Grave concern

courtesy of Find a Grave

Uncle Charley was buried on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 1925 in Lancaster, Ohio at Forest Rose Cemetery in his mother's family Troxel plot.*

FUNERAL SERVICES HELD IN LOGAN FOR CHARLES H. HULS

SIX FRATERNITY BROTHERS ARE PALLBEARERS FOR DECEASED SENIOR.

Many University Students Attend Ceremonies—Burial Is Made at Lancaster This Afternoon.

Charles H. Huls was buried today in Lancaster. 

Ceremonies attended by many Ohio State University students, preceding his interment, were held in Logan at 1 p. m. 

His death, caused by tetanus, threw a gloom over the large group of University students with whom he was acquainted. 

The pall bearers were all Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity brothers of the deceased student. They were John N. Heed. Darrel D. Loeblein, Lester W. Taylor, Arthur E. Davis, Joseph M. Downs, and Leroy W. Hendershott. 

The fraternity members attended the services in a body. There were also representatives of Sphinx, Bucket and Dipper, Pi Delta Epsilon, Sigma Delta Chi, and the Makio staff present; all organizations of which Huls was a member while in school. 

Y. M. C. A. and Boost Ohio sent representatives to the funeral services, while a number of social fraternities, friends of Huls were present to pay their last respects to their lost friend. 

The services were held at the Huls' home in Logan, with the Rev. G.W. Blair of the Logan M.E. Church conducting them.

When authorities asked to perform on autopsy on Charley after his burial, my grieving great-grandfather said,

"We do not wish to take any part in the investigation," Huls declared, "we are satisfied that an infected tooth led to his death."

Great-grandpa quickly changed his mind, but the autopsy was never performed.

*Charley and their deceased infant sister were moved in August 1934 (same cemetery, new location) when their parents, A.E. and Anna Huls, died from car accident injuries. Charley's brother Fred moved them to a new Huls plot.

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PURE STRYCHNINE!

In late fall or early winter 1987, my late 83-year-old grandfather wrote a letter to Benjamin Balshone, R.Ph. Balshone, who died in 1991, published at least two books that I can find, so maybe he was interested in writing a book about the strychnine killings. A registered pharmacist, he had at least some connection to the O.S.U. College of Pharmacy where there are awards named after he and his wife, and he was a board member of the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy from 1973-1977.

Part of that letter appears in The History of the College of Pharmacy at Ohio State University in  Chapter VI, simply entitled, The Poisonings.

I am publishing it here in its entirety. The mistakes Grandpa caught and corrected by hand are enclosed with (parenthesis). The mistakes I caught are enclosed with [brackets] and/or a sic. Emphasis is all his.

Dear Mr. Balshone,

Please forgive me for (not) having responded to your letter of September. I was in the hospital at the time the (letter) arrived and it became misplaced while I was not at home.

At 83 my memories sometimes become a little hazy, but I will endeavor to relate some of the events as I remember them. However I would suggest that (you) research the files of the Columbus Dispatch of that time and also the files of the Logan Republican, published by my father, A.E. Huls. Those files are on micro-film at the Ohio State Library.*

My brother and I roomed together at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house. He had been suffering from a cold and went to the University Health Service for an excuse from classes he had missed (something concerning a new (rule) about cutting classes, the details of which I can't remember). They gave him a prescription for cold capsules. It was filled by the pharmacy in the Colle(g)e of Pharmacy building.

He took one of the capsules at dinner that evening at the fraternity house. He had a date that evening and told me I could have his car if I would take him "down to the corner" which was the name for Fifteenth and High streets. As he went to get into the car is [his, sic]  legs collapsed and he could not walk. We carried him up to our room and called a doctor.

While the doctor was working on my brother, I went into the bathroom with one of the capsules, intending to take it as I also had a slight cold. Just then a fraternity brother came in saying the doctor wanted to see me. I put the capsule on (a) marble window sill and went to our room. The doctor told me my brother was dying. He was having convulsions and s(u)ffered an agonizing death.

Another student, a David Puskin of Canton, Ohio, died about the same time after having taken cold capsules from the University Pharmacy. Actual cause of the deaths was not known, but there were speculations about spinal menengitis [sic] and other similar causes of death.

