Children of Mathias and Mary Gale

On Sunday morning last an unfortunate mistake happened at the house of one Matthias Gale, a labourer, at the parish of Upper Froyle; this man is also employed as a rat-catcher in all that part of the country, and had been out the day before in laying poison for destroying the rats at some Gen[tle]mens houses in that neighbourhood, but had a very small quantity of the arsnic left, which he put into a paper in his pocket, but called at an apothecary's shop at Alton for a dose of physic he had ordered for a little girl about eight years old, who had been before under this Apothecary's direction, who ordered a little paper of powder to be given the next morning, to be mixed in a little beer: the man brought it home very safe in the evening, and put it on a shelf in his kitchen, at the other end of the shelf put the paper of poison, and early in the morning, before he got up himself, he called up another of his daughters aged about 12 years, and ordered her to mix the physic in beer and give her sister, but she unfortunately took the poison and mixed it and gave the child to take, which instantly throwed her into a violent vomiting, &c. and in about three or four hours occasioned her death.—The poor unhappy man soon found the mistake, and ran through the neighbourhood for oil, and to an apothecary's for assistance for the poor child, but to no purpose.—An inquisition was taken on the body by Mr. Lipscomb, Coroner, when the Jury presented the death accidental.——It is to be hoped this will be a caution to all who make use of such dangerous medicines, so to dispose of it, that it may be impossible to make such a mistake in future.