Buying the Prussia acid

[AgathaBasset]

There is a note in the Jennings Journals about someone in town’s wife…can’t remember If it was the Mayor or a magistrate, but anyway, she was “on a crusade against the drug stores” and went around asking to buy poison! (at least that’s the way I read it) and to top it off she resembled Lizzie. I know that wasn’t admissible in her trial but I am wondering if this was ever talked about. Could it be that Lizzie did not buy poison?

[Reasonwhy]

Hi AgathaBasset, and welcome to the forum! Was trying to think of how I might summarize what I’ve read to try and tackle your question, when I remembered our forum topic from just this fall: “Did Lizzie buy Prussic Acid?” That thread had many replies and would be a good way to get varied viewpoints on your query, I think. You can find it by scrolling down the list of topics within the “Lizzie Andrew Borden” sub-forum. If you need more help finding it, let me know. After you read some of those ideas, I hope you’ll post again with your own opinion :)

[PossumPie]

Evening Standard of August 8, 1892:

“An attempt was made on Saturday night to float the theory that Eli Bence, the drug clerk, had mistaken Miss Lizzie Borden for the woman who purchases oleomargarine and face lotion for State Inspector McCaffrey. This is absurd. Mr. Bence may be mistaken, of course, but State Inspector McCaffrey's partner looks about as much like Miss Borden as she does like John L. Sullivan.”

Since we have no picture of this woman, and the only references to her are in newspapers, it's difficult to determine what is correct. "She looked identical to Lizzie", "She looked nothing like Lizzie". The motive that Jennings had to say she looked identical is obvious--his client was on trial.
The whole poison angle has been worked over multiple times on the forum. Here is part of a post that I made several months ago:

The (pharmacist) Bence angle "feels" factual b/c three men witnessed a woman fitting Lizzie's description attempting to buy poison. Bence stated that he knew the woman as Miss Borden. When told that the Bordens were killed, these three men identified Lizzie. In a town full of Bordens.
The lack of witnesses seeing Lizzie leave her house doesn't bother me as the household seems to be run more like a boarding house with people coming and going, briefly interacting or ignoring each other. Google maps shows a 12-minute round-trip walk to the pharmacy hardly a large period of time to be missed by anyone.
In my mind, I take the Bence statement, the almost child-like foreshadowing Lizzie does Wednesday night "Sometimes I think our milk might be poisoned." Abbey's own statement to the doctor Wednesday morning that she may have been poisoned, Lizzie repeating the day of the murder that her father had enemies and they thought they were trying to poison him. TOO much talk of poison to ignore. Lastly, The woman asked for a poison to put on the edge of a sealskin cape...in August! Lizzie owned a sealskin cape. It was the hottest part of summer--why fool with a sealskin cape?

[camgarsky4]

McCaffrey was law enforcement and I'm sure was asked immediately by Hilliard, et al if Smith's Pharmacy was part of the sting and if they visited the pharmacy that day.

At the trial, as the defense successfully argued against admitting the Bence/Hart/Kilroy testimony, they never mentioned that the caller might have been part of a law enforcement effort. Clearly they would have if it was.

Possum points out several reasons to 'believe' that Lizzie visited that Pharmacy on Aug 3. It is also important to note that Bence said she visited between 10-11:30 Wednesday morning. Bridget only saw Lizzie at breakfast around 9am and dinner about noon. In between those two meals Lizzie stayed upstairs in her room "feeling ill". Obviously there is no way Bence and friends had any clue what Lizzie's movements were that day at her home. What are the odds that Lizzie would stay out of sight within her home during the exact timeframe that she was accused of being at the pharmacy. What if they had said they saw her at 9:15 or 11:45 or 1pm or any other time besides exactly when she was sequestered in her room. But they didn't. They nailed the time perfectly to avoid Lizzie having a verified alibi.

[Kat]

...Lizzie repeating the day of the murder that her father had enemies and they thought they were trying to poison him.

---partial

Please may I ask the source for this, the quote or testimony : that Lizzie "repeated the day of the murder...they thought they were trying to poison him?"
So I don't have to look it up, thanks!
(If everyone got sick, then they all were being poisoned)
It's the implication that only Andrew was the target of poison and that "they" thought that, is what I'm asking about. Pardon my syntax...

