Baltimore daily commercial. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1865-1867, 1866-06-02
wholesale lead Poisoning in line Waikiki
EEHIps. "

MIDDLETON, N. Y, May 30-It is now nearly two
Of the Waikiki Valley which lies in the western nart
o. Grange county, were attacked by disease which
for some time bafied the skill of the physicians they
oelnS at a loss to divine the cause The maIady it
is true, exhibited themost positive symptoms lead
poisoning: yet all the sufferers stouty denied h3yin
u;ea anythlrg that could have been contaminated
with lead in some instances whole families were
stricken down. while in others only one or two were
attacked To-day hundreds are suffering from its
Among the symptoms most prominent in these cases
were severe colc pains, and persistent yopit
ngcramps and partial paralysis of the upper exrem-
ltles' and an anxious, gloomy expression of counte-
nance.
Professional men at once saw that these symptoms
pointed to apd were characteristic of lead poison but
1t was also observed that or all of them were
encountered IN other and far different forms of dis
ease. me only symptom which, regarded by ITSELF
was conclusive as to the lead poison was the blue
line at the margin Of the teeth which was present in
almost every case The doctors were sorely ger
picked but in about two weeks after the first violent
eases came under their notice they had established
the fact OF the presence of lead in the system of he
patlenls. IL now remained to ascertain the source
After considerable research it was found that the
lead was taken by the sufferers in bread and meal
ana as greater part Of those staples were manu-
factured at mill in Phillipsburg, an investigation
was at once made in that direction and the follow
1t appears that the proprietor of the mills had
gained reputation for the superior quality of his
no4r & ana me e. Gfamers tor many miles around, were
mil to be made into -four and meal. Asidefrom this
ne exported largely, so that his mill was kent con-
stantly going, by night as as well as by day. One
set OF stones was set apart for his custom" work
This was an old set constantly needing repairs and
large cavities frequently manifested themselves,
which, instead Of being filled up with the cement
generally, used for that purpose, were filled with
common lead. Some of these holes were as large as
a hens egg; one, we arc informed. being as large on
the surface rs the palm of n mans hand
II when filled the lead projected above the surface
Of the stone. 1t was hammer down level Ofcourse
the attrlton of the grinding detached minute par-
teies OF lead from the stone, and mingled them with
the Hour. The lead then communicated when fer
mented and subjected TO baking with the -four was
immediately transformed into carbonate of lead one
Of the deadliest Of poiSons
AS soon as 1t was asceriained that the disease ori-
glnated from the bread eaten by the sufferers.
samples Of the -four were anayzed by DR.. Dorrance
and Blr. King, chemist. of Middleton. These gem
tiemen found, to heir astonishment that the lead
could be discerned with the naked eye It was, how
ever. subjected to the usual standard tests all of
which revealed the presence of lead in considerable
quantities. Of course these revelations caused n
panic throughout the surrounding country
a statement Of the leading physicians of this Yci-
nlty shows 2l3 cases of lead poisoning am informed
that over one hundred cases hava occurred in the
vicinity of Goshen. Many of the victims are promi-
nent citizens. -
am informed that quantity of this -four has
been shipped to New York, and that seven cases of
poisoning from 1t occurred in that city