THE DRUCE CASE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9017, 2 January 1908, Page 7

THE DRUCE CASE.

OPENING OF THE GRAVE. BODY OF A BEARDED MAN FOUND. PROTEST BY CLAIMANT. JjBY TELEGKAI>H —I'ItESS ASSOCIATION. LONDON, December 30. f'" In connection with the opening of the Druce vault at Highgate cemetery, a crowd collected at the cemetery at dawn. There were 200 police present. No spectators were, admitted excepting a few whom Dr. Tristram, 4K.C., Chancellor of the Diocese jjf London, had sanctioned. George Hollamby Druce, claimant \ to the Portland estates, was refused admittance. He protested against the refusal. The coffin was opened and was found to contain the body of an aged, bearded man. The casket bore a plate engraved - "Thomas Charles Druce." THE SCENE IN THE VAULT. CAMERA CALLED IN. CALDWELL'S CRITICAL STATE. LONDuN, December 31. j After the coffin was brought up, all /was photographed as it lay, ineludJ|ing the dust and the grime. _ Two were admitted to view the shrouded remains at the moment when the coffin was opened. After that all except the doctors withdrew. When the docturs had completed their work,' the coffin was resoldered and was returned to the grave. Mr Edmund Kimber, solicitor for the claimant, G. H. Druce, in an interview, declared that claimant's cane was strengthened by the opening of the coffin, since the other side must call somebody to prove that the body is Druce's. Caldwell is at Staten island, New . York, but his condition is so critical that the news of the opening of the grave is withheld from him. The "Daily Mail" says that the rornse is marvellously preserved. One who knew Druce intimately *7 legally identified the body. Its preservation is due to choride of lime, and the absolute exclusion of air.

THE DRUCE COMPANY SHARES. A BIG DROP. LONDON, December 31. "Standard" says that on tlie * afcthe opening of the grave the h. Druce Company at £6. They fell smartly yesterday to. £2, and were then quoted from nothing to £l.