The (U)niversity issued calls for the remaining capsules to be returned for a(n)alysis. Upon returning to school after my brother's funeral, I refused to turn the capsules in my possession over to the University (the capsule I had intended to take was still on the window ledge when I returned). The University found some of the capsules returned contained a trace of strychnine.

I took the capsules in my possession to Ray Hoyt, then City editor of the Columbus Dispatch and a friend of my brother. He took them to a private and independent chemist chemist [sic] and the result was PURE STRYCHNINE!

That of course broke the case wide open. Many believed it was murder. I refute this as my brother knew no one in the Pharmacy Department. It may have (been) an attempt at "wholesale slaughter' which has become so prevalent today. Personally I believe it mere carelessness on the part of students and faculty in the College of Pharmacy. Evidence given at the formal inquiry suggests this.

After a while (t)hen Go(v)ernor Vic Danahey called for an investigation of the P(h)armacy Department and he appointed the Dean to investigate the tragedy (to investigate itself).

For years I had a transcript of the hearing and investigation but it has become lost or misplaced. However I would believe an original is still on file by the State of Ohio.

The State of Ohio finally paid $10,000 to the parents of each student who died, which I believe was the standard death claim paid for industrial deaths at that time.

This has been written strictly from memory. I suggest that you review the newspaper files mention(e)d* and make inquiry as to the availability of the official report.

Sincerely,

Fred E. Huls

P.S. My typing also has slipped a little -- please excuse!

This letter shows a few errors.

• Grandpa always said Charley was murdered. Not intentionally, but randomly. It was no accident.
• Newspaper reports say Great-Grandpa Gene filed a claim for $15,000 but only received $7,500 -- as did David Puskin's father. However, Gene wrote a letter stating he received $10,000.
• I have found an R.G. Hoyt who was City Editor for the Columbus Dispatch in 1925.

*Grandpa Fred spent a considerable amount of time, money, and effort making sure the Logan Republican was on microfiche. Those films cannot be currently found.

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The printer's devil

A.E. Huls, Millville, Ohio

A. E. Huls was understandably upset. Not only was his son dead, but now his dead son's name was attached to a growing scandal.

My great-grandfather, Alpheus Eugene Huls, was born in 1866 after his father returned from the Civil War. A. E., or Gene, started his printing company (above) where he also published the Millville Tomahawk out of a tiny office in Millville (later Rockbridge) in 1883. To supplement his income he was issued one-year teaching certificates in 1885 and 1886. He eventually moved to Logan, Ohio where he published the Logan Republican and ran the Huls Printing Co.

Charley was born Dec. 13, 1902 in Logan, Ohio to Gene and Anna Rebecca Troxel Huls. He was Gene's first surviving child from his second marriage. Grandpa followed on Aug. 10, 1904. They, and their older half-brother Walter Harrison Huls, were groomed to become printers and newspaper publishers.

However, the boys had other plans. Walter became a life-long teacher and Grandpa was more interested in his erector sets and wanted to become an engineer. That left Charley, who thankfully wanted to follow in his father's footsteps.

Charley started as a printer's devil -- an apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of menial tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type. Grandpa worked there too, but his heart wasn't in it.

After Charley graduated from Logan High School in 1921, he enrolled at Ohio State University in its Commerce and Journalism program, where he quickly became involved with the university newspaper and yearbook. Grandpa enrolled there as an engineering student the following year.

Neither got to follow their dreams.

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Front page news

Most people have never heard of the strychnine poisonings at Ohio State. But have you heard of Floyd Collins? Or Balto, one of the dogs to get diphtheria anti-toxin delivered to Nome, Alaska in the Great Race of Mercy? All three were front page news in February 1925.

Most citizens of the United States could not get enough of Floyd Collins the first two weeks of February 1925. On January 30, 1925, Floyd Collins became trapped 55 feet below ground while spelunking in Sand Cave, Kentucky. The rescue operation to save Collins became a national newspaper sensation and one of the first major news stories to be reported using the new technology of broadcast radio. (Charles Lindberg flew out film negatives for newspapers two years before his historic transatlantic flight became world news.)

