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66-586: The Esing Bakery incident , also known as the Ah Lum affair , was a food contamination scandal in the early history of British Hong Kong . On 15 January 1857, during the Second Opium War , several hundred European residents were poisoned non-lethally by arsenic , found in bread produced by a Chinese-owned store, the Esing Bakery. The proprietor of the bakery, Cheong Ah-lum, was accused of plotting

132-432: A drachm of arsenic, sixty grains to the drachm, common white arsenic. ... I also, on the afternoon of the 16th, had two jars brought me by a policeman, one containing yeast used on the night of the 14th, the other the materials for making yeast, together with some flour and some pastry from the bakery, paste scraped from the table, and some pastry in tin moulds. I found no trace of arsenic or other metallic poison in any of

198-532: A soporific —the truth of this allegation is unknown. Soon after the poisoning, Hong Kong was rocked by the Caldwell affair , a series of scandals and controversies involving Bridges, Tarrant, Anstey, and other members of the administration, similarly focused on race relations in the colony. Cheong himself made a prosperous living in Macau and Vietnam after his departure from Hong Kong, and later became consul for

264-452: A "hideous villainy, [an] unparalleled treachery, of these monsters of China", "defeated ... by its very excess of iniquity"; its perpetrators were "noxious animals ... wild beasts in human shape, without one single redeeming value" and "demons in human shape". Another newspaper supportive of Palmerston, the Globe , published a fabricated letter by Cheong admitting that he "had acted agreeably to

330-644: A campaign of terrorism in Hong Kong by a series of proclamations offering rewards for the deaths of what he called the French and British "rebel barbarians", and ordering Chinese to renounce employment by the "foreign dogs". A committee to organise resistance to the Europeans was established at Xin'an County on the mainland. At the same time, Europeans in Hong Kong became concerned that the turmoil in China caused by

396-549: A confiscated letter written to Chan Kwei-tsih, the head of the resistance committee in Xin'an County, from his brother Tsz-tin, informing him of the incident. The second-hand report in the missive suggests that the committee was unlikely to have instigated the incident directly. Aurelius Harland, the Surgeon General, conducted the initial tests on the bread and other materials recovered from the bakery. He recorded: Soon after

462-461: A gateway for British influence in China as a whole, which would combine British good government with an influx from China of what were referred to at the time as "intelligent and readily improvable artisans", as well as facilitating the transfer of coolies to the West Indies . However, the colonial government soon found it difficult to govern Hong Kong's rapidly expanding Chinese population, and

528-407: A high temperature ( > 110 °C) cubic As 4 O 6 , containing molecular As 4 O 6 , and two related polymeric forms. The polymers, which both crystallize as monoclinic crystals, feature sheets of pyramidal AsO 3 units that share O atoms. Smelting and related ore processing often generate arsenic trioxide, which poses a risk to the environment . For example,

594-543: A liquid form of arsenic trioxide that can be given by mouth. Organoarsenic compounds , such as feed additives ( roxarsone ) and medication ( neosalvarsan ), are derived from arsenic trioxide. Industrial uses include usage as a precursor to forestry products, in colorless glass production, and in electronics. Being the main compound of arsenic , the trioxide is the precursor to elemental arsenic, arsenic alloys, and arsenide semiconductors . Bulk arsenic-based compounds sodium arsenite and sodium cacodylate are derived from

660-454: A medical treatment can lead to skin cancer. Reproductive problems (high incidences of miscarriage, low birth weight, congenital deformations) have also been indicated in one study of women exposed to arsenic trioxide dust as employees or neighbours of a copper foundry. In the U.S., the OSHA 1910.1018 occupational permissible exposure limit for inorganic arsenic compounds in breathing zone air

726-525: A political issue during the 1857 general election , helping to mobilise support for the war and the incumbent Prime Minister , Lord Palmerston . In Hong Kong, it sowed panic and insecurity among the local colonists, highlighting the precariousness of imperial rule in the colony. The incident contributed to growing tensions between Hong Kong's European and Chinese residents, as well as within the European community itself. The scale and potential consequences of

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792-566: A preliminary examination. This took place on 21 January. The other detainees were taken to Cross Roads police station and confined in a small cell, which became known as the 'Black Hole of Hong Kong' after the Black Hole of Calcutta . Some were deported several days later, while the rest remained in the Black Hole for nearly three weeks. The trial opened on 2 February. The government had difficulty selecting appropriate charges because there