[PossumPie]

...Lizzie repeating the day of the murder that her father had enemies and they thought they were trying to poison him.

---partial

Please may I ask the source for this, the quote or testimony : that Lizzie "repeated the day of the murder...they thought they were trying to poison him?"
So I don't have to look it up, thanks!
(If everyone got sick, then they all were being poisoned)
It's the implication that only Andrew was the target of poison and that "they" thought that, is what I'm asking about. Pardon my syntax...

CHURCHILL TESTIMONY
PRELIM. HEARING

A. I asked her where her mother was. She said she had a note to
go see someone that was sick.
Q. Anything more?
A. But she did not know but that she was killed too. She then said
she wished someone would try to find Mrs. Borden, for she thought
she heard her come in.
Q. What then?
A. She said that father must have an enemy, for they had all been
sick, and they thought the milk had been poisoned.

[AgathaBasset]

Thanks for the response and the welcome, I will definitely read the topic you suggested. Wonderful forum here with so much info!

[Kat]

Ok, thanks. Sorry, my impression of the extract was that Andrew was specified as the target of poison, and identified as such. Your source was more general, in just naming the milk. We don't even know if Andrew drank milk. And as I think about it further, the whole family was at risk, if there was poison.
The secret to poison, as you know, would be, if targeting one person in a group, it would have to be introduced into the one thing that person ate or drank that no one else did.
Otherwise, very hit or miss, not caring who dies, or gets sick. In cases like that, it is a very sadistic method, IMO.

[camgarsky4]

At that time, the whole family was Lizzie, Abby, Andrew and Bridget. So the 'only' extra would be Bridget if the milk was poisoned.

If the milk was poisoned and since Bridget didn't get ill Tue/Wed, then perhaps Bridget didn't have any milk that Tuesday.
Or perhaps the poison was applied to the glasses of milk vs. the entire bottle.

If the milk was poisoned and Andrew was a target, then presumably the 'poisoner' knew Andrew drank milk.

[PossumPie]

Ok, thanks. Sorry, my impression of the extract was that Andrew was specified as the target of poison, and identified as such. Your source was more general, in just naming the milk. We don't even know if Andrew drank milk. And as I think about it further, the whole family was at risk, if there was poison.
The secret to poison, as you know, would be, if targeting one person in a group, it would have to be introduced into the one thing that person ate or drank that no one else did.
Otherwise, very hit or miss, not caring who dies, or gets sick. In cases like that, it is a very sadistic method, IMO.

To be clear, my point in the posted quote was to show that the night before the murders, Lizzie had been talking of poison, and the day of the murders, again she was telling people that the family had been worried about being poisoned. I don't know about anyone else here, but I've been sick numerous times over my 56 years and never thought that I was being poisoned. Given the tenuous food safety of the late 1800s, a summer malady that the whole family suffered SHOULD have been attributed to food poisoning NOT chemical poisoning. Even Abby thought she was poisoned so why? There are pieces to this whole facet of the murders that are missing. Yes, we've established that there were other poisonings in other towns during that period, but was that enough to cause the paranoia? Has anyone done a local newspaper search of Summer 1892 for stories about poisoning? Maybe the whole area was discussing poisonings and that is why Lizzie kept talking about it...or maybe it was something more sinister.

[Reasonwhy]

At that time, the whole family was Lizzie, Abby, Andrew and Bridget. So the 'only' extra would be Bridget if the milk was poisoned.

If the milk was poisoned and since Bridget didn't get ill Tue/Wed, then perhaps Bridget didn't have any milk that Tuesday.
Or perhaps the poison was applied to the glasses of milk vs. the entire bottle.

If the milk was poisoned and Andrew was a target, then presumably the 'poisoner' knew Andrew drank milk.

I know this is not your point, Camgarsky, but we do know Andrew drank milk. He used to pour it over his bread. I don’t remember the source (maybe Bridget at trial or the preliminary hearing). Apparently, this was a local/regional practice…anyone else recall Bridget mentioning this?