In 1925, the small Alaskan town of Nome was in the throes of a deadly diphtheria epidemic. To save the town's inhabitants, 20 teams of sled dogs transported a vital anti-toxin over 674 miles of ice and snow, in just six days, through the most brutal winter conditions for decades. Balto (who may or may not have been the lead sled dog on the final stretch into Nome) became the most famous canine celebrity of the era and his statue is a popular tourist attraction in both Anchorage, Alaska and New York City's Central Park.

Obviously, Ohio residents were most intrigued by the strychnine poisonings. After all, it was two of its men who died and five more who were sickened. This was local news of the worst type.

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Hysteria

Robert Ross

Ohio State University and Ohio health officials took a harder look at other illnesses now that three known students had either become mysteriously ill or died.

Robert Ross, a freshman from Bellevue, Ohio became ill on Tuesday, January 27, 1925. He was diagnosed with food poisoning at the time.

"I took the capsules as directed and later in the evening went to the university gymnasium to play basketball," Ross said according to a Feb. 7, 1925 article in the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. "I began to feel sick and then shortly thereafter I became dizzy. I started vomiting. My body became stiff and other students assisted me to my home."

Timothy J. McCarthy

Timothy J. McCarthy of Fremont, Ohio, a sophomore in the college of Commerce and Journalism, became suddenly ill the previous Thursday, Jan. 29, 1925. He too had a cold and a prescription for R&Ws, but he was diagnosed with "hysteria." His remaining capsules were later examined and all but one were as prescribed. The other contained strychnine. According to family stories, I believe it was Timothy who later entertained friends by sticking pin and needles into his now nerveless fingers.

Harold E. Gillig, a sophomore from Tiffin or Toledo, was diagnosed with indigestion or hysteria.

Edward A. Byron, a freshman from Cincinnati, also became ill.

But why no women? Male students were seen by Dr. Harry Shindel Wingert, Director of Student Health Services. Wingert prescribed R&Ws seventy-eight times in January. Female students were seen by a woman doctor who did not prescribe R&Ws.

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The frogs croaked

George D. Thompson

Ohio State senior George Thompson headed to downtown Columbus on the evening of Tuesday, Feb. 3, 1925. George was another popular man at OSU. I'm sure he was familiar with the two deaths on campus over the weekend, especially Charley's since they were both seniors in the college of Commerce and Journalism.

It was after George entered a store that he collapsed, and was rushed to the university hospital. Dr. Eugene. F. McCampbell thought George's symptoms were suspicious due to the sudden onset, so he had George's stomach pumped. The contents of his stomach was given to frogs which promptly croaked. Neither tetanus nor meningitis would cause that to happen.

George was so ill that doctors Carl Dyer and Paul Charlton had to perform artificial respiration on him for 10 minutes, but he was lucky. George lived to tell his story.

Overnight testing showed strychnine in the contents of his stomach. By Feb. 4 the university knew the truth -- someone was poisoning their students.

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Star of David

David I. Puskin

Sunday, February 1, 1925, dawned. Without social media, most of the people on campus were still unaware of Charley's death the night before.

David Isaac Puskin of Canton, Ohio awoke early. He, too, had a cold and took an R&W his friend Louis Fish of Canton had kindly procured for him from the OSU dispensary before he went to shave. I'm sure it was a leisurely morning for David. The oldest child of Jewish immigrants from Russia, he had no need to rush for church services.

Not much is known about David at this time. He was shown in both the 1910 and 1920 federal censuses with his parents, Louis and Maimie Pushkin (spellings vary: Puskin, Pusken, Pushkin), and younger siblings: Abraham, Ethel, and Harry. He was apparently a football star in Canton, but not at OSU where he was currently a junior.

I'm still not sure if David was in a boarding house or another fraternity (newspaper sources differ) but another person in the house heard strange sounds emanating from the bathroom. When they went to investigate, David was found thrashing on the floor. His death was quicker but not any more merciful. David was 21.

David's death was initially attributed to meningitis, also known as the dreaded and contagious spotted fever.

I don't know if there was an autopsy or not, but David's death certificate states meningitis as the cause of death -- but with "accidental strychnine poisoning" as a contributor.

