, 1866-01-04
sUEFCcATlON DY COAL GAS IN wOIlcEs-
TER. MASS.
FURTHER NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. CIR
CrMsTA&cEs-AI AUlDEE AID SUICIDE
SUBJECTED.
rEron, fhn Enatn,1 Tat D.c nj


[Elom the Eostou rost, Dec. :0,1
The ciilzcns Of Norccsterswnro startled ont
Of tltlr proprfcty yesterday On account OF tho
discovery OF the dcath Of q man named Arte-
M95a and VITA II" VS.; FsId At Ng 81 q
7 o'clock yesterday morning By tho Oldest Of
their five children, who Immediately went to
the next door nefghbor, Mr.. j. II. Kaymore,
and informed him Of the feet. The father was
found partially lying on his bed, and tho mo-
thcr was dressed end lying On the lloes ncsr
THE bed. Word was at once scr. 10 the au-
tiioritics, and in about half an hour Dr.. Wood
ward city physician, made his appearance,
and remarked that the unfortunate par:i:a
must have been ailocatctlfrom the coal gas. rs
there Was hot coal Gre iu tie room, The
windows we're Immediately thrown opca, but
enn attempts to resuscitate the man and wfi4
Werc unavoiling., The bodies were cold In
Impossible to tell how long life had been e1-
tinct. In m adjoining room servant girl
and two children had slept upon the aoot
during the night; but 1t appears that the
coal gcs had had no effect upon either Of
them, although the two children, we were in
obont the TING 4.Sf tho discovery Of the dead
father md mdfher. The remaining children
slept In IN upper room, and escaped the H.
A1encc of tho gas. But The fact tha. the two
children and the scrrnnt elr1 were not scri-
ously Infected ly the coal gSas, and other cir
Indicate that 1t was The intention OF some
lend In human tur1n to poison the whole
family. AS twas, the p:rpetrator, whether
ltring or dead, WAS partially successful. It
wRs also discovered that sometime during the
night the woman was heard to yo1nit, which
circumstance Is very suspicious one
0lllcr eminent physicians soon made their ap-
frarsA }fto Il n
lay, among them Dr.. o. Martin, who also
agreed with DR.. Woodward that the deceased
probably died from the effects Of inhaltng tho
gus. But there arc many theories advanced
inrtgard to the matter, and nothing short Of
medical examination Of tic bodies will sat
isfythc public, which Is considerably excited
oyer the matter. The character OF tue de-
ceased, Artcmus Ward, Is not an cnyioble one,
and that Of his wife Is not above suspicion.
Wcrd was a resident Of Worcester for many
year1, and had always borne bad name. He
to1mcrly kept galocn near tie Foster street
depot, and had the day before moved Oh to
4 SALOON there. nc WIS q hard drinking,
though not vicious man, aud had
been il the House Of Correction num-
her of tunes tor offending the Laws of
the commonwealth; md his open yio-
lation of the drinking Law had attractcd
The notice o. one Ct the stase eonstablss, who
AHA tA1k lCIEAA4y As4AG OAk Ai4o PAt@As u GoAAA-
plant agninst him for keeping a nnfsance-
His wife {his second one, and considerably
younser) Is represented ns having also been
quuIelsome woman. Ward and his wife had
lived un1appily together. About q rear since
the woman malle IN unsuccessful attempt to
poison herself, and two years ago, It is stated,
che threatened to poison her husband II she
ever canght lin again in state of intoxica-
tion. It wns shown that she purchased q
quantity Of opium nj q dru=gist's, but It was
not used in this ailair, as it was found yester-
day morning in the original paper, and Its
weight answered to that procured ut the
timely administered TINT powerful narcotic, or
some other poisonous substance, to her hus-
band and to two Of her children. However,
the whole affair is shrouded In mystery.