In the spring of 1919, an ordinary supper at a Baltimore boarding house turned into a scene of panic and horror. One moment, the people gathered at Mrs. Clara Bell’s table were drinking their evening coffee. The next, they were collapsing to the floor, gasping for breath, seized by violent convulsions.
Neighbors rushed in after hearing screams and found a household in chaos. By midnight, one man was dead, three others were fighting for their lives, and police were searching the home for answers. What they found beside the coffee pot would turn suspicion toward a man who had vanished before the meal was served.
Coffee Poisoned
BALTIMORE, Maryland. — Taken to Mercy Hospital last night suffering from what is believed to have been a case of poisoning, William Grantland, Sr., 65 years old, a boarder at the home of Mrs. Clara Bell, died shortly before midnight. Mrs. Bell, 43 years old; Miss Trilby Gould, 23 years old, a visitor at the Bell home, and William Grantland, Jr., 35 years old, also a boarder, are in critical condition at the hospital.
John C. Bell, husband of Mrs. Bell, who disappeared from his home before the evening meal, was located and locked up at the Southern Police Station by Sergeant Arbin, Sergeant White, and Patrolman Kotmair.
It was after drinking their coffee at supper that the symptoms of poisoning materialized. As one of the boarders got up from the table, he was seized with convulsions. He fell to the floor gasping for breath.
Mrs. Bell rose to call for assistance when she too was stricken.
The others, thoroughly frightened, rushed from the room for help. As he reached the door, William Grantland, Sr., collapsed. His son and Miss Gould managed to reach the kitchen.
Attracted by screams, neighbors discovered the tragedy. Carrying the victims into the open, they phoned for the Southern district ambulance, and the sufferers were rushed to the hospital.
On account of the rugged health of William Grantland, Jr., who is well known in athletic circles, his life is the least seriously endangered.
Mrs. Bell, who at first lost consciousness, revived sufficiently under medical treatment to accuse her husband of the crime. She declared that she had quarreled with him in the morning and he had vowed to get even. On a charge of disorderly conduct, she had him arrested, but he was dismissed. Later, it is claimed, he made another threat against her.
A complete search of the house was made by the police, and they discovered a box of rat poison lying on the kitchen table, beside the coffee pot. When the three cups from which the victims drank were taken to the station house, traces of the poison were found among the dregs.
Source: The Washington Times. Washington, D.C. April 11, 1919.
