The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1876-01-01
THE PLOTTERX AND PERPETRATORS
OF THE DEED ARRESTED AND
y THE FACTS PROVED.
A POSSE STxHr TO TOWN WITH THE
CRIMINALS AND A BODY OF MEN
TAKE THEM FROM THE
POSSE.
The WONAN SEEN HANGING.
A BRIEF DETAIL OF THE FACTS.

n DAS1AE D0AAAD vi Il Il Az
We extract the following from the Baton
Rouge Advocate of December 20. The par
ticulars of the poisoning we're published in
BULLETIN of Friday morning:
From q friend who is in possession of the
particulars, We learn that on Chris mas day
quite a number of neighbols met at Mr.. An-
drew B. Booths, on Manchac, to spend the
day and to partake of Christmas dinner.
During the afternoon several persons COM
planned of being sick. Not suspecting any
thing wrong. little was thought of it until
others were taken sick, thirteen in all, with
symptoms still more alarm ng than those
first taken.
The following is . list of those who were
taken i'll: Mrs. A. Burnett, Ell Burnett, A. B.
Booth, s. q. ]. Booth, Miss Mary Booth,
Miss Cora Booth. Willie Booth, Miss
Ella Mason. O. A. Bullion, VIM. Ewing, VIII
lie Gayle, Emma Hunstock. Andrew Cleneady
and one or two others. who were only slightly
tffiicted.
During the afternoon Mrs Burnett and her
son became alarmed and sent for DR.. Gard
ner, who treated them, but did not at that
time say What Was the matter, but it is evil
dent from his treatment that he thought they
were poisoned. He was also called to treat
the other cases, with the same result. The
persons were all relieved. but some of them
are quite i'll yet
Suspicious now being pretty we'll founded
that the persons named were poisoned, an in
vestigation was made, when, first. it was as
certeined that those who drank from vessels
that had been filed with rain water taken
from barrels during the morning were not
affected, aud that those who drank from ves-
sells filed from these barrels after IL o'clock
were all taken with violent symptoms resem-
bling cases of poisoning.
2. A negro girl by the name of Ara
minta Smith. gave information that she knew
what made the people sick, when she was
closely questioned, and stated thai a negro
man, by the name of Levy Spriggs, had tried
to prevail on her sometime ago TO leave Mr..
Booth, and had threatened in the event that
she did not, he would fix her and the family
g. She also stated that some three weeks
before Christmas she met negro woman by
the name Of Lizzie Richards, and that Lizzie
had said she was going to poison Mr. Booths
family on Christmas day, as she had q grudge
against him.
4. Lizzie also showed her white powder
she said was arsenic. that had been given to
her by Levy Spriggs with which to poison the
family.
5. The girl also stated that she had had
another talk with Lizzie Richards about two
or three days before Christmas on the same
subject, when Lizzie reiterated her intention
to poison Mr.. Booth and his family, and that
the poison had been given to her by Levy
Spriggs for that purpose.
Imme diately upon learning these facts a
warrant was procured from David Jones, JUS
tice of tine Peace for the Seventh Ward, for
the arrest of Levy Spriggs and Lizzie
Richards They were arrested Tuesday
evening, taken before the justice, names
of witnesses taken. and, after the necessary
preliminaries, q commitment was made ont
and placed in the hands of the constable,
Alex. Cooper, who requested that Mr.. Booth
and Mr.. Burnett be sworn in as deputies to
assist him in taking the two prisoners to Jail.
This req uest was granted by the Justice and
the two deputies were sworn in, when the
posse started with the prisoners for town to
commit them to Jail to await an examination
before Judge Davis, Parish Judge
When the posse arrived with their prison
ers at the bridges ON the road near Char
rottes sugar-house, they were met by party
of forty or fifty armed men, who disarmed
the posse, sent them back q short distance
with guard and the forcible instruction to
get home in double-quick time. Being over
pOWcIou, GuU PNooO AAf1u III OtAOA hAeCAA"tA v
than to yield and turn back.
The prisoners were then taken in charge
by the armed body of men and have not since
been seen.
The constable and his posse went some
distance and took new route for town. ar.
irving here this morning. They laid the
whole facts before the Parish Judge.
We learn that Levy Spnggs is the brother
of Emily Spriggs, who lives in town and with
whom Burch has been on very intimate terms
for long time. This, taken together with
the article published last year IN the Grand
Era, advising the poisoning of white people
by negro servants looks suspicious, and so
much so that j. Henri Burch will hardly
think of returning to Baton Rouge again.
He may plead that he knows nothing about
this, as he may not, but is it no: legitimate
result of the article that appeared last year in
his paper? He denied all knowledge of said
article, and said it was inserted during his
absence, but this statement was wrung from
him by moral fear weeks after it appeared in
the columns of his paper. II he is not re-
sponsible for what goes in his paper, who is
His paper is the organ of the colored PEG.
pie here and what he or his employees print
therein is considered AS gospel by its readers
Consequently when they read that article
they said, one to another, the Era ha shown
us how to get even when we get mad at Mr.
so-and-so for real or fancied wrongs.
Since writing the above, we learn David
Jones, the Justice of the Peace for the Seventh
Ward, has arrived in town, and says that wher
he passed along the road near Mrs. Garig' s.
about six miles from town, he saw the woman
Lizzie Richards, hung to q tree. He san
nothing of the man, Levy Spriggs.
ASBESTOS Observation-Disclosures is directed
to the card of Mr.. H. w. Johns, who claims te
be the inventor of various applications o.
asbestos, which is certified TO by Messrs. ID