Found Dead.

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3530, 19 April 1880, Page 2

Found Dead.

At about nine o'clock this morning a young man named William Melton, who bad charge of Mr Hall's (druggist) Shortland business, was found dead in his bed, with evidence that he had died from the effect of chloral, and from the appearance of the body, it is evident life had been extinct for 24 hours. The unfortunate young man was last seen alive late on Saturday night, when he regaled himself with a cup of coffee at Bullock's pie shop, in Pollen street. When last seen he was perfectly sober, and nothing unusual was noticed in his manner. It is supposed after partaking of the coffee he went home to go to bed—he slept in a room at the rear of the dispensary-—and before retiring to rest, took a dose of chloral or some other! narcotic, probably for the purpose of securing sleep. The body was discovered by Mr J. W. Hall, who, after vainly attempting to get in at the front door, obtained access through a window at the rear, and found the deceased -as described. Upon the counter a bottle of hydrate of chloral was found, together with a small weight in the scales. Probably in taking a doie of this sedative he gave himself an over-dose.