The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1914-06-19
A Singular
Advertisement:
1t Led to q Curious
Result.
By RYLAND BELL

when | was graduated from the
medical college which made me an NJ.
ID. l concluded for the purpose of
broadening my ideas to spend a year
In travel. Then | would return and
begin where | had left off. | have
never regretted this resolution. Being
an obseryant man. travel was of great
advantage to me. teaching me that all
1 had learned thus. far was not neces-
sariiy true. that ! had only begun to
learn and that If | lived a thousand
years l would not know it all.
III there was any one country that
interested me most of all it was India.
The Hindus seemed to me q unique
people. Like other semicivilized races,
they have lived for ages in their ruts,
while their narrow scope has led them
into correspondingly restricted inves-
legations What European civilization
has produced in the way of assistance
to live the Indians have brought forth
for death. We have discovered
number OF antitoxins; they have
brought out an innumerable number
of poisons.
While in India l gained through
friend admission to the palace of a
raJah. He seemed to take fancy to
me. probably because he found in me
a good listener. l said nothing ex-
cept TO guide him into channels that
interested me. Drugs being in the
line Of my profession. | was pleased
to hear what he had to say about the
various Indian connections. and these
included poisons.
l confess ] was surprised to learn Of
the various substances that will pro-
duce death and the knowledge the In
dams have acquired in handling them.
j was interested in the flower to
breathe which is death; in the process
OF poison, taking increased doses of
which one may become impregnated
with it. and would be poisonous to
others. But my attention was chiefly
arrested by a poison the rajah men,
toned which left no trace.
Why was | especially interested in a
traceless poison? Because | expected
to spend my life in Il land where there
are. as there must always be. murder
and suicide. | knew that as a medical
practitioner ! would be constantly call
ed upon in such cases. and the words
''traceless poison" meant a great deal to
me-not that | expected to have any
thing TO do with such thing. but it at
once occurred to me that If knOwl-
edge Of it should be common property
it would be the chosen instrument Of
murderers and suicides.
did not bring home with me sam
pie Of the rajah's traceless poison. In
deed. was not interested in it for
itself. l did not even care whether or
not there was such thing as a trace
less poison. But on my return to Amer
lea l began some experiments concern
ing the interest that would be taken in
procuring it by various persons. took
the precautiOn to notify the chief of
police in the city in which l lived of
my intended experiments. and he was
much Interested in them. Then wrote
an advertisement announcing that a
physician whose sands of life had
nearly run out" and who had spent his
life investigating the various aids and
enemies to human life had succeeded
in discovering "A poison that left no
trace. He had concocted Il powder
which. If scattered about in places in
tested by yermin, would destroy them.
leaving no OdOr or other dsagreeable
consequences.
/ was well aware that those who
would attempt to buy my powder
would do 50 for other purposes than
killing vermin. My advertisement had
appeared but once when l received
number of applications for it. Nearly
all Of the replies were so worded as to
conceal the Identity Of the writer's.
Some of them gave directions as to
sending the powder which were evil
IDENTIFY calculated to cover it's route to
its receiver.
After accommodating number of re-
plies to my advertisement took them
to the chief Of police. who seemed to
be able to tell what each writer intend
ed to do with the poison. But this was
a simple matter. because whether or
not the intention was legitimate could
be OWNED by the care the writer took
to conceal his or her identity. The
chief desired to investigate few APP
plications, and l gave them to him. /
was not interested in the criminal side
of the matter and never took the trou-
BILE to ask him for results. l confined
myself to the investigation OF those
from persons who seemed intent on de-
stroying themselves. for In such cases
I might save some one whose mind had
become disordered either by mental or
physical suffering.
received one advertisement that
puzzled over n great deal The writer
was woman. and from certain ex-
pressions she used | judged that she
was young. The chirography. the Ian
guage used. certain refinement in her
methods of expressing herself. indicat-
ed that she was a lady. Even the pa
per on which she wrote bore crest.
There were but three possible reasons
why any one should want my powder
murder. suicide and for the extermi-
nation of vermin. The writer of this
Ottt Of N a finOQ Of