Evening star., 1951-08-31
BY the Assoeiatsd Press

PARIS, Aug. 31.-France could
use a couple of Sherlock Holmes
today to help solve three battling
mysteries which have brought vio-
lent death to II persons.
Where did the grain come from
that went into the bread in the
little southern town of Pont-Saint-
Esprit-bread that killed four per-
sons and set at least 40 others
writhing in the agonies of "St.
Anthony's Fire?"
Did kindly. matronly Marie
BeSnard. So, feed fatal doses of
arsenic to her two husbands and
10 other persons, including close
relatives, in-lawS and friends?
They all died between 1927 and
1947 and Nine. BeSnard-now in
Jail awaiting trial-acquired a
great deal of wealth during that
time, much Of it in legacies.
Is it the body of Mime. Marta
Smigly- -Rydz, widow of the late
Polish army Marshal Edward
Smigly-Rydz. that was found un-
der a bridge on the Riviera in
July? If So-and police think it
is, though the head, legs and
arms are missing-who did it?
Poisoned Grain Traced.
Case No, i:
Police figure they've got the
bread deaths partly cleared up.
The bread was poisoned by Err
got, they say, a fungus disease
that hits cereals in rainy spells
and causes what was known from
medieval times as "fervent fever
or "St. Anthony'S Fire"
The weird malady struck the
tiny Rhone river port of Pont-
Saint Esprit August II. Some 200
persons called urgently for medi-
cal help-some of them screaming
they were surrounded by fire and
monsters and some trying to COM
NIT suicide. There are still 81
persons in the hospital.
The police now are trying to
figure out where the poisoned
grain came from. They speculate
that it may have come from
farmers who sold it clandestinely
to avoid taxes and other paper
formalitieS. Off1cialS said they
had traced the flour used in the
bread to a nearby mill.
Tests Show Arsenic.
Case No. 2:
Back in 1945, Leon Besnard,
second husband Of Nine. Besnard,
died in the little town Of Loudon
in Western France. Every one
thought it was from natural
causes until a tip from neighbors
caused police to dig up his body
in 1949. They said tests showed
he died of arsenic poisoning.
This led them to dig up IL
other bodies, and all Of them, said
the police, were drenched in ar
senic. Included were the bodies
of the woman's first husband,
Auguste Antigy, who died in 1927;
his mother, who died in 1919; her
second husbands mother, other
relatives and two friends.
Nine. BeSnard was arrested and
charged with numbering all IL.
While she awaits trial, she Is
writing her memories. She has
fatty denied the charges against
her.
Examinations show she is sane.
But now a bombshell has ex-
ploded on the eve of her trial.
Pathological experts, acting for
her defense lawyers, say all the
soil where the bodies were buried
contains an abnormal 200 grams
of arsenic per cubic yard. How
the arsenic got there hasn't been
explained yet.
Torso Found in Sack.
Case No. 8:
On July II, the torso Of a
woman was found in a sack under
q bridge at Cros-d 'Utelle, a village
near the Riviera resort city of
Cannes.
After tracking down IL false
identity clues, police finally said
they were convinced it was the
body of 57-year-old Nine. Smigly-
Rydz, who had been missing for
two weeks from the Monte Carlo
home she had occupied for several
years.
The clue to her identity, police
said, was a pair Of panties with a
Hollywood label on them that an
American woman said she had
sent to the Polish woman.
For weeks police have questioned