858-475: A whitener —and Lowe and McLaughlin note that "a baker named Cheong Alum would have been considered funny by itself, but a baker named Cheong Alum accused of adding poison to his own dough seemed too good to be true". An official of the Colonial Office annotated a report on Cheong from Hong Kong with the remark, "Surely a mythical name". Both the scale of the poisoning and its potential consequences make

924-399: A worker dropped some 'odd things' into the flour", even though the arsenic was found only in the bread itself, and in massive quantities—not in the flour, yeast, pastry, or in scrapings collected from the table, all of which were tested. If these results are correct, the poison must have been introduced shortly before baking. Moreover, despite its ultimate failure, Lowe and McLaughlin argue that

990-582: Is 0.010 mg/m . Arsenic trioxide can be generated via routine processing of arsenic compounds including the oxidation (combustion) of arsenic and arsenic-containing minerals in air . Illustrative is the roasting of orpiment , a typical arsenic sulfide ore. Most arsenic oxide is, however, obtained as a volatile by-product of the processing of other ores. For example, arsenopyrite , a common impurity in gold- and copper-containing ores, liberates arsenic trioxide upon heating in air. The processing of such minerals has led to numerous cases of poisonings, and after

1056-428: Is a risk that it may induce choking and vomiting , and also that it may be contaminated by toxic substances. Views differ as to the level of risk it poses to the inadvertent consumer. In most countries, people working in the food industry are required to cover their hair because it will contaminate the food. When people are served food which contains hair in restaurants or cafés, it is usual for them to complain to

1122-729: Is an amphoteric oxide, and its aqueous solutions are weakly acidic . Thus, it dissolves readily in alkaline solutions to give arsenites . It is less soluble in acids, although it will dissolve in hydrochloric acid . With anhydrous HF and HCl, it gives AsF 3 and the trichloride: Only with strong oxidizing agents such as ozone , hydrogen peroxide , and nitric acid does it yield arsenic pentoxide , As 2 O 5 or its corresponding acid: In terms of its resistance to oxidation, arsenic trioxide differs from phosphorus trioxide , which readily combusts to phosphorus pentoxide . Reduction gives elemental arsenic or arsine ( AsH 3 ) depending on conditions: This reaction

1188-628: Is an inorganic compound with the formula As 2 O 3 . As an industrial chemical, its major uses include the manufacture of wood preservatives , pesticides , and glass . It is sold under the brand name Trisenox among others when used as a medication to treat a type of cancer known as acute promyelocytic leukemia . For this use it is given by injection into a vein . Common side effects include vomiting, diarrhea, swelling, shortness of breath, and headaches. Severe side effects may include APL differentiation syndrome and heart problems. Use during pregnancy or breastfeeding may harm

1254-436: Is characterized by the presence of the t(15;17) translocation or PML/RAR-alpha gene expression; and for induction of remission and consolidation in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia who are refractory to, or have relapsed from, retinoid and anthracycline chemotherapy, and whose acute promyelocytic leukemia is characterized by the presence of the t(15;17) translocation or PML/RAR-alpha gene expression. Arsenic trioxide

1320-400: Is currently an active area of research and regulatory debate. The conventional food contaminant test methods may be limited by complicated/tedious sample preparing procedure, long testing time, sumptuous instrument, and professional operator. However, some rapid, novel, sensitive, and easy to use and affordable methods were developed including: Arsenic trioxide Arsenic trioxide

1386-468: Is less expensive but is less available. It works by encouraging the proteosome breakdown of retinoic acid receptor alpha , by moving the protein on to the nuclear matrix and increasing ubiquitination . In the 1970s, Chinese researcher Zhang Tingdong and colleagues discovered this use. It was approved for leukemia treatment in the United States in 2000. University of Hong Kong developed

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1452-478: Is toxic to living organisms. Arsenic trioxide is readily absorbed by the digestive system. Ingestion of as little as 0.1 grams can be fatal. Chronic arsenic poisoning is known as arsenicosis. This disorder affects workers in smelters , in populations whose drinking water contains high levels of arsenic (0.3–0.4 ppm), and in patients treated for long periods with arsenic-based pharmaceuticals. Long-term ingestion of arsenic trioxide either in drinking water or as

