The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1881-09-17
Inquest.

covery OF a poisonous substance corrosive sub
limate( among the contents Of the stomach.
removed when n post mortsr1 examination on the
body was made. A. there was much reason 10
believe at the time Of Mrs. Russell's death that
1t might be owing TO natural causes brought into
play by intense mental excitement which she
was known to be laboring under, the precautiou
OF commencing the inquest at that time was not
thought OF. Hence the elimination Of the body.
a circumstance deeply painful to the relatives OF
the deceased and shocking to many who were
strangers TO her commented on in severe terms
by a great number Of people and especially by
the ladies of this community: but rendered abso-
lutely obligatory on the Marshal by the wording
of the law which relates to such inquests.
Tn following gentleman were sworn IN a.
jurors viz Messrs W. W. Hall, J. b. Atherton,
John Mott, G.. Fl. Luce ir. J.. Hoting and J. W.
Robertson. The Coroner and jury were convey
ed to the cemetery, and the latter being there
sworn, having the body before them, Mr.. c. F..
Williams gave the necessary evidence iden tifying
it as that of the late Mrs. Russell. The inquest
was then adjourned to the following day.
On Friday 9th inst, the first evidence taken
was that of Mr.. John Russell. husband Of the
deceased. lie deposed that tor a couple Of days
previous to her death, Mrs. Russell had been UNI
we'll, hat that on the morning of Friday July 30,
she had been able to go to breakfast that ut
lunch time twelve o'clock he found her lying
on the bed, but dressed and complaining of pain
in the head and stomach that he remained
with her during the lunch hour, aud, having
business to attend to, requested his stepson 70
stay with her whilst he went into town that
shortly after 2 p. NJ. the latter came to his office
and told him his mother was dead and that he
had no reason to suspect that the deceased would
commit suicide.
DR.. McGrew was the next witness. He had
made a post norton examination of the body of
Mrs. Russell, and saw then appearances likely
to have caused death. The stomach was dis
colored and full of erosions. He examined the
heart and found nothing wrong there. He and
DIR. Emerson put aportion of the stomach and
small intestines into bottles and by order of Mar
shall Parke gave them to DIR. Stangenwald. He
examined the coating of the stomach with DIR.
Stangenwald but was not present when the
stomach etc. were tested. He formed an opinion
that there vas evidence enough of the cause of
death, and suggested it might have been caused
by corrosive subllmate. He identified two bot
ties produce, one marked poison - and the
other laudanum " as similar to those he had
seen in Mrs. Russell's room.
Dr.. Emerson corroborated the evidence given
by DIR. McGrew. The examination of the thoraic
cavity disclosed no cause of death, although the
blood WAS in a very fluid state and very dark,
not turning light as it should have done on ex-
posure to the air. From the appearance of the
stomach and the portion of the bowels they ex-
amined he and DR.. McGrew agreed that there
was sufficient cause on those parts to account
for death. He considered that death was caused
by ITitant poison.
d.. Stangenwald was next examined. He had
examined the contents of the jars given to him
by DIS. McGrew and Emerson in order to ascer-
tain whether any poison was there. He read
the elaborate report Of the results of his exam
ination and analysis which he had supplied to
the Marshal under date Aug, Goth. The report
contains an account in detail of the
processes by which the poison had been
detected, defined, and eliminated. Ten different
methods of testing had been adopted.
The witness thus explained the delay which had
occurred in the production ofhis report. II re-
greet very much that it was not possible to finish
this analysis in a shorter time, but from the
foregoing report you will perceive that an enor-
nous amount of work has been done. To sepa-
rate an absorbed poison, Of a volatile nature,
from organic matters. and to reproduce it in n
pure form, so as to allow of its being weighed,
requires much time and patient labor. The
poison being volatile, no great amount of heat
could at any time be used to push corporations,
or to hurry up the process of decomposition.
Considerable time was also required
for preparing freshly all the test solutions used
sure the undoubted purity of each and every
article employed during the work The report
adds that 1.-the amount of poison which has
been actually separated from the tissues of the
body, in a condition pure enough to be weighed
and to be recognized by every available test,
amounts to 1913 grains. " Death was
produced by poisoning with the corrosive chic
ride of mercury, otherwise called corrosive sub
Innate DIR. S"tangenwald, in his evidence,
further stated that he did not think that the poi
son had been taken more than a few hours be-
fore death, and that from two to three grains of
it was considered the minimum dose to cause
death.
VIM. Tell, police officer, gave evidence as to
finding the bottles, which were produced in Court,
in Mrs. Russel's room.
Mrs. Amanda Powell stated that two or three
weeks before Mrs. Russell's death she had as
sisted her to remove from the hotel to the cot
tage in which she died, and that deceased had
then cautioned her as to one of the before-men-
toned bottles, saying it held poison, and that she
should be careful not to get its contents on to
her fingers.
After a short adjournment the jury proceeded
to the residence of DR.. Stangenwald, in Nuuanu
Avenue, where his labratory is. There DR.. S.
illustrated the various tests made by him in the
analysis. The inquest was then adjourned till
Monday, 18th inst. On resuming, the following
evidence was taken:
John NJ. Lawlor said that he believed deceased
had at times, during periods of great depression,
contemplated suicide. About two months before
her death she wanted him to send for an express
to take her to Waikiki so that she might drown
1890 N NNN~ $500
suicidal mania.
Walter Russell deposed that his mothers age
was between SO and 81; that he had, on going
home for lunch on the 10Th July, found her i'll
and complaining of pain in the chest; that she
grew worse after / p. NJ, cOughed much, had
palpitation of the heart, and felt oppression on
the lungs; splitting up mucus slightly tinged
with blood. He went away to order ice water
at her request, and on his return she asked him
if he had given the order. After that he war
sitting beside her, and she remained 50 long with
ont moving that he thought she had fallen asleep,
but on looking at her he found she was dead.
The jury returned a verdict that Mrs. Ger
trude Augusta Russell came 10 her death by tax
ing corrosive sublimate with suicidal intent.
while laboring under depression of spirits.
The excursion to these Islands which Mr.:
George Bowser endeavored to arrange, and
which has so alarmed a contemporary, appears
from the Prospectus to have been intended to
be a really well-organized affair, and likely to
La-o Iro, n ~ 80 ..~~;ol ,-. 90 $50