Death severs friendship

As previously mentioned, I have always felt sorry for Louis Fish. Reading this Tuesday, Feb 10, 1925 local story from the Canton Daily News only enforces the opinion for me.

Death Severed Friendship Of Fifteen Years

Say No Enmity Existed Between Pushkin and Fish.

    A friendship of 15 years duration and severed by the death of David Puskin, had existed between Puskin and Louis Fish.

    This was the comment Tuesday of both the members of the Puskin family and Frank Fish, brother of Louis Fish.

    Louis is being held by Columbus officials, now conducting a probe of the source of the "poison capsules" given a number of students at the university medical center. Fish is said to have admitted being in the pharmacy room between class hours and giving the supposed aspirin and quinine capsules to David Puskin. He said Puskin had given him a prescription for the medicine and asked that he fill it.

    "Louis and David have been friends for 15 years," Frank Fish declared, Tuesday. "We lived neighbors to the Puskin family for many years, and the boys both sold papers on the Canton streets.

    "They never fought. I never knew of them even having an argument. Louis worked every summer selling papers and at any other work he could get during vacations.

    "He graduated from McKinley high school last spring. David Puskin had graduated the year before."

    "It is a terrible mistake, we are sure," members of the Puskin family said in discussing the Fish arrest. "David and Louis were the closest friends. Louis can explain everything."

    The boys, always together when home, were intimate at the college, it was said.

    Fish had come to Puskin's room several months ago and told David he was leaving school. He said his grades were low, and that he feared he would be unable to pass his examinations.

    Puskin discouraged his attitude and asked him to bring his books to his room. Together they worked on Louis' studies. David, who was an upper classman, helping Louis.

    Fish's grades advanced, and a short time ago, he passed his examinations with a fair margin above failing marks.

    "And we think that the officials will find that Louis had nothing to do with the poison, except that which he has told them," members of the Puskin family concluded.

    "Louis did not know anything of the poison," Frank Fish said. He told me when he was home, and he has told the officials at Columbus that he was not alone in the room when he filled the prescription.

    "There were several students in the room. One of them was a Canton boy, but I don't recall his name. I know my brother had nothing to do with the poisoning."

    Fish's record at McKinley High school was that of the average boy student. His grades were not of the highest, but were above the average required for college entrance.

    J.L.G. Pottorf, principal of the school, said he had had very little personal contact with Louis Fish. He said the boy had always been an orderly student.

    Fish had not taken part in the activities of the student body.

    "I knew David Puskin even better than I did Louis Fish." Mr. Pottorf said. "He was a hard worker in school, and of a quiet nature. As near as I know, Louis was similar in his habits.

    "Neither of the boys had ever given us cause for discipline and I would say that they were both average boys."

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The family curse

Ahh, now this is the true family curse, as found in the Saturday, Dec. 29, 1900 edition of the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune:

 

INSANITY ALLEGED 

        IN THE HULS CASE

Mad Womanly Jealousy Said To Be The Cause Of The Trouble.

HEARING WAVED BY ACCUSED

Doctors To See If She Is Mentally Affected Before Going To Trial.

    The startling revelations expected to be brought out in the trial of Mrs. Anna E. Huls, of Logan, O., will likely remain in darkness.

        She was to be tried today on the charge of circulating letters and drawings intending to defame the character of Mrs. Capt. W. Huls, a prominent church worker and society woman of Rockbridge, O., slightly related to the accused by marriage.

    The trial was to be before United States Commissioner Johnston at Columbus, this morning, and District Attorney Bundy, Assistant District Attorney Moulinier and several postal officials were to go there to represent the Government, when the news came that the hearing was off.

    Mrs. Huls' attorney, Mr. Martin of Lancaster, gave notice that his client had decided to waive the examination, and would allow the matter to go to the grand jury if the Government decided it should be taken there.

Insanity Will Be Defense.

    The attorney intimated that if the case went to trial the defense would be insanity and consequent want of responsibility for the conduct Mrs. Huls is accused of. Mrs. Huls' attorney and friends do not think she should be put to trial, for the reason given. As matters stand, proof of some kind will have to be shown to the District Attorney that the accused is afflicted as alleged. Doctors appointed by the court will examine her. On what they find will depend whether the case will be submitted to the grand jury for indictment.

Jilting and Jealousy Alleged.

    It is said the inspiring cause of the conduct attributed to the accused woman was simple, plain, feminine jealousy, dating back to the days when both the women were in their teens, unmarried and receiving the calls of favored young men. One of these, it is said, after paying court to the accused for some time, transferred his attentions to the other, and so it became the cause of cankering animosity that has lived through the years.

    The impression appears to be that the case will not go beyond its present stage in the courts.

