The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1907-12-14 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

BIRKENHEAD CHEMIST'S  BVICIDE.  ILL-HEALTH AND DEPRESSION  The circumstances of the death of Henry Sproston Lean, who for sonic years carried on business as a chemist in Borough-road, Birkenhead, were investigated by the Huddersfield Coroner. -befeasad; as reported in Weduesday's "News died on Saturday from morphia poisoning at the house of a Mr. Eccles at Huddersfield. The first witness was the widow. lin,. Alice Elisabeth Lean, who still resides at 436. Borough-road in this town. She *aid her husband wee a registered pharmaceutical chemist. He left home on Thursday morning to come to Huddersfield to take charge for a month certainly, and perhaps for a permanency, of the shop of Measre. Thompson and Capper, to whom he was apprenticed. He had been delicate for the last two years, and was very depreesed occasionally. He was la 4 attended by a doctor in January last for influenza, since when the depreolion had been worse. Some nights he had difficulty in sleeping; but she had never known him take narcotics. lie had had to go for holidays, but had attended to business. The state of his stomach and liver two years ago affected his brain. _  -Al&Oil-Edward Eccles, insurance agent, 5, Spring Grove-street, Hudderatield, stated that the deeeaaed came to hid house on Thursday night. Witness had not seen him before. Deceased was introduced by a friend. He came to atop a few days. At ' firat he seemed rather depressed and quiet, which witness thought at the time arose from him coming away from home. lie became very lively afterwards, ate a very hearty supper, and oa retiring to bed at * quarter to eleven at night he went upstairs in a jovial mood, with hie pipe in his mouth, and asked to be celled at half-pet seven o'clock. About a quarter or twenty minutes past seveq o'clock on Friday morning -witness went to the 'door of *the deceased's room, ;us4 knocked, and shouted "Time." Getting no response, he opened the door, went in, awl found the deceased breathing very heavily, but not irregularly, and witness; was not alarmed then. He called the deceased by name, said "Heigh up, old chap, it's time," and smacked his face. Then witness called his wife, and she got some sal volatile and applied it, but did not give the deceased any. They slapped his face, and tried artificial respiration; but as there was no response about half-past eight o'clock witness went out for Dr. Demetriadi, and telegraphed for the de4ased's cousin in Matcheater, the only relation he knew of. The Coroner: How was it you waited an hour and a quarter before you went for a doctor'  Witness:Well, we saw wale paperd about, and my wife thought the deceased had taken a sleeping draught, and the onneoled me by saying that the deceased had net wanted to be called till half-pest seven, and no doubt knew what to do and had taken a sleeping draught, and the said, "We'll do our best to bring him round." He died at half-past one on Saturday m?r.u4lg,  Louis Demetriali, surgeon, Ruddercdiekl, said that just before nine o'clock on the morning of FridsY. the 6th of December, he wet called by telephone to the haute of Mr. Eccles to see a gentleman staying there whom it was thought had had a stroke. Witneas't assistant, Dr. Brook.. went immediately-, and witness followed iu a few minutes. They found the deceased suffering from morphia petitioning. Ile was completely collapsed and comatose, his skin was cold and clammy, his respiration was only seven to the minute, and it was very difficult to make out any heart action *t all. The pupils of his eyea -were closely contracted, and his limbs were cold. Witness's assistant handed to him the three papers produced. There had been thirty grains of morphia in the white paper, and "SO grains" was written on the red paper, which he thought the white paper had been :in. There were traces of morphia on the loutside of a-tumbler found in the room. ' The medicinal dcee of morphia was a quarter of a grain. A person who had been in the habit of taking morphia for several years could not safely take more than two or three grains.. it was quite impossible for the deceased to ~wallow. Witness and his assistant used the sitonmeh pump, washed out the deceased's etomach, and gave him nearly thirty hypodermic ns injectio of different drugs. Dr. -attend, who was patting while they were there, very kindly came in, and helped them. At two o'clock the deceased regained consciousness, but kept gradually lapting bark into unconsciousness. At tone o'clock he was perfectly watt:iota and clear, and then wit. nett asked hint it he knew what lie had taken, and he said yes, he did. Witness asked hint if he had ever been in the habit of taking ntorphia before, and he &aid no, lie never had. Deceased informed him that be had had the tame quantity of 111.01, phia in his pocket in the early tpring, and that he had had trouble at times to resist the temptation to take it. The temptation came over him the previous evening, and lie took it about one o'clock that morning. The impulse to take poison was one of the tires of iutaaity, and witness should taY undoubtedly that the deceased had been of unsound mind. Deceased told him that he wada qualified chemist, that he knew the action of that ottantity of morphia, and that the doctor who could save hint was: not born yet. The deceased remained eon' scious till the evening. Witness and his assistant saw him again at 10 o'clock. when lie began to vomit, and he died at 1 o'clock the nest morning from failure of the action of his heart. Long before witness first taw the deceased he had absorbed so much morphia into his system that his life could not be saved. The failure of the heart's action was due to the depressing effect of the morphia. If witness had been called in an hour after the deceased took the morphia he could not have ailed him, a, the action of morphia was very quick. It they could have kept his heart going they could have saved him. .  The jury returned a verdict that the deceased committed suicide by taking mor. /16ia while he wait; in an unsound elate of mind.