140 
THE AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY. 
^uxiralra* 
FATAL ABSENIC POISONING CASES AT BOBDEB TOWN. 
A sad case of poisoning by arsenic, resulting in the death of three persons, occurred 
at Border Town on 22nd March, in the household of Mr. T. B. Oliver, a storekeeper. 
Ihe circumstances attending this dreadful calamity reveal an almost incredible 
degree of carelessness in the handling of a substance so dangerous to human life as 
arsenic. It would appear from the evidence, as reported in the S.A. Chronicle , that 
half a pound cf the poison, put in an unlabelled parcel by the assistant, Peate, was 
taken out of Mr. Oliver’s store to be mixed with flour in making a paste for the 
hanging of some wall paper in a cottage in course of preparation by Mr. Oliver for a 
tenant. The paperhanger — a man named Dale — having partly accomplished his task, 
quitted the cottage to go on a drinking bout, leaving the unused portion of the 
arsenic on a bracket, no precaution having been taken to intimate its dangerous 
character. Subsequently Mrs. Oliver found the parcel, and, thinking the package 
contained flour left by a former tenant, handed it to her servant, with the result that 
it found its way into the dinner, poisoning eight members of the family. 
Unfortunately, no suspicion being entertained at the outset that the symptoms 
complained of were the result of poison, an error was made in the remedies — tartar 
emetic and zinc — administered by Dr. Mountain. The true state of the case having 
been discovered, Drs. Mountain and Steven appear to have done everything for their 
relief that science could suggest, notwithstanding which three of the sufferers, Mary 
Cunningham, Florence Munt, and Francis Oliver, succumbed next day. At the 
inquest the following verdict was returned by the jury ' “ We find that the death 
of Mary Cunningham on the 23rd, and Francis Oliver and Florence Munt on the 22nd 
March, was caused by the arsenic given to Dale by order of Mrs. Oliver and 
ultimately brought in by the latter to the kitchen, where it was mixed by someone 
unknown with the food prepared for the dinner. We also find Mr. Peate censurable 
for serving out the arsenic without being labelled ‘poison;’ Dale guilty of gross 
carelessness in giving up the key of the house where he knew unlabelled poison was 
lying about ; and Mrs. Oliver censurable for using the supposed flour under the 
conditions.” So far as it goes the verdict is fairly in accordance with the facts of 
the case, although it might be asked why, while Dale was found guilty of gross 
carelessness, Peate, whose omission to label the parcel “ poison” may be said to have 
been the origin of the tragedy, should be considered simply censurable. The true 
moral of the sad affair seems, however, to have been entirely missed, and that is 
the danger of entrusting storekeepers and other unprofessional retailers with the sale 
of drugs and poisons. This is a question the importance of which is daily becoming 
more evident, and which must, sooner or later, be dealt with in a practical manner. 
It appears to be the desire of the South Australian authorities to formulate a charge 
against Mr. J. B. Oliver, or his assistant, Peate ; but, to quote an Adelaide journal, 
“ it appears doubtful whether there is any ground for action, owing to the fact that 
the Act under which proceedings would probably be taken refers only to the ‘ sale * 
of poisons.” According to the Victorian Sale and Use of Poisons Act 1876 “any 
owner or other person whatsoever in charge or possession of any poison who shall 
leave it in any place (whether the same be ordinarily accessible to others or not), 
unless the bottle or package of whatever kind in which such poison may be contained 
shall be marked as ‘ Poison, and *e otherwise duly labelled in the manner provided 
by section 6, shall be liable, on summary conviction thereof before any two justices, 
to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds.” YVere this clause introduced into the 
South Australian Act the authorities would have no difficulty in dealing with such 
