The evening world., 1893-12-27
REV. AND MRS. BELLIN COURT.
Held in $500 Bail for the Result
of the Coroner's Inquest
Two of Their Children Have Died
Under Peculiar Circumstances.

LONG ISLAND CITY. L. l., Dec. IL
Rev. J. Edward Bell. ex-preacher, n
editor of the Weekly Flag, in Astoria,
was arraigned, together with his wife,
Jane Bell, before Justice Kavanagh In the
Police Court here this morning and held
in $500 bail to await the result of a Cor
oner's inquest on the body Of their
daughter Edith, who died under suspi-
cious circumstances last September.
He'll and his wife were arrested by
Herman Meyer, of the Brooklyn Society
for the Prevention Of Cruelty to Chill
dren, in Astoria, last night. on warrants
charging them with a misdemeanor In
having wilfully neglected to provide med
ical attendance to Arthur Morrison Bell.
aged thirteen years, now in the Astoria
Hospital in a serious condition OF health.
as a result of his parents alleged cru
elites and neglect.
q fourteen-year-old son, last summer,
there was much talk in Astoria about
the apparent unconcern OF the parents
over the mournful event.
But when a few weeks later Edith.
the beautiful sixteen-year-old daughter.
died under practically the same circum-
stances n evidently from the same
much aroused that an official inVestiga-
ton was demanded.
Coroner Brandon. Of Newtown, ex-
1t had been placed in the ground, The
stomach of the child was removed and
submitted to expert chemists for analy.
sis upon the suspicion that the result
might expose a terrible crime.
What the analysis has revealed has
not yet been made public. Both the
It is not yet completed. The latter, how.
ever. intimated to an Evening World'
reporter this morning that the suspicion
of foul play had been well founded, and
4 ,he declared that already enough evidence
ad been secured to convict the eN-
>eacher of at least a degree Of man
slaughter.
were handsome and intelligent. Theii
neglect became known to the neighbors
through their frequent applications fol
food, and stories of persecution and star
walton from their own lips.
Bell acknowledges that he had not pro
vided medical attendance to either Of hi.
dead children during their fatal Illnesses aYon
in their rooms and were found long aftel
life had been extinct. $50.
Mrs. Bells declaration that the child
Edith had been prescribed for and given
medicine by a well-known physician. she
named has been proven false, which
fact, seems to strengthen the suspicion
in the estimation Of the n%eighbors that
the child's death did not result from
natural causes.
The couple spent the night in the
cure bail, and it Is probable that they
will occupy a cell there again, as Jus
tice Kavanaugh insists that there shall
be two sureties in each case.
Bell is about forty-iive years old anc
has "A very shady record, having beer
several times in the tolls of the police
Last Summer he was arrested for Grim
!nal libel and was In Jail for eight days
when he was released on making a pub
lie retraction and apology. The com
plainant was n rival editor.
on that occasion the Long Island Cit,
newspaper published a statement tina
the woman claiming to be the wife o
Bell had no right to the title. and tina
she was the legal wife of a telegraph
operator named Hewlett. who had beef
obliged to separate from her.
She is a comely little woman, abou
thirty years old, and might pass 70
~good-looking were II not for a crue
look in her big, gray eyes and the hard
drawn lines on her face. She appeare'
more unconcerned over the matter thai
her husband.
When arrested. the first question sh
asked the officer was concerning the re
salt OF the chemical analysis, remark
ing hat she supposed they had foun
Bell was deposed, 1t is alleged, fror
the pastorship of a church In Astori
on being trapped in n house of ques
tionable character. His explanation o
the charge was that he went TO tn
Both prisoners deny that they mes
lccted the children. or that they ar
guilty of any ~offense. They do not a.
tempt, however, on the advice of counse
they say. to explain why they above
their children to beg for. food. locke
them alone in n room. II left them I
die without medicine or proper nourisf