The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-04-04 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY DEATH BY POISON.

(From the Afatichealer Guardian.)
The township of Chariton How has this week been considerably
agitated by a very shocking occurrence--the death of a woman by
poison, under eirearnetanties of great peculiarity, and of no incon-
siderable mystery, as they at present stand.
It appears that some time ago, a man named James Hunt, who
had been a soldier, and, we believe, had lived in the neighbourhood
of Tiverton, In Devonshire, none to reside in this neighbourhood,
and about three months ago took • house in Mansell-street,
Chorlton-row. In a very short time afterwards, he brought to the
house a woman, whose name we believe is Mary Pinconte. She
remained there; and it was quite notorious in the neighbourhood
that an illicit connexion subsisted between them, though his wife
was at the time also living in the house. We believe 31n.•Hunt
made repeated complaints to the neighbours of his conduct, and on
one occasion lett die bowie, but was prevailed upon to return to it.
She is represented to have been a woman of a very peaceable and
ineffeitsive disposition, and, so far as we can learn, was never heard
to utter any threats, when she complained of her husband's mis-
conduct. On Monday last she went out to wash early in the
morning, and soon afterwards her husband and the woman with
him, having breakfasted, begs& to exhibit very alarming symptoms
of illness, on which Mr. Thomley, a surgeon who resides in the
neighbourhood, was sent for; and he, from the appearances he
observed, immediately suspected that they had taken poison. OD
questioning them, they told him that they had breakfasted on some
coffee which had been fir.t prepared on Sunday, when the whole
family partook of it, and warmed up again on that morning. Mr.
Thoruley tasted the coffee, and, from its effect on the
palate felt little doubt that it contained some mineral poison; but
we believe he did not, at that time, proceed to analyse it. Hunt
then told hint that he was not on very good terms with his wife,
and he was afraid she had been playing him some trick. He added,
that he would ask her to drink some of the coffee when he came
home, and if she refused, he would send fur a constable, and have
her taken into custody.
Owing, prohahly, to copious vomiting—partly spontaneous, and
partly produced by the use of emetics—both Hunt and the woman
recovered before evening, after suffering severely from the effects of
the deleterious substance they had swallowed. Whether anything
material took place when the wife returned home, we do not know,
but it appears fr en subsequent declarations of her husband, that,
on the following morning. ht got up before her, poured some water
into the coffee left the preceding morning, warmed it on the fire,
and, when his wife got up, totted her if she would take some. She
said she would, if it was ready ; he then poured cut a cup ; she
drank it without hesitation, and then went out to the house if •
gentleman in Manchester, which she WAS employed to clean.
tihertly after her arrival there, she was seized with a violent pain is
the Stomach, and became unable to proceed vtitirlies work. She
was therefore sent home in a coach, and Mr. Thornley, the surgeon
who attended her husband and Mary Pincome, anti who, we be-
lieve, happened to call on his patients about the time when Mrs. ,
Hunt returned, was idortned by her husband that sbe had takes
some of the crate. He saw her, and found her labouring under
the symptoms usual in cases of poison ; but she either was, or
affected to be, entirely ignorant of the cause of her illness, and re-
fused to take an emetic, or any other temody. After languishing
In groat pain until ten o'clock in the evening, she expired. Her
death was immediately meaioned by her husband to the neigh-
bours, and he stated. without reserve, the circumsu.nces under
which he had given her the coffee. Indeed, we have been inform td
that he was the person who first communicated the fact of his wife's
death to the Coroner, and informed him how it arose. Under these
circumstances, of course, the Coroner issued his warrant fur an in.
quest ; and the body of the deceased was opened by Mr. Thonaley
and Mr. Partington, who found moat unequivoind traces of the re-
senee of arsenic in the stomach. We believe they also sent a por-
tion of Its contents to Dr. llenry, who, after subjecting it to the
usual tests, fully concurred in their opinion.
The inquest on the body was held on Thursday evening last, but
no further light was thrown on the subject ; at..l the inquest was
adjourned fora week, to give time for the production of additional
evidence.

On Tuesday last, as a tine little boy. about three sears
W old, named Charles, san of Mr. Hush Etherton, of or-
thing, while on a visit to his grandfather, at tsiddlesharn,
was eating his dinner, a piece of bread got into his wind-
pipe in the act of laughing, and before assistaucc could be
afforded, the poor little fellow was suffocated.
A whale, measuring 10 feet in length, has been brought
into the harbour of Innisturk, county Mayo. As it is one
of those fish which become the property of the Crown,
when caught upon the shores of our Island, the captors are
only entitled to a iAlvege.