THE TIMARU POISONING CASE. Second Day of the Trial.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2226, 14 October 1886, Page 2

THE TIMARU POISONING CASE. Second Day of the Trial.

(nv tki,l<;k\i'H -PKKsrt association.) CumsrcHUKCH, Tuesday. Thk Court sat at ton o'clock this morning, .'md again an eager crowd gathered to hear the disclosure. The prisoners looked very much more se,!f-pos«e«sed than on the previous day, Hall, especially, looking almost cheerful. The female pusoner remained seated all day, and only the upper part of her face was occasionally \isit»le from the body of the Court. Hall took copious notes, and often confeired with hin solicitor, and read from some sort of foolscap, and watched the progress of the trial with keen interest. E. H. Cameron, station manager at Waimate, deposed as to his misfortunes which arose from his dealings with the firm of Hall and Meason. He had never borrowed money from them as their books showed, and had never given them aptomissory note. He had given Hall money to invest, £GUO of which was still owing to him. The wills of the late Captain Cain and Jane Cain were produced by the Deputy Commissioner of Stamps, and Mr J. Knubley, solicitor, Timaru, a trustee for Mrs Hall, explained the extent of Mrs Hall's e«tate to which she was entitled under the will and two trust deeds and property in her own right. He gave all the details in full, but the pist of his evidence was that Mra Hall's capital amounted to £3580 ; add to this tho £(5000 that Hall would receive under the insurance policies, and it will be seen that the Attorney-General was below the estimate when he said Hall would have gained £!)000 by his wife's death. Mr Ferry, who cross-examined, elicited the statement that properties in Timaru were difficult to dispose of, and that one property Mr Knubley had valued at £500 was in a side street. Mrs Hannah Ellison, the nurse who had attended Mrs Hall, then stepped into the witness box, and gave evidence which touched the crucial question of the administration of poi.son, and by whom it was administered. She had gone to nurse Mrs Hall two days before her confinement, on June 10th, and had not left her yet. All the symptoms of Mrs Hall's illness, with which the public of the colony must be pretty familiar by this time, wera carefully described. In answer to Mr White's question, the reference to the oysters given by Miss Houston was a new episode. It was in the beginning of August that the nurse said she had given the patient a couple of oysters, which Mrs Hall afterwards told both accused she enjoyed much. On the following evening, which the witness specified as the night of the volunteer ball, Miss Houston came to Mrs Hall with a plate of very nice thin bread and butter, and four oy.sters. She told Mrs Hall that those were four very nice fat oysters, and some bread and butter. Mrs Hall ate three and seemed to > enjoy them very much. Mrs Hall asked i witness if she could take the fourth. Miss Houston was present. Witness said "Yes, I don't think it would hurt you." At any rate she took the fourth, and ate all the biead and butter. They did not agree with her, and in about an hour she was very ill. The sickness lasted on and off all night. Mr» Hall complained of a feeling as if 'someone was gra.sping her throat. Mr Joynt objected to any statements of Mrs Hall, made in the ab-ence of the accused, being given in evidence, and His Honour ruled that, though statements affecting any particular person were inadmissible, complaint-, of suffering, which were fact* in the case, as to the condition of the person complaining, were admissible. The nurse explained how in the absence of the accused she had set aside a portion of the ice w.iter, of the taste of which Mr> Hall complained, which she aftei wards gave to Dr. Mclntyre. This necessitated a reference to the numerous exhibits in the case, and Mr Joynt was particular in insifting that the witness should pick out the particular bottles, &C, she was iefening to herself, and that they should not be handed over by a constable at the moment, as was frequently done. Miss Houston's statement to the nurse that Dr. Stackpoole had authorised her to administer Mrs Hall's medicine was a new point to be used against the female prisoner, the force of which will be seen if the doctor bears out the Crown contention by a denial. She te members Hall gi\ ing her a bottle of brandy, telling her it was for Mrs Hall's injections, about the contents of which the analysts, we are told, will have something fresh to say. The learned counsel for the defence did their duty by cross-examining Mis Ellison for some hours. To Mr Joynt she said Hall was always very attentive to his wife, and showed a desire to make her happy and comfortable. She had heard Hall and Houston say that the servant took the vine, and once Mrs Hall had told her to go and see if the girl was at the wine cupboard. This has a bearing on the telephone incident, of which Air Kerr will give evidence. Mrs Hall had complained of the taste of the water from the jug which had Leen pronounced to contain no antimony, as well as that from the cup. Mr Hay brought out a point in Mi^s Houston's favour when the witness said Mrs Hall told her she had not drunk any of the brandy Miss Houston bad taken in a flask on the occasion of the drive, on the return fiom which Mrs Hall was sick. She also said that she had not looked for the missing piece of muslin, which Miss Houston had taken from the poisoned cup, on some bushes, where Mr Hay told her she would probably find it on her return to Timaru. The court then adjourned.