CARBOLIC ACID KILLS.
DRANK IN THE DARK BY
BECKETT FOR WHISKEY.
Second Man Who Took Swallow of
the Poison Will Recover -- Dead
Man Leaves a Widow and
Seven Children.
Two pint bottles of the same shape, one containing whisky and the other carbolic acid, caused the death of James F. Beckett in Sheffield early yesterday morning. The bottle of whisky was put into a wagon bed which also contained a bottle formerly used for whisky filled with carbolic acid. John Eveland, another laborer, who put the whisky into the wagon bed, also drank of the acid, but he will recover.
John Thomas gave a dancing party Saturday night at his home in Sheffield. About forty men and women were present, and at midnight the dancers decided to continue the party indefinitely until morning.
Beckett had been invited, and after he arrived he was prevailed upon to furnish the music. He sat in the parlor, and from 8 o'clock until midnight played waltzes and two-steps, and occasionally a tune for the Virginia reel, with scarcely a rest, while the tireless dancers encored him again and again.
About 11 o'clock Eveland, who lives only two blocks from Thomas' house, heard the music and the laughter of the young men and women, and decided to see what was going on. I had been drinking a little," said Eveland yesterday, "and I had a pint bottle of whisky, about half full, in my hip pocket. Thomas invited me to come in and dance. I didn't want to take the liquor with me on account of the women. So I slipped out to the shed back of the house and put the bottle in the bed of a wagon. Then I went in and danced until about midnight.
"When the decided to keep on dancing for an hour or two more, Beckett, who was one of my friends, said he was tired. I told him about the whiskey I had put in the shed, and asked him to go have a drink to brace himself up. We took John Burris, one of the other men with us, and all went out to the shed.
"When we got out there it was dark, and I reached into the wagon bed and got out what I supposed to be the bottle I had put there. It was a regular pint whisky bottle, and seemed to be about half full. I had some trouble getting the cork out. While I was trying to draw it, the women were calling for Beckett to play for another dance.
" 'Hurry up,' cried Beckett. 'I've got to get back to the house. '
" 'Give me the bottle,' said Burris. 'I'll get the cork out with my knife.'
"Burris pulled the cork, and raised the bottle to his lips to take a drink, when they called Beckett from the house again, and Beckett grabbed the bottle quickly. He took two long swallows. Then he ran back to the house, and Burris went with him, without waiting for a drink. I then drank a little, and put the bottle back into the wagon."
Eveland says it was about twenty minutes later before the acid pained him, so that he knew he had been poisoned. Beckett, who continued playing for the dancers after taking the acid, began to feel ill about the same time Eveland did.
Dr. R. Callaghan was sent for, and treated both men. Beckett died about 1:30 o'clock. The whisky which Eveland had drunk before he came to the dance saved his life. The reason Beckett did not feel the effect of the aid sooner is believed also to be due to whisky before he went to the shed. The whisky is thought to have counteracted the effects of the acid to a certain extent.
Thomas said yesterday that he always keeps acid in the shed for use as a disinfectant. He keeps horses and hogs there. The bottle was plainly labeled. Had the men struck a match they could not have made the mistake.
James F. Beckett was 39 years old. He lived at 410 Denver avenue, and leaves a widow and seven little children, the youngest being only two months old. The body was taken to Blackman's undertaking rooms in Sheffield, and a coroner's inquest will be held this morning.
