Cain Murder Case.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2467, 3 December 1886, Page 2

Cain Murder Case.

(united peem association.) Timabu December 1. The murder case was resumed to-day, W. A. Measnn repeated the evideuce given at the inquest. George Kaye, ot Timuru, deposed: I went to Woodlands to nurse Captain Cain in January last and remained until hu death. Hall came to the house every day. He used ,to come at night Bometiuies, about 6 o'clock, but did not remain long on these occasions. I left tho roum whonover Hall came in. Tho Captain was very ofton sick. 1 used to find him sick after I had given him his cough mixture. The mixture was kept on a side table with the grog and tho wine. I sat up with the Captain the night before he died, and 1 saw no difference in him till about 2 o'clock. I saw a change in him then which I took for death. Mr Stubbs was sitting up with me that night. Ido not remember seeing Hall there when the Captain vomited, He u;ed to say, Botheration ; can't tho doctors givo me something to stop this ?" Jowsey Jackson blacksmith, deposed : I made an invalid bedstead for Captain Cain, I took tho bedstead to the house about 1 p.m. on Hie 15th, and Geoivo Kaye gave me a glass of champagne, which was taken out of the room that had' been occupied by Captain Cain up to that dav. F. W. Stubb3, agont: I knew the late Captain Cain for many years. I went to see him on the 13th January, which was my first visit during his sickness. I was there on the evening when the invalid bed came. Hall was at the house, I asked him how the Captain waß, and he said "Very bad indeed." He also remarked that tho doctor gave no hopes of him, and that he could not get over it. 1 thought Captain was betier than on the day before. Patrick Mclntrye deposed: lam a duly qualified medical practitioner at Timaru, 1 beg»u to attend Captain Cain in July, 1885. I visited him on the 9th and 10th July on the 31st of August, 6th of September, 3rd and 7th of November, and from the 17th to 31st December inclusive daily. I visited Captain Cain almost every day from the end of December till his death. Ho was suffering from kidney disease and dropsy, and also general debility of the system, continuing from his previous illness. • I first prescribed for the vomiting on the 24th December, and I did not know of its existence boforo that date. In ray prescriptions there was nothing to produce vomiting I also prescribed stimulants, spirits and tonic; at one time champagne, at another claret and Australian wine and probably port. I would not expect any of these stimulants to causo vomiting. Nona of my prescriptions contained atropia,. colchioum, or antimony, or any preparation of these things. Captain Cain once complained to me of his whiskey making him Bick. This was a few weeks before his death. I la3t Baw Captain Cain the day before his death, H#wa3then much worso than he had been for some weeks before. The administration of atropia, colchicum, or antimony to anyone in Captain Cain's position would certainly accolerate death, Cross-examined by Mr Perry: Captain Cain was suffering from chronic kidney disease during his last illness, and probably Bright's disease. Could niit examine him thoroughly to see. The legs and body, particularly the left hand, were much swollen during the lattor part of the-illness. I only remember o„e sore on the body, a small ulcer, and there was a small deep hole in the sole of one of his feet, but his' legs had not gangrened. I considered his recovery hopeless throughout the, last : illness, and' I told the members of the family that he might die at any moment ®r live for weeks or months.; My prescriptions during Cain's ;last' iilbess were piiliatives tti extcht curable The:" medicines'"given for the kidney disease and the dropsy wore palliative, and to reduce the dropsy. 1 did iiot expect to cure either the; kidney

or the dropsy. The symptoms at tho beginning of Captain Cain's illness wero genvciil debility, with increasing debility, with increasing dropsy especially of the legs, and aftewards extending tu the lower part of the body, Theft'was also dropsy in both hands, most marked.in the left hand. He also suffered from ohropic' bronchitis and vomiting, : For the latter I first.treated him on'the 24th December. I also treated him for diarrhcsa during the last hionth of his illness. Dropsy, acting on.tjio heart, was not, in my opinion, the immediate cause of his death. It was kidney disease, vnd dropsy in a constitution already enfeebled through .impaired heart action. I never told Hall, that dropsy would soon reaoh Captain Cain's heart and death would immediately follow Richard Bowen Hogg deposed: lam a duly qualified medical practitiouer. 1 remember holding a post mortem examination with Cr Ogston at the Timaru Hospital on September 27th. We removed the stomach, a portion of tho small tnd large inteßtinos, the bladder, a portion of tho livor, tho spleen, and tho kidneyi, There was also some liquid put into the bottles taken from the chest and from the peritoneal cavity, The analysis was commenced on the night of our arrival in Dunedin, by myself, Professor Black, and Dr Ofston at the Uuniversity labor-! atory. We discovered antimony in all the organs, I should not expect to find traoes ot colchicum. or atropia in a body nine months buried if such poisons had been administered during life. In one suffering from heart doaease and,dropßy it would ocrtainly have the effect of accelerating death, Cross-examined by Mr Perry: We did not test for atropia or colchicum, The urinous fluid in tho bottle containing the bladder waß tested. In the bottle containing the bladder and tho urine wore probably the kidneyi and some liquid from the peritoneal ■ cavity. In another bottle were the stomach and the portion of the small bowel, and in a bottle there was another portion of the. stomach' and portion of the liver and spleen. A soparate analysis was made of part of the contents of each bottlo. There was no difficuity.in getting results, although the analysis took a considerable time.