Depositions as to Mr. Maybrick’s Arsenic Habit
On August 10, Henry Bliss, former proprietor of Sefton Club and Chambers, Liverpool, made a sworn deposition, in which he said:
“Mr. Maybrick lived in the chambers on and off several months, and was in the habit of dosing himself. On one occasion he asked me to leave a prescription at a well-known Liverpool chemist’s to be made up by the time he left ‘Change. The chemist remarked: ‘He ought to be very careful and not take an overdose of it.’”
On March 31, 1891, Franklin George Bancroft, artist and writer, of Columbia, S. C., made a sworn deposition, in which he said:
“1. Between the years 1874 and 1876 I was personally acquainted with James Maybrick, late of Battlecrease House, Aigburth, near Liverpool, merchant, deceased, who was then living in Norfolk, Va. I was frequently in his company, and from time to time I have seen him take from his vest pocket a case resembling a cigarette case, which contained a packet of white powders, and place the contents of one such powder on several occasions into the glass of wine (usually Chablis, claret, or champagne) he was at the time drinking, and swallow the same.
“2. Seeing him take this powder, I did, on one occasion, ask him what it was, and the said James Maybrick replied, ‘Longevity and fair complexion, my boy!’ and he subsequently informed me that the said white powders were composed of arsenic among other ingredients.”