Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-06-26
A DRUGGISTS DOOM.
Followed by an Angry Hob Who Will
Lynch Him on First Sight
OVER FIFTY PERSONS POISONED
By Drinking of Lemonade That Was Made
From Sugar of Lead.
A san ENDING TO A MERRY PICNIC
lVER FIFTY PERSONS POISONED
A SAD ENDING TO A MERRY PICNIC


TORONTO, ONT, June 25.-The details
of a fearful story of criminal carelessness
have arrived from Woodstock. Fifty per-
sons in the town are prostrated and Is are
not expected to live. The unfortunate
wretch to whose door this calamity is laid is
would-be druggist who recently opened a
store in town, but now has fed to escape the
fury of the citizens who threaten if they
catch him to discount even Judge Lynch's
expeditions methods.
Woodstock is situated in the township of
Zorra. On Saturday the farmers of that
county gave monster picnic in Willis
grove about two miles from the town. The
morning was cool and showery, and as a
consequence the refreshment booths were
badly patronized, few, if any partaking of
the ice cream and lemonade, which had been
supplied by Woodstock confectioner. In
the afternoon, however, the sun came out,
and toward evening the weather grew close
and sultry, and a great rush was made for
cooling refreshments, the lemonade in par
ticular being consumed in large quantities.
All was jollity until the picnickers were
about to start for home when suddenly a
Miss Shaw, who was dancing on one of the
platforms, fell in fit.
DIsMAY SUCCEEDS PLEASURE.
Friends had hardly started to apply re-
storatives when two young ladies were SIM
ilarly seized. This sudden interruption of
the festivities caused very general alarm,
which was intensified to horror when almost
Immediately others of the gathering to the
number of 90 were stricken, and Law rolling
on the sward in terrible agony. Several
doctors were with the picnickers, and these,
with others who were hastily summoned
from the town, attended the sufferers.
Noting the symptoms the doctors at once
pronounced il q case of poisoning. MANY
of the unfortunates were thought to be dy-
ing. While the medical men administered
hot milk, mustard and other emetics at
hand, express wagons were brought out from
Woodstock, and in them the sufferers were
moved to their homes.
An investigation proved that only those
who had partaken of the lemonade had been
attacked, and the poisoning was readily
traced to this source. All day and this
morning the authorities were endeavoring
to find out how the poison came to get into
the lemonade, and this afternoon it was dis
covered that the confectioner who had
furnished the drink, in order to save lemons,
had used in its concoction what he believed
to be tartaric acid.
A FATAL MISTAKE.
Fortunately some of the powder which he
had purchased from the new druggist re-
manned, and on examination it was found to
be sugar OF lead" which he had sold in
mistake for the harmless ingredient The
news of this discovery quickly spread all
over the town. The rage of the townspeo-
pie almost amounted to madness, which they
n of nodf 10 rie%
der. who was stranger, having been only
short time in the place.
A crowd quickly gathered and marched in
a body to his store. The shop was locked. A
plank was torn from the sidewalk and used
as a battering ram The door was quickly
broken down and the maddened men en- |
tered. There was no one in the store, but |
this did not decrease their rage, and in few |
minutes the stock in trade of the druggist |
was scattered all over the street
Then a thorough search of the premises |
was made to find the man who had unwit- |
tingly brought sorrow to so many happy |
homes. The search was fruitless, however. |
The house was empty, Alexander having |
seen the angry crowd approaching had made |
good his escape from q back entrance and |
fed to the woods. Baffled at not finding |
their intended victim the crowd proceeded to |
demolish things generally, and quickly |
wrecked the entire premises.
CHASED BY THE MOB.
They would have gone further and
burned the building had not a rumor spread |
that Alexander had been seen in another |
part of the town, where the whole mob |
quickly started to hunt for him. He was
not found, however. Although the majori-
ty of those poisoned are slowly recovering
from the effects of the deadly mineral, Is of |
the number were this evening reported to be
dying, all being in a state OF COLLAPSE, from
which all efforts of the physicians so far
have failed to revive them.
The names of those whose recovery is con-
sidered impossible are as follows: Mamie
Shaw, aged 20; Sadie Hartnett, aged %;
Alice Flynn, 16; Minnie Flynn, l9; Mrs.
As; Mrs. McAipin, % (only
married a week.; Mrs. Sarah Smith, SS, and
her two daughters, Sarah, IL, and Minnie,
8; Edward Nolan, 10; James Shaw, %:
John McKetcher, "a; Edward, Lewis, IL,
and John Shortel. O
Finding that Alexander had made his
escape, one of the citizens lodged COM
plaint against him, and a warrant was sworn
out for his arrest. AS he is thought to be
hiding in the woods back of Woodstock, a
number of specials were sworn in and sent
)ut to search for and arrest him. A crowd
has started after the specials with the open-
Y avowed intention of capturing the drug |
yist and lynching him. Up to midnight to-
light the unfortunate druggist had not been
.aught, nor had any deaths resulted from