 

Again, the names and relationships are incorrect. I can find nothing after this. I might have to sic my lawyer brother on this investigation. I also promise to get back to more relevant topics tomorrow. 

-30-

The United States v. Huls

These newspaper searches can be frustrating. I can type in the same thing on different days and sometimes get different results. Now I have found two more articles about this unfortunate event.

I admit it doesn't really have anything to do with uncle Charley, unless it helps illustrate how entwined the families could get in the Appalachian foothills. (But, a Family Curse!)

This should have been the first article I posted, found in the Thursday, Dec. 27, 1900 issue of the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune:

SOCIETY WOMAN 

        TO BE ARRESTED

Mrs. Huls, of Logan, Is Charged With Defaming Relative's Character.

    Family trouble is given as the cause of peculiar conduct that yesterday resulted  in the issuing of a warrant for Mrs. Anna E. Huls, wife of Joseph W. Huls, of Logan, O., on the charge of sending improper letters and drawings through the mails. The warrant for her arrest was issued at the instance of Postoffice [sic] Inspector Furness, of this city, who has been attending to the case for some weeks past. The person preferring the charge is a relative of the accused, Mrs. Captain. W. Huls, of Rockbridge, where she is prominent in society and church work. Captain Huls is a cousin of Joseph Huls, and the ill feeling and enmity is said to have been confined to the wives of the two men.

    Captain Huls about a year ago discovered that some person was circulating letters and drawings all intended to reflect on the character of his wife. They were anonymous, and the first inclination on the part of Captain Huls was to treat them with contempt. But the letters and drawings continued to appear, being found in streets, buildings and other places, and the attacks on the intended victim by inuendo [sic] and insinuation were so plain that it became finally a great and serious annoyance to Captain and Mrs. Huls. The former appealed to Postoffice [sic] Inspector Vickery, of this city, for protection, and Mr. Furness was directed to find the culprit if possible. It is on what he has been able to discover that United States Commissioner Adler yesterday issued the warrant for the arrest of Mrs. Huls, of Logan. Marshall Fagin was directed to make the arrest. The hearing in the case will take place Saturday next before United States Commissioner Johnston. Colonel Bundy and Assistant District Attorney Moulinier will conduct the government's side of the case.

    Both the ladies concerned are of good social standing in their respective communities, and the surprise at yesterday's proceedings is said to be quite general among the residents both of Logan and Rockbridge.

This keeps getting weirder and weirder. The other article tomorrow.

-30-

Family feud

I apologize for the lack of a post yesterday, but I went down several productive rabbit holes.

Firstly, I finally made contact with someone from David Puskin's family! I certainly hope to bring their perspective and experiences to this blog.

Secondly, I found another "clew" about a long-rumored family curse. (I adore that archaic spelling!) Well, it turns out to be more of a family feud that thankfully didn't go the way of the Hatfields and McCoys.

Grandpa Fred once told me that there was a family curse. Supposedly, someone cursed the men in the Huls and Troxel families to die horrible deaths. (Strychnine, anyone?)

Do you remember Joseph W. and Emma Frasure Huls? Emma was the sister of great-grandpa Gene's first wife, Mary Jennie Frasure Huls.

Joseph, who was great-grandpa Gene's first cousin, married Emma on April 13, 1884. Their one and only child died within two days in 1892. 

(Joseph is also the man who built a nearly identical version of great-grandpa Gene's house. This feud must have been awkward for these close cousins.)

A.E. (Gene) and Mary Jennie married in 1889, and Walter was born in 1890. Cousin Joseph and sister Emma raised Gene's son Walter after Jenny died, either in childbirth or shortly thereafter in 1895. Gene and Anna married in 1899.

My great-grandparents' first child, Anna Troxel Huls, was a stillbirth in Jan. 5, 1900. That's when things possibly fell apart.

My first clew was a weird, tiny newspaper article I almost skipped on page 7 of The Stark County Democrat from Canton, Ohio on Friday, Dec. 28, 1900,

Sent Improper Letters.

       A strange family feud has been disclosed through a warrant issued by United States Commissioner J.L. Adler and an arrest made by order of United States Marshal V. J. Fagin. Mrs. Anna E. Huls, wife of Joseph W. Huls a resident of Logan, O., and one of the most prominent citizens of Ohio, is charged with sending through the mails improper letters, postals and drawings to her sister-in-law, the wife of Capt. W. Huls, of Rockbridge, who is a man of wealth and prominence in social and church circles. 

    There is to be a hearing on Dec. 29, in which District Attorney Bundy and Assistant District Attorney Mouliniar will represent the government, and it is said the evidence will be of a very sensational nature.

Okay, that's weird. Especially when I could find nothing else.