1518-726: Is used as a food ingredient, in bread and other such similar products. Such use of human hair in food is forbidden in Islam . Historically, in Judaism , finding hair in food was a sign of bad luck. Processing contaminants are generated during the processing of foods (e.g., heating, fermentation ). They are absent in the raw materials, and are formed by chemical reactions between natural and/or added food constituents during processing. The presence of these contaminants in processed foods cannot be entirely avoided. Technological processes can be adjusted and/or optimized, however, in order to reduce

1584-463: Is used in the Marsh test . In the liquid and gas phase below 800 °C, arsenic trioxide has the formula As 4 O 6 and is isostructural with P 4 O 6 . Above 800 °C As 4 O 6 significantly dissociates into molecular As 2 O 3 , which adopts the same structure as N 2 O 3 . Three forms ( polymorphs ) are known in the solid state:

1650-461: Is used to treat a type of cancer known as acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). It may be used both in cases that are unresponsive to other agents, such as all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) or as part of the initial treatment of newly diagnosed cases. This initial treatment may include combination therapy of arsenic trioxide with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA). Effectiveness appears similar to Realgar/Indigo naturalis , which can be taken by mouth and

1716-528: The Giant Mine in Canada processed substantial amounts of arsenopyrite -contaminated gold ores. The poisonous properties of arsenic are the subject of an extensive literature. In Austria, there lived the so-called "arsenic eaters of Styria ", who ingested doses far beyond the lethal dose of arsenic trioxide without any apparent harm. Arsenic is thought to enable strenuous work at high altitudes, e.g. in

1782-596: The Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864) was producing a surge of Chinese criminals into the colony. Tensions between Chinese and European residents ran high, and in December 1856 and January 1857 the Hong Kong government enacted emergency legislation, imposing a curfew on Hong Kong Chinese and giving the police sweeping powers to arrest and deport Chinese criminals and to resort to lethal force at night-time. Well-off Chinese residents became increasingly disquieted by

1848-590: The Esing bakery incident unprecedented in the history of the British Empire , with the colonists believing at the time that its success could have destroyed their community. Morris describes the incident as "a dramatic realization of that favourite Victorian chiller, the Yellow Peril ", and the affair contributed to the tensions between the European and Chinese communities in Hong Kong. In a state of panic,

1914-400: The European residents of Hong Kong remained extremely hostile to Cheong. Governor Bowring and his Executive Council had determined while the trial was still underway that Cheong should be detained indefinitely regardless of its outcome, and he was arrested soon afterwards under emergency legislation on the pretext of being what the authorities called a "suspicious character". William Tarrant ,

1980-863: The Qing Empire in Vietnam. He died in 1900. A portion of the poisoned bread, well-preserved by its high arsenic content, was kept in a cabinet of the office of the Chief Justice of the Hong Kong Supreme Court until the 1930s. Food contamination The impact of chemical contaminants on consumer health and well-being is often apparent only after many years of processing and prolonged exposure at low levels (e.g.,  cancer ). Unlike food-borne pathogens, chemical contaminants present in foods are often unaffected by thermal processing. Chemical contaminants can be classified according to

2046-460: The aftermath in his letter (see above ) : ... the English barbarians are in very great perplexity; that a proclamation is issued every day, and three sets of regulations come out in two days. People out at night are taken up in a haste, and let go in a hurry; no one is allowed out after 8 o'clock; the shops are forced to take out tickets at sixteen dollars each. The Esing Bakery was closed, and

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2112-628: The baby. Its mechanism in treating cancer is not entirely clear. Arsenic trioxide was approved for medical use in the United States in 2000. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines . Approximately 50,000 tonnes are produced a year. Due to its toxicity, a number of countries have regulations around its manufacture and sale. Arsenic trioxide is indicated in combination with tretinoin for treatment of adults with newly-diagnosed low-risk acute promyelocytic leukemia whose acute promyelocytic leukemia

2178-495: The basis of the "No Observed Adverse Effect Level" (NOAEL) in animal experiments, by using a safety factor (usually 100). The maximum concentrations of contaminants allowed by legislation are often well below toxicological tolerance levels, because such levels can often be reasonably achieved by using good agricultural and manufacturing practices. Regulatory officials, in order to combat the dangers associated with foodborne viruses, are pursuing various possible measures. To maintain

