THE MOANA TRAGEDY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 115, 8 February 1919, Page 8

THE MOANA TRAGEDY

DEATHS FROM CYANIDE POISONING THE SODA-WATER BOTTLES MANUFACTURE BEYOND SUSPICION \r y . . j. - The inquiry into tho deaths of Dr. , Grimm and Migs Ingsay M. Isbister on the Moana on January 3, when tho ves- (. sel was on a voyage from San Francisco | to 'Wellington, was concluded yesterday. ~ A verdict was returned 'by the Coroner, t Mr. W. G. Riddell, S.M., that tho two JJ deceased died from cyanide poisoning, a but there was no evidence to show how i the poison was intooduced into ihe lemon' 1 iiqunsh, .drinks, a. portion of which had : been consumed by Dr. Grimm and Miss I Isbister:, During the inquiry tho evidence for • tho Crown was led by Mr, P. S. I(. ■ Macassey, Mr. P. Levi. appeared for tho • Union Steam Ship-Company, Sir. Dong- : las Jackson for a relative of Miss Isbis.- ° ter, and Mir. R. Kennedy for Messrs. • Thomson, Levis, and C 0.,, cordial manu- ■ facturers. .' • . 1 When the' proceedings were resumed 1 yesterday, Mr, Macas'sey recalled. Willie ' Donovan, analyst at the Dominio'n Lab--1 oratory, who stated that he had exaniin--1 ed 44- dozen bottles of soda water, the 1 balance of a quantity supplied to the ' Moana by Messrs. - Thomson, Lewjs, and ' Co.. and found no trace of hydro-cyanio acid, or cyanide. ' . Cyanide Found in a Cabin. ' Thomas Edwarnl -Smith, a porter, em- • fdoyed at the Albion Hotel, and who was Jiir three years a steward on the Moana, said he knew Belshaw, the second steward,, who joined the vessel the trip after Witness signed on the articles. - : Witness elated that he left the vessel last September.. He had . üßed cyanide when he was on tho Moana for the purposq of cleaning.'buttons. Some'ten'or", twelve months ago, when the vessel was at San Francisco, he found a tin in Cabin E containing 21b. or 31b. of cyanide. Tlie tin had-been' put in tho cabin 'by the ■people who fumigated the ship. For about :six days while, the Moana was in port Cabin E was used 'as- a "storeroom,"and the tin had been left there. He took a lump of the cyanido from the tin and placed it in a lolly jar, and when he was. required to clean buttons he used a small portion in the preparation of a solution, into which • the buttons were dipped. He also used some of it for cleaning ports and steps.. He had. cleaned Belshaw'a buttons' and the captain's buttons, and had used cyanide in doing so. ' _ Mr..'Macassey: Did you ever inform Belshaw that you cleaaed. 'his. buttons with cyanide?—" Not that I' remember."Did he know hoiv they wero cleaned?— "I don't think eo." Did he know whether you used cyanide?—"l don't know whether he did know." In reply to-farther questions, r witness said he thought/a'll .the cyanide would have been used up some nine months : ago. After he had finished. cleaning buttons he "dumned". the bottle containing ' the cyanide solution. He ( kept the cyanide in.his own cabin, and'he never used a soda water bottle for containing the solution. ; Mr. Jackson: Where is Cabin E on the 1 Moana?—"On the port side, in the first saloon." , . s - x . j How far is Cabin E from the tar?— "It is on a different deck."" By what means do you know cyanide? —"It is very similar to; rocksalt in appearance and it has a peculiar odour." Did you, ever put cyanide into a limejuice, bottle?—" No." .; ' Mr, Kennedy: Tell us how you came to clean Belsbaw's buttons.—"l ufeed to , look after Mr. Belshaw'a cabin." Where did you clean - his buttons ?— j in his cabin?—"No, in my own cabin." l ] . Replying to other questions, witness !, said Cabin E was always U6ed as a state-'l' room' when the Moana was at sea. He i! kept the cyanide in a little box in his i i cabin. ', . i. i. Chief-Detective Bod Sam said lie had !. mode an exhaustive search of-theirecords i, of Messrs. ICempthor'ne, Prosser and Co. I ' with regard to the supply of drugs to , the Moana. and the only reference to ! 1 cyanide was dated September 11, 1916, j 1 , on which occasion a lib. box of Cyanide, , 1)8 per cent., of the total-value of 2s. 1 10d., was supplied to the vessel. . Mr. i Jackson: Twb' lots of loz. each 1 wore subseqyently found in sealed 1 bottles ?—"Yes, Professor Easterfield said 1 so." < ■ This concluded the evidence. 