The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1921-11-10
THREE DEAD IN BALDOC FAMILY.
Most Mysterious Affair Ever Occur
ing i'm this Part of State.

One of the most mysterious affairs
ever occurring in this section came
to light here on Wednesday afternoon
when the third member of the family
of Joe Lee, constable of Magistrate
G. w. Owens, of Baldock, succumbed
to an unknown illness, dying at l
o'clock on the afternoon of that day.
Previous to the death of this child,
two others had passed away, one at I
O'Clock Tuesday evening and another
at l o'clock on the same night. Lee
himself, and his wife, the only two re-
naming members of the family, are
living at the point of death with very
little hope for their recovery.
The popularity of the affair lies in
the fact that every member of the
family has been affected the same
way. In addition to this, 1t is re-
ported that all the livestock around
the home of Lee has been affected.
Two boys have died, all the poultry
have died and the COW has been vom-
iting for two days. The facts, to-
gether with other circumstances,
have brought out the opinion in this
section that the family has in some
way been poisoned Allendale ply
sicians called to attend the patients
at first diagnosed all the cases as ma
laria of an acute stage, but clrcum-
stances have been so peculiar that
the poison theory has established
some credence even among them and
the stomach of one of the victims was
cut out and sent on Wednesday to the
laboratory of the state board OF
health for examination. The board
has further been requested to send
to the scene an expert to examine at
the source the probability of the poi
soning theory. This in all probability
will be done and a correct diagnosis
of the case be in hand in few days.
One physician in attendance on the
family went so far as to admit that
the symptoms in all the cases were
almost identical to those evident IN
arsenic poisoning. The theory of pols-
oning is given further credence by the
fact that the victims themselves firm
ly believe that such is the case and go
further and state that the poisoning
is the result of foul play and go so
far as to give the name of the alleged
poisoner. It seems that Lee or some
member of his family had had diff
Guilty with a nearby neighbor and
there was bad blood between them.
Lee voluntarily gave the name of the
person supposed to have committed
the dastardly crime alleged. So far
no action has been taken officially due
to an utter lack of evidence. Lee
seems to think, and the peculiar cir
cumstances arising from the death OF
the livestock about the place bears
this out, in a way, that the we'll,
from which the supply of water was
taken, had been poisoned. 1t is for
the purpose of examining the water
in the we'll and to look into other pc
culiar circumstances surrounding the
strange death of the victims, that the
presence of an expert from the state
board has been requested.
While all three of the physicians so
far called into the case cling to the
hypothesis that acute malaria is the
cause of the deaths, there is an OBJ
vious doubt in all their minds that
the poisoning theory is not altogether
impossible. Every effort will, of
course, be made to clear the mystery
of the affair up.
1t was said to have been a most
distressing sight, to have seen the
dead bodies of the three children ~
ing side by side and the mother and
father lying at the point of death.
Physicians appear to hold no hope
that either of the latter will survive.
If the poisoning theory be true, this
will be the most dastardly crime that
has ever occurred in this entire state,
it is believed. Every effort will be
made to clear the matter up within
the next few days.-Allendale Citi-
zen.