Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1835-01-29
POISONING.

York, have offered reward of one thousand
dollars to any person or persons who will
give such information as may lead to the
conviction Of any one or more individuals
who sent to the house No. II, Bleeckcr-strect,
in the evening of last Thanksgiving day, (thc
llth of December) or thereabouts, two SAM
pies of coffee, in one Of which, burnt and
ground) was mixed large quantity of arscn-
c, with intent to kill by poison.
The New-York American gives the fol-
lowing account of this diabolical transaction,
which the Editors have received from an au-
thentic source:-
On the evening Of the last Thanksgiving
day, or about that time, person called at the
house of Mr.. James w. Otis, in Blceckcr-
street, and delivered to the servant who OPEN
ed the door, two samples of coffee, one burnt
and ground, the other raw, and in foreign
accent, either natural or affected, said they
were sent to the owner of the house. for tria |.
The fact was mentioned to the lady Of the
house, who afterwards spoke of it to her
husband. lie observed that he had ordered
no samples of coffee to be sent to his house,
and they were accordingly laid aside by the
cook under belief Of some mistake.
On the morning of the 10Th inst, Mr.. Otis
having left the city, and no information hav-
ing been received concerning the samples,
the cook Of her own accord, considering the
matter to be of little consequence, served up
the coffee for the family breakfast The par
ty at breakfast, were two ladies' and two
children; not finding the coffee to be as good
as usual, they partook of it in small quantity,
but without suspicion of mischief; neither Of
the ladies swallowed an entire cup full. The
children took milk, with few tca-spoonsful
Of coffee stirred in it. By the time the per-
sons in the kitchen were finishing their
breakfast. the two ladies' and one child, the
other having gone to school, became sick,
and on this being announced to those in the
kitchen, they all responded that they -four in
number) were so too. Terror now pervadcd
the family. A man was sent in quest of
Physician, but was too sick to proceed far
Mrs. Otis had no resource but to cry for u.s.
sistance to her neighbors, who most promptly
and kindly rallied around her. Three emI-
nent Physicians were quickly on the spot,and
finding the whole family, eight in number,
affected with great nausea and vomiting, con-
sdered at first that some merely emetc ma
teral had been mixed in the coffee. But
they were soCn convinced it was arsenic,
symptoms Of poison were developed in vari-
Gus degrees in every one of the family, in
the children slight, in all the rest more or
less violent, and IN the lady herself so much
so, that for n time, her life was considered in
the utmost danger. The drcgs of the coffee
! (all of which was boiled) and also a part of
the liquid have been analzed. and the result
was, that they had been saturated with de-
coction Of arsenic. The whole family arc
now out of danger, except from secondary
effects. The atrocious deed is shrouded in
the darkest obscurty. The heads of the
family have never had controversy or COLI
sion with any individual in this city, high or
low, nor are conscious Of having given cause
Of enmity to any human being. They have
received nothing during seven years resi-
dence in New-York, but demonstrations null
tiplied and constantly increasing, of hospital
ity, kindness, and friendship Yet there
seems to be no room to doubt that an enemy
to some of them has done this, and it would
also seem that to ferret him ont, must be felt
to De common cause with all good citizens