The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1904-12-31
MOrriSYille Woman Was Prob
ably Insane
PHYSICIANS STATEMENT
Mre. Newell Ellworth, who Partook Of
the Poison Herself, Died Thursday
Night - Husband Is criti-
cally III.

Morrisyille, Dec, 81 The physicians
attending the family Of Newell Els.
worth who were poisoned two weeks ago
have declared that the poison was admin
istered by Mrs. Ellsworth, who died
Thursday night from the effects Of the pois-
on, in conjunction with shock which
was caused by the poison in her sys-
tenn. The husband is still critically i'll,
The woman was insane when she did
the fearful act The mystery was clear
ed up last night when the two physicians
gave out the following statement;
Believing the public has the right
to know the facts in the Ellsworth sus-
pected poisoning case, as thus far devel-
oped, and in order that unjust suspicion
may not attach itself to any important
person in an alleged criminal relation
thereto, we, the undersigned, attending
physicians in the case, hereby make the
following statement;
That on the strength of evidences
coming to us in our professional capac-
ity, from a source indisputable from our
point of view, within the last "a hours,
we are satisfied that the poison was ad-
administered by member Of the family
during an attack Of acute mania and
who has since been removed from per
sonal responsibility by the hand of
death.
Mrs. Ellsworth had for some time
been subject to short periods Of mem
tai alteration and during one Of these
times a few months ago attempted to
drown herself in a stream near their
home She was discovered by her son,
who rescued her before she could SER
iously harm herself and for a time she
seemed rational Since then she has
had times Of great suffering and during
them has warned the family that ii
sbe could not get relief she feared she
would do some of them wrong There
being no way to relieve her and be-
licying her trouble 20 be only tempo
rary, the family watched her closely,
hoping she would soon be free from
her trouble.
Apparently il was during one Of
these spells that she administered the
poison which has caused the terrible
results. The FIRST attempt was made on
son, who was taken suddenly III a
few days before Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth
were. Seeing his sons plight Mr.. Els
worth administered emeties and doubt
less saved the boys life. Evidently,
however, the real cause Of the boys
illness was not suspected By Mr.. Els
worth as no further attention was given
To the matter.
How Mrs Ellsworth secured the poison
or Just when it was administered could
not be learned further than Mr.. and
Mrs. Ellsworth were both stricken while
at dinner alone on December IA. DR..
Bates was then called and he and Dr.
Rublee have since worked diligently to
save the family and discover the source
from which the poison came. The
symptoms in the cases were SO marked
that DIR. Bates at once diagnosed the
cases as arsenical poisoning. the symp-
toms pointing to a chronic rather than
an acute phase
Several different theories had been ad J.
vaneed and different clues have been
followed. The fact that MIR. Ellsworth
had sprinkled the gooseberry bushes
with paris green early in the season. and
that the family had eaten frequently Of
sauce made from that fruit, was the
first theory advanced. The sauce has
been analyzed by physicians here but
no traces Of arsenic were found.
Another possible clue was that the
poison might have been taken from an
agate tea kettle, the cheaper ware of
this kind being known to contain arsenic
in its composition. In the connection
the fact that the water in this neigh
borhood is hard and more liable to cause
agate ware to peel, gave some weight
to this theory Water boiled in the
kettle and also water from a well on
the premises has scen examined, but
no traces Of the poison have been
found
Mrs. Ellsworth was born IL Uuderlnll
43 years ago last April, and was one of
several children born to Harvey G. and
Juliet Gallup Hill. She had been a
resident of the town for many years, and
had wide acquaintance She is sur
vived by a husband, two sons, Harry,
aged "a, and Julius, aged 16, and an aged
mother; also three brothers, E. A. Hill,
proprietor Of the Lamoille House, and
Addison, farmer of this town, and
George Hill, paper dealer in Denver,
Colo, and two sisters, Mrs. 0. ]. Brooks
of this place, and Mrs. 2. r. Gale of
Stowe.