[camgarsky4]

I think my grandpa (German) used to put milk on bread or at least dipped bread in milk.

Still haven't found the reference to Andrew & milk, but did find the post by Kat below.
Kat -- do you recall whose testimony provided the info below?


Post by Kat » Tue Nov 09, 2004 1:26 am
There was a quantity of oil in Abby's stomach.

Alice Russell seemed to think it was the warmed -over swordfish which made the elder Bordens sick.
It is what they had that night- also Andrew had a sort of milque-toast, probably for "tea" on Tuesday. So the milk is still suspicious

[camgarsky4]

Found it! Our Mr. Borden liked his milk.

Bridget Prelim Hearing Pg 66
Q. They did not eat any of the milk?
A. I think they had it on the toast.
Q. When?
A. Wednesday night.
Q. They were taken sick Tuesday night, you know.
A. Whatever night they had the toast, I know Mr. Borden had milk in it.

[Reasonwhy]

Hooray! Nice job, Camgarsky We can then infer Lizzie knew this, so the possibility of poisoned milk would imply at least Andrew as a target.

[camgarsky4]

Potentially a stretch deduction, but since the Borden's had toasted bread Tuesday with the late meal, it is plausible that the milk & toast were the source of his Tuesday night illness. If that combo happened to be a Andrew favorite, that would have made it quite easy to anticipate and plan for.

[Reasonwhy]

Indeed! The timing is right…

[Reasonwhy]

And, as you pointed out a couple of posts up, easy to administer via individual glasses/plates.

[CagneyBT]

John F. McCaffery was the State Inspector of milk, adulterated food, etc. for the Massachusetts Department of Health. (Fall River Daily Evening News, July 22, 1890, pg. 8). According to the Fall River Daily Evening News 15 Aug 1892, Mon · Page 1 McCaffrey had several female agents working in Fall River at the time of the murders. They were known as “spotters.”

Christina Streckwald acted as one of McCaffrey’s spotters. She would make purchases of food items (mostly of “butterine” an early form of margarine) and face lotions. Streckwald would then hand them off to McCaffrey, who in turn would submit the items for analysis or examine them for packaging violations.

(Note: Christina Streckwald, b. Schmid, was married to Charles Streckwald, but was often mistaken for McCaffrey’s wife. In fact, McCaffrey is enumerated as a boarder in the Streckwald household in the 1900 census for Medford, MA, along with Christina, her husband Charles, and their son. McCaffrey’s status is given as “Married,” which is odd. When McCaffrey died in 1905, Christina was named as informant on his death certificate.)

Defenders of Lizzie argue that Bence, Hart & Kilroy were mistaken about the identity of the woman who tried to buy prussic acid, attributing their sighting to one of McCaffrey’s spotters.

The Fall River Daily Herald, 06 Aug 1892, Sat · Page 4: “Hypolte Martel, a clerk for Philias Martel, a druggist on Pleasant St., reported that “Last Monday, he was approached in the store by a young lady who wanted to buy arsenic from him and was willing to give any price for it. The clerk told her that as the druggist was not present, he could not possibly comply with her wishes, whereupon she went out, much disappointed. She returned twenty minutes later and asked for prussic acid. The article was again refused her, with the advice to return when the druggist would be back from dinner. Mr. Martel describes the caller of being about 26 years and weighing about 150 lbs...A woman also called at Corneau and Letourneau’s on Pleasant street on the same date but it was found out afterward that it was the wife of Inspector McCaffery who was then on a crusade against the drug stores. She is said to resemble Miss Borden.” NOTE: Was this incident cited by Jennings in his journals? (I don’t have a copy, if someone would be kind enough to confirm).

Fall River Globe, 08 Aug 1892, Mon · Page 7: “An attempt was made on Saturday night to float the theory that Eli Bence, the drug clerk, had mistaken Miss Lizzie Borden for Mrs. Struckwald who purchases oleomargerine and face lotion for State Inspector McCaffrey. This is absurd. Mr. Bence may be mistaken, of course, but State Inspector McCaffrey’s partner looks about as much like Miss Borden as she does like John L. Sullivan.”

