The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-04 00:00:00

THE RUGELEY POISONING CASE.

Considerable uneasiness is experienced among the po-
lice authorities at Rugeley in consequence of the purport
of a private letter received from Professor Taylor by Mr.
Gardner, the attorney for the prosecution, having: in a
manner unaccounted for by any one reached the kno-x-
-ledge of the prisoner William Palmer, who, immediately
upon gaining the intelligence, wrote a letter to the coro-
ner.

After the proceedings of the inquest of Wednesday,
and when the jury had retired, Captain Hatton, the
chief of the Staffordshire police, applied to the Coroner
to have the letter given up to him. The following con-
versation then ensued :
The Coroner—l must know the reason why you want
it. I have not got it here.
Captain Hatton--It is of great importance that we
should have the letter. The counsel for the prosecution
will be in Stafford to-morrow, and I am anxious to place
it before them to have their opinion upon it. I think
it may be an important feature in the case. Will you
i gve a copy to Mr. Gardner
The Coroner—Yes, I can give Mr. Gardner a copy.
A di.4cussion ensued as to when the coroner would
furnish the copy asked for, at the end of which he re-
marked, " I do not know what to do about giving it.
I am rather in the dark."
Mr. Gardner—You admit you nave icceivea a
I do not think you can su
ppre,,s it. I want to know
bow the information
.ontained in it was communicated
to Palmer

Captain Hatton—l am not safe in 6. is matter. There
is a great traitor somewhere. I will take my oath I
never let the communication escape me.

. -
Mr. Gardner—The information in the letter you have
was sent in a private letter to me.
The Coroner—l do not wish to suppress the letter ;
neither can I tell how Palmer obtained the information.
That he did get it almost as soon as you (Ur. Gardner)
is evident, for it appears in the letter.
Captain Hatton—l repeated that there is a fearful
traitor somewhere, and that it is necessary I should have
a copy of this letter. I know enough of the letter to say
that. How can I place confidential communications in
a man's hand until it is explained !
The Coroner—l think I will forward it to the Secre-
tary of State.

Captain Hatton—Will you send it to the Secretary
of State by this night's post
The Coroner—l will, and ask him whether lam right
or wrong.

Captain Hatton—Perhaps it will be better to enter
into a full explanation with Sir G. Grey, or I shall have
to do so when Igo up to London on Monday.
The Coroner—l will send up au account as correct as
I can recollect of what has taken place.
The subject then dropped.
The letter in question is understood to have been sent
to the coroner by Palmer at the time the inquiry was
pending concerning Conk's death, and before the result
of Professor Taylor's analysis had transpired. It is said
to intimate that Palmer had seen a letter from Professor
Taylor, stating that he had not been able to detect in
Cook's stomach any trace of mineral poison. A letter
to that effect was received by Mr. Gardner, who is posi-
tive that he did not divulge the information. The police
authorities cannot understand how Palmer became ac-
quainted with what was then a secret.
Disclosures of a most startling character, and of a
nature almost unaurpassed in the history of crime, are
expected to be made before the termination of the in-
quiry in this extraordinary case. It is confidently as-
serted that, upon resuming the inquiry, evidence will be
given to show that Mrs. Palmer, before her death, ex-
claimed to a female attendant in reference to her hus-
band, "Is that wretch in the house t He's murdered
ate." The symptoms exhibited during her illness and at
her decease are alleged to be precisely similar to those
detailed as manifested by the unfortunate Cook. A
surgeon in Stafford, who attended Walter Palmer
several times during the short illness which preceded
his death, will depose that on the occasion of one visit
Walter complained to him that the pills he had sent hiss
to take the previous night had made him awfully ill. The
surgeon,not having sent his patient any pills, told him so,
and was answered that he must be mistaken, for his
brother ( \Valiant Palmer) had given him the pills, and
declared that he (the Staff brd surgeon) had sent them.
Of the 23,0001. for which William had insured Walter's
life, we are assured not a farthing
was paid by any
of the various omees, and therefore, if the crime
of fratricide, as supposed, was committed with the view
of gaining that sum, the intent was happily frustrated.
Startling as it may appear, the tisanes of no fewer than
16 persons are mentioned at nugeley, respecting whose
death by poison at the hands of the prisoner statements
are made.
The coffins containing the remains of the deceased Ann
and Walter Palmer were, upon their exhumation, con-
veyed from the family vault to the Talbot Inn at Ruge-
ley, and opened, in the presence of the coroner and jury,
in the commercial room of the inn. The coffin of Mrs.
Palmer, made of oak,
was first opened. having been
buried a long time, and the gaseous exhalations being
able to escape through the porous wood, the corpse was
comparatively dry, and the smell educed endurable. On
the removal of the outer coffin a hole was bored in the
leaden receptacle in which Walter Palmer's body was
confined, and instantly a most sickening and noxious
eflluvium escaped, which permeated the entire building,
affected parties at the other end of the inn, and produced
a sickening effect on all in the immediate vicinity of the
coffin. Subsequently the leaden lid was removed, and the
spectacle presented by the body was absolutely frightful.
The cheeks were so terribly distended as to extend to
side of the coffin ;
one eye was opened, and the
mouth partially so, presenting the appearance of a hor-
rible grin and grimace. Each limb was also swollen to
prodigious proportions, and the sight was revolting in the
extreme. Nearly all the jurors were afflicted with vomit-
ing and fainting. After the re-interment of the corpses
considerable time elapsed before fumigations could mete
the house at all bearable ; even a week afterwards the
close room in which the bodies were opened strongly
smelt of the disgusting odour, and it was found necessary
to have the walls scraped and repapered, the • doors and
woodwork repainted, and a portion of the floor on which
foul matter had dropped from the coffin of the male de-
ceased re-laid, it being found impossible by planing to
divest the boards of the noxious stain and stench.
We are informed that the Attorney-General and Mr.
Scotland are retained for the prosecution of Palmer.
Mr. Huddlestone is mentioned as engaged to assist
Sergeant Wilkins in defending Pahner.l

The public clocks of Cork were en Tuesday changed
to Dublin time, pursuant to a proclamation of the mayor.
The city clocks were therefore set tea minutes in ad-
vance of the sun. A similar change has been prsuctically
adopted in Limerick and in some other towns.
Mr. Drummond's late speech at Guildford is r sprinted
conspicuously by the Journal de St. Peteraiourg.