The San Francisco call., 1899-01-26
Mrs. Morton and Her
Family Suffer.
BROUGHT NEAR TO DEATH
HEROIC WORK OF MRS. ASHLEY
SAVED THEM.
The Hominy Was Bought Of Ped
dler and Is Believed to Have
Been Improperly Manu-
factured.

OAKLAND, Jan. 25.-North Oakland
was greatly excited to-day over the al
most fatal poisoning of q mother and
three children. All sorts of plots were
exploited, and Indignation ran high when
1t was reported that the victims had been
poisoned by some malicious enemy. The
matter was reported to the authorities
and it was discovered that the poison was
contained in some hominy that had been
bought from a peddler
The family who narrowly escaped death
are Mrs. Minnie May Morton of o<i
Thirty-sixth street and three of her chill
dren-Claude, aged 19 years; Minnie, aged
and four-year-old baby. Two other
daughters, Cleo and Grace, aged 9 and Il
years respectively, happened to be away
from home at the time orsthey, too, would
have shared similar fate.
That Mrs. Morton and the three first
named children are living to-day to relate
their awful experience is wholly due to
the efforts of Mrs. NJ. E. Ashley, neigh
Dor, whose knowledge of medicine came
well in hand at the most opportune mo-
ment. Last Monday Mrs. Morton pur-
chased quart of hominy from a peddler
named Shain. who has a stand at the
Free Market.
The food was served up at supper and
nothing further was thought of it until
Mrs. Morton and the three children awoke
suffering excrucfating pains. For several
hours the unfortunates groaned In their
agony. Shortly after o'clock the 6-year-
old daughter, Minnie, managed to sum
mon up strength enough to call on Mrs.
Ashley for help. Mrs. Ashley responded
promptly. She found Mrs. Morton in a
semi-comatose condition, and barely able
to inform her that the family had been
poisoned
Without thinking of summoning ply
sican Mrs. Ashley set to work in her at
tempt to save the lives of her neighbors.
She is nurse and masseur by profession,
a fact that proved most fortunate in the
present case. Mrs. Ashley promptly ap-
piled warm emetics, but several hours
passed and several doses were admins
tered before the desired effect was accom-
plished. The nurse worked industriously
over her patients until after 3 o'clock in
the afternoon. While Mrs. Morton and
her children are considered practically
out of danger, they are still very weak
and were able to-day to take but little
nourishment. Mrs. Morton, when seen to-
night by a Call reporter, said:
we had very narrow escape, but 1
am thankful to Mrs. Ashley, for she GER
ta1nly saved our lives. When / served the
hominy for supper last Monday night l
noticed that it was not of the usual snow
haky appearance, and each grain con-
tained a black and blue spot; but I
further attention to 1t until 1 awoke yes
terday morning suffering so terribly that
/ became dazed. / know 1t was the hon.
my that poisoned us, forsI had eaten moth
butter. Mr.. Shain, the man who sold the
stuff, heard about our poisoning to-day.
and was very much alarmed. He called
on us and promised faithfully never to sell
any more. He intimated that he thought
there was something the matter with the
hominy when he delivered it. The maize
is soaked or boiled in concentrated lye
while being prepared for the market, and
this was not properly cleansed, and par
ticles of the hulls still clung to the grains.
Probably through some chemical action
the poison was formed
Mrs. Ashley was also questioned by The
Call reporter, and though she was very
10th to make any statement for publica-
ton, she frankly corroborated Mrs. Nor
toms story. She said:
my husband had just opened his gro
Gerry store for the day, when little Min
ME called to me to come over, as they
believed the family was poisoned. | found
Mrs. Morton with her knees doubled up
to her chin. l worked over the poisoned
family from about 1880 until 8 o'clock in
the afternoon, and l feel as happy over
saving their lives as they do themselves.
Fortunately Mrs. Morton saved about a
saucerful Of the poisonous hominy, and
it is, as she says, black and blue in small
spots. We did not have 1t analyzed and
we did not call in a doctor, because If we
had we knew that the whole affair would
get into the papers"
Mrs. Morton is a machine operator and
her husband is a travelling salesman, but
the couple have lived apart for some time.