May his memory be a blessing

Here is buried the dear young (unmarried) man,

Isaac Div son of Eliezer Reuben who died at 22 years.

10 Shevat 5685 (4 February 1925)

May his soul be bound up in eternal life.

David Puskin

1903-1925

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Extra! Extra!

Two stories appeared in the Monday, Feb. 2, 1925 edition of the Lancaster (Ohio) Eagle-Gazette as the breaking news story developed.

First to be laid out was this tiny brief, way back on page 10:

Son of Eugene Huls Dies At Ohio State

Charles Huls, 22, son of Eugene Huls, for many years State Factory Inspector and editor of the Logan Republican, died Saturday night, following the extraction of an ulcerated tooth Friday. Young Huls was a senior in the college of commerce and journalism at O. S. U. and edited the Makio in 1924.

His death occurred at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity home where he was a member. The Huls family is very well known in Lancaster.

Then the front page (above) was laid out. The front page is always laid out last to make sure the latest news and updates get attention. This front page is a nightmare. It didn't stack the separate headlines like most newspapers did in 1925, but it split them down the middle. I don't care if the left is sans serif and the right is serif -- it's a mess:

Sudden Death Of Two O.S.U. Students Causes Alarm
Order Friends Of Dead Men Be Isolated

(By The Associated Press)
COLUMBUS. Feb. 2--Further precautionary measures to prevent a possible outbreak of cerebro meningitis at Ohio State University, and where to [sic] students have died suddenly and under mysterious circumstances were taken today when Dr. H. Shindle Wingert, university physician examined six personal friend [sic] of one of the deceased students and ordered them isolated.

Charles E. [sic] Huls of Logan died Saturday in a fraternity house, of what was thought to be tetanus. Davis [sic] Puskin of Canton, a junior in the college of journalism died suddenly yesterday after circumstances similar to those surrounding the death of Huls.

To determine whether both students died from the same cause, local health authorities asked Logan officials to perform a post mortem over Huls. Information received here today, however is to the effect that the student's family objects to the procedure.

In the midst of his examination of other students, Dr. Wingert issued a statement urging students "not to be scared about the present flurry.

"There is little to cause general eoncern," he said. "Individuals, however are urged to keep their general health at a high level, observe regular hours, keep in good physical condition and keep the face and hands scrupulously clean. Fear lowers the vitality and besides, there is not much occasion for it."

Puskin, the second student to die arose yesterday morning, apparently in good health. He went to the bathroom to shave was seized with convlsions [sic] and died within 20 minutes.

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The tragedy more sharply

So far I have been unable to find an obituary for David other than what was published in the O.S.U. Lantern on Monday, Feb. 2, 1925:

DAVID PUSKEN

The news that a second Ohio State student has died from causes apparently similar to those which caused the death of Charley Huls brings the tragedy to us more sharply.

We did not know David Pusken (Puskin appears on his grave, but Pushkin and Pusken were also used at OSU) as we knew Charley Huls, but that is our fault, and our loss, we are sure.

Death does not stride the University often, and when it does it affects us all the stronger. We grieve at the death of a fellow student, although we did not know him, for he had a great deal in common with all of us. He went to school here, and that gives us a community of interest.

The Lantern extends its sympathy to the relatives and friends of David Pusken with all sincerity.

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Gone but not forgotten

David slept in, popped an R&W and went to shave.

Within 30 minutes he was dead on the bathroom floor.

1903 - February 1, 1925

Buried at the Canton Hebrew Cemetery.

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Let Nothing Be Spared

I found this to be a well-written editorial on page 2 of the Thursday, Feb. 5, 1925 issue of the Ohio State Lantern:

    The discovery that what was at first thought to be an epidemic of cerebrospinal meningitis is really the work of a perverted or malicious mind relieves somewhat the fear of the student body, but places a greater responsibility upon the authorities of the University.

    If the belief of the investigators is true, that a diseased mind is responsible for the deaths of Charley Huls and David Pusken [sic] and the illness of three other students, the person who conceals that mind behind a normal exterior must be found and prosecuted for his crime.

    To admit that there is such a person in the University is no reflection upon the University. At least no sane person will misconstrue the confession.

    In such a case it is more important that the criminal, if it be a criminal, be found and prosecuted than that the University escape from the notoriety which must follow. In such a case it is not the student body alone which is in danger. The entire state would be threatened if this person were allowed to graduate or if he were somehow allowed to escape punishment.

    The Lantern demands that no one be spared in the search. The students at the University and the people of the state as a whole must be protected. They have, also, a right to know the criminal. If he be an official of the University, or if he be the most obscure student, he must be found.

    President Thompson has done the right thing by placing the investigation in the hands of the police. We should not stop with them, but should call in all the other agencies which might aid in discovery of the criminal. It not a confession of weakness or incompetency on the part of the University to do this.

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The Mourner's Kaddish

George Eliot once said, "Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them." I hope that is not the case for David Isaac Pushkin.

So far I have been unable to find an obituary for David other than what was published in the O.S.U. Lantern on Monday, Feb. 2, 1925:

courtesy of Find a Grave

DAVID PUSKEN

The news that a second Ohio State student has died from causes apparently similar to those which caused the death of Charley Huls brings the tragedy to us more sharply.

We did not know David Pusken as we knew Charley Huls, but that is our fault, and our loss, we are sure.

Death does not stride the University often, and when it does it affects us all the stronger. We grieve at the death of a fellow student, although we did not know him, for he had a great deal in common with all of us. He went to school here, and that gives us a community of interest.

The Lantern extends its sympathy to the relatives and friends of David Pusken with all sincerity.

 

Just as A.E. Huls, was "satisfied" his son Charley had died from meningitis, Louis Pushkin was equally convinced his son David had suffered a wrongful death. I made a mistake when I said in Star of David there was no autopsy on David Puskin. Apparently one was conducted that same day before his body was released to his family. I have seen it hinted that authorities knew about the strychnine that day but kept it quiet.

Louis Pushkin (his 1957 grave says Pushkin, but Puskin and Pusken were also used) immigrated to the United States from Russia in 1902 and settled in the Canton area with his wife, Mansir or Mamie. In the censuses he is listed either as a junk dealer (1910) or janitor (1920), and there are four children listed: David (or Isaac, his middle name), Abraham, Ethel, and Harry. (Strangely, Harry's obituary lists an Edward Puskin as a surviving brother. Maybe Abraham's middle name?)

I have been unable to find any online mentions or living family members at this time. Who was there to mourn David when he was buried at Canton Hebrew Cemetery on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 1925? Who now remembers him?

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