West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1899-11-16
The Plot OI A Girl Lover.
Florence Campbells Scheme for Get
ting Rid Of a Hated Rival.
SHE SENDS 10 HERSELF APACk.
AGE OF ARSENiC.LADES
FRUIT
4 Happy Accident Frustra,cs An As.
tempt to Fasten the Guilt Upon An
Innocent Woman,

| II is "a queer story that comes from
San Francisco, where the police have
been wrestling with mysteriou, pois,
oning case, in which. fortunately, mo
one was poisoned II 1. tho story OF a
womnn's love FOR married man, and
her attempt to get rid OF his wife by
having her sent 10 prison Oh a false
charge OF sending a box OF arsenic
laden fruit by mail. In many OF it's
| details the case is similar TO that in
which Mrs Botkin figured, and the
disclosures are such as TO make some
experts doubt the worth OF the evil
dence on which the Botkiu woman was
convicted,
Miss Florence NJ. Campbell, OF San
| Francisco, WAS infatuated with John
Rathon, a married man. She got the
idea into her head that II she could get
rid OF Mrs. Rathom by bringing about
divorce, Rathon would marry her.
This WAS the sole purpose OF a plot that
| would have done credit TO Lucretia
! Borgie 1t it admitted by the girl, and
I
the Investigations of detectives. Miss
Campbell did not wish To kill the
woman who stood in her way She
merely wished To blacken her charac.
ter with false charge which would
land her in prison and give Rathom an
opportunity To get divorce.
| Mrs. Rathom and Miss Campbell
were at one timo close friends and had
carried on n correspondence. The lat
ter had several OF Mrs Rathom's let
ters in her possession, and ono day
devilish scheme came into her head.
She had been reading how Mrs. Bot
kin had been convicted Of sending
poisoned candy through the mails TO
the wife Of her lover. and the most con.
| elusive bit of evidence against her be-
ing the handwriting on the package.
As she studied the BotlSin case the love.
! sick Miss Campbell hurriedly, framed
out a course OF action. She would mail
n box OF poisoned fruit to herself; tho
address on the cover would be appar-
emily written by Mrs. Rathom, and
this would afford the desired means Of
prosecuting the woman into prison. IL
would be easy TO secure conviction, as
San Francisco iuries are rot inclined
to DO lenient with Borgias. and the
proof OF Mrs. Rathom's guilt would be
CONCLUSIVE.
All this, IT. should be renie mbcred, is
not surmise or police theory. II is the
story told by Miss Campbell in a
moment Of remorse when she thought
she was dying from the effect OF her
own carelessnesb
What made the plan prepared by
Miss Campbell easier, was the fact that
Mrs. Rathom had discovered the liai.
son and was threatening n suit for
divorce.
Miss Campbell bought some candled
cherries and loaded them with arsenic
Then, taking ono Of Mrs Rathorn's let
ters addressed TO herself, she trimmed
down the envelope so as TO get rid Of
the old postnark and pasted IL on the
box. Her next move was 90 mail tho
package. This done she, called up by
telephone the residence OF Mrs. Scheib.
where she boarded, and initiating the
Voico of Mrs. Rathom as closely as pos
sible. inquired whether MISS Campbell
had received package by mail This
was another move TO fasten guilt on
Mrs. Rathom, Rs Mrs Schetb, when
questioned by the police, Said IL was
undoubtedly the latter who had talked
over the telephone,
In preparing the box OF poisoned
fruit, Miss Campbell was careful Co
leave the top layer OF cherries undoc.
tored She did this for the reason that
she would haye 10 pass the box around
among the member OF tho scheib fam
lily when she received IL. and, as sbe
did not wish to poison anybody. the
top layer could be eaton without dan.
ger Later She would make the dis.
coYerY that the rest OF tho content.
were poisoned, give the affair into the
hands OF the police and the running
down OF Mrs. Rathom would be easy.
As luck would have IL. after samo.
ling the contents Of the box the after.
noon it was received, Mrs Seheib com.
plained Of not feeling well and limo.
comfy said that shs thought the cher.
ries had made her sick. Miss Campbell
her nervous system ovcrwrougbt bv
excitement at once imagined a horrible
condition Of affairs. What" she ar.
gued 90 herself, ~ ] have made mis-.
take and put some OF the poisoned
fruit on top2' The more she thought
Of IL the more nervous and auprehen.
sivo she became and finally she imng.
ined sho also felt queer pains in her
stomach Then she vas sure both she
and Mrs. Scbeb had eaten the poison
cd fruit and wer8 gong 20 die, Sho
rushed 20 the drog storo and got an
autidote, consisting Of mustard and
soap, swallowed a lot herself and has.
tened back home TO the relief OF Mrs
Scheib.
In the meantime the druggist had
Informed the police Of the poisoning
ease. Detectives called ~ the sohieb