A SRANGE CASE.

Hokitika Guardian, 29 October 1921, Page 1

A S RANGE CASE.

SUt A. NEWTON'S DEATH

THE CORONER'S INQUEST

LONDON, August The coroner’s inquest cm the body o! Sir Alfred Newton, chairman of Darnels, Limited, and Senior City AUk I '’- who died suddenly on dune 20th.. was concluded at Chelsea, after being twice adjourned. Tn the earlier proceedings at the inquest evidence "as civen by an analyst i-iemt s'r'vchiii.io to kill <1 considerable number of ocuple. One dose Iron, tbc bottle- had been taken. | \ |)V Nl’.'A TON 11 1.In the absence- of T.ady Newton, m resnc-c-t of wluiin a medical cert iff-i‘> woi prescutcl staling t!u„ it would. 1-’ dani'croiir for h-r to is- pn-s-n. owing illness Sir Harry .Newton said that ibe event had upset 1 ady .Newton terri'S; coroner: 1 will nsk you formally if n„. relations in the familv were ol , b„ppv naturef- T do not think there wore ever man and woman who so lev- <•(] oadi other. , j Do von know if Lady Newton had see,, anything of the bottle of medicine after its arrival at the house - is not conscious of having see,, ,t. She inis no recollection "I '*• POISON TN THE SA SI I’.M Professor .Tulin Addvman. Gardiner Header in Chemistry at the University of London, and 1 civ icolnoist at 1 George’s Hospital, said that he had analvsed the contents of the bottle of s|oniach and ..tli.-r organs. In the ,Heine lie' found seven-tenths - I a grain ~f mrveiiiiiuc- per miiicx- of mixtuic. t u .,s in solution, and it had been partly pn-eil.it:,.ted by the hi-carhonat e soda There would have lx-eu nearly li ■ 'rains in the- full I"'"' 1 ’ T J; , ‘ r '' nl " st have been one-tenth of a millegran,me in half of tie- liver, and that would indicate- a considerable portion of the drug bong nrc-sent in the system so nuicdi that there was no doubt as to the of d.-ath. as it would !><■ a P'»smiuus qnaptity for a man in delicate ln-alth. , , , Dr OnnaUlstin. who nmuo 11<' P nsr mortem eyaininntion. was reenVed. and said that, strychnine, had l'hiyed a part in bringing about- death, although I here was no evidence ol st ryc hnine. There wen- the same appearances as if death was clue to sync-ope. Sir Alfred was a very diseased mail, and his life wc old have been a short one-. ENOUGH poison to KILL 00 PEOPLE. Addressing the jury, the enrnncr said that tin- case was one of the- strangest : v, I jcli he had had to deal for -on ••• time. There seemed to have been enoiidi stryelinini- in tile- hottl-- ol medicine- to have- caused the death of over GO pocple. As to bow tin- strvcliniii - came to be' in tile lull tie. all the evidence .ailed would not help them to solve the epu-s----tion. The bottle bad passed through maiiv hands ls-fore it came tgi rest in |ho hands of Sir Alfred. Was it an accident Tt, probably was -that was by nroci-ss of exclusion. It might have hee-n int roclnccd by ac-cicb-nt nl means. There was accident that might he equivalent to manslaughter, but. there bad been no evidence- of ally nc-gh'i.t. Tile jury returned a verdict to theeffect that. death was caused by “Syncope, due to fatly and libroiis degeneia tin- lieai't, aeceb-ra l.i'd by stryelinine poisiuning. There- was no evideuci- to show how tile- stryelinine eanu- to lie in tin- bottle of medicine, some, of which "us swallowed.”