The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1901-02-04

tcttinE tue wrong stun out or q Dot
tle"s Is the terse way OF leather-worker
In this city explained the death OF one
OF hts friends in New York. says the
Newark On u Sunday Call. The wrong
stun In this case was csrbolic acid and
there was some doubt whether It was
taken accidentally or not. One OF the
group In which tho matter was discussed
said that hei did not believe that a sober
man could take enough carboiic acid out
oi bottle by mistake TO kin him. He
would know what IL was before no got
any OF Il down" he remarked.
You are mistaken" said ths former
police sergeant, IL know OF half a, dozen
fatal cases Of carbolic acid poisoning I'm
which the stun was taken by mistake
aud one OF our police surgeons told me
years ago that strong carbolic acid act
ed almost instantly and was narcotic in
it's effects"
Getting the wrong thing out OF bot
tie In the dark seems 10 be quite q COM
mon occurrence. and nothing but careless
ness is responsible for g." said the sa-
ioon-keeper. II have been handling bot
ties all my life, and 1 once made most
ridiculous mistake OF this kind 1 was
taking patent bitters at home with
considerable regularity and one night
just after getting into bed thought j
ought 10 have dose L got out OF bed
and took a bottle from the shelf I'm a
closet and swigsed down q big dose. In a
second l knew that ! had made a blum
der. The stun puckered my mouth,
tongue and throat and gave me "a scare.
but l was too proud 10 say a word TO
anybody in tho house. I'd rather have
died right there than admit that / had
made such a ridiculous blunder.I couldn't
find match 10 strike light, so / just
went TO bed again and slept until morn
ing. i got up Just after daylight and
took a look at myself In the glass. My
lips and the inside of my mouth were as
black as your hat. Then looked at the
bottle and found that had taken big
drink OF ink. couldn't conceal the stains
and had To tell the story at the breakfast
table"
II got against the wrong bottle once,
but In different manner" said the fee
man. my folks were great on homemade
remedies and when / was youngster i
fell on the lee while skating and sprained
my ankle. i was all het up and before l
got home i caught a had cold. My moth
er was sick at the time, but she told sis
what to do for me, and sis fetched mo
the cough cure and some liniment and
left me to myself. When my mother got
around a couple of days later she
ment and rubbed nearly all OF the cough
medicine on my lame ankle. IL all come
out right in the end. though, for my
ankle got well and my cold was cured
all right"
Taking things by mistake Is bad
enough" said the hardware man, but
having nasty doses given TO you purpose
ly is a lot worse. good many years
ago, when / was youngster, I was out
cunning on the Pooono barrens and was
mighty dry when / came to the railroad
track I'm the afternoon and found n party
of bark-peelers loading a freight car. l
asked one OF them for drink and he
handed me a can and told me TO drink
out OF the spout. did so and got a
mouthful OF turpentine. You can imag-
inc how IL felt. | ran down the railroad
about thirty yards and slid down the
hank 10 ditch where there was little
Shiny green water L laid on my face and
drank and gargled with II until some OF
the fire went out of my mouth, but was
getting madder and madder all the time,
and when 1 climbed the bank l just cut
loose at the gang with both barrels. / took
them all in because they all laughed at
me. The shot seemed TO paralyze them
for a second and then they came n rum
ming. l dug out down the track. trying to
load up my old muzzle loader on the run.
/ got the powder and wads in all right,
but couldn't manage the shot, but
made good bIuff and stopped all of
them but the foreman OF the gang, who
came right on aud talked TO me as he
came. He said he didn't blame me for
shooting and would protect me from the
men, who were mostly foreigners, but
I would have 10 go before the justice or
the peace They took me on a hand-chr
to old Squire Case, at Naglesville. and
he discharged me off hand when / told
20
This thing of giving nauseous doses to
people is not bit funny, remarked the
butcher Il once thought IL was when I
was a boy but | was cured of tho idea
had a slaughter-house. He employed nine
or ten men all the time and II was my
duty twice a day 20 take pail from the
cellar OF the house 10 the men at work
in the slaughter. There WAS one man
who had a never-dying thirst. and most
of the time ne couldn't wait for the cider
but would make some excuse for coming
up to the house between times. l MADE
up my mind TO dose him one day aud |
filed quart bottle with strong brine out
of one of the pickle barrels and then
squeezed lot OF beef gaul into the bottle.
When he came whining for cider l point
mouth and tipped. He must have swal-
lowed half pint or more before he DIS
covered the character OF the stun Then
and fell down. declaring that he had been
poisoned. lie was a mighty sick man for
day or TWO ano 1 got tne WORST Jacklnk
up from my daddy that | ever had I'm my
life IT cured me or playing tricks on
folks"
Speaking of drinking ink reminds me
that the Cheyenne Indians are said to be
very found of red ink as beverage"
said the hardware man. II have fre-
auently heard this statement made by
soldiers and old scouts in the West"
81 don't think they would drink the red
ink that is made nowadays, said the
ex-policeman. There isn't enough all
cohol i'm IL and it's made OF aniline color.
Talking about dosing people reminds me
of what happened down on WilIam street
the rum we took CT prisoners. and there
were one or two regular visitors who
would call I'm almost every day for a nip
and never ask where the stun came from.
one night the doorman took a half pint
flask out OF buns pocket and handed
pntting the bottle On the closet. but In