The San Francisco call., 1896-08-23

the probable death of another, is detained
in the City Prison pending the inquest OF
the Coroner. With him is the partially
blind George Malaber, the patient who
administered the dose of cocculus indicus.
believing it to be black draught. Both
men were taken from the Seventeenth
street station at an early hour yesterday
morning and conveyed to the City Prison.
Yesterday afternoon both seemed in
half-stupefied condition, and neither de-
sired to place the blame any further than
themselves.
81 have been sick with la grippe for
two weeks said Sherlock, "and yester-
day obtained permission to take an after
noon off. l went out on the Ingleside
cars and walked about at the end of the
line in the sunshine. I came back to
town, got som ething to eat, and returned
to the hospital about 10 o'clock IN the
evening. The ianitor met me in the hall
and told me l was under arrest. / was
completely dumfounded.
my ward is convalescent ward. The
patients there need but very little attend
ance. Netcher and Murphy, though, were
to have an operation performed to-day,
and / was instructed to give them each
two ounces of the black draught between
half-pas 2 and o'clock in the afternoon.
When left the hospital gave the key of
the medicine closet to Malaber and direct
ed him to give the dose at the proper
time. / showed him where the bottle was
on the shelf and left.
Malaber has frequently taken the bottle
to the druggist to get ii refilled with the
physic and was familiar with its shape.
"The bottle OF cocculus indicus / had
not had occasion to use for nearly month.
Then it was used as germicide and was
rubbed externally on the body.
81 was positive that this bottle, which Is
about the same size as that containing the
black draught, was at the rear Of the shelf
behind all the other bottles.
"The only theory l can advance Is that
one of the physicians must have had occa-
sion to use the poison and had returned it
to the shelf, placing it in front of the
black draught.
when Mallaber went to the closet he
put his hand on the poison bottle thinking
it the bottle of physic.'
Mr.. Malaber's eyesight is so affected that
he can barely make out the large head
lines of newspaper. He cannot distin-
guish objects farther than two or three
feet away.
II remembered how the bottle looked
and the size of it." said he. II put my
hand on a bottle that was In the place
where 1 expected to find the black
draught l poured it out and 1t was black
like the physic.
"About an hour after I had given the
patients the draught Netcher went into an
epileptic mt. l called doctor and he told
me had given the wrong medicine
The bodies of Netcher and Murphy lie
at the Morgue.
Richard Sherlock is g. man about so wears
old. Hewas born in Ireland and has been
nurse for about twenty eight years. He
acted in the capacity of nurse in an insane
asylum in New York, under DIR. John K.
Gray, for twenty years. He came to the
City and County Hospital in 1888 and has
been considered trustworthy and eff
cient nurse there during his eight years
service. He is widower, as is also Mala-
ber Sherlock has no family, but Malaber
has little girl ten years old in England.
Malaber has been a patient at the hospital
for thirteen months, being treated for
atrophia OF the optic nerve. He is car
penter by profession.
DIR. Dudley said: at is a very unfor-
tunate thing, indeed. Sherlock directly
violated the rules of the hospital in giving
the key of the medicine-cIoset to patient.
He should have notified Nurse O'Connor
of ward A, Immediately below his own,
ward B. Sherlock was a good nurse and
has always been trustworthy. He had
sole charge of the "eye ward and also
attended to mild surgical cases. 1 do not
know what punishment may be meted out
to him by the law.
terrible piece of carelessness. He has al
ready been discharged by DIR. Stable and
q new nurse has been pnt in his place.
Malaber could not be expected to know
about the bottles in the closet. They are