, 1873-01-28

Secretary Stats Farmers; Association. Ke-
1vsnee, Henry County, Ill.
POISON.
The Washington County (w. r.
Rorror--SeFeu PcraoEs Po1soned.-
Two Dead, Ono Dylng--who Ceu,-
ualtted the Decd?
From the Albany 1r9us, Jan. q .
| Ihe poisoning case, near Cambridge, now
turns out to be oue OF the most terrible crimes
| ever attempted in Washington County. About
| three miles from Cambridge is situated the
! houze OF Charles Shaw, and in it, at this time,
arc six persons, suffering from the effects Of q
alow-worklns and cor1oding poison, and,
WIN died on Friday night last from the
/ effects Of this same poison. Charles Shaw
| is 50 years old Ho ia said to be a man
! who ia cruel to his family, and ono witnout
honor, and cowardly: He has lived in Cambridge
| and vicinity about fifteen years. Mrs. Shaw,
however, is spoken Of as m industrious woman-
too good, at leaat. for the man to whom she ia
welded. A correspondent Of the Troy Tiaes
| says:
! 'sNine children hare beer born unto this
/ couple The eldest is called Alvonza, and ka
! he ia now % years Of age He left the pa.erncl
J root sone years ago to seek his fortune elsc-
; There The next in sge is named Fannie;
sue became . mother, in defiance of
! the custom which requires that WOMAN shall
be respected Is 4 wife before eatoring upon the
duties Of maternity. year ago she was marrieG
nor her brother, Aivonza, were ct their father'a
| house when ths poisoning WAS doao. The other
children are Marietta. aged 10 yoars; Elizabeth,
aged. II; Hattie aged 12; Anna, aged 8; Iaa,
The last named has not been i'll, and is the only
one Of the family who has ESCAPED, with the az
ception Of Fannie's illegitimate child, boz. To
this boy Shaw Was always very partial.
morally and mentally. They Impress one q
being ignorant aud brutal, md not unacquainted
with crime. Those Of them alive now NANTES.
a stolid Indifference to their condition EMO
sister they regard with complete indifference.
and the whole matte: appears to them cs an ep.
lso3e not worth much COMMENT"
Two years ago Shaw became the paramour o1
her husband quarter Of nile north Of shav'a
house. About 4 month ago the Briggs family
removed to Hoos;cE. and On SundaJ, the 1ash
inst, Shaw visited Hoosick, and spent the aay
Tith Ti1 Mr.. hl1 Gdsss:, He returned the next
ho us only. He then proceeded to Watts Cor
ners, where he remained until Tuesday, tho
14th. What occurred between Tuesday after
noon and Thursday morning the Inmates ct the
house only are familiar with. Tho Troy Times
says; -
Or. Kennedy, and requested him to Come to his
house- The doctor complied with the requeut,
and found two of tho inmates sick One, the
girl EiizaDeth, was in dangerous condition,
while the other seemed but slightly H. Dr.
Kennedy ia one of tho Coroners Ct tha county,
and, Judging that bis services III his official
capacity might be required, he transtazred
tho case to Dr.. Eetenum, who visited tho
house on Friday morning. Ee found six
Of tic children and Irs. Shaw very ILL., They
we're all pn1ging aad vomiting, aud eeened in
considerable pam The doctor began to suspect
fonl play, and asked them OF what they Eal
eaten: They replied that on Tuesd.y Shaw
brought home q quantity OF sour sausage,
which he said he had purchased IL the village a.
discount, and that they Lsd al eaten Of it.
tackled, although he llad eaten ~ hes ct,.y as mp
Of the others. Tho doctor then told tho man =
tha: his family had been poisoned. Prosecuting
hiA inquiries. he learned that the sick persoS3
we're first attacked Tuesday night. Tho poison
had, in the ueautime. SO i1nprcgnatod their e:s-
TENS that it Vas useless to- reEott to tho stomach
pump or emetics.
Tho doctor, previous to his depar.are, in-
formed Shaw tia: his daughter, Elizabeth, coa:l
not survive. She died that night. / post
morten. examination was held and the stomach
Of the dead girl, and its coateuta, wore removed
aud sent to Albany for analysis. 1t the sama
time piece Of muscle Was taken from one Of
tho girls arms, aud this, together with some q
the Eausage, WAS placed undar powerful micro
scope and searched for trachin9. No aninacula
N*s found in either shaw vas not present .:
lieving that poison ~ had been adraiu;s~
tered Shaw Vas sooa after as-oatel. alon-
day the doctor Visited tho house again.
Hs then found Mrs- Shaw WAS coc-
and she was totally blind. The doctor has small
hopes OF her recovery. Four OF the children
we're in dangerous condition. The children
hare held their own Rince Saturday, but tho .
them that an other death would probably soon
take place IN the house, md urged them to tell
every fact Eeafing. on. their condition with
which they nre Acquainted
then proceeded to make a statement. she said
she had for long lime feared that her husband
would poison her, and rnla:ed an incident which
occurred 9cca aone ., time since; shnw ona
powder in the food q his family. This nephew,
Christopher Shaw, is bad boy. but is not bai
enough for this. He is roady to gouch for Mrs.
Nr. shau'sy visit to Hooaick, and said that aftex
his return he went to Waits Corners, where he
procured bottle Of Thiskey: He gave her, and
tho s;x children, who were afterward taken i'll,
drinking, Fanny's bastard son, for whom Shaw,
b has been before etated, Ind a great liking,
nsked for so-ne. Wait until they get through,
and I'll AZ you up said Shaw. When the 9th
bier which they had used, and, procuring ano!h..
er, allowed the little boy to drink out Of it. and
also drank Of it himso1f" -.
The Troy Times thus snms up the case: sOna
Of tho chiIdren ia dead. The mother will prob
ably die. The result in the casas Of two Of 1ta
surviving children is very doubtful. The othera
will probably recover. Charles Shaw, the hus-
band and father, is in custody uudor tie charge
Of numbering his own daughter and attempting
TO murder his own wife aud five children. The
woman Briggs hes not bean arrested, but Is un-
der suspicion, and many believe that eho iusti-;
gated Shaw aod urged him to the cEime The fln1-
iy who have been brought to deaths doos will tell
nothing more, for they cannot be persuaded to
realize the euormity OF the crime Of which the
Justice Fletcher and Coroner Kennedy viii push
The Investigation as far as possible with all tho
7nergy OF which thcy are possessed, and it is not
unlikely that al there is mysterious viii be
worked up"