POISONING TRAGEDY

Grey River Argus, 19 April 1911, Page 8

POISONING TRAGEDY

' Af■ A ' S'UP'Piiß ' PARTY. '1 he Wellington Post's Wellington correspondent supplies the following particuars of the tragic termifnation to a. whist and' supper party, held in the house of Mr. Charles B. Hutchison at Daikeith. The host and one of the' guests, Mr A. Oapperton, a grocer and wine merchant of Musselburgh, died from poisoning after having taken soihe coffee. Several others who partook of the deadly cup sutfered severely, but made a fortunate recovery. There were four tables at whist, eighteen people being present, and supper was, served at midnight. Coffee was taken .to the ladies after they had' proceeded to the drawing room, : and on Mrs Hutchison tastingf it she called to her son John, who had been pouring out the cottee in the dining room, that there was something wrong. Most of the gentlemen, who were smoking, had just taken some of the coffee, and one or two were beginhrng to experience a peculiar sensation and to have a disagreeable dryness in the throat. Then it was discovered that most of the ladies were also/ in distress, it was noticed .. that everyone who had taken coffee was affected, and the results threatened to be serious. Mr Guild, one of the guests, hurried off for .^assistance and Dr ±Jiaokstock, of Eskbank . and ; other medical men soon arrived and did all they could to aid ' the sufferers. Mr liutchinson's eldest son, who was formerly a -dispenser with Mr. Robert Stennouse, at Musselburgh, had given the sufferers a mixture of mustard • and • water as an emetic. Tin's provefd a relief to some of the party. Appreciating the seriousness of things, a specialist was summoned. The Eost, however, who was chamgerlain the Duke of BucdeiTch, had' passed away before Mr Gulland'sj arrival, and ' Mr ' Clapperton died : three hours later. It ' was at first thought that the poisoning Was due to verdigris in. the copper urn in which "the coff e had been prepared, but it is now known that the deaths were due to arsenite. After the tragedy John Hutchison disappeared. He was arrested at Guernsey, in the Channel Island's, but committed suicide. It was ascertained by the police that he had been in desperate straits for money, and as his chief creditors were amongst his' fatEer's guests, it is believed he' planned to utilise the party to kill his creditors, also his parents, whose livfes were jointly insured . for £4000. The retai l - price of meat in Dunedin has been increased by a halfpenny to a penny per pound. Mr Hercus, Director Westport School of Mines, had ~ a narrow ; escape from serious injury last week. He was making oxygen at the s< hool laboratory in a steel tube, when, the tuhe iburst with a loud loise. His face was slightly cut. Only one bankruptcy was filed in Wellington during the first three months of the: present year. . ■. It is stated that i* wealthy resident of Masterton is about to start the , construction' of an altogether new type .; of aeroplane, which he has been busy < designing for some time. 1 The Thames Star states that- Mr. ! Wade, of Auckland, one of the direc- i tors of the ; Good Hope Gold Mining Compan3^ intends contesting 1 ' the • Thames seat as a progressive Lib-- 1 eral.