The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1921-11-24
AUTOPSY SHOWS NO POISON.
&cials Investigate Allendale County
Deaths.

Ythe family Of Joe Lee or Baldock' Al
lendale county, judging from the con-
dition of the stomach and intestines
of the mother of tie family, accord
ing to the report submitted to Gov
ernor Cooper by D.. c. V. Akin, rep
resentative of the state board OF
health, who, in company with DR.. A.
H. Hayden, epidemiologist of the
state health body, went to Baldock
Tuesday to investigate the deaths
from a health standpoint.
Four members Of this family have
died and the father is now very i'll in
a hospital in Augusta. Three children
of the family died last. week and the
mother passed away last Monday. The
state health department was request
ed by physicians and citizens of the
community to send representatives to
make an Investigation, and Tuesday
DR.. Hayden and DR.. Akin went to
Baldock. Wednesday morning DR.. All
kin made a report on the case to the
governor.
To Examine Internal Organs.
DR.. Akin said Wednesday that the
internal organ of one Of the children
had been sent to Clemson college for
examination, and that the internal Or
gans Of the mother had been sent to
Charleston. If arsenic in sufficient
quantities to cause death was INCEST
!. ed with food or water, the examina-
tions now being made should readily
detect the presence of the poison, DR..
Akin said.
A well, located near stable lot'
furnished the water for the family.
DR.. Akin says physicians OF the COM
munity said. they had examined the
water and found present in it "wiggle
tails" in large numbers and very
much alive. The presence of these
animals in living state was opposed
to the theory Of the we'll being pois-
oned, DR.. Akin says. Symptoms de-
scribed by attending physicians also
tend to rule out the poison theory.
Files Report.
The report of DR.. 2Akin on the
cases follows:
cat the request of certain physi-
clans and other citizens of Allendale
county, the South Carolina state
board of health and representatives
to investigate several deaths occur
ing in the Lee family residing near
Baldock, Allendale county, South
Carolina.
"The suddenness of the illness and
the severity of the symptoms OF each
of the five members of this family
led to the belief that some poison
had been ingested. It was for the
s purpose of determining whether the
deaths had occurred from some In
feetious disease or from some poison
taken in food or drink that the inves-
tigation was conducted.
"The history OF the trouble showed
that following a sudden onset with
marked symptoms of nausea, vomit-
ing and Temperature associated with
an eruption, complicated by. delirium
and convulsions the mother and three
children of from two to six years died
Z as the result of illness lasting two
weeks or less. The father, who was
similarly affected, had survived the
attack and was sent to Augusta for
hospital treatment, leaving on the
same train on which the representa-
aives of the state board of health ar
rived
sat the request of jury convened
J: by the coroner, an autopsy was per-
formed on the body of the mother,
the last of the family to die. Two To-
cal physicians were designated by the
= 9coroner's jury to conduct the post
- mOrC6m SXdIuludllOu w HILL WoS Sal :
ried out with the assistance of the
state representatives.
.sThis examination, which was COM
plete and exhaustive as regards the
: abdominal and thoracic organs, failed
1 to disclose any evidence of injury
to the stomach and intestines, as
might have occurred from the inges-
ton of one of the metallic or
escharotic poisons. On visual inspec-
ton the stomach and intestines were
as normal as might be expected at
the autopsy of an individual suffering
from febrile condition for num-
ber Of days. Inspection revealed a
corresponding absence of gross
LESSONS in the instance of the liver,
pancreas and generative organs.
"The spleen and kidneys, however,
disclosed evidence of severe strain as
might have been imposed by some
acute infection process in which
toemia was CONSTANT and aggra-