The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-12-13
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VI ne ALA1AAf SnE0TlGls
ed In Undergraduates OF the HOrrI.
BILE Affair.
Correspondence Of The NetO York Sun.
HARTFORD, CoNS., December Z.
For several days past, rumors of a
tragedy, said to have been committed
in the village of Berlin, small settle
ment located about ten miles South by
West from this city, have been circula-
ting about this ghbOrhood, but owing
to the reticence OF the parties familiar
with the details of the event, no partic-
ulars of the affair could be learned I'M
til to-day, when the history of the
bloody deed was divulged through the
columns of the morning journals of
this city.
Travellers on the turnpike connecting
Berlin with this city cannot have failed
to notice, AS they cross the dividing
line which separates the above named
village from the township of Meriden,
an isolated, quaint old farmhouse, with
its gable roof and moss-grown walls,
whose surroundings of well kept barn
and plentitude of stock, gave token CT
an abode of happiness and prosperity.
Here for many years has resided the
family in question, consisting of Mr..
Cornelius Peck, aged 10, his wife, Lucy
Peck, aged AZ, Ellen and George Peck,
children o: Mr.. and Mrs. Peck, the
AOE L4tT GEtu ~ anu int 4hlktI 10 years Oh
age, Eliza, servant girl, aged about
80, and the widowed mother OF Mr..
Peck, a bed-ridden old lady of s. years.
on the evening OF Saturday last, the
family partook of bacon and eggs,
warm biscuit and coffee. About ten
O'Clock the family retired, and nothing
calculated to excite alarm TRANSFERRED
until about one o'clock on the follow
ing morning, when Mr.. Peck was
aroused by groans which seemed to is
sue from the room occupied by his
mother. Fastening to the apartment,
what was the surprise of the son in
discovering his mother in what appear
ed to be the last agonies of death, writh-
ing and grooming as If suffering from
some terrible internal agony. Terrified
at the sight, he fled from the room for
the purpose of arousiug his wife, when,
Judge OF his surprise upon reaching his
own sleeping apartments at beholding
her in n like state of agony, Frustrated
beyond the power of comprehension,
and also suffering as from some terri
BILE burning and wrenching sensation
in the region of the stomach. Amazed
as well as terrified, he rushed from the
terrible scene, and hastily assembled the
stairs leading to the sleeping rooms &C.
cupied by mis- son and daughter. A
knock at the door OF the room occupied
by the former eliciting no reply, the
father burst the door, only to again
encounter a repetition of the former
horror. PROSTATE on the floor lay the
unconscious form of his child, writhing
in the last throes of death. A pitcher,
used for drinking purposes, and which
always occupied a position upon the
stand, lay broken beside the body, and
from this it is conjectured that the
young man, awakened by the intense
burning at the stomach, had sprung
from his bed for the purpose of obtain
ing water, in the act of which he must
have sunk senSelesS to the floor ere
he could again reach his couch. The
noise created by the bursting of the
door aroused the daughter, who, al
though suffering from what she de-
scribed as II terrible nauseating sensa-
ton at the pit of the stomach, hastened
from her room for the purpose of ascer-
tanning the cause of the nocturnal up
roar. She had gained the room of her
brother, and was about to assist her
father in lifting the apparently lifeless
corpse from the position TO which he
had fallen, when her symptoms becom-
ing rapidly moro violent, she turned to
her father with the remark, Good
Heavens! can we have all been pois-
oned?" and sank helpless in his arms
Hope for assistance but from single
source now remained. He would alarm
theservant girl, Elizabeth, and dispatch
her for assistance to the nearest dwell
ing. Hastening to the door of her
apartment, he raped vigorously for
admittance, but no summons came
back save the fearful death groans to
which his ear had already become so
terribly familiar. Hastily striking
light he discovered the girl in
what appeared to him to be the
last stage of dissolution, suffering
from the most violent spasms, and
writhing in the most extreme agony.
During our conversation Mr.. Peck told
me that upon awakening, about !
o'clock, he was alarmed mt feelings of
intense heat, and retching sensation
also manifested itself in the region of
the stomach, but that, during the ex-
element attending the subsequent
events, he forgot the strange sensation.
When, however, the excitement of the
moment had somewhat abaIed and he
had returned to his room for the pur-
pose OF considering the necessary steps
to be taken in order to save his family
from the horrible death which seemed
impending over il, then it was that the
terrible burning and retching returned
with ten fold intensity. From this
time forth until the afternoon of Sat
urday, at which time the perilous con-
ditiou of the household was discovered
by "A neighbOr, he remembers nothing.
EIOul lle lhcl lldl lne dwelling stands
somewhat away from others, no i'm
mediate alarm at the unusual Sabbath
like stiffness, which during the morning
of the following day, reigned over the
usually busy household, was created,
and being unable TO assist one another
there they writhed in their agony
from one o'clock in the morning until
twelve o'clock on the following
noon, when II neighbor learned the
state of things and came TO their assist
anCe. Medical aid was Immediately
procured, but little could be done to
alleviate the sutTerings of the unfor-
tunate family. At the time of NV
visit to-day, the condition of the Suf-
ieTers was most critical. Mrs. Peck,
the old lady, had already expired, hav-
ing died on Sunday, after suffering the
most intense agony. The father is
likely to die, and is failing very rapid
ly. His wife was also in very low
condition, and was scarcely expected to
live through the day. The servant girl
Eliza was rapidly approaching dissolu-
iion; she was i'll sphsms, and enduring
intense agony. 1t was not thought She
could live half an hour. Ellen and
Edward will no doubt recover, but il
so, II Will be with shattered health, like
the survivors of the National Hotel
poisoning, and the Manchester victims
of Starkweather. An ANALYSIS of the
stomach of Mrs. Peck was made in this
city on Tuesday, when the presence of
arsenic was Immediately disclosed.
No clue to the author of this diabol-
zeal outrage has, up to the time of
writing, been discovered. Every eff
fort, however. is being made to unravel
the mystery, and vague rumors-un-
subStantiated, however-are atloat, that
the detectives have already received in
formation which leaves no doubt in
their minds of the real source of this
terrible crime