2244-493: The bread had been adulterated with large amounts of arsenic trioxide . The quantity of arsenic involved was high enough to cause the poison to be vomited out before it could kill its victims. There were no deaths immediately attributable to the poisoning, though three deaths that occurred the following year, including that of the wife of Governor Bowring, would be ascribed to its long-term effects. The colony's doctors, led by Surgeon General Aurelius Harland, dispatched messages across

2310-525: The colonial government conducted mass arrests and deportations of Chinese residents in the wake of the poisonings. 100 new police officers were hired and a merchant ship was commissioned to patrol the waters surrounding Hong Kong. Governor Bowring wrote to London requesting the dispatch of 5,000 soldiers to Hong Kong. A proclamation was issued reaffirming the curfew on Chinese residents, and Chinese ships were ordered to be kept beyond 300 yards (270 m) of Hong Kong, by force if necessary. Chan Tsz-tin described

2376-420: The colony. They claimed he was financially desperate and had sold himself out to Chinese officials in return for money. The defence noted that Cheong's own children had shown symptoms of poisoning; Attorney General Anstey argued that they had merely been seasick, and added that even if Cheong were innocent, it was "better to hang the wrong man than confess that British sagacity and activity have failed to discover

2442-401: The command of the imperial court, states that the incident was entirely accidental, the result of negligence in preparing the bread rather than intentional poisoning. Yet another account says that the poisoning was carried out by two foremen at the bakery who fled Hong Kong immediately afterwards, and Cheong was uninvolved. Lowe and McLaughlin, in their 2015 investigation of the incident, classify

2508-545: The coolest premeditation". "In short, instead of moralizing on the horrible atrocities of the Chinese", he argued, "as the chivalrous English press does, we had better recognize that this is a war pro aris et focis , a popular war for the maintenance of Chinese nationality, with all its overbearing prejudice, stupidity, learned ignorance and pedantic barbarism if you like, but yet a popular war." Others in England denied that

2574-523: The editor of the Friend of China , sued Cheong for damages . He was awarded $ 1,010. Before the sentence could be executed, Bridges, now Acting Colonial Secretary , accepted a petition from the Chinese community for Cheong to be allowed to leave peaceably from Hong Kong after putting his affairs in order. Cheong was accordingly released and left the colony on 1 August, abandoning his business. Tarrant blamed Bridges publicly for permitting Cheong to escape, but

2640-445: The environment in which the food is grown, harvested, transported, stored, packaged, processed, and consumed. The physical contact of the food with its environment results in its contamination. Possible sources of contamination and contaminants common to that vector include: There are many cases of banned pesticides or carcinogens found in foods. There is a heavy stigma attached to the presence of hair in food in most societies. There

2706-428: The escalating police brutality and the level of regulation of Chinese life. On 15 January 1857, between 300 and 500 predominantly European residents of the colony—a large proportion of the European population at the time—who had consumed loaves from the Esing Bakery ( Chinese : 裕成辦館 ; Cantonese Yale : Yuhsìhng baahngún ) fell ill with nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, and dizziness. Later testing concluded that

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2772-474: The first alarm, I endeavoured to ascertain in a hasty way what was in the bread, and Dr Bradford coming in, he and I satisfied ourselves that it was arsenic. Next day, at the request of the Colonial Secretary, we made a more careful analysis of each piece of bread separately, and found they all indicated the presence of arsenic. ... we found that one pound [0.45 kg] loaf of bread contained nearly

2838-657: The high quality of food and comply with health, safety, and environmental regulatory standards, it is best to rely on food contaminant testing through an independent third party, such as laboratories or certification companies. For manufacturers, the testing for food contaminants can minimize the risk of noncompliance in relation to raw ingredients, semi-manufactured foods, and final products. Also, food contaminant testing assures consumers safety and quality of purchased food products and can prevent foodborne diseases , and chemical, microbiological, or physical food hazards. The establishment of ADIs for certain emerging food contaminants

2904-501: The incident had certain characteristics of careful strategic planning: the decision to poison European-style bread, a food generally not eaten by Chinese at the time, would have served to separate the intended targets of the plot, while white arsenic (arsenic trioxide) was a fast-acting poison naturally available in China, and so well-suited to the task. In June 1857, the Hong Kong Government Gazette published

2970-462: The levels of formation of processing contaminants. Examples are: nitrosamines , polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), heterocyclic amines , histamine , acrylamide , furan , benzene , trans fat , 3-MCPD , semicarbazide , 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), and ethyl carbamate . There is also the possibility of metal chips from the processing equipment contaminating food. These can be identified using metal detection equipment. In many conveyor lines,

