The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1899-10-20
AN ALLEGED POISONING CASE.
The Facts Greatly Exaggerated to Make a
Sensational Story.

Sensational Story.
The old saw that eve must 60 abroad
to hear the news" was amply illustrated
the past week in a sensational story tele-
graphed from GAINESVILLE to Milwaukee
evening paper of a wholsele, poisoning,
said to have occurred to the guests of a
party given by Mrs G. r. Bentley last
Thursday afternoon. The dispatch after
being embelished with scare" headings
was as follows:
'That the majority of the leading society la
dies of the city of Edeerton are not dead today
as the result of poisoning, is due entirely to
prompt medical aid. Although the affair has
been kept guarded secret for the past four
days, it leaked out yesterday that poisonous
Ice cream came near causing terrible calam-
ity in the little city Of leaf tobacco fame. East
Thursday afternoon Mrs. Charles Bentley en-
tertalned about fifty lady friends. The repaSt
included ice cream, of which many partQok.
FOlloWlng the serving If refreshments the
guests began to take their departure several of
the ladies made the remark to each other that
they felt queer. They all experienced that
dizzy feeling. Seve1a al attempted to leave the
reception room, but were taken with fainting
spells. Matters soon became alarming and it
then occurred to the hostess that her guests
might have been poisoned Physicians We're
then summoned and at once pronounced it
poison. Several of the, worst affectedSWere
taken to their homes in carriages Mrs. Birk-
enmeyer, soon after being removed to her
home grew gradually worse and for several
hours physicians worked over her to keep her
from going into a sleeping stupor. She is now
we'll on the road to recovery. Mrs. Shelley,
Mrs. Charles Culton and Mrs. Dickinson suf-
fered terrible agOnies and were saved only by
constant efforts of the attending physicians.
Others who partook less of the cream were i'll
but only in mild way, and We're able to make
their way home unassisted. Physicians say
that the ice cream was poisoned by the milk
that was used. This milk, it is claimed, came
from from an unhealthy COW, the fluid being
GUS weed. At the farmhouse where the milk
was purchased children were taken danger
OuSly1ll that same evening after drinking milk
taken from the same cow
Now about the facts. 1t is true Mrs.
Bentley entertained few of her lady
friends-eight being present all told. 1t
is also true that ice cream formed part
of the refreshments served and that
several of the ladies were more or less
sick for a short time after reaching home
but not one. of them except, Mrs. Birken-
meyer, needed the attention of physi-
clan. None were taken home in carriages
and none of the other tragic particulars
occurred as above described. The fer
til brain of reporter might polish off a
good story with them, but they were en-
tirely absent from this affair. It might
have been due to the milk that produced
the nausea that some of the ladies did
experience but there is no positive proof
that such was the case. Some other
cause might just as we'll be attributed
to the sickness only that milk is so often
found the cause of many disorders that
it is an easy solution to charge it up to
this common article of food. ~ III