Until today, when I found this in the Sunday, Dec. 30, 1900 edition of the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune:

MRS. HULS IS ARRAIGNED.

Family quarrel at Logan, O., Gets Into United States Court.

Special Despatch [sic] to Commercial Tribune 

    COLUMBUS, O., Dec. 29. -- Mrs. Anna E. Huls, of a prominent family of Logan, was arraigned before United States Commissioner Johnson today on the charge of sending obscene drawings and letters through the mails. Mrs. Huls is said to be worth $100,000. The objectionable matter reflected upon Mrs. Joseph Huls, a cousin by marriage. The defendant was a Miss Toxen [sic], and is said to have jilted by Joseph Huls.

    A.E. Huls married a sister of Mrs. Joseph Huls. This sister died, her last request being that her child was to be taken by Mrs. Joseph Huls, if A.E. Huls married Miss Toxen. He did so and a struggle for possession of the child followed.

Sadly, that didn't clarify much for me. Dates, names, and relationships are a jumbled mess. Personally, I strongly suspect that great-grandpa Gene's editor friends played with the names as a favor to him, but Miss Toxen instead of Troxel? Seriously?

The other weird thing is the first article mentions "the wife of Capt. W. Huls," my great-great-grandparents. Were they also somehow involved?

How does this relate to Charley? Well, he was the first child to live of my great-grandparents' marriage and he died a truly horrible death. I somehow doubt that 25 years later Emma Cordelia went to the O.S.U. pharmacy and spiked the quinine capsules, so that lets her off the hook as a suspect.

But I still want to know more.

 

-31-

Commerce and journalism

As a journalist, I was curious about university journalism and what it was like in 1925. I was thrilled to find this paper, Journalism at the Ohio State University: 1893-1958, by James E. Pollard, former head of the Journalism department from 1938 to 1958.

The College of Commerce and Journalism was formed in 1916-1917 school year, with Dr. James E. Hagerty as the dean. It consisted initially as three departments -- Economics, Sociology and Journalism -- and offered only junior or senior work. Courses for the first two years continued to be given mainly in the College of Arts, Philosophy and Science. The College of Commerce and Journalism was authorized to convert to a full four-year college starting with the 1923-24 school year.

I am thankful Ohio State University is so thorough in its online offerings, including the 1924-1925 Course Offerings Bulletin for the College of Commerce and Journalism. I found it fascinating to look at classes both Uncle Charley and Grandpa Fred took. (I was amused to see that the stipends for the Lantern editor and business manager were cut during the depression from $500 to $300 a year each, since that was about what I was paid as photo editor my senior year in 1989.)

Dr. Thompson said in his final annual report in 1925:

The courses in journalism make a steady appeal for the primary reason that instruction in English in high school and college has so changed its form as to render writing a desirable ambition. The changed conditions in the offices of great city dailies and also in the papers of the smaller cities have brought about an increased demand for young men and young women with a college education and special training for journalism. There is no prospect that this call will ever be less imperative. These students in rare instances may become literary writers, but in the great majority of instances they will be efficient agents in providing the daily reading for the increasing multitudes who patronize our papers and our current magazines.

-30-

The voice of Firestone

Family legend has always maintained that Uncle Charley was engaged to, and heading out for a date with, fellow O.S.U. student Margaret Speaks on the night of his death. Sadly, nothing survives that confirms it -- although I thought he mentioned it in the now missing last page of his final letter home.

Margaret Speaks, a soprano, was born in Columbus, the daughter of U.S. congressman John Charles Speaks, II and Edna Jane Lawyer.

Miss Speaks' father was also singer, and her mother was a pianist. The extended Speaks family boasted more than a dozen musicians, including several professionals, most notably her composer-uncle, Oley Speaks.

Miss Speaks was active in singing rolls, especially with the Glee Club, before her June 1925 graduation from Ohio State University.

Miss Speaks married Harold Cunningham on Oct. 5, 1925 and her only child was born 10 months later. Sadly, the marriage did not work and she filed for divorce four months later.

"Cookie" Sued For Divorce

    COLUMBUS, O., Dec, 2. (AP) Harold H. (Cookie) Cunningham captain of the 1925 Ohio State University football team and basketball star, today was sued for divorce and alimony in Franklin county courts by Margaret Speaks Cunningham. Mrs. Cunningham, daughter of Congressman John C. Speaks, alleges failure to provide. The Cunningham's have a four months old son.

According to my father and late aunt, Grandma always mentioned their engagement whenever Miss Speaks was on the radio, performing on The Voice of Firestone.

The Voice of Firestone was a long-running radio and television program of classical music. The show featured leading singers in selections from opera and operetta. Originally titled The Firestone Hour, it was first broadcast on the NBC Radio network on Dec. 3, 1928 and was later also shown on television starting in 1949. The program was last broadcast in 1963.

