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Eleven persons are dead and four others are charged with manslaugh ter as a result of widespread drink ing by Negroes here of industrial al cohol stolen from the Alma Desk company. John C. Archie, one of those charged with manslaughter, and fa ther of three of the victims who died from drinking the poison alco hol, is totally blind as a result of the drink. He told officers, however, how he siphoned a quart of alcohol from the top of the barrel which was plainly marked poison. He also admitted thefts of other industrial alcohol over a period of years from the desk company where he worked, and where officials estimate that approximately 300 gallons had been stolen in recent months. The desk company gave out of the industrial alcohol it customarily purchased, and borrowed a barrel from another plant. It was from this barrel that both Archie and another Negro, Willis C. Phifer, of the Daniel Brooks apart ment, have confessed stealing the liquid. Phifer also confessed selling five gallons of the liquid for $7.50 to James Nelson and his wife, also held on charges of manslaughter, and known as venders of “mule.” Leroy Douglas, grandson of Archie, and son of his daughter Carrie Douglas who died of the poison drink, told officers there was some doubt about the drink Sunday a week ago when it “wouldn't turn white.” But later, he said, someone dropped a dime into the drink and “when it didn’t turn black,” mem bers of the family and others drank freely. In addition to the six dead listed last Monday, the following five have succumbed: John Henry Archie, and Richard Archie, of 1209 Willistow, sons of John C. Archie, and his daughter Carrie Archie Douglas, of Templeton St.; Charlie Davis and Crowell Lilly, of North Lee St.
Newspaper Details
High Point Enterprise
High Point, North Carolina, US
Mon, Jul 23, 1945
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 31 May 2026
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