The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-14
scOrrEsR POIsONINe FRIAL.
A Famous Gaze q Circumstanfiai Evt.
denCO.
From IAs Spectator.

and wandering youth he had settled down
In England as q teacher OF modern languages
About the year Isso he proceeded In TINS
capacity TO Edinburgh. where he raptdIy
ACQUIRED q lucrative connection. Soon atter
his arrival he became unduly intimate with
one Of his pupils. q Rirl barely sixteen. whom
he married In August. 1888. two months be-
fore the birth Of their frat child. From the
! FIRST the marriage was most unhappy; the
husband was repeatedly and ostentatiously
unfaIthful TO his chiId wife. He beat her'
kicked her. oAned her. cursed her more
b q onos she had to invoke the protection
OF the law, and she was only restrained from
petiti0ning for q divorce by dread OF the
scandal and exposure. Chantrelle sank Ipto
habitual intoxication. His classes feu' on'
and pecuniary difficulties were added to the
wife's other miseries. Tho only redeeminS
feature In her husbands conduct was his
uniform kindness to the children. two little
boys 10 and 9 years old at the time Of Nine.
ChantreIle's death. and q baby born q Few
months before that event.
On New Years Eve. 1877. Nine. ChanteIe
was in the usual good health when sne
had enjoyed In spite Of her vretched life.
Her husbands behavior had been less brutal
since the birth OF the youngest child. The
family dined happily together at their house
In George street. and a bottle OF champagne
was opened In honor Of the festive season.
On New Years Day she was unwell, but from
purely natural causes. She had no appetite
suffered from sickness, and retired carly 10
bed. About 10 O'Clock the servant OF all
work, Mary Byrns, came In 10 wish her GOOD
night and saw q tumble three parts fun OF
lemonade on Q small table by the bedside.
At her mistrcss's request she peeled an or
ange for her and left IL there on q plate with
a few grapes. An hour or 30 later NJ. Chan
treIle entered the apartment, stayed talking
with his wife. and then retired to the adjoining
bedroom, 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 shortly
before 2. and while she was tidying up the
kitchen she heard means proceeding from her
mistress's bedroom upstairs. Hastily en-
tering, for the door was about q foot open.
she found madame lying in bed with the bed
clothes partially OF her, unconscious. -aw-
fully 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. Al last. after considerable
delay, Chantrslle went OF TO summon Mr..
Carmichael. q general practitioner in the
nstRhborhood, who arrived at $50. to ind
Nine. Chantreue profoundly and COM
| pletely unconscious" There wAa q strong
escape Of Eas In the room. though Byrne
swore afterward 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 respiration. and. with Chaptrelle's
consent, despatched a card to DR.. NOW Sir
| Henry Littlejohn. the eminent toxicologist.
begging him to come at once If you would
like to see q case Of coal gas poisoning On
his arrival in an hours time the latter formed
the grAvest view Of the case. At his suG-
gestion Nine. Chantrelle was conveyed to
A. pav.I TnArunarv ~hAFA ahA AiAd ahOut
O'Clock, without having recovered con-
seriousness. A post norton examination
conducted the next day by Drs. Macla gan.
and Littlejohn 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 perfectly 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 we're sufficiently notorious in Edinburgh.
and Immediately on quitting the house In
George street. DR.. Litlejohn. who was sur
geon to the police once. had sent TO request
the gas company to inspect the promises.
One Of the gasAtterS noticed in the architravO
Of the window ia Nine. Chaptrelle's bod
room a place from which q gas br0cket bad
been removed, and on opening the shutter
he discovered q pipe loose between the archi-
travs and the wall. On inspection the pLae
was found to be broken. and from the hole
the gas, when turned on at the meter. escaped
freely: q piece Of piping about two inches
long was on the ledge at the foot OF the shut
ter, and had evidently been wrenched on by
bending backward and forward: the break
was quite fresh. and could not have been
caused accidentally. DR.. Littlejohn had been
convinced that Nine. ChantrelIe was suf-
tering from the effects Of narcotic poisoning.
and when the post morten proved nuRatory
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
up In one Of the rooms, enough drugs to stock
q surgery, including various preparations OF
choral and extracts Of opium, both nuid
and solid. On Saturday, January S, imme-
diately after his wife's funeral. during which
he displayed the most edifying emotion,
Chantrelle was arrested and lod sed In the
Cation prison. A fortnight later Drs. IittloV
john and Maolagan reported that a chemical
analysis Of the contents Of the stomach and
other organs OF the deceased revealed no
traces Of poison. vegetable or mineral:
but they found on the sheet and bedsOwn
i~ndisputabe evidence OF the presence Of
opium, accompanied in each case by por-
lions Of grapes and orange, substances which
had been previously recognized in the con-
tents OF the stomach. Their analysis was
confirmed by Messrs. Crum Brown and Fraser,
professors respectively Of chemistry and
materia medica In the University OF Edin-
burgh.
ChantreIle was tried before Lord Justice
Clerk Moncrieff on May 7. The prosecution
was conducted by the Lord Advocate, after
ward Lord Watson; the Solicitor-General
Mr.. J. II. Macdonald. now Lord KinRsburRh,
and Messrs. Muirhead and Burnet. advocates
depute. For the prisoner appeared Mr.,
after ward Lord. Trayner; Mr., now Lord,
Robertson; and the present Lord Advocate
Mr.. Thomas Shaw As Ia we'll known Scotch
criminal procedure admits Of no opening
speech from counsel. and the Jury have TO
wrestle a. best they may with the apparently
disconnected facts as they accumulate. The
relevancy OF much OF the earlier evidence
10 liable TO be missed. and when, as in the
Ardlamont case. the Crown opens with a mas.
Of complicated financial details, fifteen Rood
men and true are bewildered in a fos. from
which they do not always emerge.
In ChAntrelle's trial, however. the eyidsnc.
fell automatically into logical and consecu-
tive order. Mary Byrne was clear az TO the
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