After her retirement, Miss Speaks apparently lived quietly with her second husband, Leslie Pearl. She died on July 16, 1977 in Blue Hill, Maine.

Ex-Voice of Firestone Singer
Margaret Speaks Pearl Dies 

    BLUE HILL, Me. (AP) Radio vocalist Margaret Speaks Pearl, who for years sang solo on the Voice of Firestone program, died over the weekend at her summer home here. She was 72.

    In accordance with her wishes, no funeral service was planned, said her son, John Speaks* of Buffalo, N.Y. Burial arrangements were private. 

    The classical singer, who died Saturday, had retired in the early 1950s after two decades on the air and doing concert tours sponsored by Firestone. She lived with her husband, Leslie Speaks, in Katonah, N.Y. 

    Mrs. Speaks was a 1926 graduate of Ohio State University. Her uncle was the late Oley Speaks, a well-known composer.

*John C. Speaks III (1926-2020) was the only child of Margaret Speaks and Harold B. "Cookie" Cunningham. Their son was renamed after her father after the divorce.

-30-

The French connection

Whenever stories are sent out by the Associated Press or other wire services, local editors can edit depending on space. As I was reading through my clippings and online accounts, I came across a new bit of information.

Two-ounce French bottle circled.

Unable to sleep as a result of the developments in the first five days, Dr. Clair A. Dye, dean of the college of pharmacy,  returned to the dispensary and personally examined all the shelves in the room late Wednesday, Feb. 4, 1925. 

Pushed back out of the way and with a coating of dust, the nearly full bottle was a square French bottle with capacity of two ounces. Previously unaware of its presence, it was not in an original container and it was his theory that perhaps the original bottle was broken and the odd bottle was used to rescue the contents of 300 grains of strychnine.

Instead of the ordinary printed label, the "orphan" bottle had a plain label on which the name of the poison had been lettered with a blue pencil. The identity of the writer was not known at the time, but was quickly identified to be professor William E. Keyser.

Dr. Keyser told the probers he had obtained the supply of strychnine the previous year for use of students practicing preparation of a standard liquid tonic containing iron, arsenic and strychnine. He said he had obtained it from the general chemical stock room in the building and. had himself labelled the bottle and attached the "poison'' warnings. Clerks at the stock room said the drug was doled out for use in pharmacy courses on order of instructors and only in peculiarly shaped sealed ounce bottles. Dr. Keyser did not explain to the probers why such a large amount of the drug had been obtained. Only a small quantity was used at the time in this practice work, he said.

It was also revealed that the rear door of the dispensary was left unlocked at night, leaving officials to wonder if someone not connected with the College of Pharmacy slipped into the building and purposely placed capsuled strychnine in the receptacle containing capsuled quinine.

-30-

Hello Jack

I was struck by the youthful appearance of the police prosecutor leading the investigation, John J, Chester, Jr., holding the dispensary strychnine bottle in this photocopy of a torn newspaper clipping (possibly from The Columbus Dispatch). I was glad to finally find some additional information about him.

Only 3 Years Out Of O.S.U.

He Now Seeks Criminals There

(Akron) Beacon Journal Bureau

506 Chamber of Commerce Bldg.

    COLUMBUS, Feb. 7. A slender, freckled-face youth, who three years ago was toting school books across the campus at Ohio State university. is the official who today is directing the efforts to unravel the university's "poison pill" mystery.

    He is John J. "Jack" Chester, 28 years old and police prosecutor of the city of Columbus.

    Chester graduated from the university law department in the spring of 1922, and was regarded as one of the best liked men in his class. His popularity among the younger set was so pronounced that friends urged him to get into politics. He did so and in the fall of 1923, only a little more than a year out of school, was elected municipal prosecutor.

Grim Campus Task

    Now he is back on the campus bent upon the grim task of feretting (sic) out its mystery which has some earmarks of developing another Loeb-Leopold affair, in which some crank, or "intellectual" with a complex has set about in a fiendish manner to commit wholesale murder.

    Most of the older students at Ohio State know Chester personally, and are known by him. It's "Hello, Jack," every few minutes as he goes about the university in his role of detective. The campus is experiencing a thrill in having one they know so well on hand as the Sherlock Holmes of the great mystery, and Chester is getting an even greater kick out of the thing. It is his first really big mystery, and he is anxious to make good.

    The whole responsibility is on his shoulders. County Prosecutor John R. King and other officials, older and more experienced, are letting Chester conduct the investigation. They say be is going about the matter in exactly the right way.

