Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-07-17

The bouquet which Mrs. ScovIlle took to
Guiteau the day before he was hanged was
subjected to chemical analysis WedDes-
day, and traces of enough arsenic were
found to have killed several men. The his
tory of this bouquet has never been fully
told. On the day before the execution a
correspondent went to the Jail with Mrs.
Scoville and her little daughter, Bertha,
John W. Guiteau aud Miss Chevaillier, of
the Society for the Protection of the Insane.
Almost the first words which Mrs
Scoville uttered after the drive began
showed strange confidence that there
would be no execution. She repeated the
idea number OF times ia various ways. 1t
was ascrlbed at the time to Guteau conf.
dence that the President would interfere.
On the way something was said about get
ting flowers for Guiteau, and Mrs. Scoville
spoke OF his fondness for them. The car
risge was stopped at Christian Schickler's
green house, No. 1855 E street, s. E., and
John W. Guiteau went inside to order some
flowers. The bouquet was a long time in
making, and Mrs. Scoville became very
went in and brought It out, covered
with a florists ordinary thin brown
paper. The bouquet was sent into
the cell shortly after the arrival at the jail,
and sometime before Mrs. Scoville was
allowed to go to the cell. It was afterWari
intlmated that Mrs. Scoville's appearance of
suppressed excitement and lack Of emotion
led the officials to fear that she meditated
some attempt to convey poison or other
means OF suicide to Gutteau, and this was the
real cause Of their separation. She showed
a peculiar anxiety to be admitted to the cell
to talk with him, IL only for q moment, but
was not permitted. She finally gave up the
attempt.
One of her last remarks to Gulteau was
something about smelling the sweet rose in
the centre OF the bouquet. The remark
seems to have attracted no attention at the
time, but was recalled later in the evening.
when Guiteau was seen burrowing with
his nose in the bouquet in a singular man-
ner. The flowers were then taken away
from him, and to the dismay of the
officials a white powder was found In
the central fower-a hollyhock- which
chsfed the finger when applied to
it. 1t is inferred that Mrs. Scoville
wanted to tell her brother to eat this
flower, in which case the gallows would
have been cheated. Guiteau, who with all
his superficial smartness, was never any.
thing but fool, had not the wit to act
upon the hint he got and fully investigate
the flower for himself. He seemed to have
a notion that there was something for him
IN the bouquet, as he kept smelling at 1t in
the way described until It was taken away
from him. He afterward demanded that It
be brought back the first thing In the morn
ing, saying that "these miscreants" had
taken it away just because 1t gave him
pleasure. He also seemed, It is said, to be-
come suddenly hopeful that he would not
be hanged.
Schicklers, the florist seems to be an honest
German. His description of the way in
which his wife made the bouquet tailed ex-
actly with the description OF those who took
it to pieces at the jail, and he positively as
serted that the bouquet left his place with
out being tampered with. He explained
some circumstances that had excited suspi-
cions Of his completely. The bouquet could
not have been touched on the way to the
jail, of course. Mrs. Scoville carried a
small black handbag, quite tightly packed,
and If she emptied powder of arsenic into
the flower, 1t was probably done when she
was sitting in the warden's private office,
before the flowers were taken in. There
was nothing to indicate that John w. Gui-
teau had any knowledge Of any such device.