St. Paul daily globe., 1889-04-01
POISON IN The FOOD.
Four Children Living Near
Fort Smelling Eat of a
Deadly Mixture.
Prompt Action by the Post
Surgeon Saves Them
From Death.
wellington ]. Rogers, Erst-
while Of st. Paul, Now in
Southern California.
He Has Taken the Gold Fever,
and Expects to Strike
a Bonanza.

Six little children! Worse than
motherless, for their widowed mother,
imprisoned at the wCrkhouse. pretends
to provide for them. and the authorities
have consequently overlooked them.
They are the children of Mary Doyle,
proprietreSs of the notorious Arlington
road house on West Seventh street, op-
posite Fort Smelling. Yesterday morn
ing four of them were stricken down
with poison taken with the
scanty meal that the oldest one.
a girl of thirteen years, sue
ceeded in scraping together, and
for several hours the lives of two of
them were despaired of. Soon after
eating their breakfast the Oldest girl
was taken with violent pains in her
stomach. which were followed with
terrible retching and q racking head
ache. A short time afterwards her lit
tie brothers, Willie and Johnnie, aged
respectively two and four years, and
her little sister, Mary, eight years of
age. were similarly stricken. and their
cries and walls were most pitiful to
hear. The wife of Sergeant johnson, of
the Smelling battery, was first to
come TO their assistance, and sum-
moned DR.. Edward A. Mearns, assistant
surgeon at Fort Smelling, who did all in
his power to alleviate the sufferingS of
the little ones. EmeticS were admins
tered, and under his skillful treatment
the crisis was passed and their proba
BILE recovery assured. When Assistant
City Physician Spencer arrived about 4
O'Clock yesterday afternoon the
younger children were apparently out
of danger, and only the oldest girl
seemed to suffer greatly from the effects
of the poison. At 6 o'clock she was
much better, and apparently out of
danger. Post Surgeon MearnS stated
to GLOBE reporter that the cause of
their sickness was undoubtedly arsen-
ical poison from a metallic pot in which
the coffee drank at the morning meal
was boiled. Coffee and grounds had
been standing in the cOpper-lined pot
for several days. and the liquid un-
doubtedly became strongly tinctured
with corrosive poison. Eddie, boy
twelve years of age, drank little of the
coffee, and was not sick, and little
nine months old babe was with Mrs.
johnson below, the woman having
kindly taken charge Of the child when
It's mother was sentenced to the
workhouse for ninety days, on March
%, for selling intoxicating liquors with
out a license. Officers and civilians at
the fort are strong i'll their denunelation
OF the treatment the children have re-
ceived and believe the city should take
them in charge. Melvina, the oldest
girl, is their only protector, and is sorely
troubled to provide the food necessary
to keep them alive, To make matters
worse. rough soldiers and uncouth
men, who were induced by their mother
to visit the house, still frequent the
place, and not only make life miserable
f1r the girl, but set shocking examples
for children of their tender years. 1t is
clearly-a a case for the charitable institu-
tions of the city and demands i'm
mediate attention.