The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1893-07-08 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

SID CASE OF DETERMINED SUICIDE.  ANOTHER CARBOLIC ACID CASE.  LEGISLATION WANTED.  On Tuesday afternoon Dr. Clanton, district coroner, held an inquiry at the Doke of Edinburgh Hotel, Cleveland-street, to ascertain the cause of the death of Emma Bolton, 46 years of age, wife of William Henry Bolton, employed at the docks and living at 10, Woodstreet. The first witness called was the husband of the deceased. He deposed that about a fortnight ago his eldest daughter, twenty-three years of age, died in Yorkshire. This was a great shock to the mother, and it preyed very mach upon her mind. On Monday morning he found she bad sent a girl for a bottle of carbolic acid. She would not give it op and he wrestled with her to get the poison from her. She passed it on to the little boy, but witness took it from the boy and threw it into the entry smashing the bottle and losing the contents. She became very hysterical, and he tried hard to pacify her, but she kept going into the parlour, and gazing at a likeness of her dead daughter, which hang upon the wall, continued repeating "I will be with you soon.'' Witness hardly knew what to do, but he hid her mantle, thinking by this means to prevent her leaving the house. Deceased moved about the house praying, and she went into the yard where she prayed earnestly, and also got the youngest gi:l to repeat her prayers. Witness was at home all the day. He told the little boy, Georgie, not to allow his mother to get away, and to keep an eye on her. However, she managed to get away in the afternoon and out of the sight of the little fellow. She went, it seemed, to a druggist's shop and got some more poison. Being somewhat deal and his wife wearing a light pair of shoes, witness did not hear her return. He was in toe back.yard at the time. Not knowing she was in the house he went to the kitchen to have • smoke. While there he thought he heard someone upstairs. He listened as well as he could, and just then his wile came running downstairs with carbolic acid running out of her mouth. He got her to sit down, and tried all means he knew to mato her vomit. He gave ber some salt and water and this made her vomit slightly. He went out to two imageries close by bat could not find • doctor, though he believed • medical men could hate done nothing. He found • 3oz. bottle and • glass upstairs. In the bottle there was just a drop of carbolic acid left. His wife blllllllOlO uuconsoiciee as ! soon as he got her to sit dowu! and she died within twenty miontes. Witness had been married 26 years. Deceased had always been • steady and sober woman and had looked well after the home duties. She had never before threatened to do any harm to herself. Witness had buried sir seas and one daughter. He bed now three eons and one daughter living. The Chemist, Mr. Cookson, Price-street, deposed that the deceased came to his .bop on Monday afternoon, between three and four o'clock. He knew deceased well, as she had on various occasions been to the shop for different articles. She was alone and he noticed nothing peculiar about her. There were two or three customers in at the time. She told him she wanted some carbolic said and he filled a three. or. bottle, labelling thJ bottle on both sides as containing poison. She said she had gone to live in • new house, and she wanted to put acid in a backetful of water to wash the place and kill the bags. The said he supplied to her was the crude acid, and was not so strong as the mid purchased in bottles. The Coroner remarked that the woman most have taken the three ors, and he was therefore not surprised at the guidelines' of her death. The ease I was, he thought, clear and straightforward, and there could be no doubt that the deceased destroyed herself by swallowing a very large dose of carbolic acid. The bottle produced had contained three oze., and deceased must have taken the lot, enough to kill ! a number of people. Deceased was evidently bent ! on self-destruction because she had obtained a simply of poison earlier in the day, and unfortunately she ! succeeded on the second attempt. It would have been a very wise thief; for the husband to have got ! someone to look after her, but of course everybody could be wise after things had occurred. He thought there could be little doubt that the deceased's mind got wrong and that site committed suicide by taking carbolic acid while in • @tate of temporary insanity. The jar, concurred unanimously in the Coroner's opinion, and a verdict accordingly was returned. The Coroner added that there had been over half • dozen inch cases in this district during the past year, and Inspector Glass, the Coroner's onion, stated that during the past five years there had been more cases of suicide by carbolic acid than ever before. and newspapers all over the country were continually publishing accounts of such cases. The Cormier stated that he had written to the Secretary of State calling attention to the number of deaths occurring in that way. He would write agein, although he supposed the Secretary of State would not like being bothered. But nothing luid beenklone to protect people. They all knew that carbolic acid was not one of the protected poisons, on account of the large quantity sold for commercial purposes, he supposed. He would never allow • person to take a bottle and purchase carbolic acid unless a second person was present at the purchase, as that might in many cases prevent the possibility of suicide. The druggists were bound to sell the staff. If a child went to a shop with a shilling the chemist was bound to supply the poison in the quantity asked for. And an it would be until something effectual was done.