Criminal Theory

    Chester is working on the criminal theory. He has told Columbus newspapers he does not believe it was by accident that the deadly poison strychnine got into capsules at the university dispensary to cause the death of two students, and five others to become deadly (sic) ill.

    "I have found no evidence that would lead me to believe that this case came from an accident," Chester told newspaper men today.

    What the evidence does lead him to believe he would not say. Like all good detectives he is keeping mum.

    He indicated, however, that he believed the key to the mystery may depend upon discovering the means by which a small vial of strychnine, found among some harmless potions on a shelf in the dispensary, came to bethere (sic). The poison was identified as that obtained a year ago for experimental work in the university laboratory. It was supposed to have been destroyed. But the bottle, with some of the strychnine missing, has turned up in the dispensary.

    To find why it was not destroyed when the experiments were completed, and how it go (sic) to tho dispensary, is the task Chester is now chiefly addressing himself to. And, as he says significantly, "I am working on the criminal theory."

While Chester was not successful in apprehending anyone for Uncle Charley's murder, he went on to successfully prosecute O.S.U. professor Dr. Howard Snook (inventor of the Snook hook which is still used to spay animals) for the murder of his mistress in 1929. Chester died in 1957 at the age of 59.

-30-

A bitter pill to swallow

One of the most interesting newspaper clippings* I found in my stash is this one. Reading it, I can't help but wonder who wrote it and where it came from. Did it bitterly amuse someone? Did great-grandpa Gene write it and publish it in his newspaper?

It took some research but I believe it was in response to news I found on the front page May 19, 1925 issue of The Lantern:

MAY COLLECT $6 FEE FOR MEDICAL SERVICE

    The Columbus Academy of Medicine last night endorsed a plan to install a new system of health supervision and medical service for Ohio State University, whereby $6 would be collected from each student to pay for all medical treatment.

    The amount of money obtained through such a fee would be about $60,000.

    At the present time a committee of the faculty of the College of Medicine is investigating the subject with the view of making a report to the President and Board of Trustees, Dean E.F. McCampbell said today.

    Dr. H. Shindle Wingert said he knew nothing of the project, but that in formulating his working policy he has tried to avoid anything that resembles state medicine, health insurance, or paternalism.

Ironically, just below that was this news:

New Four-year Course to Be Given in Pharmacy

    The College of Pharmacy, beginning next fall, will offer a non-optional four-year course in the place of the two and three-year courses now being offered.

    The change was decided upon at a recent meeting of the Board of Trustees.

    The purpose of the new plan is to raise the standards of the college and put pharmacy on the level with other lines of education, Dean Clair A. Dye said.

 *Please always identify newspaper clippings with the name and date.

-30-

Sock and buskin

Now that I'm piecing together the clues from online newspaper resources, as well as the clippings and letters that I photocopied years ago, I am seeing how things fell apart for great-grandpa Gene in 1926. Yes, his son Charley was murdered in 1925, but he also had a series of setbacks in 1926.

(First, on April 19, 1926 he received only half of the $15,000 he had asked the state for in compensation for Charley's death.) This was a mistake on my part. He received the money in 1927. GH 4/26/21

Worthpoint.com

Second, he learned in early June about the production of "Can't Afford It" at the Ohio State Pharmaceutical Association Convention to be held July 19-23 at Cedar Point, Sandusky*.

Third, the long awaited report by the Board of Pharmacy was finally released on July 1, but no fault was really found.

I think this undated letter to the editor of The Columbus Citizen sums up his outrage and despair.

From Tragedy to Comedy.

Editor of The Citizen, 

We note that the College of Pharmacy at Ohio State will stage a comedy at Cedar Point some time this month. We note further that some of the actors in the tragedy at that institution a few months (sic) ago will appear in this comedy.

If they are bound to stage a play, they might be thankful for a few suggestions.

We suggest that the principal stage setting represent a cut-rate drug store with a clientele of 10,000 student patrons. This drug store to be free from any state inspection, not in charge of a registered pharmacist, and to be provided with locks that would enable the patrons to help themselves whenever they felt so disposed.

One scene could show freshman filling prescriptions, unhampered by the supervision of any instructors, who are supposed to be absent for long periods.

To add spice to this scene it might show one student in charge and another coming in and helping himself to the poison capsules which resulted in the death of two men.

Another scene might portray the (sur)prise of the instructors at the disappearance of two bottles of strychnine from some of their desks, a number of which contained strychnine and which were not locked at all times.

Then they might act the death struggles of the two young men who were martyrs to the negligence of the state of Ohio, in not inspecting this big cut rate drug store.

Another scene might show the big crowd composing the two-year course in pharmacy, a course which President Thompson admitted was utilized as a bootleggers course, and Dean Dye admitted that this overcrowding of the place rendered conditions so that they hardly knew where they were at.

