Good morning, friends. I hope you’ve been well and are settling into this strange new year with as much peace and tranquility as one can muster in these uncertain times.

I myself have been finding welcome distraction in the A.S.P.C.A.’s archives, where I have lately set about reading the annual reports in order, year by year. It was here, in 1910, that I stumbled upon the below, tucked into the president’s report between a paragraph about watering horses with fire hydrants and news of a bill about dog licensing.

What in the world was a horse poisoner?

Friends, the rabbit hole that opened on this one was wide and it was deep. Let me give you the fundamentals of horse poisoning. Cities in this time period still ran on horses, even as the slow transition to automobiles was underway. Most livery drivers used horses, most businesses kept horses, many families kept horses. Public stables were throughout the city. Private residences had stables in the backyard. Horses were a part of every day life in a way that we would have a very hard time understanding today. These horses worked; they delivered your groceries and mail, they ferried people individually and on trolleys. They carted waste and merchandise. They were integral to the fabric of the society. Stop the horses, and you stop the city…and stopping someone’s horses was an effective way to kill their business.

Enter horse poisoners. These unsavory individuals killed horses for payment, either as part of a mafia-esque blackmail scheme (pay us monthly/give us a portion of your business, or we will kill your horses) or for hire (too many delivery drivers competing for your route? Simple! Pay to have their horses killed, and you’ll have a leg up on the competition.) Horse poisoners operated in a uncomplicated fashion; feed the horse apple or some bread laced with arsenic or cyanide, and the horse would die in short order. Collect payment. Repeat.

Horse poisoners have existed about as long as working horses have, but the information in the 1910 annual report made me investigate further; what exactly was The Arsenic Club? It was here that I noticed a giant leap in the amount of stories surrounding horse poisoners in the years between 1909-1913. Upon further digging, I found myself absolutely lost in the tale of this gang of horse poisoners that brought terror to the east side of Manhattan from about 1910 to 1913.

The first mention I found of The Arsenic Club can be found in the November 8 edition of the Boston Globe. (This probably simply means it was syndicated and the original paper is not in the archives.)

It’s here that the club gets its name in the press. Veterinary Surgeon and Chief Investigator for the A.S.P.C.A., Dr. H. Stark says:

“I call this crowd “The Arsenic Club…because that is the poison they always use. They generally administer it in the form of a crueller in the feed bags as the animals stand on the street or throw it into the stalls. Sometimes it is injected into an apple.”

We learn that the gang has been in existence for some years and responsible for the deaths of more than 2000 horses…however in the last year activity has exploded, with more than 500 horses killed in the last three months and 40 in the last two weeks. Dr. Stark says that he’s sure that more than 10,000 dollars has been paid “in tribute” to the club.

The article goes on:
“Tonight all the barns on the East Side were under guard against the poisoners. The owners who have been paying tribute declared that they would immediately organize a protective association and the A.S.P.C.A. has been set to work to gather evidence to bring the offenders to jail.”

And lo, while the interview itself was being conducted, just a few blocks away, two horses belonging to the Sheffield Dairy drop dead while still hitched to their milk truck. Still, Dr. Stark says “
“I believe I can put my hands on the present leaders of the gang and expect to do it soon.”

A few days later, it’s announced that 16 Detectives of the NYPD have been assigned to the case, and that things have escalated. The Club is now using the telephone to threaten people. Public Stable Manager Abraham Fielman is quoted in the Daily Gazette and Bulletin, discussing his distressing call.

“The telephone rang and a bold voice asked if this was the public stables. I told him yes, and he said ‘You are not having your horses shod at the right shop. Hereafter, if you do not have them shod at (redacted) shop, we will see you and your horses got what the others got. I am speaking for the gang. You know what happens to horses on the east side when we get after them. Just be careful; that’s all.’ I shouted over the phone that he couldn’t frighten me but we have no more protection than any of the rest had. There is not a clue to who is was telephoned to me. Still, in a general way everyone on the east side knows who the Arsenic Club and the Apple Gang are.”

(The apple gang shows up occasionally as a different name for the same group of criminals.)

This article also discusses two young boys that were beaten after innocently feeding a horse an apple that had not been poisoned.

Meanwhile, Assemblyman Goldberg of the 19th district of New York introduces a bill to make horse poisoning a felony and promptly receives a letter from the Arsenic Club himself, threatening his life.

It read:

Dear Sir,

The clipping referring to you vs. The Arsenic Club in this AMNY World has been read by us with some degree of pleasure; We are at present in your immediate neighborhood, and expect to remain there or anywhere else you may see fit to go until we have made good our promise that you will never live to enter upon your fourth term as legislator from N.Y. Take due notice and govern yourself accordingly.

Yours, &c, The Arsenic Club.

On Wednesday of that same week, the New York Times covered the loss of more than 60 horses at Sheffield Dairy, the same business that had lost the two horses hitched to a milk truck. The article below tells in detail the way that the crooks manipulated the business owners and threatened their lives, sending multiple letters and demands for money.

Next week, I’ll cover the big break in the case when the Arsenic Club gang members pick the wrong local business to mess with; Star Ice Cream. I promise you, it gets even more exciting from here. I hope you’re enjoying this tale as much as I am. Let me know!

-Audrey