The Portland daily press., 1889-08-12
STILL PITYINo MRS. MAVERICK.
Though She Was Undoubtedly Very
Bad Woman.
Her Trial the Subject on the Streets,
In Learned Papers and In
ParIIament-The Doctors
Getting a Hit
or Two.

LONDON, August 10-The sensation of the
week in England is the verdict in the May
brick case, and the general opinion seems to
be that, though the unfortunate woman was
| tried for murder, she is to be hanged for
adultery. The truth is, Mrs. Maybrick has
been very bad woman. The letters that
were not read at the trial showed her to
have carried ON number Of intrigues with
different men. Nevertheless, she has popu-
lar sympathy. and it is even possible that
her case may result in change In the En-
glish code Of criminal procedure, so as to al
low accused persons to go on the witness
stand In their own defence. Today petit
tions for reprieve have been circulated wide
ly, and numerously signed throughout Lon
don and the provinces, and there Is little
doubt that hundreds of thousands OF names
will be obtained, The petition will be pre-
sented nominally to the Queen, though the
decision lies with Home Secretary Matthews
who. according to official etiquette, must
consult with the justice who sentenced the
prisoner. As both Justice Stephen and Sec
retary Matthews are severe men, il is not al
together improbable that a reprieve will be
refused. Matthews will be supported by the
memory of the Lipski case, in which he re-
sisted popular clamor to the last, and was re-
warded for his temerity by full, written
confession from the murderer. That there
was sufficient doubt as to the cause of May
bricks death to warrant a verdict of acquit-
tai must be admitted when the medical treat
ment of the unfortunate man is considered.
The evidence SHOWS that during his 13 days
illness he was given % different kinds of
medicine. The Chemist and Druggist, a
trade paper, which devoted an elaborate ar
ticle to the scientific aspect of the case, says
the entire course OF treatment Is the saddest
commentary on modern medical science
which we have had for many years. The
old school and new, allopathy and hom@0-
pathy, vegetables and minerals, eulmatives
and explosives, acids and purgatives, were
tried. The whole thing has been tumble
of irrational empiricism, utterly destitute of
scientific order or design, and bringing home
to US FAR too forcibly the fact that the medi-
cal treatment Of today Is as great tOss-up
as 1t was in the days of polypharmacy. The
Law Times also discusses the matter at
length, and decides that from the lawyers
practically useless In difficnlt cases, and mat
it is an alarming fact that, upon almost any
issue involving medical opinion, contrary
ana diametrically conflicting views may be
laid before jury to great extents. Never
theless, the Law Times advocates change
of law to allow prisoners to testify in their
own behalf, though 1t Is OF the opinion that
the verdict Of the jury is just. The discus
sion of the case in Parliament enabled Ar
thur OC0nn0r to make good point for the
home rule movement. When Home Secreta-
ry Matthews stated that the prisoner was
cheered, the jury who found her. guilty
hssed, and Her Majesty's judge mobbed and
hooted, Mr.. O'Connor arose to remark that
such scenes often occur in Ireland, and when
they do the mob Is made TO suffer. Had the
honorable gentleman heard, Mr.. 0Connor
asked whether on this occasion the police
on duty had either batoned, or bayonetted,
or shot any of the crowd? Mr.. Matthews
made no reply. but sat down hurriedly.
The Junior Travellers, one OF the arlsto-
cratic clubs of London. Is anxious to ind out
who the man is who wrote to Mrs. Maybrick
from that institution, and whose letter was
read in court: In this letter which was sim
warned that she had put her footin it by tell
| ing conflicting stories concerning her where
| abouts on certain nights to an aunt OF the
writer. As there are more than 100 Johns in
| the club, the guilty one stands little chance
| Of detection, while all OF them are said to be
l more or less uneasy.
| Should there be any woman anxious to ex-
| pertinent with arsenic, either on their hus-
| bands or on their own compilations, they Will
| have henceforth comparatively little din
| Guilty in obtaining the poison and learning
| how to use it. The newspapers have been
| full of learned disquisitions on arsenical poi
| soniDg, and people who believe in Mrs. May
| bricks guilt have been writing letters sug-
/ gesting various cunning ways in which arse
/ mic could be administered with certainty and
| with minimum amount of risk of discovery.
| 1t has been discovered that there are certain
| districts in Cornwall where crude arsenic may
| be found on the hillsides in considerable
| quantities, and the localities are indicated by
| name. Patent medicines containing arsenic
have obtained an undesired advertisement
| and manufacturers Of cosmetics have let the
| public Into some of the secrets of their trade
Druggists have told of "pick-me-ups." On
| the stock exchange it seems that the jaded
brokers prefer pyretic saline dashed with
lime Juice syrup, or quinine and nux vomica,
or compound of sal volatile, chloric, ether
and essence of ginger. Most of the pharma-
| cistS who have been interviewed on the sub
| ject declare that the use of arsenic as "pick-
| me-up" Is very rare but one tradesman, who,
| it is interesting to learn, is largely engaged
| in dispensing American prescriptions, states
| that among his customers Is a surgeon who
swallows daily a tonic mixture composed
| of gentian and liquor arsenicalis. The Opin
ions Of medical men who have practised in
India have been eargerly sought; and, in view
OF their large experience, 1t Is matter FOL
wonder that none of them were called at the
j Maybrick trial. OF the deaths by poisoning
\ in India, 80 per cent. are due to arsenic. Ii
the Bombay presidency 652 cases of poison
ing by arsenic have occurred during the las
| 10 years. A case Is mentioned Of woman
who was accidentally spoisoned by the exter
nal application of solution of arsenic, bu
she did not die from the effects of 1t until TIVE