Drunken New Year. 1928.

Western Argus 10 Jan 1928 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article34423847

These people in 1928 were celebrating New Years during the prohibition era in New York, so the ‘boose’ was probably something home-made, the ingredients of which were probably something you would not want to drink!

Of course it doesn’t take poisonous alcohol to cause drunken brawls, I am sure there will be quite a few of them at New Year’s festivities around the world over the weekend.

Enjoy your New Year’s whatever form your celebration may take!

Venomous Dog? 1907.

The Register 20 Dec 1907 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article56486962

This is an interesting tale. I am not sure exactly how impossible it is for a dog to immediately become a transmitter of the venom a snake just injected into it but I suspect that impossible is the key word here. Clearly these people believed it though.

I wonder if James Wilkinson actually showed real medical signs of poisoning or if he just convinced himself he was affected? I suspect that he was actually bitten by the snake while he was paying attention to the dog that was chewing on him!

Rackarock. 1909.

Northern Star 12 Oct 1909 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72228455

Suicide as an ‘I’ll show all of you’ kind of thing is never going to succeed really, is it? You aren’t going to be around to get any benefit out of your tantrum.

I had never heard of rackarock before and although it was clearly some sort of poisonous substance with a name like that it could have been anything!

Rackarock is a kind of liquid explosive made up of potassium chlorate and mono-nitrobenzene, and should never be kept on the nightstand. Not really the type of nightcap anyone would recommend….

An unexpectedly deadly hobby. 1923.

The Advertiser 28 Aug 1923 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37201356

Collecting butterflies wouldn’t be high on my dangerous hobbies list but here is an example of how even the most innocuous pastime can kill you.

I wonder if Rabbi Meyer was found with a look of horror on his face? Did he lick his finger then realize, too late, what was going to happen?

Was a ghostly butterfly chuckling in the background?

Strychnine for snakebite. 1903.

If  you know about the effects of strychnine (or have read my earlier post about same) you will not really want to have it injected into your body. Many years ago having it injected was considered a cure for snakebite. It was believed that the two poisons were antagonistic and I suppose that they just kept injecting strychnine until it was victorious. I wonder how long it usually was before the patient died from strychnine poisoning that the snakebite poison was actually defeated.

The Sydney Morning Herald 18 Feb 1903 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28243131

I was not really surprised to find that out as it seems to me that, until quite recently, anything that bought on a reaction in an afflicted person was considered to be a cure, even if they died shortly after. (See post ‘Strychnine and beer’ for its use in killing a person who merely had a cold!)

Poor William was treated with both strychnine and chloride of lime. Chloride of lime is a disinfectant and antiseptic and I hope that it was used only on the outside of him. Nothing would surprise me though.

The Courier Mail 8 Oct 1936 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37022769

Young Cecil was lucky and his life was saved by a series of people slapping, scolding and shaking him for eight hours to keep him from succumbing to the effects of the bite he received. Poor kid. I’m not sure if being smacked around is the recommended treatment for snakebite but it has to be better than strychnine.