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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1954-4-28, Page 3P„(ison For Rats Used For Murder In Australis, people are badly frightened by thei :alarming in- crease of thallitli», poisoning cases. In New ' South Wales, since 1947, there llave..beeu sev- enty known victims of metal- 110 thallium poisoning -- some of thein by a mass poisoner now recently convicted. Thallium, a rare element with properties similar to those of lead and belonging to. the fam- ily of metals which includes aluminum, is used in some rat poisons, hair dyes, and depila- tories. Rat poisons containing the lirug have been widely used in America, and were introduced from there to Australia. There's a strong chance they may find their way to this country. Thallium was openly on sale in New South Wales until re- cently. It causes a slow illness, one of the symptoms of which is that a victim's hair falls cut. One of the latest victims in Aus- tralia was a five-year-old Syd- ney girl who is now recovering in hospital, ' Police believe that she may have picked up a thallium bait laid for rats. What has highlighted the thallium poisoning scare has been a sensational murder trial. In Sydney some weeks ago, sixty -three-year-old Mrs., Caro- line Grills was sentenced to death for poisoning three wo- men with the drug, and for. at- tempting to murder two other people by the same means. Two of the time women Mrs. Grills poisoned were relatives by way of marriage. The three victims were: her stepmother, ,aged eighty-seven, who died in November, 1947; her brother's widow, sixty who died in Feb- ruary, 1953; an eighty -four- year-old widow who died in January, 1948. She was found guilty of at- tempting to murder two others; her husband's sister and his niece. Known affectionately by her relatives as "Aunt Carrie,” Mrs, Grills made them innumerable cups of tea over a period of years. Suspicion was only aroused after the long illness of the hus- band's niece, Mrs. Lundberg, who went blind from drinking Aunt Carrie's poisoned tea, Sen- tencing Mrs. Grills to death — a sentence later commuted by the Government to life impri- sonment — the judge said she had been motivated by "reck- less malignity." For the sake of the record, Mrs. Grill s was originally charged with the murder of a further person and the attempt- ed murder of another. Making the headlines, too, in Australia was the illness of a Rugby League international, Bobby Lulhany After weeks in hospital, Lulham is now recov- ering. Hie mother-in-law, Mrs. Veronica Mabel Mony, was charged with administeiing thal- lium to him, but acquitted. She said she intended to drink a cup - of cocoa poisoned with thallium herself, because she was de- pressed, but her son-in-law drank it by mistake. Now serving a life sentence in a Sydney jail for poisoning two husbands with thallium is Mrs. Yvonne Gladys Fletcher — t h c first known killer to use this drug that can fool doctors. She would not have been suspected if her second husband hadn't had the same symptoms as the first — who, the coroner decided in August, 1948, died of heart trouble. When the second hus- band died, painstaking work by a Government analyst ret;ealed thallium in the remains. What makes thallium so dan- gerous is that it is colourless, and tasteless. It is these three qualities which has led to its use as a rat poise)) t0 overcome the rodents' suspicion of normal baits. At the trial of Ittrs. Grills, an analyst .estimated that the _body of one of the victims contained sixteen grains of metallic that- lium at the time of death. This, he said, would he about two ounces of the 21 per cent. thal- lium solution, such as is used In rat poisons on sale in Australia, Up till 1930, thalliulrn had been used as a medicine, par- ticularly in the treatment of ringworm, But a tragedy in grenade, Spain,. in 1930, practi- cally ended lis use. During an outbreak of ring- worm, sixteen children in Gra- nada were given what was re- garded as a safe medicinal dose. of thallium, Fourteen of, the six- teen died. Prodded by campaigning by, Sunday newspapers, the New South Wales Government recent. ly banned the open sale of thallium but not opromptly enough, in the opinion of its critics, Australians a r e wondering how many unsuspected murders have been carried out through this colourless, odourless, taste- less, drug, which' could have been bought freely at most chemists' shops. What does disturb Australians is that Mrs, Grills, the convict- ed killer, murdered her first