The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1884-12-06
POISONED BY AN ANT-EATER.
Approaching Death of an Attendant In
Dime Museum-A SLOW aud subtle

Approaching Death of an Attendant In
Dime MuseuD-A slow a1d Subtle
Poison.
'Do you see those two scratches on
the back of my band?" Edward d.
Howe, an employe at the Seaside Aqua
rum at Coney Island, asked Frank
Wilson, also employed at the same es-
Enlistment. THAT cursed ant-eater
did it. viii it do me any harmp"
"You are a dead man-that's all, :"
answered Wilson.
Last night Howe lay on his cot in the
erysipelas pavilion at Bellevue Hospital,
his face terribly emaciated, his CLASSY
eyes rolling uneasily, breathing labored
and difficult, his life fast ebbing away.
Wilson's prophecy is being fulfilled.
He has but few hours to live"
said DIR. Stokes TO the reporter as last
evening they stood by the bedside of the
dying man.
From the doctor and nurse in attend
ance was obtained history of the case
since Howe's admission to the hospital.
Directly following the scratches, the
fatal inroad on his health and life no
doubt began-slow, subtle, sure-a
deeply underlying mystery in the phys
ical economy that surpasses human ken.
Call it blood-poisoning, call it whatever
the doctors may, it is doing its deathly
work all the same. The subtle poison,
as insidious as the bite of the rattle
snake or cobra, or of a rabid dog,
made swift progress after the man was
brought to the hospital.
"You should see him toss and rave
and hear him Scream" said the nurse.
Il have been here many years, but
never saw anything like it. A heavy,
muscular man, and endowed with ex-
traordinary strength, it took several to
oxysms and of such long continuance
that it became necessary to fasten him
to the bed. He is quiet enough now,
though. There will be but one more
struggle-the struggle with death"
"How long did this paroxysm con-
tinueP"
Until last Friday; he has eaten no
solid food since he has been here, and
is but mere skeleton now"
The man Wilson, whose name is
given above, was seen by the Herald
reporter. The scratches on Howe's
hand, he said, cut through the skin. He
put sticking plaster over them, but
Howe at once began to fall and, as he
was poor and could not employ ply
stefan, and had no comfortable home
and was rapidly growing worse, Wilson
took him to the hospital, knowing that
he would then receive proper treat
ment, and that in this lay the only hope
of his recovery. He told how Howe re-
ceived his scratches. 1t appears that
the latter was trying to feed the ant
eater, and in doing so attempted to push
a jar into the lower part of the compart-
ment of the box occupied by the animal
that scratched him. This ant-eater was
particularly vicious. As the jar did not
go in easily Howe put his right hand
into the box to pull it in. Quicker than
thought the vicious inmate scratched
him.
"He is paying the penalty of his own
and disobedience to ORDERS"
was the explanation given by Mr.. Nee
han, one of the proprietors of the
ga fine wire SCREEN" con-
tinued Mr. Meehan, twas placed about
the box to keep curious visitors from
with the animals. A sign,
Hands off-dangerous, was also placed
in close proximity as timely warning.
Howe was not very bright, and we kept
him more out of compassion than any
thing else. He remained at Coney
Island looking after the odds and ends
of what we left there, including the box
of ant-eaters. If he had let them alone
he might have been well to-day. Still,
he was badly broken up and his blood
out of order, and that made him more
susceptible, probably. to poisonous in
fluences.
1t is unnecessary to describe the
South American ant-eater, or the mgr
.iubata, as they are called.
Its bushy tail and long and pointed pro-
boscis are familiar to nearly everybody.
There is the ant-bcar, of the same
genus, but the noxious animal from the
bite of which Howe is dying belongs to
a smaller species.-N. Y. Herald.