The Fall River Globe was 100% correct. Streckwald & Lizzie looked nothing alike. And Andrew Jennings knew it too.

The Fall River Daily Herald, 02 Jan 1889, Wed · Page 4, reported that Andrew Jennings defended a storekeeper on charges of violating the milk laws. Jennings squared off in court against both John McCaffrey and Mrs. Streckwald and won. It’s a rather lengthy article, but worth reading in full, especially for the deftness of Jennings’ cross-examination.

In the article, Christine Streckwald is described as “a small, neat-looking lady of 45 years with small features, a sharp nose, hollow cheeks, and small, keen dark eyes. She speaks in a clear, distinct, and decisive way and gives the impression that she knows what she is talking about and wants to impress her listeners that she is not to be trifled with. Mrs. Streckwald was dressed in a black cashmere dress and a tightfitting coat with lynx for trimming. Her front hair was neatly crimped and parted in the middle and was surmounted with a black velvet poke bonnett trimmed with nile green and maroon colored feathers and a white pom-pom. As she stood in the witness stand with a pair of gold-bowed spectacles perched upon her nose with a black cord passed over her left ear, the lady made a very imposing witness.” The Fall River Globe, covering the same story, described her as “a medium-sized woman with rather sharp features, and the air of a boarding house keeper.”

That same month, in late January, Jennings defended another store keeper against charges made by McCaffrey & Streckwald. The charge was dismissed on a technicality. Fall River Daily Evening News, 31 Jan 1889, Thu · Page 2

So Jennings was well-acquainted with Mrs. Streckwald. He had to have known she bore no resemblance whatsoever to Lizzie.

Adams in his Fall River history wrote that Lizzie purchased the acid for “an innocent purpose.” Bence, Hart & Kilroy swore under oath that it was Lizzie. Jennings knew the woman wasn’t Streckwald, so who else could it have been?

Did either the defense or the prosecution ever consult with McCaffery to find out if one of his spotters was assigned to enter D.R. Smith’s that morning?

[camgarsky4]

Great find with the article providing a physical description of Streckwald!!

Yes, JJ includes two separate entries for the two instances described in the August 6, Fall River Daily Herald. However, no other comments or notes beyond referencing the article.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, if this 'law enforcement team' had visited D. R. Smith on August 3rd, the 'dream team' defense would have verified and used in Lizzie's defense. They were elite, expensive and connected. They would not have overlooked vetting this possibility.

On the prosecution side, Marshall Hilliard could have and would have gotten clarification on the matter. That the prosecution was planning to have the Bence/Kilroy/Hart gents testify at the trial tells me that the McCaffrey possibility had been discarded by law enforcement.

[CagneyBT]

Thanks for confirming the JJ references for me, Camgarsky!.

I completely agree that Knowlton wouldn't have tried to have their testimony included if he wasn't convinced it was solid. It was too important for Hilliard not to investigate the McCaffrey angle.

I'd say the evidence is pretty strong in favor of no Lizzie look-a-like.

[Kat]

Here is the quote from Phillips History of Fall River to which you refer, Cagney.
I cringe when I read the chapter on the Borden murders…you are a more disciplined writer than he, whoever wrote it. It has been mostly accepted that Phillips did not write this, tho, and was completed using his notes, by his brother-in-law Easton.
(We would need to compare with Phillips’ newspaper article which we know he did write.)

Now, I’m struggling with the JJ notation:

Isaac Unsworth Wood (1861-1933)
Entry recorded by Arthur S. Phillips:
Wood, I. N. – Druggist at “Globe” – Bence told me he had mistaken one man for another in Boston & slapped him on back before he knew mistake Before murders. Sell lots of Prussic acid. Old country people use it a great deal. Very commonly sold – It is only a 2% solution of Hydrocyanic Acid.
Biographical Note: In 1892, Isaac Wood was a druggist at Globe Apothecary, located at 400 South Main Street, Fall River.