victim six years ago, and . her next two five years age. Most of the rat poisons used in the United Kingdom are phosphorus poisons. Phosphorus is strong -smelling which helps to prevent its use by a potential murderer. Lack Of Height Blights Happiness Two marriages look like being blighted because of eight inches. For 15 years the two Munich born dwarf sisters, ,Carla and Carola Miele, who are respective- ly 28 and 30 years old, and three -feet one inch and three feet three • inches in height, have been tra velling all over the world. They perform clever juggling acts at variety shows, and so pro fieient;and engaging are they that they have never been short of eitherzbookings or cash. Bo97r little ladies have been ivarr1e5I for eight years to dwarfs yvho live in Rome. Carla's dental - surgeon husband, Dr. Zimbala, is three feet four inches tall. Carola is married to a newsagent named Georgini, who stands three feet two inches. Nothing so far has ever inter- fered with the connubial bliss of the two couples. Now, however, a shadow has_been thrown on all their lives. For Carla and Carole have suddenly started to grow. Almost overnight they have shot. up another eight inches or so, so that Carla now levels off at around three feet nine inches, while Carola has topped four feet. Their husbands dislike the idea of their wives being so much taller than themselves, especially as the girls are continuing to grow. The Zimbalas, moreover, have a two-year-old son who is now nearly two feet tall and looks like being a norma] child and adult. • Disaster has now struck again. The sisters' manager has given thein the sack. He says they have lost their main asset—their dim- inutiveness. It seems that the sisters inherited a family disabil- ity of the endochrine glands, but the glands have suddenly started to function normally, so there is nothing they can do about it. Now Signor Georgini and Dr. Zimbala have started divorce pro- ceedings. "Don't get depressed when peo- ple say you're fat, dear—just keep your chins up!" - 0. Mulled CROSS it' CER PUZZLE ACROSS 1. Paco 0, Speak 9, (irate 12. Rind of rubber 33, Untruth 14. anrfnre 17 Chosen by rote 11. Acid rrulle 18. Arno . ed 15. 13re0nls 20,neelmal number 31 lteslr5In 12 Lilco 24ilryingeletl 211. Rranlunit D. NraS,11navin u hrn3611io 31, Floating derlres 99. 11,•'178 of 0.10 04, licit 60 I. c:unlnatlo3s 40, Exist 1I7SubsootTentlf 41; Lubriente 43.1%01 for flnttln r'hien 46. kind of tar 48. nreW together 40. Periods of hunger 00. andel:nmer01. Os. incline 63, Direction 3.Princely o5 I1811an 00,11ti. DOWN 1. Hurried 2. Mary Upright . Parcel . Vehicle on •ru men 800111 7• iftseun 10. Appear 11, go bI' t1r1ft 17. Allow 19. Girdle:: 17, Put of: 22. Belgian commune 23. 00000,3, a. 'chair 26, Irrigate 27. Seize suddenly 28, Colo 10. Coin r ,Cts,, 11 Aucospoerle dl0turbanco 36, Apparent 37. Figure of op 0011 40. Sp 'end to dry 42.12 Inc 43, Lethargic, 44, Bathe 46, A. quire by labor 40. Orderly 47, Sol 45, Exclamation 01, Morning (06.) I 1 3 • 35 0 7 8 9 10 11 I1. 3 by 4 16 ill t{z 11 111111111111 t;$$:2��<: 1111 11 19 48 4149 50 51 ', 61 53:6 4 31 Answer elsewhere on this pi ge, Here Are Hollywood's Worst -Tressed Stars .MARILYN MONROE: AUDREY HEPBURN: RITA HAYWORTH: "Shaggy dog;" "Lawn -mower haircut." "Ten years behind the times.", Marilyn.Monroe is Hollywood's "worst -tressed"" actress. Elizabeth Taylor ls`the best. That's what a poll of 723 beauty salon operators in the U. S., Bermuda, Canada and Cuba turned up. Other favorite movie stars who followed Miss Monroe,In disfavor, and the 'beauty experts''. comments are shown above and below. Hairdressers recommended Marilyn chop her locks by at least three inches. They called Liz Taylor "best tressed," because her coiffure is "youthful but sophisticated." " MARTHA RAYE: "Untidy and old womanish." - 9 LESLIE CARON: "Caught in the rain," TALLULAH BANKHEAD: "Stringy," Dahlin'g. Suzan Hayward: "Too long and bushy." ELIZABETH TAYLOR: "Best tressed." YIILPARN FAONf Jokn'Ru; Agricultural history was made recently when Gerald Rewe, of ° Riceville, Ont., was sentenced ,in Magistrate's Court at L'Orignal, Ont., to pay the maximum fine of` $500 and all costs of the case, which would be at least an- other $500, for falsifying the pedigrees of Holstein -Friesian cattle on his farm. Five charges were ]aid by the Department of Agriculture,. Ottawa, through the RCMP, but when a convic- tion was secured on the one charge the other four were ad- journed. # • Officials of the Department responsible for enforcing the