The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1885-05-28
ExPLAINING THINGS.
How n Paragraph Headed Nv as 1t a
V,a

HOW n Paragraph Headed ~ as IC a
Mistake? Came TO be Written.
a day or so ago it came to the ears
of reporter that child of Mr.. Cues
not, employed by E. Z. Haigle1, the
butcher, had died in consequence of
taking dose of medicine that must
have been put up through a mistake.
OF course it was matter too serionS to
be overlooked and it was strictly in the
line of reportorial Investigation. The
reporter at once went to Quesnot. He
stated that he did not know whether
his child had taken any poisonous
| preparation or not but that the cir
| cumstanceS of its death were such
| of himself and wife. The child had
been sick, but not, as he thought, dan
gerously; it took the medicine in the
| died that evening. He said that the
Burt and filled at the drug store of Dr.
J.J. Tobin. He was not sure that
| its death resulted from the dc Sc, but
intended 10 have an analysis made
Of the remainder Of the medicine, SO
as to satisfy his own mind and that OF
his wife.
AS the analysis had not been made
all names were withheld in q very
short notice that appeared in an issue |
of The STATEMAN OF the 2lst. The |
father of the child promised to &C. |
quaint the reporter with the result |
Of the investigation, saying
that Mrs. Quesnot had already taken |
the rest Of the medicine to some ply |
sician for examination.
Yesterday paper, signed by all the |!
druggists in Austin, was sent in to |
this Office. 1t is self-eXplanatory, and |
reads as follows:
To the Statesman Publishing Company, Aus
tin, May q, 1885:
We, the undersigned druggists of |
Austin, notice in J our issue OF yester-
day, 2lst May, local, referring to |
"roisoning child by an Austin
Druggist" and as the notice was of |
SUCH a general character, rejecting
upon each and every druggist in the
city; we the undersigned, must re-
Quest that you give an explanation of
The LEGAL at once.
OSCAR SAMoSTZ.
MORLEY BROS.
GRAHAM s. ANDREWS.
I'll. E. LINDERMAN.
c. o. WELLER.
GEO. b. LUCAS.
F1NKLEA 81 RALSTON.
J. J. ToBIN.
ALEXANDER ERes. |
q letter was also received from DR..
~ d. Lint e3,ttIEtt;; which is given below. |.
goes to clear up Jite matter satisfaEto-
rily, AM seems to refute the idea of a
mistake. The letter is given il full:
Editor Of Statesman:
My attention has been called TO
paragraph in Wednesday mornings
issue, calling attention to the death OF
child where it was supposed the
druggist put up the wrong medicine.
The child referred to was an infant of
Mr.. Quesnot, of this city. [ saw the
Child on Wednesday the 18th instant.
and found that it had been sick for
more than week with the fiux or
dyse1tery; and Prescribed for it. On
Thursday morning L saw the child
again, and made the following pre-
scrjp'ion forit: Sweet spirits OF nitre
Gil; potash nitras, grs. X; potash bro
midi, grs. Xxx; tr. opii camph. Ziii; syr
simplex, q. 8. for Zti; one teaspoonful
every two hours. This was simply
soothing mixture: The child had
been threatened with commissions
all the night before. Soon at
ter taking a dose of above
mixture it vomited and did have a
CONFUSION. saw it in less than two
hours and told the family the child
would die. That IN my opinion there
was perfCration OF the bowels;
and the contents of the bowels
were emptied into the abdomi-
nal or perltoneal cavity and had caus-
ed fatal peritonitis. There were to
my mind. no symptoms or evidence
that lead me to even suspect any
poison had been administered.
The cohvulsions and excruciating
pains and swollen and tender abdomen
and dark or colored spot over the alb
domen just below the stomach (Which,
after death. became black, and almost
gaugrenous) with the collapsed con-
dltion of the little patient were, to my
mind, almost positive ey idence of per
foratlon OF the bowels, and fatal
perltonltis necessarily following it.
The description was filled at DR..
Tobln's drug store, by competent
and careful apothecary, and 1 am
fully satisfied that the prescription
was filled correctly. All the symp-
toms OF the little child pointed to diff
ferent cause, and there were none |
that indicated then or now, to me,
that poisonous or injurious dos OF
medicine had been administered to it. |
L write these facts that no unjust |
reflection may rest upon any of our |
competent and worthy druggists of |
this city, and that the little quiet ru-
NOR that. with wise nod of the head,
lives by mystery, may be put to rest.