And finally, if possible, they might show a stage picture saddened homes, ruined prospects and the misery which have followed in the wake of this disgraceful happening.

Respectfully,

                        A.E. HULS

Logan, O.

I doubt the letter from Theo. D. Wetterstroem of The Ohio State Pharmaceutical Association on "THE PHARMACY SIGN INSURES SAFETY" letterhead brought him much comfort.

*Opened in 1870, Cedar Point is a 364-acre amusement park located on Lake Erie in Sandusky, Ohio. 

-30-

A fine face

I found two tiny clippings* mentioning a message received by my great-grandparents that I thought were worth mentioning.

RECEIVES MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT

Editor and Mrs. A.E. Huls received a message from President and Mrs. Coolidge last Thursday morning expressing their sympathy over the death of Charles Huls. They stated they had seen his picture and were impressed by his fine face. The recent death of their own son makes them doubly sympathetic.

Secundum artem

OSU College of Pharmacy

I was interested in this torn newspaper clipping* that was saved by someone in the family. I do not know which newspaper it came from, but I suspect the Lantern due to the font, capital "L", and content. I shall update this if I ever discover it. (Letters appearing in the parenthesis are my guesses to missing letters.)

THE SYST(EM IS W)RONG

To the Editor of The L(antern?)

    Sir: Being an (Ohio) State pharmacy graduate, I (am) deeply interested in the prese(nt sit)uation. I feel a great deal of sy(mpa)thy for Dean Dye, upon whose (shoul)ders the burden of this investigation rests. I know of him as (a) man great for accuracy, system and detail.

    Accidental or otherwise, as the case may be, the practice of any druggist reading a prescription for two drugs written as R. and W. means nothing. A prescription coming from a doctor should be written in medical terms so that any registered pharmacist could fill it. I do not know whether drugs are furnished free to students or not; if not, a prescription should be given written in medical terms so as to be filled by any registered pharmacist as the law requires; if not, the method of prescribing is wrong.

    As stated above, R. and W. meant nothing to the druggist, as aspirin is a white powder not red (the color red is artificial), the practice of which should be discouraged by doctor and druggist. Had this prescription been filled by a regular registered pharmacist, as the state law requires, it would be an easy matter to trace the mistake if such was the case.

    A Loyal Ohio State Pharmacist

    Mt. Vernon, Ohio.

*Please always identify newspaper clippings with the name and date.

** According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition for "Secundum artem" is "according to the practice: in accordance with the standard procedure of a profession or trade." 

-30- 

I found this newspaper clipping among the photocopies I had previously made and it somehow survived. I do not know which Logan newspaper* it appeared in at this time, but I transcribe it here now since it gives an early look at the unfolding tragedy.

Funeral Services for Plague Victim

Logan Youth Stricken by Meningitis

    LOGAN, O., Feb. 3. -- On advice of Dr. W.G. Rhoten, city health commissioner, funeral services for Charles H. Huls who died in Columbus Saturday night were held privately at the home of his parents,  Mr. and Mrs. A.E. Huls on East Hunter Street Tuesday afternoon at one o'clock.

    This action was taken by the health commissioner after it was learned that the death certificate which was issued in Columbus by Dr. J.L. Gordon bore the statement that the cause of death was meningitis. A change was made in the certificate which at first stated that the death was due to tetanus, after a second death occurred and an investigation disclosed that the cause of it was "epidemic cerebro-spinal meningitis." This fact caused a change to be made in the certificate.

    Dr. Rhoten was called by Dr. Beer in Columbus who suggested that an effort be made to hold a post mortem over the body of Huls. This was deemed inadvisable by the parents and the inquest was dropped. 

    Precautionary measures were taken by health officials to prevent any possibility of a contagion of the disease from spreading.

Charley's death certificate was later changed one more time to read, "Accidental Strychnine Poisoning."

*Please always identify photographs and newspaper clippings with the name and date.

-30-

Twenty cents

Let me begin by saying that Grandpa Fred always thought Louis Fish was innocent. I do not know if Grandpa knew him or met him, but he felt sorry for Fish and how he was raked through the coals.

Louis Fish

As you might recall, Louis Fish was a freshman College of Pharmacy student and David Puskin's best friend. They had been newsboys together in Canton. At Puskin's request, Fish stopped by the dispensary on the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 30, 1925. His request for a few R&Ws was refused, either because the 20 cent prescription was not his or because he did not have Puskin's prescription with him.

He later admitted to entering through a back door at the shift change and grabbing a few of the White quinine capsules from the jar and gave them to Puskin.

Puskin took at least one of the capsules on Sunday, Feb. 1, 1925 and was dead 20 minutes later. 

