Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1877-08-29
'FRONT.' Daily Of the asd. s'ss s1ss
THE BLADENseyRc POISONING
one Of the Victims Dead.

| One Of the vlctiFns Dead.
DR.. Lathrop was sent for last night
TO hold consultation with DIR. Shear
err, of Bladcnsburg, in relation to the
meal poisoning case mentioned by us
in our daily of the 1ith. Miss Bed
well, aged l6 years, one Of tho parties
poisoned, died last night, and an in
quest and post mortcm examination
will be held to-day by DR.. Lathrop.
All the balance of the Bedwell family
are recovering. George Burnangh
and Benjamin Burnaugh bought
some of the same meal and think they
were poisoned. They propose to
have the meal analysed.
Mr.. Parker writes to the Times of
this city the following III relation to
this sad case: ......
David S. Bedwell purchased at the
store Of w. +. Parker II Co. in this
place, a twenty-five pound sack of
bolted meal in paper sack, put up at
Leavenworth, Kansas, and shipped to
dealers in your own town of whom l
bought the meal, and hauled it to this
place in wagon. The meal is put up
in tho sacks loosely they not being
full, this was the second sack Of meal
that Bedwelrs had used, and a num-
Der of other families had used meal
out of the same lot without accident.
Bedwelrs had used about two-thirds
of the sack without any ill effect, the
last being on Saturday night for sup
per !; the sack at the time being left
united sitting at the kitchen window
(the kitchen is shed ROOM and the
window unfastened, they made bread
for breakfast from this meal next
morning, and Immediately after cat
ing, the entire family consisting of
Mr.. Bedwell and wife, four children
and Mr.. j. w. Rouse who is making
his home with Bedwell's, were ali
taken with severe vomiting and other
symptoms of arsenic poison which
continued throughout the day, they
supposing the sickness caused by the
coffee which they drank for break.
fast. In the afternoon Mrs. Parker
and Mrs. L. +. Rouse got supper fol-
the family and sent and got other cot.
fee, but baked bread from the same
meal, Mrs. Parker, Mrs. Rouse and
Mr.. l.. F. Rouse eating with them
All were taken sick in about enc hour
some Of them are seriously sick yet
Each one that eat of that bread got
arsenic enough to have speedily DIES.
troyed life if it had not been speedily
vomited, and as you have since been
informed, the meal has since been
chemically analysed, and found te
contain large quantity of arsenic
Now the question that concerns us, i:
how came the poison there !? it could
not have como from the mill where
the meal was put up, and having beer
handled as much Us it was it being
loose in the sack without having go
, mixed through, there being none il
, the first two-thirds ofthc sack. Bed
, wells having eaten of it for supper
Saturday night and not getting OH,
particle of the poison, excludes TIT
idea it could have been there at th'
time. 1t could not have got ther,
through accident or carelessness b,
3 Bedwell's as they had had none abou
| the house. Two nights before tn
poisoning, some one attempted to en-
I. ter Bedwell's house through the door
. we conclude therefore that the poison
< was put there through the windov
: on Saturday night by some evil de
/ signed person.
i We have been informed that thcr
are some suspicious as to who tn
t guilty party is, but are not inform
: ed who is suspicioned.
w r. PARkEr