Rocky Ford enterprise., 1912-08-23

A child of only fourteen m ,nths
old, the sole sur.isor of what y lew
hours before had been happy fam
lily of FIVE, was the tragic tale that
had its origin in this city last Friday
afternoon, when Rev. Gustav Latzkc
followed the other members OF his
family and succumbed to ptomaine
poisoning after suffering untold ag.
ony.
The four members OF the Lat2ke
family all became violcntly i'll last
Thursday night after eating beef
soup that had been made in an en-
amelcd kettle. Drs. Wolfe and Blotz
were summoned, but despite their ef-
forts the little girl. D years of age.
died about 10 o'clock Thursday
night, Friday morning at 2 o'clock
Mrs. Latzke breathed her last. al
9:3o the third victim. the son, was
added to the list. and at 2 O'Clock on
Friday afternoon, the last victim,
Rev. Latzke, passed away.
In every case the symptoms were
the opinion that the deaths were due
to ptomaine poisoning, which was al
so the opinion OF Rev. Latzke, who
although in great pain was conscious
for several hours after being attacked
by the insiduous poison and gave the
following meager history OF the
cause:
On Tuesday Mrs. Latzke purchased
beef bone from a local butcher and
l.. a.. Al, hon
ice until Wednesday afternoon. By
that time the meat had become
tainted and threw off offensive odors
However. Mrs. Latzke decided to Use
it any way and placed it in an enam-
eled kettle with green vegetables
While the meat was boiling the odor
that rose from it was so disagreeable
that Mrs. Latzke was forced to open
the doors and windows of the house.
When the meat and vegetables hao
been cooked Mrs. Latzke tn Jew them
out. first pouring off the broth,
OF which they all partook, the little
girl making hearty meal. Next day
none of the family had an appetite
and but little was eaten. the pastor
being positive that whatever was ia
ken could not have had any injurious
effect. 1t was not until 5 of the da,
after the broth ad been eaten that
the first symptoms appeared and then
it was that the little girl was seized
with cramps, and after suffering un-
told agony passed away.
To settle beyond doubt that the
quadruple fatality was due to pto-
maine poisoning Coroner Wilson took
the stomach of Mrs. Latzke to Den
yer, where it was turned over to
State Chemist Ekeley, who after an
examination OF the viscera lasting
nearly ten hours positively declared
that death was due to ptomaine poi
soning.
From the fact that the coroner had
considered an analysis necessary,
arose the report, fostered by sensa-
tional reporters to the Denver dali
les, that the family had been poison
ed by religious fanatic.
1t was remembered that Rev.
Latzke's predecessor, the Rev. J. A.
Hits, had been pastor OF the old
German Lutheran church up until
about two years ago, when a split
occurred in the congregation and he
left here to take charge of a congre-
CATION at Aberdeen. S. d. He had
hardly reached that city when his
wife and two children were taken
violently i'll. The wife and ono child
died within few hours. the other
lingering for a short time before
death relieved it of It's sufferings.
Though the symptoms were much the
same the cause of death in the Hits
family was given as malignant diph-