April 15, 1896.]
if carried out amounts, practically, to prohibit ing, or at least very materially restricting the produce) has just been issued. The old lekin stations are being furbished up and are to be in full swing on or after the 11th inst. The Treaty port is surrounded by these, and in fact a condition of affairs closely approaching that attempted by Lin Ming-chuan some years ago seems on the point of being once more instituted. Foreigners have tried hard to make every allowance for the Japanese as new comers, but it now seems only too evident that they have, at heart, a desire to obstruct and, if possible, drive foreign trade out of the island. We are con- fidently relying, however, that the efforts our respective representatives at Tokyo are making will, in the end, bring about a state much more in keeping with justice and that condition of civilized amity which the Japanese so earnestly profess. It is perhaps only fair
to admit there seems some reason to believe
that much is due to the unbounded arrogance and ignorance of the smaller official fry, who appear to have been given a brief authority and power which no country unpossessed of the bureaucratic despotism so rampant in Japan would be capable of affording. To show the extent to which the Japanese are capable of going I append & translation of the "Sugar Regulations," the originals of which have been forwarded to the Foreign Consuls and, of course, purport to refer to foreigners as well as others.
(Translation.)
REGULATIONS FOR TAXATION OF SUGAR. Rule 1.-The manufacturer, the intermediary, and the merchant shall all be considered persons engaged in the sugar trade.
Rule 2.-Any one proposing to deal in sugar must first apply to the proper authorities for a licence; if the same person starts business at several places he must receive a licence for each place.
Rule 3.-20 cents must be paid in advance for each licence.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
Rule 14.-Officers provided with proper credentials shall from timo to time inspect the godowns, shops, mills, all the account books, and also the sugar manufactured.
Rule 15.-Transit passes shall be valid for three months from date of issue.
CRIMINAL POISONING IN HONGKONG.
319
On the afternoon of the 10th April Mr. W. E. Crow Government Analyst, delivered a lecture at the Hongkong Odd Volumes Society's rooms on Rule 16-Sugar intended for export must Criminal Poisoning in Hongkong." There (with the exception of such as is intended for was a large attendance, amongst those present Japan) be examined and pay duty at the Custom-being His Excellency the Governor, Sir Wil- house and on arrival at its destination the liam Robinson. The Chairman was Hon. H. E. Customs duty receipts and other evidence may Pollock. be presented for the inspection and stamp of the Japanese Consul. Should any sugar be brought back to Formosa and satisfactory proof be tendered, a proportionate amount of duty will be refunded by the local Custom-house in the form of drawback certificates, which shall be valid for three years.
Rule 17.-Persons illegally engaging in the sugar business without a licence shall be liable to
a fine of from $5 to $50 and confiscation of the sugar manufactured and also of the sugar sold.
Rule 18-Persons resisting the inspection stipulated for by the 12th and 14th rules will be liable to fines of from $5 to $50.
of the 11th rule and clandestinely conveying Rule 19-Any persons committing a breach sugar to the coast for export without a Transit pass shall be liable to a fine of from $10 to $100 and the sugar confiscated.
Rule 20-Breach of the 6th regulation shall be visited by a fine of from 82 to $20.
Rule 21-Persons committing breaches of 4th, 5th, or 13th rules by neglecting to report to the authorities shall be visited by fines of from $1 to $5.
Rule 22-Anyone aiding and abetting the evasion of duty shall be fined from $3 to $30.
Mr. CROWE said-Among the more serious criminal acts there is perhaps no offence which excites greater interest in the minds of the public and to which the resources of science are more strenuously applied by the authorities, in order to bring the offender to justice, than that of criminal poisoning.
The subject of poisoning generally naturally divides itself into two heads :---
1. The self administration of poison either by misadventure or for the purpose of suicide.
2-The administration of poison to any other person with intent (a) to injure, aggrieve, or annoy such person (misdemeanour); (b) to en- danger the life of such person or so as thereby to inflict upon such person any grievous bodily harm (felony); (c) to enable himself or any other person to commit any indiotable offence (felony).
The maximum penalties provided by Ordin tude for three years in the case of (a), for ten ance 4 of 1865 for these crimes are penal servi- years in the case of (b), and life in the case of (c.
I propose in this lecture to confine my re- marks for the most part to the poisonous agents as to the use of which for criminal purposes in this colony authentic records are in existence, and to make only incidental reference, for the sake of analogy, to substances the use of which has been brought out in evidence in the more important trials for murder by poisoning
Rule 23-Luty must be paid by, the dealer possession on the day announced for the en-in Great Britain. in accordance with the 9th rule on all sugar in forcement of these rules.
Rule 4.-Should the licence be lost or spoilt, A PRISON WARDER AS AMATEUR
or should another succeed to the business or the licensee change his name or habitation, in all such cases the matter must be reported to the authorities, with a request for the issue of a new licence: fees to be paid according to the
above rate.
