Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-12-27
PASTOR BELL IS IN JAIL
He and His Wife May Have to Answer a Serious Charge.
ACCUSED OF ABUSING HIS CHILD.
The Death of Bsll's Son ane Daughter Also AzAds the Subject of InvestIgatIon-BeIr' Career as . Preacher ana as an Editor at Dlnsrens PolasaE.

L.oxG ISLAND CITY, N. Y., Dec. 27.-The Rev. Jonathan Edwards Bell, editor of The Weekly Flag, published in Astoria, and his wife spent last night in cells in the First precinct station in Long Island City They were arrested on complaint of Her man Meyer of the Brooklyn Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, who ac- cuses them of willfully neglecting Arthur Morrison Bell, aged l3. one of Bells chill dren by his first wife.
 The boyis now in the Astoria hospital. It was the death of MT. Bells daughter Edith that brought the family to the notice of the authorities. A short time previous to the girls deuth another son, Harry English Bell, l4 years old, died.
 The children had been without medical attendance and two days before the burial of Edith Bell the body WAS exhumed by the coroner and the stomach taken out and sent to New York fer chemical oxamina- tion. It was suspected 'ls she had been poisoned.
 Bell was found iHhis uey yspaper office at 167 Main street, Astoria, by the policeman who had the warrant issuei by Police Jus tice Noble. He accompanied the policeman without comment and was soon lodged in a cell. Another policeman was sent to Bells home at 5i0 De Beyoise avenue. When Mrs. Bell was informed that she was under arrest, Sne S0lu:
 Hell Calls It an Outrage.
 Well, guess they must have found it. Did theyr"
 The policeman did not know what she meant unless she referred to the search for poison in the dead girls body. Mrs. Bell dressed herself with care and tripped out along with the policeman. seemingly unmindful of the neighbors who fiocked to the doors to see her off
 When seen by a reporter, Mir. Bell said his arrest was an outrage. Later on he said he would have his inning. The accu- sation that he had i'll used his children was, he said, an infamous falsehood. On Sunday he visited his little boy in the hos pitaI, and the boy denied that he had told any one that he had been i'll treated at home. He also said:
 'I can disprove the charges against me with ease, but as to the charges against my wife, she will have to answer for them herself'
 Mrs. Bell didn't seem to feel at' all put out about her arrest. She was smiling when she came out of her cell. and was ushered into the matron's room. ''To begin with" she said, "I actually don't know what am here for. don't know whether they have finished the anal ysis of the girls body or not, but they won't find anything and will have their ! trouble for nothing. No; Pm not going to 1 say anything about the case, for l don't know anything with the exception of what have read. Yes; 1 expected to be arrested. ! The papers said we were to be arrested sooner or later, and when the policeman came to the door l knew what it was for. | do not know what steps NIT. Bell intends taking in the matter, but of course he is 1 going to act"
 The present charge against Mir. Bell and 1 his wife is clasSed as misdemeanor. Agent Meyer of the Children's society says he has 1 evidence enough against the couple to have 1 them indicted for manslausShte and that their arrest was simply the first step in 1 that direction.
 [ Rev. MT. Bells Career.
 Many stories are told about Mir. Bells career. One of them is that he was expell- ed from his first charge in New London on charges of immortality. In his subsequent | wanderings there was such a demand from other churches for copies of the proceed ings in the case that the church had them printed in pamphlet form. Finally his 1 wanderings led him to Patchogue, where he became pastor of the Congregational church. His stay there was brief and was terminated by his resignation. He next turned up in Astoria, where, in connection with job printer named John Fallon, he i started The Historian, which was later changed to The Queens County Republican and then to The Weekly Flag, which name it now bears.
 It is said that Mrs. Bell was once the wife of Giles N. Hewlett, telegraph oper ator, who is supposed to be somewhere in Cleveland. It is presumed that she SC cured u divorce from him. The Bell chil dren never took kindly to her, and it has been charged that she i'll treated them. Harry English Bell was the first to be taken ill. He had been i'll for more than g week when he died of what was said to be typhoid malaria. No doctor was called in to attend him. His death made the neigh bors gossip, and they became outspoken when Edith Bell was found dead one morn. ing
 It is said she had been left alone all night in a cold, damp room. She had been i'll altogether nine days and was not once at tended by n physician. She died of pneu monia and diphtheria The neighbors finally decided to interfere. Through theil efforts Arthur Morrison Bell, who wa: found in the house in pitiable plight was sent to the hospital. This was morS than a week ago.
 The inquest on Edith Bell will be con tinued as soon as Coroner Brandon hear. from the chemists in New York who arS making the analysis in search of poison.
 Candidates For Wilson's Place.
 MASON CITY, la. Dec. 27.-Hon. L. s Coffin of Fort Dodge is announced as