George Gardener, a negro, living on the George Cousins farm
east of Marlin,
died Tuesday night at 7 o'oclock from the effects of poison taken
by mistake
for quinine. He had secured a small bottle of what
was thought to be
quinine from F. Franks, on a nearby farm, taken it home,
swallowing a
spoonful and sicken his boy a dose. The boy was sick within
a few moments
and Dr. Sewall was called from Marlin. On reaching the
place he succeeded
to getting the boy over the attack, but the old man insisted the
medicine
was was quinine, and after the doctor left, took another
teaspoon, dying
within half a hour later.
Justice of the Peace Cobb rendered his verdict after
an investigation as
accidental death by poison. He states there were two bottle of
the
mantelpiece of the Franks home, each containing white
powders, and that Mr.
Franks states he thought quinine was in the small bottle.
He put more in
the small bottle out of the large ones, and gave it to the
Negro. A box of
rat poison with powder looking just like quinine, was
beside the bottle,
and it appear the small bottle had some of that poison in
the lower part,
and the man, taking the first dose got pure quinine, the boy got
quinine
mixed with poison, and the last dose taken by the Negro got pure
poison,
resulting in his almost immediate death.
The Marlin Democrat, Wednesday March 1, 1916, page 4, column 3