Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1894-04-18


Captains and sergeants of police do not
possess the romantic qualities in highly
developed degree and cannot be expected
to supply nerve tingling romance to their
associates. Their lives contain much trag-
edy and comedy, aid with them everyday
existence is so essential that their keen
sense of the dramatic in life grows dull.
A general alarm was sent out to each of
the "a precincts and within three hours
every member of the force on duty was
engaged in house to house canvass for
"the woman with the ounce of arsenic"
In five hours time the entire city was
in commotion. Thousands of men and
women had visited the pharmacies and
the all night dispensaries to have their
medicines examined in order that they
might be assured as to their character.
Hundreds of pounds of harmless baking
powders, soda, borax and other arsenical-
like salts were consigned to the sewer, in
order to render assurance doubly assured.
Many nervous and hysterical women pass
ed the night in sleepless dread and fear.
When the morning opened, of course the
papers were filled with the startling an
nouncement. Several of them gave the in
cident sensational headings that added
greatly to the general alarm and threw
several feeble minded people completely
off their mental balance.
Meanwhile l had not ceased in my eff
forts. Finding job printing Office on
Sixth avenue that was open all night, l
had 5000 large posters printed bearing the
fearful and startling heading, Your life
is in danger!" At the bottom of the fam
ing announcement was this concluding
line: You are about to diet"
Visiting several theaters, finally found
bill poster who undertook to post 200
of these notices during the next two days
and nights. At the end of that time the
appalling information that death was loose
in the town and stalked among us in in
visible presence was encountered on every
dead wall and glared at me from many
shop windows. The theatrical managers
hastily got together and gave the use OF
every billboard they owned or controlled
in the entire city. The elevated railroad
advertising company generously permitted
the use of two Of its most prominent spaces
at each station. The drug stores even
consented to display the alarm circular in
their windows, always adding line that
was very humiliating to me-"This never
could have occurred in our pharmacy"
At the end of the third day ambulance
calls were quadrupled in number, coming
from people who believed they had been
poisoned, and insisting upon being taken
to a public hospital.
The practicing physicians of the city
were greatly overworked. Anybody who
suffered from pain in any part of his
body instantly imagined that he had swal.
lowed some of the deadly salt, and that
nothing stood between him and eternity
but the highest medical skill.
On the following Sunday nearly every
preacher in New York and Brooklyn refer
red to the impending calamity, for as the
days heightened out assurance increased
that the calamity would far exceed all an
ticipated proportions. Why this was no
body could explain, but the entire commu
nifty of greater New York felt that it wal
living over loaded mine, liable to be ex
ploded at any moment.
So great was the suspense among mem
bers of the newspaper profession that one
city editor went crazy, and another sho
himself out of sheer chagrin that he coult
not discover "the woman with the ounc,
of arsenic!"
During all these days ], the innocen
cause OF SO much human misery, hardly
slept or ate. For more than week new
er had my clothes off. l actually forgo
Emily
Womanlike, reading of the notoriety in
to which had suddenly sprung, she call
ed at the store to see me- She even spok,
OF me with sympathetic kindness and lief
word of greeting and hope with the DO.
who delivered the prescriptions.
My nervousness continually increased
When l looked at myself in the glass,
was shocked to see how pale and thin
had grown. l felt that the strain coul,
not much longer continue.
My worst premonitions were verified.
fell very i'll and was taken from my coli
and cherries hall room-where, in my de
lirium, l raved and bemoaned my fate
to the home of Emily's mother. There sh
and the faithful girl nursed me back t.
life But as reason fully returned the oil
distress re-entered my mind, and in IN,
weak and feeble condition, when alone,
would burst into tears and bemoan tn
carelessness that had brought me SO mucl
wretchedness.
was cured in an instant.
The little colored boy at the pharmac
came rushing into the house, coatless
breathless and hatless, having run the en-
tire distance from the drug store. He in
sisted on seeing me- and although agains
the Doctors orders pushed his way int
my sickroom. In accents that were almos
inaudible, because of his shortness O
breath, he exclaimed:
"Ize found her, cullyn
"Wheres" literally shrieked, sittinl
up in he'd, for knew as well as it he hat
talked an hour that he referred to eth
woman with the ounce of arsenic"
"W'y, she's de wife of de janitor on GU
top loor!'
''Not over the drug store!'
"Cert"--
Emily's mother was not quick enougl
to catch me, for fell back in dead faint
Within an hour had revived, and veal
as thought had been had found strengt
to rise, dress myself and go to the oil
store, where, two steps at jump, climb
ed the five flights of stairs that led to til
janitor's apartments.
There I saw the woman and regaine
, possession of the package with feelings o
infinite relief
She had not opened it!-Joseph Simp
sou in London Bits.