3036-829: The line will be stopped, or when weighing the product with a Check weigher , the item can be rejected for being over- or underweight or because small pieces of metal are detected within it. While many food contaminants have been known for decades, the formation and presence of certain chemicals in foods has been discovered relatively recently. These are the so-called emerging food contaminants like acrylamide , furan , benzene , perchlorate , perfluorooctanoic acid ( PFOA ), 3-monochloropropane-1,3-diol (3-MCPD), 4-hydroxynonenal , and (4-HNE). Microplastics are often found in bottled water . Polypropylene infant feeding bottles cause microplastics exposure to infants. Acceptable daily intake (ADI) levels and tolerable concentrations of contaminants in individual foods are determined on

3102-638: The materials. Portions of the poisoned bread were subsequently sealed and dispatched to Europe, where they were examined by the chemists Frederick Abel and Justus von Liebig , and the Scottish surgeon John Ivor Murray . Murray found the incident to be scientifically interesting because of the low number of deaths that resulted from the ingestion of such a massive quantity of arsenic. Chemical tests enabled him to obtain 62.3 grains of arsenous acid per pound of bread (9 parts per thousand), while Liebig found 64 grains/lb (10 parts per thousand). Liebig theorised that

3168-496: The mine is closed, the leftover trioxide waste will present environmental hazard (as was the case with the Giant Mine , for example). Only in China are arsenic ores intentionally mined. In the laboratory, it is prepared by hydrolysis of arsenic trichloride : As 2 O 3 occurs naturally as two minerals, arsenolite ( cubic ) and claudetite ( monoclinic ). Both are relatively rare secondary minerals found in oxidation zones of As-rich ore deposits. Arsenic trioxide

3234-548: The next day. By the end of the day, 52 Chinese men had been rounded up and detained in connection to the incident. Many of the local Europeans, including the Attorney General, Thomas Chisholm Anstey , wished Cheong to be court-martialled —some called for him to be lynched . Governor Bowring insisted that he be tried by jury . On 19 January ten of the men were committed to be tried at the Supreme Court after

3300-675: The order of the Viceroy [Ye Mingchen]". By the time the news of Cheong's acquittal was published in London on 11 April, the election was all but over, and Palmerston was victorious. In London, the incident came to the attention of the German author Friedrich Engels , who wrote to the New York Herald Tribune on 22 May 1857, saying that the Chinese now "poison the bread of the European community at Hong Kong by wholesale, and with

3366-447: The plausible hypotheses into three categories: that the poisoning was carried out by Cheong or an employee on orders from Chinese officials, that the poisoning was an attempt by a rival to frame Cheong, and that the poisoning was accidental. Lowe and McLaughlin state that the chemical analyses conducted at the time do not support the theory that the incident was accidental. Cheong's clan record reports that "one day, through carelessness,

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3432-578: The poison had failed to act because it was vomited out before digestion could take place. News of the incident reached Britain during the 1857 general election , which had been called following a successful parliamentary vote of censure of Lord Palmerston's support for the Second Opium War. Mustering support for Palmerston and his war policy, the London Morning Post decried the poisoning in hyperbolic terms, describing it as

3498-464: The poisoning but was acquitted in a trial by jury . Nonetheless, Cheong was successfully sued for damages and was banished from the colony. The true responsibility for the incident and its intention—whether it was an individual act of terrorism , commercial sabotage , a war crime orchestrated by the Qing government, or purely accidental—both remain a matter of debate. In Britain, the incident became

3564-454: The poisoning had even happened. In the House of Commons , Thomas Perronet Thompson alleged that the incident had been fabricated as part of a campaign of disinformation justifying the Second Opium War. Much of the disbelief centred on Cheong's name, which became an object of sarcasm and humour—bakers in 19th-century Britain often adulterated their dough with potassium alum , or simply 'alum', as

3630-625: The poisoning make it an unprecedented event in the history of the British Empire , the colonists believing at the time that its success could have wiped out their community. In 1841, in the midst of the First Opium War , Captain Charles Elliot negotiated the cession of Hong Kong by the Qing dynasty of China to the British Empire in the Convention of Chuenpi . The colony's early administrators held high hopes for Hong Kong as

