Port Royal standard and commercial. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1874-1876, 1876-04-13
POISONED STOCKINGS,
A startlins Csse---Serieus Sickness OF
-. .I.s Pour.Year.Old Boy. :i"!

s,artlins C.se-..serieus Sickness OF a
: ~ Pour-Year-Old Boy. :'"!
+" A Utica Observer reporter was in
formed that the four.year old boy OF q
widow lady living in the city. was
seriously i'll, and that the cause OF the
little fellows sickness was thought to be
his poisoned stockings. It was ascer-
tanned that the case was in charge of DR..
Charles B. Tefft, and to him the report
er applied for information. BE was
told that the cause of the boys sickness
probably lay in the fact that his stock
ings we're dyed brown BY the use OF
picric acid, but that experiments to be
made in the evening would determine
that point. The case was this
On Sunday the little fellow put on q
pair Of brown wooden stockings. Four
DAYS after he was taken very i'll BE
commenced retching and vomiting, and
q yellowish hue commenced spreading
all over his body. When DR.. Tefft was
called the little fellow was suffering
great pain. DIR. Teft confesses that
after an examination he was unable TO see
why the boy should be sick until his eye
fell on the boys brown stockings, when
the thought flashed over him that the
newspapers were probably right, and
that there was poison in them. he had
them removed at once, and found that
the boys legs were fairly yellow. He
then had the mother taste the stockings,
and she declared that they we're very
bitter. The mystery Of the poor Little
fellows illness was explained.
DR.. left, on reading up on the sub.
ject of picric acid, found that 1t would
produce the same symptoms a. those
exhibited by the boy. Next morning
the stockings were subjected to thor.
ough test. A piece was cut from one OF
them and placed in hot water for mo-
ment. Then placing 1t between the
teeth q very bitter taste was percephb!e,
80 bitter that IL irritated the end OF the
tongue. The pair o. stockings were
then placed in the water. On wringing
them the water immediately became dis
colored, assuming Q yellowish tinge
which could not be mistaken. There is
no doubt that the picric acid in the mat.
ter used to color the stockings produced
the boys sickness. At one time the lit
tie fellow was very near death, but he is
now recovering. His recent at
tack was his first serious illness, but it
is noted that during the time he has
worn the stockings he has been afflicted
with diarrhea, headache and stomach
ache. - a.. .....s......- -. ...4t
The stockings were not cheap pair.
There were as nicely made and OF as nice
a shade as any. But their effects were
dangerous. This picric acid is not used
alone for purely brown stockings. It
is also used to dye striped hosein which
that color appears. But all brown stock
ings are not poisoned. Some Of them
are manufactured by honest dealers who
disdain to make use of picric acid on ac-
count of its cheapness, because they
know its deadly effects. There is one
sure test to apply to detect its presence.
Stockings dyed with it, placed between
the teeth and against the tongue, impart
a bitter taste, which cannot be mistaken.
Ladies or others about to purchase
brown stockings would do well to apply
this test before buying.