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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