Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1891-11-25
WHOLESALE POISONING SUSPECTED
Five Members of "A Family Die Under
Susnicinns circumstances

/ Five Members of Family Die Under
Suspicious circumstances.
LOUISVILLE, Nov. 25--The detective
force of this city are investigating an
alleged case Of poisoning which rivals in
. sensational features the famous Hig.
! bee case.
The particulars of the case, as near as
can be learned. are about as follows:
Thomas Austin and wife, a colored
couple, have lived for several years at
/ 1906 Eleventh street. and during the last
year four Of his children have died of
what was supposed to be typhoid fever.
A brother Of Austin, who has resided
with the family, also died Monday, and
4 Austin himself. and his only remaining
child, are 1T deaths door from what the
doctor believes to be arsenical poison.
The family have resided in the same
house for a number of years. Thomas
Austin, the father, was employed up to
short time ago by Theodore Schwartz,
the banker who failed.
His family a year ago consisted of
himself and wife and five children. Last
December, Thomas, aged four, and
Claiborne, aged six, We're seized with
vomiting spells and pains in the stom-
ach. DR.. e. S. Porter, the colored ply
sician, was summoned and pronounced
it typhoid fever.
He treated them for this, but they died
in a few days despite his efforts. The
heBlth office certificate, stating that
death was caused by typhoid fever, was
signed by the physician.
Shortly afterward James, an older
boy, was taken i'll with the same symp-
toms, and died in few weeks His dealh
was partly caused by fall from a scaf-
fold, but he showed the same symptoms
as the other children, nevertheless.
On Sept, Is, of this year, Mary, a
fourteen-yeG-old girl was taken sick
about the same as the others. DR.. Porter
called III Dir. Holloway i'll consultation,
and they both pronounced II typhoid
fever She died and was buried with
the others.
About three weeks ago Mr.. Austin
the father, was taken sick, and another
physician, DR.. Simpson, was called in,
and found Austin vomiting and suffer
ing from pains in the stomach. The doc
tor was puzzled the other symptoms
being rather peculiar, but he suspected
nothing and prescribed for his patient,
who has been getting worse all the time,
and is now dangerously i'll. Three days
ago Carl, aged ten, the only remaining
child, was taken with vomiting spells.
Dr. Porter was again called, and as in
all the other children'5 cases, called it
typhoid fever. The boy has grown
worse and is in a critical condition.
Meantime, the neighbors had begun to
talk. Each child's life was insured for
from 5000 to $500, and the insurance
companies have paid up in each case
promptly. The lives of the father and
the remaining child are also insured. The
neighbors taxed it all over the neiS l.
borhood, and everybody began to sus-
pect that 60 .ething was wrong.
Suspicious Circumstances.
Several other suspicious circumstances
were thought of, and DR.. Porter called
in DR.. D. T. Smith and began an in
vestigation. They called at the Austin
home Sunday afternoon, and DIR. Smith
at once pronounced Lotties illness to be
arseniCal poisoning He notified the de-
teCtive OF lis discovery. He also got
some of the sufferers urin and vomit
for analysis. Detectives DAILY and Fern
went to work ON the case and made a
llOIOuSn lINeSllSdIlOn Oh Jne lnetlOdS
of preparing food and other information
at the Austin home. The house is being
closely watched The doctor refused TO
say who is suspected, but the work of
analysis is 20 be begun at once, and, if
positive evidence of arsenic is found,
then the suspected parties will be jailed
at once. All the victims have shown
about the same symptoms, and if some
thing is not wrong it is certainly very
rare coincidence.
Coroner miller will probably have the
remains of the dead victims exhumed,
and their stomachs analyzed. DR.. Smith
is Of the opinion that arsenic was used
in every case.
The mother and wife, Rebecca Austin,
refused positively to say anything about
the case.