Year: 1875




The case of the poisoning of the MA11'sn
family, in this city, is peculiar one. Inc
family consisted Of aIA11NsK1, his vita, and
four children They were poor people, ous
mt destitute. The husband had been out OF
work for several weeks was naturally de-
: pressed, but the family was not reduced to
!; actual want for food. On the evening in
F.: question the whole family partook Of
: hearty meal, of which pork and coffee were
; items. The husband states that he did not
! drink any OF the coffee. In the morning tho
; wife and one child were found dead
during the day second child died; the
other two children were greatly prostrated,
but gro now in fair way to recover.
The husband was in no wise Affected The ex-
+; PLANTATION given by him was that, eftor he had
beon in bed for some time, the infant child
woke them crying; that the wife took tho
child, which Ind been asleep in the cradle,
into the bed With her; that subsequently his
wife complained Of being sick, and had placed
pail near the bed, into which she 7omited;
that he fell asleep and did not walks until
after daylight; that after he was dressed he
, sought to awake his wife, and found she and
the child wero dead. This is Ill he knew Of
leading to any explanation OF the cause
Of the sickness This statement or ex-
PLANTATION Of the case is very unsatisfactory.
; We do not say that it is false, or Inconsistent
with the truth but it leaves the whole mat
ter in q cloud Of mystery. These people
were honest they were mozl and well be-
haved- They were religious, sober, and in
dustious. Tha dead mother and her chill
dren are silent. No one can tell the tale Of
their suffering and agony during that long
winter night, with the husband and father
within the room, but SO sound asleep that
their cries and groans failed to arouse him.
When discovered, the two other children
were unconscious, and for several days the
oldest Of the family was considered beyond
relief It is possible that these, when sufh-
cienty recovered, may bs able to tell
some part Of tho story Of that fearful
night when the five beings lay pros
trate and perishing for the want of
aid, and each unable to help the other.
It is possible that the eldest child, JoszrHA,
may have witnessed Soma Of her mothers
suf1erings, may have had some conversation
with her; may be abls to e1plain much that
is left to conjecture by the fathers story.
We Go not mean to say that the evidence IS
it stands eliminates the father; but the fact
that al we're wall at the time Of taking that
last meal together, md that Of thewhols farn-
1y Of six he alone escaped; that three Of thsm
died in thu room without his knowledge, and
the two others had sunk into
will raise prcsunptions and lead to infer
ences Of which it is pos<ible these children
may be able to relieve him Fortunate, H.
deed, will it be for him should their recovery
from the very paugs Of death lead to hia
vindcation~


Various theories havs been suggested u to
the causes OF the death OF these people; and
in excluding al guilty knowledge on the part
Of MA11ssK1 the neighborhood attribute the
sickness to the nsa Of diseased pork. This can,
to some extent, be determined BY the chemical
analysis, IS well as the analysis of tho sto1n-
acls Of ths deceased which has been or
dered~ The theory OF the presence Of hichi-
na, even If true, can hardly account for the
deaths, which followed within five or six
hours after thu eating Of tbs meal. The
effects Of trichina are not thus rapid, and
ordinarily do not appear IN less than
week. Unless these children can
throw some light On the subject, and
explain the painful circumstances Of
that night Of deadly suffering, the mystery
that surrounds this case promises to be per-
petual- The mans previous good character,
the affection which seemed to exist among
the members of the family, and his evident
grief end distress when brought into the
presence OF his osf6ned wife and children, ;
tend to rebut whatever presumption may :
a7ise from his escape from the general poison
ing Of the family. lot US hops that, should
On explanation over be given, it will relieve
him Of al suspicion Of being thu author Of
this cruel and wholesale murder Of his oon-
dding wife and lttle children.


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TIE STATE REVENUE SYSTEM,


The Stats Senate Of Illinois on Fridny !,
voted down joint resolution providing for .
tie appointment of commission, to be CON-
posed Of four Senators and five nepresente- :
hvas. to report TO the next Legislature tho
results Of thorough investigation Of the ::
Revenue lay Of the State, and such amend