The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-01 00:00:00

Extraordinary Death from Poison.

Yesterday morning Win-, Htfinphreys ,resnmea an
inquiry, at the Green Gate:Du/ern, ..;ity-road,.re-
specting the death, under verge .singular. circum—,
stances, of Henry Poplar, wed 55 years. The .de-,
ceased had been for several "yelifs an inmate of, St.,
Luke's workhouse. He expirsSl on the bth, tilt: For a
short time previous to his d?ath he had been under'
the care of Mr. Ilarris, the medical officer of the
workhouse, for pains in the region of the bladder.
After the deceased's death Mr. Harris gave Li certi-
ficate to the effect that the deceased had died from
disease of the kidneys, the result of natural causes.
The deceased's brother hail iiiisgiviwYs about the
cause of his relative's death, and he communicated -
with the coroner for the district, Mr. Humphreys,
who ordered an inquest to be held. A witness
deposed that on the day of the deceased's death
he found him dead in the water-closet at the work-
house. Dr. James Edwards said that in conse-
quence of having received directions from the coroner
fiffr had made a post-mortem examination of de-
ceased's body. As he could discover no natural
cause for the deceased's death, he sent the stomach
and intestines to Dr. Letheby for analysis. 'Witness
believed from the first that the deceased had died
from the effects of prussic acid. Dr. Henry
Letheby's report of the analysis of the stomach
and intestines of the deceased was read to the
court. It stated the heart was quite healthy. The
kidneys were large and much congested. - The
stomach was Of a deep violet colour, and it.con-
tained 3oz. of- an alkaline liquid of a deep colour,
bearing the odour. of prussic add.' The mucous -
coat of the stomach was much inflamed;-and- was of -
a violet colour from the action of poison. 'On analy-
sis he found that it contained nearly thrbe grains of
prussic acid, and about 10 grains of carbonate of
potash. There was no doubt, therefore, that the
idea-fir-was occasioned by cyanide of potassium, of
which about 12 grains remained in the stomach.
There was no other poison present. Dr. C. 11.
Harris, the medical officer at the workhouse, said
that the deceased had been ill since the 4th of No-
vember. Witness ordered him to the sick ward of
the workhouse. He was therefore granted permis-
sion to go and see a doctor. He had during the
course of his illness been under care of three doctors
at three hospitals. Witness had made inquiries since
the deceased's death, and he had been informed
that in none of those doctors' prescriptions had any
medicine containing prussic acid been prescribed.
The deceased had permission to leave the work-
house two days every week to see an hospital doc-
tor, as he preferred their treatment. The jury,
after some deliberation, returned a verdict " That
deceased died from the effects of having taken
cyanide of potassium,but under what circumstances
it was swallowed there was no evidence to prove."

Were the Directors of Overeni, GurnPy,

and Co. to Blame ?

The Tim's, after some shifting, has entered the
field as the apologists of the directors of Overend,
Gurney, and Co. (Limited). In the City Article of
Wednesday an attempt is made to show that the
business was not insolvent at the time it was formed
into a Limited Liability Company. We believe the
motives of the City Editor to be good. lie knows
that at the root of the unequalled depression which
has lasted for so many months is the want of belief
on the part of the public in the honesty of those
who have directed the affairs of their Joint-Stock
Companies. The most prominent and notorious
scandal was that of this celebrated Discount House.
If he can prove that the directors were not to blame
in this affair, the directors of no others need de-
spair of showing themselves as innocent as lambs
being led to the slaughter. We fear, how-
ever, that the attempt will not do ; and that
no amount of writing will wipe out the
stain. The liabilities taken over were £4,109,000,
and the assets handed in by the old firm
amounted to £4,887,000, leaving a surplus of
£688,000. Among these assets is the sum of
£500,000 for goodwill. This the Limited Company
paid. The company also paid £1,000,000, together
with a large portion of another million, being the
proceeds of the call of £lO, which, when fully paid,
will realise a million. Yet there are not sufficient
funds in the hands of the liquidators seven months
and a-half after the failure to pay more than ss.
in the pound. The partners of the old firm could
not, unaided, have carried on their business. This
they saw and knew even in a time of unparalleled
buoyancy. They had either to stop or take the
course they did. That course would not have been
available had they honestly told the truth. None
of their shareholders were aware that the private
estates of the partners, the balance due to them in
the books of the old firm, and the goodwill, were
all thrown in to make up an acknowledged defi-
ciency in the assets to cover the liabilities. Had
they known this they would have been aware of
the insolvency of the old house. It is argued
that the principal losers consisted of relations,
connections, and faithful friends of the old firm—
that one of the most active directors not only sub-
scribed for 700 shares and held them to the last,
but was at the moment of stoppage also a depositor
to the extent of £3o,ooo—and that one of the
managing directors made, a few weeks before the
final crash, an investment in the shares of the con-
cern of money he could ill spare. No doubt all
this is true. It was the " relatives, connections,
" and faithful friends," who were directly interested
in staving off the insolvency, and in making a
vigorous attempt to tide the concern over its diffi-
culties. Those who saw their own ruin in the ruin
of the house might fairly be expected to play a
deep game to avert that ruin. It was well known
that the GURNEYS used every possible means to
support the shares on the Stock Exchange against
the full force of the run by the speculators previous
to the failure. They induced their friends to aid
them ; nor did they stop there—as many an unfor-
tunate knows to his cost. 'flue Directors announced
a meeting when a dividend was to be declared, a
few weeks before the company failed with such
disastrous ruin to all concerned. Here was another
gross deception. But it may be proved that the
directors saw their way to a dividend, and were
justified in making this declaration. Nothing could
more tend to strengthen confidence than the free
purchase of shares by the directors, and no doubt
not one, but many, endeavoured thus to frighten
the " bears" from their prey. This, together with
the bold proposal of a dividend, were the only steps
open to those who at all hazards were bent on sup-
porting the company, and were utterly regardless
of the means by which this end was to be accom-
plished. It is alleged that the company was
formed upon misrepresentation, amounting almost
to fraud, and that the last act of the directors was
in keeping with the first—viz., a shameful attempt
to deceive the public. Mr. J. H. GURNEY affirms
that the prospectus was intended to give—and, to
the best of his belief, does give—the honest opinion
of the directors as to the probable results of taking
over the business. Now we have some knowledge
of what the results have been. Had the directors,
or even the old partners, anticipated this result
they would not have formed the limited company.
The firm would have failed, the shock would have
been severe, and the ruin awful. But some of the
frightful calamities that have sprung from the
Limited Liability Company would have been
averted. The names of GURNEY and OVEREND

would not now have been a bye-word indelibly
branded on the greatest commercial scandal that
Iris yet transpired to disgrace the English name.—

Anglo-American Times.

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Devon and Somerset Railway, and it is expected that
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