The morning times., 1895-08-23

Inc dslllIulS WtiG lNO iilc iuil-
blooded grcys, and there were no two
horses so well known and so universally
admired for miles around Rockville They
were valued at $500, but Mr. Pumphrey
said only a few days ago he would not ac-
cepL $500 for them.
The pair had not been used since Satur-
day and had been allowed TO run at large
and Craze in the schoolhouse meadow which
Mr.. Humphrey rents during the summer
months in which school Is not in session.
Shortly after noon on Wednesday Elmer
Boyd, coIored, who is employed by the
undertaken as hostIer, and who has been in
his employ since boyhood, fed and watered
tue two horses. AT that time he COM
nIented upon the fine mettlc and spirit OF
the pair rs they played ana frolicked on the
school house green, About half past five
O'Clock Ruby, the young son of Mr..
Pumphrey, rode one of the horses on an er-
rand up the road a short distance.
HORSE WAS EXHAUSTED.
When lie returned lac noticed that the ami
NAL was in perfect state OF exhaustion,
and the perspiratiOn was oozing from every
pore. This was thought strange, as the
pace at which the horse had been ridden
was but little more than dGg-trUt. The
other animal which had not been out Of the
field was found to be in the same Condi-
ton. Blankets were huTicdly put on each
ofthehorses, and they were ledinto the eStabIe.
Dr.. w. =. Hill who has an office in the
neighborhood, was hurriedly sent for. He
at first thought that the horses were suffer
ing from indigestion, but further develop
mcuts showed that this conclusion was
false He then tried all remedies known
to his profession, butwitnout avail, andatter
the doctor and hustler Boyd had spent eight
or nine hours in fruitleSs labor, one of the
animals SucCumbed a O'Clock yesterday Y
morning.
In the meantime the crowd OF workers
had been augmented by the coming OF Dr.
Edward Anderson, a medical practitioner
who lives in the town Anderson insisted
upon an examination of the digestive appa
ratus OF the dead horse, and this showed that
there were, in addition to corn, hay, and the
usual provender, number OF maple leaves
i'll the stomach. a quantitatiye or qualta
tive diagnosis of the contents could not be
made because the apparatus and facilities
were not able to be procured.
DEATH OF THE SECOND.
At noon yesterday the second horse died.
His death was harder than that of the other
and the lamentations and grief of poor
| Boyd as he sought to ease the pain Of the
suffering animal were piteous and pathetic
TO behold
DR.. Hill says that all of the indications
point 10 arseniCal poisoning, and be thinks
that the dose was administered about q
! half an hour before the first symptoms
were noticed. The strange part of the affair
is that at this time there was q number
of carpenters engaged in work on the
| school building which is within fifty yards
of where the horses Were grazing 1t is
| possible however, that the drug may have
| been administered earlier in the day aud
may not have taken effect till the evening.
| Instances of this kind are quite common.
| The work which the carpenters were
! engaged in doing at the school house was
! occasioned by a fire which took place in
! the building last Saturday night The
| blaze was evidently Of incendiary origin
! as the preparations which had been made to
| fire the building could be clearly seen.
| The fire was eXtinguished after destroying
! about $500 worth OF property, by the new
! tower fire engine which had arrived on the
cars the proceeding Friday. The presence
| OF the leaves in the stomach of the horse
| gave rise to the suppositioD that some OF
the chemicals used in putting out the fire
had gotten on the foliage and by eating the
drug laden leaves the horses met their
death This was all exploded, however,
when it was discovered that no chemicals
/ "a nYtriD no
time was so short that the compound could
not be put into the engine receptacle and
water, pure and simple, was the only fire
extinguishing fluid which had been used
| on the occasion.
MAY HAVE BEEN GYPSIES.
The attempt to burn the scholhousc, this
supposed poisoning of stock, and various
other minor happenings lead some of the
citizens of r ockville to the conclusion that
| there is a gang of men who are commencing
a series of depredations in Montgomery
l\)unty. All during the summer camps OF
! gypsies have been located in the neighbor-
| hood of Rockville and yesterday four or
| five families arrived here from no one knows
where and are now in the Big Woods, about
! a mile north of the town.
| taker and who lives near where the gypsy
! camp is situated, says that these present
! tenters are the most villainous, cut-throat
! looking fellows he ever saw and that the
entire gang will bear watching The farm
| ers are all up in arms about the matter and
| If the prisoner is found it will go hard with
| him.
Mr.. Punlphrey has been for twenty
years engaged in the undertaking business
| in Rockville, where his father conducted
! it before him. There is no man in the COM
munity more universally respected, and
| If he has an enemy in the town no one is
| aware Of the fact In the field where the
horses were grazing was another animal
! The two grays were doCiIe and gentle and
easily approached, and on this account met
their death, it is thought. The other
horse was very wild, and it is supposed that
the poisoners could not get near enough to
| this horse to give the drug.
DR.. Charles Mace yesterday evening re-
moved the digestive organs of the horse
which died last, and they will be sent to
the Agricultural Department and examined
| for traces of arsenic.
| The Evening Times Is the paDer