So of course I looked up a 2% solution in Google or wherever, and I get that it does kill pests and would be in a liquid form. But it was referring to barns and outbuildings.
I’m trying to figure out if it was some kind of habit with Lizzie, for reason she gave?
BTW: When this druggist states “Old country people” do you’all suppose he means folks from “the old country” (immigrants) or people who are older and live in the country?

(Plz excuse size of Phillip’s partial text- don’t know how to make things smaller using IPad)

[Kat]

Apparently it’s inhaled? This is the 2% solution page I looked at:
(I was also wondering if it could be used to sniff and get “ high” or if it would just kill.)
Did not do That search, tho…was a bit wary of that

[camgarsky4]

Good idea to compare the Phillips article vs. the book. I'll take that assignment. Got a lot of football to watch this weekend, but should have a comparison ready to share early next week.

[camgarsky4]

Ok....that was not very fun. Held the newspaper article print out next to my laptop screen as I scrolled down the book (via the Virtual Library). Below are the differences I found. There is a good likelihood I missed something. In a nutshell, the changes made to Phillips news article were additive flourish and drama, and quite unnecessary. Important to identify. After a more careful comparison, this information might be something to add to the editors forward for the book.

Prussic Acid shopping visit
Book: "She had sought to purchase it for an innocent reason."
VS
Newspaper article: sentence doesn't exist.

Morse alibi
Book: "...he provided the most complete and remarkable alibi ever known...."
VS
Newspaper article: "...he presented a complete alibi. ....."

Saturday police search of the house (in advance of Lizzie burning dress).
Book: "...thoroughly searched for evidence by a large police force,....."
VS
Newspaper article: "....thoroughly searched for evidence by police,....."

Post-acquittal public perception was that she was guilty
Book: "...and a large majority of her sex....."
Vs
Newspaper article: wording doesn't exist

[Kat]

Very good, I thank you. That’s what I was hoping for. Was that 1936 news item? Here is the statement by Easton, in Fascicle 3, as to the completion of the Phillips History of Fall River project.
And, I also recall doing a deep dive into comparison with Porter on the Borden murders, because Phillips/Easton seemed to show disdain of Porter as a source for anything, and IMO I became convinced he used Porter to get the job done! “Not Cricket” in my estimation.

Plz clic on pic

[Kat]

Terence Duniho and I had been working separately on the project of publishing the differences between the news article by Phillips, the finished chapter in the Fascicle, and Porter, in possibly the LBQ, and thru our natural correspondence we realized we were researching the same idea. Since he had previously been accepted by Maynard, I took a back seat and we decided to work together- but we were fated not to finish the collaboration. I can’t remember if he completed the work. I suppose a check of the annotated LBQ’s on our website, would answer that. I had reams of notes on the topic, but had not yet been published.

[Kat]

Here it is! I remember now, I didn’t agree with his findings and was writing a rebuttal.
That was 21 years ago?! Jeesh!

Duniho, Terence. “Arthur Phillips’ Perspective on Lizzie.” Lizzie Borden Quarterly Vol. IX.2 (April 2002): 18-19.
Duniho explored Arthur Sherman Phillips’ role in the Borden case as a junior member of the defense and investigates the authenticity of the essay bearing his name that was thought to first appear in the 1944 volume of Phillips History of Fall River. Even though some of the facts in Phillips’ work are incorrect, Duniho concludes that he was indeed the article’s author.

I will follow with Stefani’s intro to the chapter, from the extracted section on the Borden murders.

[Kat]

IMG_0968.jpeg

Forward and Afterword

[Kat]

Notes

[Kat]

Lots of questionable material, by a member of the defense! Of course, it was years later that Phillips made the attempt, and he stated he was just about the only person left that was involved legally in the case.

[camgarsky4]

The copy of the article i have includes a handwritten note....."New Bedford Sunday Standard-Times. Sunday May 13, 1934."

My take is that Phillips was extremely biased in how he tilted and baselined his explanation of the case....but he was the defense attorney. I think we all need to believe in our causes to the degree that enables us to do our best work and to 'hold our head high'.

From a 'new information' perspective, what I think his 1934 article provides us wannabe 'cold case' sleuths are some fantastic photographs that provide visual inputs to help us envision and imagine what happened. For me personally, his photos around the Chagnon house are game changers.

