Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-03-03

sister gave her some of the coffee and milk. OF
which she drank considerable. She immedi.
ately complained of a burning sensation in her
throat. her eyes rolling in wild manner, her
face turned deadly white and she was seized
with violent cramps.
The physician examined the remainder of the
milk and coffee and found sediment showing
clearly that it had been tampered with. The
doctor had suspected poison from the peg1n-
ming of her illness, but she had emphatically
denied having taken any. as did all of the fam.
her know when she would die, as she had some
thing to tell him of Importance, but would not
do SO until she was about to die.
A CASE OF POISONING.
The physician was satisfied that he had a
clear case of poisoning, as he had suspected
all along, and ne threatened to enter COM
plant before the proper officials, telling her
she was liable to die at any time, or lose the
power of speech, SO that she would be unable
to communicate with him or anyone else.
She finally said she knew who the parties
were; that they were only in the employ of
someone else; that poison was administered to
her on another occasion, and that the parties
came from near Syracuse, and that their OBJ
ject was to destroy her, in order. to get posses
sion of a sum of money which she had received
as hush money some time before. She has a
little son, which, she continually warned the
physician TO look out for, lest they get rid, of
him as they had her in order to gain posses
sion Of her money. On inquiry the physician
have been administered by herself or anyone
of the family. H IS -ev s
The milk and coffee and vial of medicine
were taken possession of by the physician.
Both have bright green appearance. On
the Sunday following black spots appeared
over the body of Mrs. Althouse, giving evil
dence of blood poison. These spots gradu-
ally turned, green, growing lighter and
lighter and finally, as time passed, they dis
appeared altogether.
The summer and fall of 1888 passed, bring
ing no change, the sleeps continuing, and
but little was heard of the case, as it had
become an old story. In the meantime DR..
Huber gave up the case. Mrs. Althouse
fell into one of her sleeps on December %,
and slept nine days. She awoke and re-
mained conscious three days, when at A.
NJ, January 8, 1889, she again fell asleep.
The 2Sth day of.her nap galvanic battery
was applied to the patient and other methods
used to waken her with no result except to
cause the eyes to'slightly open. A 900 A.
NJ, February 5, Mrs. Althouse awoke,
having slept "a days. For quite while
before awaking, her breathing became Ia
bored and difficult. and when she finally re-
covered consciousness it was only to swoon
away again and again, at the same time
bleeding freely at the nose. Her respira-
tion was "a, but her temperature was but
9815 and her pulse "a, but unsteady.
A WAKING SPELL.
She continued awake until Thursday
morning, February Z, when she again fell
asleep. This time she slept four days, and
awoke Sunday morning in a weak condi-
ton. Taking a spoonful of water would
cause her to faint, and she would remain in
her swoon even Is minutes. Her only
method of communicating now was by her
eyes, as the friends asked her questions. In
this way and at this time she made her at
tendant to understand that she wished to see
her pastor and have the sacrament ad-
ministered. Wednesday night, February 13,
she fell into sleep, from which she
wakened Monday morning, February %,
having slept IL days. This last sleep,
comatose, or trance condition, was more
alarming than previous ones, as her teeth
were tightly clinched, and it has been i'm
possible to force any nourishment between
them.
The patient lies in chamber, upon a
tidy looking bed, When sleeping she rests
always upon her back, and usually has her
face turned slightly to the left. Her injured
left arm lies by her side, while her right
hand lies across her breast. Her face and
forehead feel slightly warm, but her hands
are cold and colorless. She does not look
thin, but is quite fair looking. Her hand
as lifted it seemed lifeless, limp, pliable
and could be bent or laid in any position as
you would lift fold of cloth. During all
this long sickness her only nourishment has
been milk and weak coffee. When sleeping
they have succeeded in. forcing little from
time to time through her closed teeth.
A GooD-LooKING INVALID.
She is not an unpleasant looking subject.
On the contrary, as she lies there she is fine
looking, and her breathing is soft and
peaceful and sometimes scarcely perceptible.
When she wakes It'll distressing to behold her
extreme weakness. Her breathing is then
very rapid, her eyes unnatural, her face as
sumes purple tint and she is the picture of
suffering. Thus the assesses still continue
to form and discharge inwardly and pass
away, from which weakness she soon sinks
back into the profound slumber described.
Every day, when asleep, she is tenderly
lifted from her bed and it is aired and newly
made. She is perfectly limp and helpless
and when lifted back she is placed in what
ever position is desired She is tenderly
watched night and day by some member of
the household. Strangers are not admitted
to the sick chamber, but someof the citizens
who are known are permitted to look at the
sleeper.
A strange feature of the case is the fact of
her having fair pulse when asleep, and the
good condition of her flesh, having no sores
as the result of long illness. The difficulty
being entirely with the stomach, digestive
organs and alimentary canal. The sleeper
is at present under the care of DR.. Retel, of
Buffalo, who has sent remedies when she
was able to take them. Eighteen months
have passed since Mrs. Althouse was taken
i'll and never has day or night passed
without constant watching by members of