hal contained the poison,
and which were found, one in a room on the first floor and
the other in one of the bedrooms on the floor above, was thus
labelled outside Hydrocyanic acid, of Scheele's strength.
Minimum dose, one drop. N B —This preparation is rather
more than twice as powerful as the solution obtained by
Vauquelin's process. It is necessary to be exceedingly care-
ful ill the preservation of hydrocyanic acid, otherwise the
tiuiuhit bee mien weaker, and at lenrh almost inert, although
, it niay still remain colourless. This chance may be ffectn-
; ally prevented by keeping the vial perfectly closed, inverted,
1 and in a cool place." Each was an ounce bottle, and was
, empty when found on the premises. The word" Poiwin "
. was legibly printed on both. ,eheele's is said to be the
strongest form of the acid used medicinally. There is some
rea.on to believe that the poison in this case w. purchased
on Saturday, and that under somewhat peculiar circum-
stances, which may probably be elicited at the inquest.

The John Bull says : "There are an irnmenle number
of amendments already given notice of on the !rah Church
hill Li the Lbrds. 'I here hive been several meetings of
Influential Costiolviitive Peers, attended by Dr. Ball and
other It lends of the Irish Church, at which, we ore glad to
learn, the greatest unanimity prevailed. Lords cairns and
Salisbury are acting in perfect acciird, and IL is quite possible
MI amendmenc of treat importance, the schwa features of
which we have sketched in one iodine columns, may be
mired by a Peer of inflamice, whidi. while °imolai g more
CollelirrElit endow merit, will propose the setting astile of •
Surplus Beligious Fund, which might be made generally
wend to the Irish people without applying it to secular
uses."