The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-09-29
SCOTTISH POISONING TRIAL
4 FAMOUS CASE OF CIRCUM-
 VITAL EVIDENCE.
Death of Physlcian's Wife in Edin-
 burg and Noted Trial Following.

man born at Nantes in 1884, had re-
 cetved regular medical training, but
 had never obtained any professional
 qualifications; and after a stormy and
 wandering youth he had settled down in England as a teacher of modern languages. About the year 1866 he pro. ceeded in this capacity to Edinburgh
 where he rapidly acquired lucrative connection. Soon after his arrival he
 became unduly intimate with one of his pupils girl barely sixteen, whom he married in August, 1868, two months
 before the birth of their first child. From the first the marriage was unhappy; the husband was repeatedly and ostentatiously unfaithful to his child wife. He beat her. kicked her, caned' her, cursed her" More than once she had to invoke the protection of the law, and she was only restrain cd from petltioniug for a divorce by dread of the scandal and exposure. Chantrelle sank into habitual intoxi- cation. His classes fell off, and pecun- iary difficulties were added to the wife's other miseries. The only redeem ing feature in her husbands conduct was his uniform kindness to the chil- dren, two little boys 10 and 8 years old at the time of Mme. Chantreles death, and a baby born few months before that event.
 On New Years Eve, 1877, Mme Chan trelle was in usual good health which she had enjoyed in spite of her Wretched life. Her husbands behavior had been less brutal since the birth of the youngest child. The family din ed happily together at their house in George street, and a bottle of cham pagne was opened in honor of the fes- tive season. On New Years Day she was unwell, but from purely natural causes, She had no appetite, suffered from sickness, and retired early to bed. About 10 o'clock the servant of all work, Mary Bryne, came in to wish her good night and saw tumbler three parts full of lemonade on a small table by the bedside. At her mis- tress's request she peeled an orange for her and left it there on a plate with few grapes. An hour or so later M. Chantrelle entered the apart ment, stayed talking with his wife, and then retired to the adjoining bed- room, which he shared with the two boys, taking the baby with him, for fear it might disturb the mothers rest.
 The next morning Byrne came down down shortly before [, and while she was tidying up the kitchen she heard moans proceeding from her mistress's bedroom upstairs Hastily entering, for the door was about foot open, she found madame lying in bed with the bed clothes partially off her, un- conscious lawfully pale looking, her eyelids closed,' and now and again moaning very heavily" The girl reused her master, and between them they tried, though without success, to awaken the sleeper. At last, after con- siderable delay, Chantrelle went off to summon MT. Carmichael, a general practitioner In the neighborhood, who arrived at S:30, to find Mime. Chantrelle profoundly and completely unconsci- ous." There was a strong escape of gas the the room, though Byrne swore after ward that she had noticed nothing of the sort on her earlier entry. The doctor ordered the immediate removal of his patient into the front bedroom, set to work to promote artificial res piration, and, with Chantrelle's con- sent, despatched card to Dr. (now Sir Henry) Littlejohn, the eminent toxicologist, begging him to come at once If you would like to see a case of coal gas poisoning" On his arrival in an hours time the latter formed the gravest view of the case. At his suggestion Mme. Chantrele was con- veyed to the Royal Infirmary, where she died about o'clock, without hav- ing recovered consciouness. A post nlortem examination conducted the next day by Drs. Maclagan and Little john failed to reveal the cause of death, and the appearances discovered were not in the opinion of the doctors, consistent with gas poisoning. The customary bright patches on the skin were wanting, the blood showed per fectly normal under the spectro-scope while in examining the lungs and the cavities of the body not the faintest odor of coal gas could be perceived.
 The relations between Chantrelle and his wife were sufficiently notorious in Edinburgh, and immediately on quit ting the house in George street, Dr. Littlejohn who was surgeon to the po- lice office had sent to request the gas company to inspect the premises. One of the gasfltters noticed in the archit- rave of the window in Mime. Chan trelle's bedroom a place from which a gas bracket had been removed, and On opening the shutter he discovered 8 pipe loose between the architrave and the wall On inspection the pipe was found to be broken, and from the hole the gas, when turned on at the meter, escaped freely; piece of piping about two inches long was on the ledge at the foot of the shutter, and had evidently been wrenched off by bending backward and forward; the brake was quite fresh, and could not have been caused accidentally. Dr. Littlejohn had been convinced that Mime. Chantrelle was suffering from the effects of narcotic poisoning, and when the post mortem proved nuga- tory he sought the cause in another quarter. Both on the nightgown of the deceased and on the sheets of the bed were certain stains caused apparently by vomited matter. These were cut out and submitted to examination, but not until the police had discovered locked