1 An Insoluble Mystery. { In reviewing the which had i been placed before him, Mr. Riddell said 1 the theory that the deaths' were due to 1 oxalio poisoning had since been proved 1 to be incorrect. The actual cause of death ( had been traced to cyanide poisoning, c The real diffiiilty that faced the Court i was to discover how it was that cyanide i came to be introduced into the lemon t squashes, part of which were druuk shortly _ befoT® the deceased collapsed. ] Tho wliolo of the evidence that could ) have been placed before the Court, as- i suming that jproper inquiries and inves- ( ligations hacf been made immediately t after the accident, isas not available and f consequeftly the Court was-not in pos- i session of all the facts that might have j enabled it to arrivo nt a more definite conclusion. But the inquiry had been c very exhaustive, and' he wife doubtful ( whethtlr thero was any further evidence t that could throw, more light upon the s matter. An examination of the' ingredi- t erits of tho lemon squash showed, that t tljpre was no cyanide in either the sugar, r tho ice, or the lemons. As tho drinks 7 contained only one other' liquid—soda water—the conclusion that one was forced to como to was that tho cyanide wa ! s in s the soda-water. That was borne out to f some extent owing to cyanide being found v not only in the remainder of the lemon squashes; but also in the two soda-water bottles. Where the cyanide came from , j was, of course, a matter that-tlie evi- j; dence did not disclose. There was no t practical evidence on that point. Ho was £ satisfied that from tlie evidence that was 1 given there could be no inteutton on the 1 part of either: the deceased, or Simpson, j tho steward who carried the drinks to t Dri Grimm and Miss Isbister,- or Belshaw, the second steward, to introduce cyanide into tlie drinks. He was_ perfectly satisfied that thero was no inten- c tion on the part of anyone _ connected with tho affair to place cyanide in the lemon squashes. Therefore the whole matter resolved itself into a question . of accident, and_ on . that nspect there was not sufficient evidonco to find exactly whore tho cyanido came from. „ It was clear that there was some cyanide j, 011 the' ship, because two small bottles ' wore found in the dispensary, and it had ( j been stated by an ox-stownrd that ho had used cyanido some months before | tho tragedy happened. It was well ' known that cyanido was used in photo- f ( graphy. Many persons who travelled'oll f ( ships wero amateur photographers, and j they might have small quantities of 0 oyanide in their possession unknown to any officials of the vessel. . The captain 0 of the Moana was not aware that any j.j cyanide was on tho vessel, and he (the coroner) doubted very much if any of tho other officers know of tho presence of Cl such a poison. .. The Soda-Water Bottles. . , f. The soda water was supplied by Messrs.. Thomson, Lewis and Co., but he was satisfied from the evidenco they had n produced that they took every possible protection and caro in tho manufacture 6 of the soda water that was supplied to c the Union Steam Ship Company. .They c ; manufactured immense quantities, lind ti tho fact that it was consumed without p any ill-effects went to show that they n took all caro that was possible in tho p circumstances in its _ manufacture. The n mero fact that cyanido had been found S1 in a bottle referred to in tho ovidence. jj did not show how it came to be iutro- 1, duced into the bottle. It was there, fi but it might have got in from different sources. It was useless for him to specu- •• lato or theorise unless thero waa some ovidonce to build a theory upon, and ns the evidence was so indefinite, ho did not j, propose to' go' any further. j A' verdict. was l-etumcd 'that the j deaths were due to. tho deceased drink- s ing a portion of some lemon squashes j. into which cyanido had been introduced . through tho 6oda- water jised in their j

if preparation. There was no evidonce to account for tho presenco of tlio cyanide in tho soda-water bottle, nor was there evidenco of any negligence in tho preparation of the soda water by tho manufacturers. It was extremely doubtful if tho cyanide could havo boon introduced through negligence, or accident., during tho process of manufacture. Mr. Jackson desired to know whether costs would be allowed to counsel engaged in the case. The inquiry had been ordered..by the Minister of Marino under .special circumstances, ant! counsel had pbrhaps been of some assistanco to tho Court. Mr. -Macasssy asked that tho point Ijo held in nbeynuco, as ho wished to , consult the Department. Mr. Eiddell: I am quite prepared to 11 "make a recommendation. I.must thank >- solicitors and all parties for the assisto ance they lmvo given mo in presenting . the evidence. The matter has ben a diffl-. cult one, but unsatisfactory from one ' pqint of viow.