Fish was devastated but didn't realize his culpability until later. In a panic, he went home to Canton. One newspaper said he went to the home of his sister, Mrs. Edward Weintraub, because they were orphans. Other newspapers said he went to the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. David Fish.  When the newspaper reporters found him there, Fish returned to Columbus.

"I'll do no talking here," Fish said to newspapermen. "I am going back to Columbus Sunday morning and anything I have to say will be told to the prosecutor there. I can explain all my movements.

"I came to my home here to spend the week-end, bringing a friend with me. That is all I have to say."

And the newspapers of the time had a field day with his name. Some referred to him as Louis Bass, trying to give hime some anonymity. The Columbus Dispatch Magazine referred to him as "Lewis Trout" in its Nov. 5, 1961 edition. Several reported that he was "grilled."

Fish was the only person ever arrested, but he was released the next day.

I was pleased to see Louis passed his examinations for pharmacy in the Wednesday, July 18, 1928 edition of The Cincinnati Enquirer. He returned to the Canton area where he worked as a pharmacist, married, and later died and buried.

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And so it begins

Sadly, it becomes apparent from this article in the Monday, Feb. 23, 1925 edition of the OSU Lantern that the criminal investigation was over and that the investigation itself is more concerned about the dispensary itself:

POISON INVESTIGATION

    WILL START WEDNESDAY

TO CENTER ATTENTION ON DISPENSARY IN ATTEMPT TO DETERMINE LOOSENESS.

    M. Niles Ford, investigator for the State Pharmacy Board, will resume investigation of the strychnine mystery Wednesday, at the request of the governor, even though no new light has been uncovered or clews* developed since early in the first investigation by John T. Chester, Jr., of the city police.

    Secretary Clarence M. Brown of the Pharmacy College feels confident that the Dispensary is, and has always been conducted to conform with tho state laws, and does not believe that the ensuing investigation will result in any conviction of the supervisors, or throw any new light on the poison cases.

    Mr. Ford's investigation will take place on the campus, centering at the Pharmacy Building, and dwelling chiefly on whether the Dispensary was conducted under the proper regulations of the State Pharmacy Board. 

    The investigation this week will be carried on through the instructions of Governor Donahey, in the hopes of clearing the name of the University of all charges of loose or careless operation.

Pardon my language, but why the h*ll was the criminal investigation dropped so early?! I can certainly see why great-grandpa Gene accused the state of a "whitewash."

*I see clew in many newspaper stories in the 1920s. According to Merriam-Webster, the word clue was originally a variant spelling of clew, meaning “ball of thread or yarn.” Our modern sense of clue, “guide to the solution of a mystery,” grows out of a motif in myth and folklore, the ball of thread that helps in finding one's way out of a maze.

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Governor Donahey steps in

Now that the medical dust had settled at Ohio State University, it was time for the criminal investigation. And please forgive me when I say the Keystone Cops (fictional incompetent policemen featured in silent film slapstick comedies between 1912 and 1917) might have done a better job.

As Grandpa Fred said in his 1987 letter to Benjamin Balshone, R.Ph.:

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

Grandpa Fred confused that a little. Dean Dye was appointed to head the initial investigation. When that was closed too early, Gov. Donahey weighed in. Donahey was originally a printer; in addition to working as a newspaper editor, he also owned his own printing company. I bet great-grandpa Gene personally knew him and pestered him with letters (possibly even telephone calls or telegraphs) despite their political differences.

I was thrilled to find this letter from Governor Alvin Victor "Vic" Donahey reprinted in the Feb. 20, 1925 issue of The Lantern: 

Text of Letter

from Governor

Governor Donahey's letter to Mr. Ford, dated February 17, follows in full:

The Ohio Board of Pharmacy,

Attention, Mr. M. N. Ford, Secretary, Columbus, O. 

        Gentlemen — The investigation into responsibility for the recent poisonings at Ohio State University, resulting in the death of several students and near deaths of others, must not be permitted to end until every source has been exhausted.

        I am convinced, from informal evidence brought to my attention, that the University Dispensary, from which, it is believed, the fatal drugs were dispensed, has been loosely conducted. The law requires privately owned drug stores to be in charge of registered pharmacists at all times. The evidence, as it comes to me, shows this requirement was not always lived up to at the University Dispensary, although it was a full-fledged drug store. 

        Owners of private drug stores, so conducted are prosecuted. The state itself should not conduct a drug store in violation of its own laws. It should be more painstaking than private individuals or firms in living up to the spirit and letter of the law. If the persons in charge of the University Dispensary were derelict they should be prosecuted just as private individuals would be.

