Alleged Poisoning.

Manawatu Herald, 15 December 1900, Page 3

Alleged Poisoning.

», At the Police Court at Invercargill! O& Thursday the hearing of the charge ( against Charles Arnett of attempting to murder Charles Milne, John Gordon and William White by administering strychnine at Edendale on the 29th October, was commenced. Richard Domigan deposed that he sold to accused on 4th October twenty grains of strychnine, he signing the poison book. About the 29th Arnett again came for poison, and got forty grains. Arnett said on both occasions that he was poisoning rats for someone. Charles Milnexleposed that he and his mates had breakfast and dinner in the hut, no one else being there. Arttett entered about three o'clock and arid, " Hnllo, I did not expect to find you here." They got into conversation about Milne's long overdue money.. with respect to which the evidence in the thefL and forgery cases indicated bad bees paid to Arnett, as agent, and amounted to £613. Accused said it hoped to be able to square up on \4r (buowing Wtdneiday. Milne said

he was going into the township with a , letter, and Arnett said he would go, too. Milne told him to wait in the hut 1 till he turned the horse out. Arnett was then sitting at the table with the sugar tin in front of him, and when Milne returned a f p> • " : -'Jtes later he was still there. T ;•..•;, ".;ft the hut together, but parted at Edendale homestead gate, Arnett saying he would go in and try to sell some bone dust to the manager. Witness, when he returned to the hut. found Gordon and White boiling the billies for tea and for washing. They went out, and witness made preparations for tea. The meal consisted of cold mutton, bread, butter and cold pudding. He dipped a pannikin into the tea and sweetened it from the sugar on the table. He noticed an unusual bitterness, and remarked that the tea was not right. He drank about half of it before noticing the taste, and threw the rest out. He tried another pannikinful, and yet another, the bitterness being, if anything, more pronounced. He threw the tea into the fireplace and tasted his mates' tea.. He found it tasted similarly, and they tasted from his third pannikin and agreed that there was something wrong. Feeling giddy and sick, he took an emetic, and White and Gordon went outside. When they returned they looked as if they had been vomiting. One of their dogs then came in, scarcely able to walk, and he noticed that its muscles twitched as the three men's were doing, and they concluded that they had been poisoned. The case was adjourned to next day.