THE SALE OF POISONS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1329, 31 August 1886, Page 3

THE SALE OF POISONS.

It is not usual for newspaper writers to comment upon peases, criminal or otherwise, that are awaiting the decision of a Court of law, and we have no intention of departing from the ordinary journalistic practice in regard to the case of alleged poisoning into which Mr Beswick, the Timaru R.M,, is just now holding a preliminary enquiry. But the alleged facts of that case forcibly recall to our mind a subject which has been previously dealt with in these columns, viz,, the appearently dangerous facility with which people are able to procure poison in this colony. It is alleged that the accused man and woman in the Timaru case made use of antimony in order to effect the purpose they are charged with having bad in virw. It has been said that the poison was found in the food supplied to the lady who is alleged to have been the intended victim, and it has been further said that a quantity of the poison was found upon the person of the male prisoner when he was apprehended. We have no reason to question the truth of these statements, so far at any rate as the possession of the poison is concerned. The facts will come out no doubt in the evidence kid before the magistrate, but whether the guilt of the prisoners will be established or not, the facts remain as we have said that poisons are only too easily procured in this colony. Readers of the daily papers will no doubt have noticed how frequently cases of successful or attempted self-murder occur in New Zealand, and perhaps the question may have arisen in their minds—why this dangerous facility in the matter of obtaining possession ol poisonous preparations ? Ashburton people have still fresh in their memory the periodical terrible mortality that used to be noticed among their canine favorites. They will, perhaps, remember how, not long ago, it frequently hapyened that poor unfortunate sheep dogs and others would be observed suddenly to be seized with spasms, give a few agonised yelps, and die after a few convulsive struggles. The cause of this was that they had been treated to a free regalement of scraps of meat, dosed with poison, and left in the street as tempting and unsuspected though deadly baits. That the victims did swallow the baits, and that those baits contained strychnine, post mortem examination abundantly proved, but how so large a quantity of so deadly a poison came into the hands of the “ dog fiend,” whoever he may have been, is a question we would like to have satisfactorily answered. Men who had lost valuable dogs went to the local druggists, and inspected the registers of sales kept by them, but these insptc.ions did not throw any light upon the matter, and altogether failed to - account for the posse c sion by individuals not druggists of such a large rantity of poison as the extensive ortality among the dogs indicated, appears to us that there must be a Tew loose somewhere in the regulaons relating to the sale of poisons, id which needs tightening up. The :gisters of sales seem to be properly nough kept, but it looks as if where oioon is intended to be used secretly, itber on men or dogs, the purchase is iot made in the immediate locality, but n some more remote district. The icensed seller keeps a register of the ales, but the stuff may be bought rears before, and kept by the purchaser intil all recollection of his purchase las been forgotten. He may buy it for :he poisoning of vermin, for the destruction of sheep-worrying dogs, or trespassing fowls, and so kmg as he assures the druggist of the object for which be desires the poison, and sign: the register as a purchaser, he cat readily possess himself of it. It appears ' j us t’rat some little reform in this mattei i wanted in the interests of publi< ifety, and we think that some step ught to be taken to have the vendo ssured that the poison has been devote o the purpose for which it 'was bought 10 that It may not be left careless) ying by, to come out unintentional! ind unknowingly, as strychnine di iot so long ago in a case at Rakaia, < ipplied to purposes eff criminality, su< is are alleged in connection with tl Timaru case.— Mail.