        I am directing you hereby, therefore, to make a thorough investigation of your own with a view to prosecuting the person or persons responsible for the reported laxity in the conduct of University Dispensary and, if possible to fix direct responsibility for the dispensing of the poisons which caused the recent unfortunate deaths.

                                               Very truly yours,

                                                   (Signed) Vic Donahey,

                                                                        Governor.

###

As far as I can tell so far:

• Wednesday, Feb. 11, 1925: Ohio State University closes its internal investigation into the poisonings. City Police Prosecutor John J. Chester, Jr., says he will confer with Attorney General Charles C. Crabbe.
• Saturday, Feb. 14, 1925: Chester and State Pharmacy Board secretary M.N. Ford meet with Crabbe who tells them to continue the investigation. (Duh.)
• Tuesday, Feb. 17, 1925: Governor Donahey orders investigation of methods employed by the State Pharmacy Board.
• Monday, Feb. 23, 1925: investigation by the State Pharmacy Board begins, headed by Ford.
• Saturday, May 2, 1925: investigation by the State Pharmacy Board is nearly done, according to Ford.
• Oct. 3, 1925: Ford plans to submit a report "soon" to Governor Donahey covering eight months' investigation.

So far I can find no mention of its delivery, and great-grandpa Gene filled his suit against the State in December. Grandpa Fred said we had a copy at one time, but it was either lost or destroyed over the years. No other copies have been found at this time.

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Votes of confidence

It did not take long for two Votes of Confidence to appear at the University. The Board of Trustees met at the University on Saturday, Feb. 7, 1925. Present were L.E. Laybourne, vice chairman, 0.E. Bradfute, John Kaiser, Egbert Mack, Mrs. Alma Paterson, and Mr. Winters representing Vernon M. Riegel, Director of Education.

Action In Poison Mystery 

The following recommendation was unanimously adopted: 

RESOLVED, That the Trustees of the University express their profound regret at the unfortunate circumstances resulting in the death of two students, Charles Henry Huls and David Isaac Puskin, and the serious and almost fatal illness of others. The Trustees also place on record their approval of the promptness and care exercised by the University officials in their efforts to disclose all the facts. They also approve the placing at the disposal of the public authorities all available means and facilities of the University, by which may be ascertained all the facts pertaining to the case and the location of any responsibility for the deplorable situation.

The Trustees further express their approval and hearty appreciation of the diligence with which the city and county officials and their assistants are conducting the investigation.

Dean Claire Albert Dye

Meanwhile, on Monday, Feb. 9, 1925 more than 200 students of the college of pharmacy signed an informal, but heartfelt, petition expressing confidence in the administration of Dean Claire A. Dye:

"We, the students of the Ohio State University college of pharmacy, wish to express our confidence in yourself and your leadership.

"We know that you have not loaned, but given freely and unselfishly your time and assistance to aid in the movement to clear up the mystery of our recent tragedy.

"We feel, through personal contact with you, we are qualified to judge in this connection.

"We have been greatly benefitted by this association, not to mention your thorough instruction and good advice often given, and as often accepted,  always considerate, yet decisive."

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One pill

It's amazing how one pill can change your life forever.

One pill, or capsule, killed Uncle Charley and David. It would have killed Grandpa Fred if he had taken the pill he selected.

As for me, one pill changed my life forever in 2017. I was given fluoroquinolone, a strong antibiotic which has been in the market since the 1950s, after a particularly bad bout with diverticulitis.

Fluoroquinolones are antibiotic medicines that work by killing or stopping the growth of bacteria that can cause illness. They are FDA-approved to prevent or treat certain serious bacterial infections.

However, within the last few years, the Federal Drug Administration has created a Black Box warning for drugs in its drug class.

A boxed warning (or black box warning) is a type of warning that appears on the package insert for certain prescription drugs with a "box" or border around the text.

The usual reaction is tendon rupture or aortic aneurysm, but I (of course) had the more unusual reaction of chronic peripheral neuropathy, or nerve pain.

So severe that I called 9-1-1 after taking one pill.

One Pill.

One pill caused pain so severe I thought I either had a blood clot or was having a heart attack. I thought I was dying.

The hospital said I had nothing "life threatening" and sent me home.

Two more pills and continuing pain sent me into "research mode." I dug the pharmacy pamphlet out of the trash and read it for the first time.

Bingo. Peripheral Neuropathy.

Nerve pain so bad my hands and feet are now useless. If I do too much my arms and legs became useless, too.

Nearly four years later, I am permanently disabled. However, I have a newfound empathy for the victims of strychnine poisoning. Both attack the nervous system. In fact, read yesterday's blog post, Reds and Whites. There is a good description about strychnine poisoning -- which feels a lot like Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome or Fluoroquinolone Associated Disability.

For more information, please go to: https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm511530.htm

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