Those were the early theories: Charley died from tetanus and David died from meningitis. The campus was in a frenzy by Monday, but the students weren't safe yet.

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*Deceased January 31, 1925

The OSU dispensary in the early 1900s.

The last week of January 1925 was not starting well for Charley Huls. It was his second to last quarter* at The Ohio State University where he was scheduled to graduate in June with a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce and Journalism. He was the epitome of the Big Man on Campus at OSU.

According to the 1925 Makio yearbook, Charley was a member of Phi Gamma Delta, Sphinx, Bucket and Dipper, Sigma Delta Chi, Pi Delta Epsilon, Boost Ohio, editor of the 1924 Makio yearbook (Grandpa was editor of the 1926 Makio), News Editor of the Lantern newspaper, business manager of the Phoenix, Makio board, Junior Prom committee, band, and Senior Invitation Committee.

It also states, "*Deceased January 31, 1925".

By Friday, Charley couldn't stand it anymore and went to went to the college of dentistry and had the troublesome tooth pulled. On Saturday he went to Dr. H. Shindle Wingert at the student health center for a prescription of "R&Ws" -- red and white capsules available at the student dispensary that were filled with aspirin (red) and quinine (white) -- the house cold medicine, so to speak. Students were supposed to alternate red or white capsules every few hours.

An unmailed letter Charley wrote home the day of his death was found afterwards. In it he complained to his mother, Anna Rebecca Troxel Huls, that he had been holding a light bulb against his jaw for the heat. He said the heat helped. He also mentioned his cold and his plans to take medicine before dinner because he had a date.

(Charley was allegedly engaged to Margaret Speaks, daughter of Rep. John C. Speaks of Ohio, and the future Voice of Firestone.)

According to Grandpa and newspaper accounts, Charley told Grandpa he could borrow their car if he'd drop Charley off somewhere for his date. They were heading to the car after eating their dinners when Charley collapsed. Their Phi Gamma Delta fraternity brothers carried Charley up to the room they shared where it quickly became apparent that something was seriously wrong. A doctor and the stricken man's parents were summoned.

Charley was going into horrible spasms. The fraternity brothers gathered in the hallway began to wonder if Charley had lockjaw.

Tetanus, also known as lockjaw, is a bacterial infection characterized by muscle spasms that begin in the jaw and progress throughout the body. Some spasms can break bones. About ten percent of cases prove fatal. The first tetanus vaccine was first produced in 1924, but that didn't help Charley.

Things were looking grim for Charley and Grandpa was feeling sick himself. He went into their bathroom and took out one of the "R&W" pills. Before he could take it, the doctor called for him to return.

Grandpa placed the white capsule on the marble windowsill where it sat until he returned to OSU after the funeral.

That decision saved his life.

*OSU did not switch to the semester system until 2012.

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Big Man on Campus

Charles H. Huls

It has been ninety-six years since my great-uncle, Charles Henry Huls, died in agony on Saturday, January 31, 1925. Ninety-six years since my late grandfather either telephoned or telegraphed their parents, who lived fifty miles southeast of The Ohio State University, and basically told them to drop everything and get to Columbus.

NOW.

Did they rouse their driver and have him drive them up to the boys' fraternity house? Did they have any car trouble or flat tires? Or did they catch a late Hocking Valley train and frantically wonder if their Golden Boy, the Heir Apparent, was okay as the train slowly chugged towards Columbus.

Was it forced to stop at each and every single town and crossing?

• Logan
• Enterprise
• Rockbridge
• Sugar Grove
• Lancaster
• Hooker
• Carroll
• Lockville
• Winchester
• Groveport
• Edwards
• Valley Crossing
• Columbus!

Sadly, my great-grandparents did not make it to the fraternity house in time to say their goodbyes. Understandably, my late grandfather, Fred E. Huls, didn't like to talk about his brother's death. I know he was in their en suite bathroom about to take some cold medicine when the doctor called him back in for Charley's death throes at 10:30 p.m. Ninety-six years ago Grandpa held his adored older brother and roommate while Charley died. Charley was 22. Grandpa was only 20.

But what happened? Sure, Charley had felt poorly all week due to a cold and an abscessed tooth but healthy young men don't die from that, do they? As it later turned out, they did not.

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