3696-439: The real criminals". Hulme retorted that "hanging the wrong man will not further the ends of justice". Cheong himself called for his own beheading, along with the rest of his family, if he were found guilty, in accordance with Chinese practice. On 6 February, the jury rejected the arguments of the prosecution and returned a 5–1 verdict of 'not guilty'. The verdict triggered a sensation, and despite his acquittal, public opinion among

3762-529: The source of contamination and the mechanism by which they enter the food product. Agrochemicals are chemicals used in agricultural practices and animal husbandry with the intent to increase crop yields. Such agents include pesticides (e.g.,  insecticides , herbicides , rodenticides ), plant growth regulators, veterinary drugs (e.g.,  nitrofuran , fluoroquinolones , malachite green , chloramphenicol ), and bovine somatotropin ( rBST ). Environmental contaminants are chemicals that are present in

3828-439: The staff. There are a range of possible reasons for the objection to hair in food, ranging from cultural taboos to the simple fact that it is difficult to digest and unpleasant to eat. It may also be interpreted as a sign of more widespread problems with hygiene. The introduction of complete-capture hairnets is believed to have resulted in a decrease in incidents of contamination of this type. Sometimes protein from human hair

3894-450: The supply of bread to the colonial community was taken over by the English entrepreneur George Duddell, described by the historian Nigel Cameron as "one of the colony's most devious crooks". Duddell's warehouse was attacked in an arson incident on 6 March 1857, indicative of the continuing problems in the colony. In the same month, one of Duddell's employees was reported to have discussed being offered $ 2,000 to adulterate biscuit dough with

3960-423: The town advising that the bread was poisoned and containing instructions to induce vomiting and consume raw eggs. The proprietor of the bakery, Cheong Ah-lum (Chinese: 張霈霖 ; Cantonese Yale: Jēung Puilàhm ), left for Macau with his family early in the day. He was immediately suspected of being the perpetrator, and as news of the incident rapidly spread, he was detained there and brought back to Hong Kong

4026-485: The trial focused more on Cheong's personal character than on the poisoning itself: the defence argued that Cheong was a highly regarded and prosperous member of the local community with little reason to take part in an amateurish poisoning plot, and suggested that Cheong had been framed by his commercial competitors. The prosecution, on the other hand, painted him as an agent of the Qing government, ideally positioned to sabotage

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4092-424: The trioxide. A variety of applications exploit arsenic's toxicity, including the use of the oxide as a wood preservative . Copper arsenates , which are derived from arsenic trioxide, are used on a large scale as a wood preservative in the U.S. and Malaysia, but such materials are banned in many parts of the world. This practice remains controversial. In combination with copper(II) acetate , arsenic trioxide gives

4158-564: The vibrant pigment known as Paris green used in paints and as a rodenticide. This application has been discontinued. Despite the well known toxicity of arsenic, arsenic trioxide was used in traditional Chinese medicine , where it is known as pi-shuang ( Chinese : 砒霜 ; pinyin : pīshuāng ; lit. 'arsenic frost'). In homeopathy , it is called arsenicum album . Some discredited patent medicines , e.g., Fowler's solution , contained derivatives of arsenic oxide. As with other inorganic arsenic compounds, arsenic trioxide

4224-593: Was also faced with endemic piracy and continued hostility from the Qing government. In 1856, the Governor of Hong Kong, John Bowring , supported by the British Prime Minister , Lord Palmerston , demanded reparations from the Qing government for the seizure of a Hong Kong Chinese-owned ship, which led to the Second Opium War between Britain and China (1856–1860). At the opening of the war in late 1856, Qing imperial commissioner Ye Mingchen unleashed

4290-431: Was himself consequently sued for libel by Bridges and forced to pay a fine of £100. Modern scholars have been divided in attributing the responsibility for the incident. The historian George Beer Endacott argued that the poisoning was carried out on the instruction of Qing officials, while Jan Morris depicts Cheong as a lone wolf acting out of personal patriotism. Cheong's own clan record, written in China in 1904 at

4356-552: Was no precedent in English criminal law for dealing with the attempted murder of a whole community. One of the victims of the poisoning was selected, and Cheong and the nine other defendants were charged with "administering poison with intent to kill and murder James Carroll Dempster, Colonial Surgeon". Attorney General Anstey led the prosecution, William Thomas Bridges and John Day the defence. Chief Justice John Walter Hulme , who had himself been poisoned, presided. The arguments at

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