The Forrest City times. [volume] (Forrest City, Ark.) 1871-1919, 1893-01-06


will be read with much interest as 1t
shows what utter disregard of health
and even life reposes in the bosom OF
beartless overseers and managers OF
of the unfortunate criminal who IL
worked outside the walls of the peDi-
Tertiary:
j. A. DIBRELL's TESTIMONY.
Dr. Dibrell is is a very deliberate. painstak-
ing and interchangeable worker, and his words
were well and carefully weighed He tsst-
led as follows:
lam pracsicing physician of Little Rock.
am visiting the penitentiary by authority
of the penitentiary board in the character of
consulting physician, with the special DUTY
of trying to determine the cause of the fatal
sickness prevailing among the eonvicts.
saw the deceased. George Long yesterday
morning at O'Clock in company with Dr.
FL French He was then in a collapsed con-
dtion moribund, and he died, lam informed,
short time afterwards. This WAS the first
acute case that have seen. have bad much
difficulty in diagnosing this trouble. Ny
first visit was on Wednesday at 3 p. m. The
opinion prevailed that it was an instance of
supported by the statement of a druggist at
Helena go was informed1 that he had found
n quantity of arsenic in the stomach of one
of the dead conviets sufficient to Kill fifteen
men; that trace of arsenic had been found
in the stomach of another by Prof. W. P.
Baker Of this city, and the alleged confession
Of the colored cook for the convict camp
near Helena.
I>t..- tod m how q
that friend gave him some medicine to put
in the food, designed to produce sickness
that would compel the return of the convicts
to the state prison. | very carefully and
thoroughly Intercepted number OF sick and
eonvalescent patients in regard TO their symp-
toms and sanitary surroundings. found
that the most prominent and characteristic
symptom of arsenical poisoning was wanting
in every case. refer especially to the ''yio-
lent burning pain" in the stomach, the ab-
sence of mucous or blood in the dejecta, or
blood in ejecta. and entire absence of irrita-
ton of the bladder, and less pronounced
eystoms of arsenical poisoning. In the case
of the man, Long, now under investigation, l
only saw him after he had reached the col
lapsed condition described, but saw his de-
iecta. They were the characteristic rice
water discharges Of choleroid diseases. These
discharges were thin. copious, frequent and
were expelled with force Vomiting had also
been frequent but had ceased on my arrival
In my opinion the deceased died from
choleroid disease and in the absence of any
known or probable source of cholera intetica
was doubtless due to some such cause As
POLLUTION OF DRINKING WATER,
diseased meat, ptomaines, etc. The symp-
toms were identical with those of cholera and
they could not be differentiated from those Of
cholera, unless there was known source of
tnfection or by meteorological invest cation.
was informed that the deceased the day be-
fore his death ate some spoiled picked beets
which had been thrown on a pile OF filth and
manure in the northwest corner of the yard,
but the patient himself said he only ate one
pouthful. was in hopes that this might be
found TO be the cause of his sickness, but
number of other convicts ate OF these beets
ana in larger quantity, and remain well 10
this hour.
THE PILE OF FILTH
and tho adjacent hog pen would add to the
gravity OF chOler0id disease, where there is
tendency that way. even if it did not tam
mate the water supply, which within the
walls Is obtained from cisterns. ! have not
thought that it has had anything 10 do with
the cases thus far. The disposition of the
night soil is as good as can be done under the
circumstances. From information obtained
from convicts aud guards. learned that
AT HELENA
the men TO the number of 100 slept in four
BOX cars That the night buckets were
emptied near, and in some instances into
pool. from which some Of the drinking water
WAS obtained, bat the principal supply was
shtained from IA running branch which flowed
through the city Of Helena and is its princ-
pal sewer. Ii il should be established that
arsenic was not factor in the camp, the