The Sun. — 1848-12-26 (London, England)

THE LATE MYSTERIOUS SUICIDE OF A DRUGGIST'S ASSISTANT. (From the Chemical Times.) It is surely a most unusual contingency, that at this time, and in this metropolis, the task should devolve upon us, alone, of commenting upon, nay, of even announcing to the public ear, the occurrence of a case of self-poisoning under cir - _ • •. C?.ran. araltiO of no little suspicion. Notwithstanding the prevalence of the crime of poisoning in England for several years—the public has not yet been so accustomed to these matters that a case of self-murder, occurring in the west of London, should, under the ordinary working of circumstances, furnish no matter for comment in the daily journals of the metropolitan press. Yet such a case has occurred, and the journals have been silent, for which silence rumour is not slow to find a cause. The circumstances of the case, we understand, are these :—The principal assistant in the firm of one of the fashionable dispensing druggists of this metropolis had been guilty of irregular enHes into the dayboek of his principal :—Entrie which led to the suspicion that a misappropriatio of money had, from time to time, been effected. With the view of determining this question, the assistant was called to account; his answers not being satisfactory, the son of the principal immediately proceeded to the young man's securities, to bring the case before them. TO this mission the principal himself was averse, but the son persisted. On his return the assistant was dead ; he had taken nearly an ounce of hydrocyanic acid ! Thus far we do not challenge any one portion of gs ur lotu da sv leaves r et sn t enrl%tli n sus p i coi ounr, cahnadl l ethe es aids rei in demeanour of the i principal. He had strong inference.ing a another direction, involving the t. ques ion why the whole matter was veiled in such imperturbable secrecy ? In the absence of the open intelligence to which the public has a right in all cases of serious import like the one before us, we are under the necessity of publishing a rumour, one which seems, however, to come before us in a most consistent shape. It is asserted that the unfortunate suicide in question—a married man, and a father of many children —had been, up to a certain period, in the receipt of a salary usual to gentlemen filling the responsible position of first dispenser in a large metropolitan establishment—a salary of 2501. per annum. At this period, in an evil hour, some difference occurred between the principal and himself, which led to his receiving notice to leave. To the assistant, a man with wife and family, this prospect of leaving shadowed forth such scenes of penury and distress that he determined to make a most abject apology rather than subject himself to this fate. The apology was made (so goes the tale) and accepted, but with the cruel stipulation that the future salary should be cut down to 601. ! We trust, for the sake of humanity, this statemeut is not true,—that the publicity which we have given to it will lead to such a disclaimer from a responsible source, as shall silence the injurious rumour at once. Whatever be the true explanation of the mystery in which the case has been veiled, the principal of the firm in question will, if the true spirit of our remarks be properly appreciated, owe us a meed of thanks for thus enabling him to correct. a statement which, far from passing current in a few obscure cliques of his own circle, was :the theme of speculation—nay, of adverse comment, at the metropolitan head-quarters of pharmacy—the Pharmaceutical Society, at their last reunion. True or false, the rumour prompts us to comment on a subject of painful notoriety, involving the misery, we may say the destitution, of thousands of deserving young men—nay, young is a designation far too limited to embrace the painful fact. Men of all ages, gentlemen always by education, oftener by other claims—from the youth of sixteen, brimful of hope, of energy, of enthusiasm, ;to whom the future is an El Dorado, a bright Atlantis teeming with unreal things—to the quondam principal of an establishment in earlier days: gentlemen from boyhood almost to the verge of old age, we are sorry to say, may be found occupying the position of druggists or surgeons' assistants ; and what is their pay'? Will the general public credit the monstrous-looking assertion, that such gentlemen—men whose duties involve no less a responsibility than the guardianship of human life—whose position requires the maintenance of a gentlemanly exterior—whose avocations render this a matter of greater than ordinary expense, receive, in many cases, a paltry stipend of 151. a year ? Yet such is the fact, as thousands of gentlemen could at this moment testify. Surely a state of bondage like this is teo crying an injustice to be much longer borne without universal and public remonstrance. This remonstrance, however, should emanate from the assistants themselves ; who, instead of frittering away their indignation by solitary plaints or useless individual wailings, should unite in a body for the purpose of representing to the medical and pharmaceutical professions the systematic and dangerous injustice to which, as a body, the assistants hare too long been exposed. " Aide toi et Dieu t'aidera " should be their motto. From their own remonstrance alone—powerful, though temperate, decisive, though not factious, will any amelioration be achieved.  It rr