The New York herald., 1879-11-23
His Mother, Sister and Cousin
Dangerously Ill.

person at the table when the pastry was eaten, Is
SICK and. he did not eat of the pie and as he
and the servant who was away from the house that
day are the only ones OF the inmates who escaped.
it is considered unquestionable that the pie was
poisoned, though in what way or what the pre-
else nature of the poison is not definitely known.
Mr.. Wheeler IS prosperous resident Of the Twen-
ty-second ward. Ho formerly in the hay and
feed business but later became interested In brew
ing. having been at one time partner in Taylor's
brewery in Greenwich street. and now having
Office at the corner Of Thirty-third street
and Eleventh avenue. He had four sons.
three of whom were away from home whom
the fatal food eaten. and ono daughter.
The family have lived in their present residence
for the past twenty years. and are we'll known and
greatly respected in the neighborhood. Mrs.
White, a lady physician who had treated one
or more OF the family previously, was called
in on Monday, when the serious nature of
the illness. and the fact that four persons
were sick in the same way, became known. On
Thursday, however. Miss ulla Wheeler expressed
desire that another physician should be called,
DR.. Alfred Z. M. Purdy, OF No. 22S Madison avenue,
was summoned and took medical charge Of the
family. He has been constant attendance since,
and now thinks he Will save the lives OF three OF the
patients.
During the week the family made every effort to
keep the matter secret. desiring to avoid the noto-
It was however. rumored through the neighbor-
hood that there four sick in the house.
was poisoning and lthat the poison taken
| in pie It was, however, only matter OF neigh
borhood gossip until yesterday. when the death OF
Mr.. George Wheeler made 1t impossible to keep tho
secret longer One Of the first facts OF
Importance ascertained was that the pie had been
| purchased at o bakery in Eighth avenue, in
| the vicinity of Fortieth street. but this
| was somewhat indefinite, as there are several
bakeries stores within the distance
| of a block two in that immediate neighborhOod.
Mr.. SchinkeIs store on the west side OF Eighth
enue below Forteth street. the rst place visited.
The proprietor not in at the time. but his wire
| and two daughters were kept busy waiting on the
kept ahnss
and counters u% Were piled concevah nSn st with
| was sent for and when the reporter made known his
errand he distinctly stated that of his lady
| toners had mentioned the fact that a family had
been poisoned by eating meringue pie. but that she
said ii had been purchased at Simpsons bakery on
to his He further said that he had told
his wife not to say anything about It IL people
should talk about 1t in the store, as the affair was
bad enough without giving the facts any unneces-
| sary circulation.
gence and in the course Of the brief conversation.
| he made q statement. which in the light of what
Dr. Purdy said later IN the e evening may . nave W. "a
membered that up to this time the reporter
had received no intimatiOn either at Mr.;
as to what the symptoms were. or what the
particular nature of the poison was, Mr.. schinkel
verdigris, the msringueIpie having been baked in
copper pan. It was their CUSTOM he said to beat
up raw cream to DO used inNmaking charlotte russe
in copper kettle. and day or two ago he
found that one of his men had left little
in the bottom Of the kettle. He curious to try
the experiment and ascertain for himself whether
poison could be taken that way without the person
recognizing that something was wrong in the TASTE
been in the kettle. perhaps not more than couple
Of hours. He took some up on his finger. and put
| 70 hio l{po mr. n
SURPRISED AND INDIGNANT.
Mr.. David Simpson keeps large bakery at No. go
reporter called and informed him not only Of the
current in regard to the fatal pastry having
that one of the family was dead. he vehemently
Indignant. He insisted not only upon the reporter
establishing his identity. but accompanying him
to the house Of Mr.. Wheeler in Forty-thrd street.
When young gentleman. presumably one OF the
simpson Immediately began to crosse question him.
"Has there been death here this EVENING" was
eyes. was all the reply the young man could
make. He had evidently been weeping and not
prepared for the abrupt and matter-of-facr manner
what did he die OFF, What was the diseasey'
poison. chs How did he happen to take posons''
'ln something he ate; but only arrived here last
night"
as to what 1t that had been eaten and wherc it
had been purchased. but DR.. Purdy made his ap-
pearance just then and insisted that nothing more
should be said until the proper authorities had been
consulted and the cause of death positively de-
termined. subsequently, the reporter called at at
seated in the cosey little saloon in the rear Of the
store. Everything was scrupnousy clean and neat
excellent repate in the neighborhood. When asked
If copper utensils were used in baking pies the aas
any one properly authorized welcome to go
through the bakehouse. Mr. Simpson was highly
indignant ut the rumor. and offered reward II it
could be traced to its origin. He insisted that IL
was an utter impossibity that any poisoned pastry
@ise1"f these unfortunate people were made III
by my meringue pies. why are not people sick all
over the neghborhooda do not bake for one family
pan In the place. and as for the materials. buy
the very best that can be obtained My -four is
bought from Thurber. and other ingredients from
firms of u like character. While no regretted the
occurrence Mr.. simpson showed plainly by his
manner and conversation that he was conHdcut
that time would prove that rYmor had done him n
grievous injustice.
TALK WITH THE PHYSICIAN.
Later in the evening. however, DIR. Purdy, at tho
solicitation of the HERALD reporter. gave In sub
stance the following particulars Last Saturday
Mrs Wheeler and her niece purchased lemon
msringue pie IN s,p shop kept by baker baker
ssnM roreh oa the ,ss SIDE Two OF a ahn b
members OF the family. the young man George.
who died this evening. and the daughter Julia. who
is dangerously ILL., ate of the pie in the middle of
the day and again at night. before retiring. Mrs.
Wheeler and her niece partook Of Il only once. ut
taken sick on Sunday night. vomiting and
g"nrgins' ,,o but each was ignorant Of the
others condition until Monday morning,
Mrs. White. medical practitioner. who is .
friend of the family. called In and treated them
until Thursday when Miss Julia Wheeler ask cd that
should be called. She In terrible pain and
kept saying I'm starving. give mo something to
eat but she could eat nothing"
"1n what condition did you lind them?' asked the
, reporter.
''Thcy were exhausted and suffering from an in
tense irritation OF the whole intestinal tract"
''Was this direct result OF eating tho PIER
''It was the secondary stage OF the effect OF tho
poisoning, and IL have from the pio since
VINO
did cat Of IL were all affected In the way
ibid you consider their condition critcaly"
Exceedingly They suffering not only
from the irritation but from terrible pangs OF hun
ger. The irritation and corrosion extended from the