[Kat]

I just found my “pieces” of it- had to look on an old CD storage disc from 2003. Will read it later.
Yes the pictures were extremely satisfying. When you get to the FRHS you will see the originals.
I thought Phillips was lazy or Easton was lazy- just disappointed in him writing about the case.

So back to the comment about the attempted purchase had an innocent purpose? What would these gentleman think that was? Is a 2% solution not as toxic?

[CagneyBT]

Hi Kat:

Don't know if this is helpful to you, but it's very informative as to the uses of prussic acid in 2% form:

From: CHAMBERS'S ENCYCLOPAEDIA A DICTIONARY OF UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE, 1892 (I wonder if Lizzie would have had access to this book)

"Hydrocyanic Acid, HCN or HCy, known also as Prussic Acid, from its having been first obtained by Scheele in 1782 from the substance known as Prussian or Berlin Blue, is of almost equal interest to the chemist, the physician, and the toxicologist.

Chemistry.—Pure anhydrous hydrocyanic acid is a colourless, highly volatile liquid.. It possesses a very penetrating odour, resembling that of peach-blossoms or oil of bitter almonds... It is made (British Pharmacop.) by distilling ferrocyanide of potassium with dilute sulphuric acid, and is standardised to a strength of 2 per cent. When kept for any length of time it is extremely apt to decompose.

Medicinal Uses.—Diluted hydrocyanic acid is used externally as an ingredient of lotions to diminish itching in skin diseases. In 2 to 8 minim doses it is given internally to diminish irritability of the stomach, to relieve gastro-intestinal pain, vomiting, and functional palpitation of the heart. Given by the mouth or by inhalation it is also useful in allaying cough in phthisis, whooping-cough, bronchitis, ccc. All these applications depend upon its action in deadening sensory nerves.

As a Poison.—Hydrocyanic acid is one of our most energetic poisons, and is frequently employed both for murder and suicide. When a small poisonous dose (about half a drachm of the 2 percent, acid) has been taken the first symptoms are weight and jiain in the head, with confusion of thought, giddiness, nausea (and sometimes vomiting), a quick pulse, and loss of muscular power. If death result this is preceded by convulsions and involuntary evacuations. When a large dose has been taken (as from half an ounce to an ounce of the 2 per cent, acid) the symptoms may commence in a few seconds, and it is seldom that their appearance is delayed beyond one or two minutes. 'When,' says Dr A. S. Taylor, 'the patient has been seen at this period he has been perfectly insensible, the eyes fixed and glistening, the pupils dilated and unaffected by light, the limbs flaccid, the skin cold and covered with a clammy perspiration ; there is convulsive respiration at long intervals, and the patient appears dead in the intermediate time ; the pulse is imperceptible, and the respiration is slow, deep, gasping, and sometimes hearing or sobbing.' The patient survives for a longer or shorter period, according to the dose. According to Dr Lonsdale, death has occurred as early as the second and as late as the forty-fifth minute; the poison acts as a paralysant to the whole nervous system. Death is due to paralysis of the heart in the more rapid cases, and to paralysis of the respiration in those which occur more slowly.

Where the fatal action is so rapid antidotes are of comparatively little value. Chlorine, ammonia, cold affusion, and artificial respiration are the most important agents in the treatment. The first two should be used with great caution, and only by the medical practitioner. Cold affusion on the dead, neck, and down the spine is a valuable remedy. Artificial respiration (see RESPIRATION, ARTIFICIAL) should never be omitted".

Aside from the stated medical uses for prussic acid, it was commonly used as a method of suicide. I recall reading a theory that Lizzie tried to purchase the prussic acid to use on herself. There are no sources to this that I'm aware of, so I don't give it much credence,

[Kat]

Thank you so much for contributing- it seems both of our sources state Homicide or suicide.
But maybe there is something about the 2% solution: like a person using it carefully might have in mind an innocent purpose? I hadn’t considered it before, only homicide.

I think there is a previous topic in archive here that describes a suicide theory.
Chloroform might have been part of the discussion, an easier search term?