CHILD'S DEATH-A STRANGE CASE

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1271, 28 October 1911, Page 11

CHILD'S DEATH-A STRANGE CASE

NEED FOE CAKE WITH ARSENIC. (Bj Telejraph — Press ABSociatlon.l Wanganui, October 27. Unusual circumstances surrounded tho death of the four-year-old daughter of Mr. W. H. Wilson, carrier. The child died very suddenly on September 27, and the inquest was adjourned in order that an analysis of tho stomach might be made. The inquest was resumed to-day. The report of the Government Analyst was to the effect that thero were grains of sand and traces of arsenic still remaining in the stomach. Police inquiries had failed to elicit any information as to how the child camo bv the poison. It seems that the child and a playmate were making mud-pics, and it is surmised that deceased must havo eaten the sand and arsenic simultaneously. Dogs had been found poisoned in tho neighbourhood some time before, and the owner of the place' where the child was taken ill had, three years ago, destroyed "rough on rats" by burning in a fire and throwing the ashes over the yard. One theory is that the poisoned dogs may havo vomited on tho placo where the children were playing. The analyst stated that arsenic was only slightly soluble, and, in the case of "rough on rats" it was possible that somo would remain on the surface of tho ground for three years if it had escaped tho firo by falling through the grating. A 'verdict of accidental death by arsenical poisoning was returned. Tho coroner stated that tho case showed how careful people should be in regard to such an indestructible poison as arsenic.