Rule 5.-If business be given up, the circum. stance must be reported and the licence surren. dered and cancelled. Should there still be any sugar in stock on which duty has not been paid, it must pay the proper amount of duty.
Rule 6.-The licences must not be borrowed, bought, or sold, and must not be carelessly parted with.
Rule 7.-Every sugar mill must pay $3 a year. Should the number of mills be increased, the tax must be paid for the current year on the increased number. If a fresh manufactory be started, the mill tax on such for the current year must be paid at the time the licence is applied for.
Rule 8.-The year during which a licence is good expires on the 31st January.
Rule 9.-The duty on sugar is as follows:-
On white sugar 35 cents per picul. On brown sugar 30 cents per picul. Rule 10.-Taxes of whatever nature may be paid either by the manufacturer, agent, or merchant.
Rule 11.Should any sugar merchant desire to transport to the coast duty paid sugar for export, he must apply to the Tax Office for a transit pass; and the goods whilst en route to the coast must be accompanied by such pass for inspection.
Transit passes will be granted in accordance with the number applied for.
Rule 12.-At the time of export the merchant must report and point out the sugar to the examination office and pay the duties in accord. ance with the weight.
Rule 18-If a dealer in sugar disposes of any to a retailer or appropriates a small quantity for his private use he must keep a note of the quantity and must on the fifth of every month make up a return of all small quantities disposed of in this way during the preceding month and pay duty in accordance with the 9th regulation. If he sloses business or removes elsewhere, he must at once report the quantity disposed of and pay duty.
MILK ANALYST,
The recent milk adulteration case has had an amusing sequel. For some time a Chinese milkman in Cochrane Street has been supplying an Indian warder at the gaol with a pint of milk every morning. The warder has a very sensitive palate and lately he persuaded himself that his matutinal milk was adulterated with a considerable quantity of water and he there. fore decided to distinguish himself as an amateur analyst. By some means he man aged to get possession of the prison hos- pital hydrometer and with this he made many experiments with the milk supplied to him, the outcome of the experiments being that the suspicions first aroused by his delicate palate were without doubt, to his mind at any rate, confirmed. He determined to take decisive action. On the morning of the 10th inst. the Chinaman took the usual quantity of milk to the gaol and he was politely asked to remain for & few minutes in the warder's quarts.er "Barkis was willin'." The warder then went away and tested the milk in the hydrometer, returning shortly afterwards in triumph to the unsuspecting milkman, who was informed that the milk was largely adulterated; the hydrometer said so. This was apparently strange news to the milkman, but protests were of avail and he was marched off to the police station by the victorious warder and charged with selling adulterated milk. Later on the culprit was taken before Commander W. C. H. Hastings at the Magistracy, but of course the charge was dismissed. the Magistrate informing the warder that the proper course to pursue was to take the milk sealed to an analyst, as there could be no conviction on unscientific evidence.
M. Carton, the Belgian military engineer now residing at Paknam, has submitted a re- port to the Siamese Government recommending a new series of forts at the mouth of the river, and considerable alterations and improvements in the old ones. A complete change in the river defences is contemplated, and large sums are about to be expended on guns for the new scheme.--Siam Free Press.
First, with regard to accidental and sui- cidal poisoning. So far as the Chinese are concerned there is only one agent used by suicides, viz, opium, in the form of the aqueous extract in almost general use by the Chinese for smoking. These cases present but few features of interest to either the public or the medical or chemical jurist. In the majority of instances such a large dose of the drug is. taken that it is rare indeed for a life to be saved. Moreover, owing to the soporific effect of the poison, it is seldom that suspicion is aroused before the subject is beyond all medical aid.
Deaths or injury from poisoning by mis- adventure have happily been very infrequent and have been confined to members of the foreign community. Carbolic acid-imbibed in mistake for port wine; chloral-an overdose of a sleeping draught; and atropine, the active principle of belladonna and allied plants, are the chief agents which have been detected in the Government Laboratory in connection with investigations conducted by Her Majesty's coroner.
Coming now to the crimes falling under the second heading we approach a subject at once intensely interesting, not only to the medical and chemical expert, but also to officers of the detective service and to the general public. It is a singular fact, and in the eyes of the public a matter for congratulation, that the range of the criminal mind in civilised and semi-civilised countries, as regards the number of available or suitable poisonous agents, is a very limited one. The statistics of crime compiled in Great Britain afford a very good illustration of this. The three most important trials in our own time, viz., those of Dr. Lamson (the Wimbledon poisoner), Mrs. Maybriok, and Dr. Neale (the Lambeth poisoner), demonstrate the use of three well known poisons, viz., aconitine, arsenic, and strychnine; and a survey of the leading cases embraced by half a century adds only two more substances to this short but deadly list, viz., prussic acid and antimony.
and criminal records enable us to form an On this side of the globe, so far as laboratory
estimate, the list of poisons used in graver offences is correspondingly small, and includes the following
(L) Acovite (ii.) Arsenic (iii.) Datura (iv.) Gelsemium
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