The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1903-04-30
Inuuest Over A Child,

Tuesday of last week 4 little white child
named Georgia May Parker died under
suspicious circumstances, and on Thurs
dav Magistrate Lightscy empannelled 4
Jury and held an inquest over the body.
The child was little more than a year
old, and it was found that death was
caused by dose of corrosive sublimate
The child's reputed father is man
named Parker, and its mother is dead. 1t
had been kept by an aunt, Josie England
who lives out in what is locally known as
'Tarnville." She testified that the child
was sick and on Sunday she sent down
to the drug store for some calomel to
give it. She did not give 1t until Tuesday
morning, and as soon as she did SO the
child screamed and gasped for breath so
that she knew something must be wrong,
so she and the negro nurSed hurried
down town with the child at once 10 see
a doctor They brought the little sufferer
to Dr. Hoover's Office, which is next door
to The Herald, but he Was not in. Then
DR.. Black and Dr. Bronson were sent for,
but neither one came, as the child was
dead before they could arrive. The
woman cried and seemed very much
affected, saying that she had killed her
child, evidently believing that tile medi-
cine administered produced death.
As the child died down town, the matter
was known of by great many people,
and in view of the above facts Magistrate
Lightsev concluded to hold IN inquest at
the request of Josie England. Several
witnesses were examined, and the jury
finally rendered verdict that the child
came to its death by Il drug administered
by Josie England She never denied Civ
ing it the drug, but said she thought it
was calomel. The drug clerk from whom
Parker claimed to have gotten this stuff
testified that he did sell on Sunday to :.
white cotton mill hand five cents worth
of calomel and he knew he had sold calo-
mel and not corrosive sublimate; that he
had been in the store only a few weeks
and did not know where this poison was
kept, as he had no call for it; that after
this affair he had found out it was kept
in the front part of the store and he had
put up the calomel at the prescription
case in back of store.
Parker testified that the package shown
at the inquest contained the same medi-
cine he had bought on Sunday from the
drug clerk, and that he asked for and
thought he was getting calomel. He also
said the child was illegimate, although he
had kept it until the mother died, and
had since helped to support it.
DR.. H. F. Hoover, disinterested ply
sician, testified that he had casually ex
amined package of medicine on Tues
day which was said to be the same from
which the child had been dosed. Parker
brought it to his Office. That he compared
it with calomel by sight, touch and taste
and told the man he thought from this
superficial examination that it was calo-
MEL He did not test it chemically. That
the medicine exhibited at the inquest was
not the same shown him Tuesday, but it
was in the same envelope.
The proprietor of the drug store testi-
fed as to the place where corrosive sub
Innate was kept in the store, and that all
persons purchasing it or other poisons
were required to register as required by
law.
The stuff exhibited at the inquest was
examined by several physicians and found
to be the poison mentioned above, and
DR.. Baggott, who examined the child,
testified that the dose administered caused
its death. The jury returned a simple
verdict, not saying whether the drug was
given by mistake or otherwise. The matter
is being further investigated, and there
may be later Developments.