provisions of the Live : Stock Pedigree Act believe that the conviction recorded in this case will make it easier to prevent this type of fraud in the future. M # For the first time in Canada, - and possibly in any country, results of a blood test to prove . percentage of an animal has been submitted to court and ac- cepted as evidence. In this case it was accepted as proof that the heifer, Mary Bess Supreme, could not be the daughter of the cow, Lady Bess Rena Echo and the sire, Penvale Supreme, as Claimed by Mr. Rowe. M # # In delivering his judgment, Magistrate Lalonde stated the prosecution had proved by two different methods, practically ana scientifically, that the par- entage of Mary Bess Supreme, as stated in the application for registration, was false. # # * Emmet Collins, an experienced technician for an artificial in- semination unit, gave evidence that he\ had inseminated the cow, Latey Bess Rena Echo, in Mr, Rowe's herd only four monthsbefore the calf register- ed as Mary Bess Supreme was claimed by Mr. Rowe to have been born, and at that time the cow was not in calf. Two veter- inarians testified for the prose- - cution that an experienced tech- nician in artificial insemination would deflinitely know if a cow that far advanced in the preg- nancy period wasin calf. r + N Grose questioning of Mr. Col- lins. emjlhasized ' the , value of accurate records being kept by. insemination teohnidians, Mo'... Collins had to produce records. showing exact dates of insemi- nation services, definite identi- fication of the cow inseminated and of the bull used, in order to prove that the calf in this case could not have been born as the result of this mating. * - * The magistrate stated that as a result of Mr. Collins' testi- mony,, supported by the state- ments of the veternarians, he was satisfied Lady Bess Rena Echo was not in calf when in- seminated on January 4th, 1951, and consequently could not have given birth to a calf on May 8th, 1951 as claimed by the defendant.' # M Magistrate Lalonde stated that the prosecution also had proved by means of blood tests, per- formed by experts, and the re- sult presented by them to the court, that Mary Bess 'Supreme could not have been the daugh- ter of Lady Bess Rena Echo and Penvale Supreme. He stated the evidence given by Dr, Humble of the Ontario Veterinary Col- lege, on this point was con- vincing beyond any doubt. * * # The basis of the evidence giv- en by Dr. Humble was that to prove parentage of an animal by the blood test, all factors found in the blood of a calf must be present in the blood of either the sire or the dam. If certain factors found in the blood of the calf could not be found in the blood of either the sire or the dam, then the calf could not have been ,the result of that particular mating. In the case of the heifer, Mary Bess Supreme, factors were found in her blood that were not present in either the blood of the al- leged dam, Lady Bess Rena Echo or .the alleged sire, Pen - vale S u p r e m.e, consequently Mary Bess Supreme could not - have resulted from that mating, * * M Officials of the Department believe acceptance of the blood test by the court as proof of parentage will aid materially in preventing future substitution of one animal for another in the registration of live stock. With the widespread use of artificial insemination in the breeding of dairy cattle, it will be compare- tively easy to, make and record blood tests of all sires used in breeding centres. The Canadian Holstein -Friesian Association a1 - ready requires it for all Hol- stein bulls used in such centres and the results are recorded at the Ontario Veterinary College. , M * e With the blood types of the sires recorded,`it will not be difficult, whereparentage' of a calf is in doubt, to have blood tests inade of the calf and the calf's dam. Comparing the blood tests of all three animals will determine that the calf is not actually the result of the mating of that particular sire and dem if any substitution has occurred. To this extent the case of the Crown versus Gerald Rowe marks a forward step in main- taining the reliability of Cana- dian pure bred livestock records. In future the fact that the blood test has been accepted in court will make it difficult for any cattle breeder,either by acci- dent or design, tottsubstitute one. animal for another on a certifi- cate of registration. ti ehind The Walls Of A P.O.W. Camp Behind the forbidding walls and barbed wire of Stalag VIIIb, brave men were dying . , and some of them were crying. In- to