The National tribune., 1882-08-12
A HIDDEN ENEMY,
A Secret Prosecution of which New Jersey Farmer

Secret Prosecution of which New Jersey Farmer
is the Victim.
For nearly three years, says the Phila-
delphia Press, Cooper Browning, thrifty
young farmer and dairyman, living on the
Ellisburg turnpike, near EllisbuIg n j.,
has been the victim of q series of outrages,
the perpetrator or perpetrators of which he
has been unable to discover. His barns have
been burned and his cattle willfully poisoned.
Liberal rewards have been offered to no pur-
pose. Neighbors have done everything in
their power without avail to ferret out Mr..
Brownings enemy. Just now the perse-
cuted farmer is being flooded with commu
nications from all parts of the country offer
ing for a money consideration to discover
the author of the outrages.
For fifty dollars one woman, living in
Bristol, Pa, offers to so into a trance, and
not only describe the appearance of the per-
petratOr, but to give his name and the causes
for his action Another medium proposes
to materialize the spirit Of the French de-
tective, VidOcq, who will at once disclose
the whole story and suggest a remedy, while
still another medium, claiming to possess
the power of dlvination, says she will, with
her mystic rod, point out the scoundrel
within an hour, and asks the modest sum of
ten dollars for so doing. Mr.. Browning pays
no attention to these offers, but is patiently
waiting to get at the bottom of the mystery
himself
In was on the night Of December IS, 1879,
that the work of persecution begun. A
spacious barn, filled with farming utensils,
a lot of unthreshed wheat and sixty tons of
hay, was fired some time after midnight and
burnt to the ground. Twenty-Five valuable
cows-fifteen of them being thoroughbred
Alderneys and Guernseys-perished in the
flames. Mr.. Browning was then the pro-
prietor of remunerative milk route through
Camden county, and the loss crippled him
severely, not only in loss of custom, but for
want of ready money, as the insurance COM
pany refused to make good the loss on
technical quibble. He set to work to re-
trieve, however, and removed to new farm
about five hundred yards north of the old
one. In less than nine months Browning
began to get on his feet again. On the Goth
of November, 1880, not quite a year from the
time his barn was burned, two Alderney
COWS, grazing in field near the house, were
observed by farm hand to be rolling on
the ground in great agony. Ten minutes
later both animals were dead. Before Mr..
Browning could recover from his surprise at
the sudden and unexpected loss five more
cows had died. This rapid fatality among
animals known to be perfectly healthy led
to an examination of the field where they
had been feeding No less than ten pounds
of Paris green were found scattered broad
cast over the pasture. 1t was then that Mr..
Browning began to realize that he was the
victim of hidden enemy, and this belief
was substantiated in October, 1881, when
seven more cows and thirty-five hogs were
poisoned to death with arsenic. The farm
hands had gone to bed about ten o'clock and
were up before three in the morning, and it
was between these hours that the poison was
placed in the feed chest, the feeding trough,
and the trough of the pig-pen. One meal
was enough to kill the animals very quickly.
and an examination revealed the presence
of at least twelve pounds Of white arsenic.
To make sure Mr.. Browning had both poisons
analyzed by DR.. Brown, of Camden. Gus
toners began to demur about buying milk
from dairy farm where the cows were in
such danger, and the unfortunate farmer
began to lose trade rapidly. His total loss
=
amounted to more than $1,000. Sympathiz-
ing friends and neighbors did everything in
their power to help him, and he is prosperous
again and awaiting the next attack, which,
according to the periods intervening between
the others, will take place in September.