Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1884-02-20
Eating ArsenIc Boldly.

Forty years ago Col. John Van
Arman, the famous criminal lawyer of
Chicago, ate a poisoned biscuit before
Michigan jury, and by that act Sc
cured the acquittal of woman charged
with attempting to murder her hus-
band. From that time until now the
story of the poisoned biscuit has been
told throughout the Northwest many
hundreds of times by lawyers and
others, but 1t has seldom been told
correctly. So far as known, the true
version has never appeared In print
until now. 1t is this:
Somewhere between the years of 1910
and 1S45 the wife Of farmer of Hills
dale county, Michigan, baked some
biscuits one Sunday morning and then
went to church, leaving her husband
to take dinner alone. As he sat down
to his meal, however, young farm
laborer came to the house and joined
him at his repaSt. Each ate of the
newly-baked biscuits, but quickly
fourd them unpalatable and put them
aside. Neither one had eaten more
than half a biscuit. Both were soon
taken violently ill and displayed strong
symptoms of arsenical poisoning. The
young man recovered from his sick
ness after some days Of intense suffer-
ing, but the farmer fingered in dying
condition for more than year and fin
ally expired.
Sixteen years before this time the
farmer had married his wife for her
money. She brought him $1,000. He
purchased farm with this amount,
and in a few years became quite fore
handed. His greatest enjoyment, ap-
parently, was to annoy his wife in every
conceivable manner. His favorite
amusement was to pull their little child
out of bed in the night and beat it
cruelty. They finally concluded to
obtain a divorce from each other. The
farmer agreed to give his wife lien on
his property for 81 900 for the support
of herself and her child. The mortgage
was made out and placed in a lawyers
hands to await the divorce.
The wife, in consideration of the
mortgage, signed quit claim deed to
all her husbands property. On the eve
of tie granting of the divorce the far
mer secured the mortgage and destoyed
it, intending to put the deed on record
after the divorce was granted. His
wife discovered the cheat and stopped
the divorce proceedings. She then
deliberately planned to kill her hus-
band. She sought reconciliation and
went back to live with him. One day
she disguised herself ih male attire,
went to Hillsdale and purchased a
quantity of arsenic. This she mixed
in batch of biscuits, and left them for
her husband to eat.
In short time she was arrested. BY
law the woman could not be tried for
murder because her husband lived more
than year after he was poisoned. She
was indicted for poisoning and pu. on
trial in Hillsdale. Mr.. Van Arman,
then young man, with law office at
Marshall, Mich, defended her. A
young French chemist from Detroit
testified against the accused. He was
the only chemist that Detroit afforded,
and he was a very incompetent one.
This young man swore before the jury
that he had analyzed several of the bis
toAeo lhC ptAoOhC4 ihsi'AC lOl A4Cl
husbands eating and had found they
arsenic. From his quantita-
tive analysis he swOre positively that
the husband had swallowed less than q
grain of arsenic. The chemist further
swore that a grain Of arsenic was
deadly dose, and that even less might
be fatal.
There were no railroads in Michigan
at that early day, and there was not
another chemist nearer than Chicago,
Mr.. Van Arman, who had studied
chemistry in his youth. and had even
delivered lectures on the subject.
plainly saw that the Frenchman's testi-
mony was wofully incorrect. Mr.. Van
Arman contended before the jury that
a grain of arsenic was only medicinal
dose, and that the defendant hus-
band, therefore, must have become
fatally ill through some other agency
than poison in the biscuits. He could
produce no expert testimony to SUBJ
5tantlate his theory, because no experts
were within reach. knowing that a |
grain of arsenic would net seriously |
affect the human system, he caused |
of biscuits to be baked by a |
physician of the town, each of them |
a grain of the deadly SUBJ
stance. Fortunately for his client
there were none of the original biscuits |
to be had, and the jury could not muir
nur against the substitution of new
)neS.
Having proved by the physicians who |
made them that the biscuits were prop
.rly poisoned, Mr.. Van Arman, near
he beginning of his closing argument,
ate one of them before the
Jury, and continued TO address them.
He remained in their sight for several
hours, and took pains to show them
hat he swallowed no antedote. The
grain of arsenic produced no ill effects
)n him. The prosecuting lawyer could
not argue away the plain fact of the
harmless though poisoned biscuit which
he jury had seen eaten. When the
Ease was given to them they very
acquitted the prisoner. The
ruth regarding the biscuits of which
he farmer partoOk was that they con-
aimed four or five times a much arse
tic as the young chemist swore they
lid