this earthly hell had come a form of torture so subtle that it achieved something German rifle butts and starvation could not do. "Mail up!" yelled a voice. A hushed silence spread through the hut. One by one the lucky names were called out, tension mounted as the pile became 'smaller, and smaller. Letters front. home! From wives, moth- ers, sweethearts . "I've got the world's grandest wife," boasted Bluey, the one chap who always seemed to be able to laugh at the hardships of prison camp life. "And my little boy will be talking and romping all over the place now. Boy . .. wait until he sees his daddy!" Fellow prisoners were envious at the eagerness with which Bluey tore open his precious letter — a rather special let- ter, for two weeks later Bluey hanged himself, A wife's infi- delity, or a sweetheart's refusal to wail, did strange things to the men confined in Stalag VIIib. Unfaithfulness was a cancer which ate at the hearts and minds of soldiers and airmen to whom only the memory of love and kindness, far away, nfade it. possible to, live and endure. The soulless wife of a soldier, shell-shocked at Dunkirk, bore two children to an Italian pris- oner of war. Repenting, : she wrote offering to buy her hus- band a new motareyole after. the war, if he would forgive. Another letter which a serge- ant received from his best girl — writes Richard Pape in his moving and brilliantly written book "Boldness Be My Friend" — dismissed the situation at home in five words: "Sorry. Married your father. Mother," An airman, twice decorated for gallantry, suffered terrible burns when his bomber crash- ed and he had remained at the controls enabling his crew to jump tp safety. His fieneee wrote: "I don''t want anything further to do with an airman ' who chooses to play safe by be- coming a P.O.W. I would rather be married to a 4941 dead hero than a 1941 prisoner." One soldier, receiving a Red Cross sweater with the name of the donor in the pocket, spared one of his precious letter -cards on which to write his thanks. Came the reply: "I'm sorry you ,got it. I wish it had gone to someone on active service." Richard Pape, M.M., navigator of an R.A.F, Stirling bomber, shot down over Berlin, has written what his doctor has described as the "unvarnished record of his unending fight for freedom." Pape needed a doctor when he finally came home, battered both in mind and body. Writing 'Boldness Be My Friend" was part of his "treatment." iL, Barclay Warren, t3..f1!., .13.1) Ahlja1' Foresees n Divided Kingdom , i Kings 11:29.38. ' Memory Selection; If thou wilt hearken unto all that X command thee, and wilt walk in ,ny ways .. 1 will be with thee, and build thee ii sure house. 1. Kings 11;38. With this lesson we begin a study of the northern kingdom and its prophets. During its 200 years there were 19 kings and nine different dynasties, The dynasty of Jehu lasted 100 years. The kingdom of Israel reached its height under King Solomon. Iiia wives—Of which he had 700, in addition to 300 concubines— turned his heart to their gods. The p r e p h e t,_Ahijah, foresaw and told Jeroboam that ten of the tribes would forsake Solo- mon's sen and acclaim him, Jera-,. , boam, as their king. Prophecy is often mistaken for a type of fatalism, Events are not caused by prophecy. Pro- phecy is simply the foretelling of events. The event does not occur because it was prophecied. It was prophecied because God revealed it to his servant in advance. We are always free moral agents. Only God who knows all things can accurately predict what we will do in a given situation. His foreknowl- edge does not interfere with our freedom of choice. The knowl- edge of past, present and future are all his. His revelations of the future are given to his ser- vants as He wills. The story of Rehoboam's rejec- tion of the advice of the older counsellors was a lesson for us all. Youth is more liable to be hot-headed and impetuous. We need the enthusiasm and ven- turesome spirit of youth. We also need a humble spirit which leads us to inquire of the Lord for His guidance. He knows best. "It's no use sawing grass seed under two feet of soil." "I know, but it annoys the birds." "Oh, honey, it looks like you're trapped again!i (Upside down to prevent peeking) 1 9 3,`;i, N V 3 1 ;r1. b I 3N 18V d N I W . 3 Turtleneck Duo — Axel Johansson proudly displays a large turtle he picked up during 'a naval training tour in the West Indies. At 15, he is the youngest boy aboard the Swedish training schooner i=alken which was In dock at Southampton, England.