Marie Besnard was Relatively Toxic

By Grant Davies

On this day (-10) in 1949, authorities in Loudun, France, were leaning on their shovels after having spent a fair amount of time exhuming the body of a certain Monsieur Leon Besnard.

Poor Leon had left this earth in October, 1947, after consuming some bad soup. While examining Leon's remains, it was concluded that what made the soup bad was the amount of arsenic in it, 19.45 mg to be exact. At least that was the amount left in what was left of Leon a year and a half after he slurped the soup.

It seems that Leon was only one of many people who got fatal indigestion after being in close proximity to his wife, Marie. The number turned out to be thirteen. And when their remains had been similarly dug up, Marie Besnard found herself in the soup, too.

The local gendarmerie had been informed of the unusual string of fatally bad luck that befell almost everyone  around Marie. Well, at least those who coincidentally had some franc français that would pass to Marie in the event of their failure to exist. Naturally, they told the magistrate, who ordered the above digging and counting of arsenic milligrams to be performed. Marie was charged with thirteen homicides.

The poisonous family relationships began soon after Leon's parents inherited a ton of wealth from someone who probably died a natural death. In one of the most unfortunate relocation decisions on record, they accepted their son and daughter-in-law's invitation to move in with them.

It turned out to be a short visit instead of a long residence. Leon's father died soon thereafter, apparently from eating poisoned mushrooms. (Perhaps the kind with arsenic in them?) His mother died of "pneumonia" three months later. No word on whether her condition had poisonous residue.

Subsequently the Besnard's decided to rent space to some wealthy friends who conveniently had named Marie as their sole beneficiary, and who even more conveniently soon passed away from "pneumonia" and "aortitis". (18 mg and 30 mg)

Marie's father also died, of cerebral hemorrhage (36 mg). Marie's cousins were not lucky either. Both of them died within nine days of each other from the same stupid mistakes. The first mistake they made was naming Marie their sole heir. The second was that they ate lye for dessert by accident. (48 mg and 20 mg) Hey, it happens all the time! Lye can get in your pie pretty easily. The list goes on but I won't poison your opinion of Marie's guilt or innocence by piling on. 

So Marie was convicted and went to prison forever and everyone was satisfied. 

Umm, not so fast. Not every story has justice being done. Marie had three trials, and in the end (1961), she beat the rap. Legal "Dream Teams" of the "OJ" variety are not exclusive to America it seems. Marie herself didn't pass away until 1980 but it seems likely that she didn't die of poisoning since there was no one left to spice up her soup. So if she did it, she got away with murder. Er..thirteen murders.

To mark the date, slip on down to the "Bad Luck Bar and Grill" and have a sip of something strong. But if the bartender asks "What's your poison?" watch closely while your drink is being mixed.

Post Script
Oh, I forgot to mention, Leon wasn't Marie's first husband. His name was Auguste Antigny, her cousin, who she married in 1920. His death was from pleurisy in 1927, (60 mg). I don't remember things as well as I did before I had that soup for lunch...

If You Need to be Tired, Don't Get Gassed so Often

Image = Turnoffyourtv.com

By Art Cashin

On this day in 1942, the U.S. Government invoked the war status to proclaim the rationing of gasoline. The public understood. With a war on (WWII in case you forgot) it was clear we needed to conserve fuel.

Well that was a nice thought. But the real reason that government decided to give out A-cards or B-cards was not gas. It was tires.

When the war began America had more than enough fuel to last two decades. But it had no rubber. So it had no tires. How do you conserve tires? Well, knowing Americans, they knew that if they banned the sale of new tires, folks would just drive the same way until the old ones wore out and then park the car permanently. (To say nothing of the potential of guys jacking up your car and stealing all four tires - - in
New York City, they can do that while you're driving.)

Anyway, the Washington wizards decided that the most effective way to save rubber was to get us to drive less. And the best way to do that was to ration gasoline.

To celebrate stop by the "Garage" but be careful not to get gassed up. And, while you are sipping your ration, try to figure what they are trying to conserve with the prices (and taxes) at the pump these days.


Many thanks to Mr. Cashin and UBS Financial Services who graciously allow his historical musings to be republished on this site. To enjoy more of Art's posts simply click on "Cashin's Comments" in the label section on the sidebar.

Please Pardon the Interruption

Too many projects, not enough time. Posts will resume shortly. Thanks for visiting Cheeky History.

The Allies got a Lucky Break

By Art Cashin

On this day (-1) in 1942 (according to published reports), the U.S. Navy turned to rather unusual sources for military information.

Actually, if you are any kind of student of U.S. history, and particularly of military and covert operations, the Navy's source may not have been all that unusual.

At this time, World War II had recently begun (for the U.S. anyway) and, while most eyes were on the Pacific, the Navy was already thinking about the invasion of Europe. And, since the only place the Allies were holding their own was North Africa, they figured that invasion would have to be across the Mediterranean. And, that meant Sicily would be the key.

Now, if this was 1942, and you were the U.S. Navy and, you went in the chart room, you'd have a problem. Because if you looked in the drawer marked Sicily, you might find its latitude and longitude but little else. There would be few files on the depth of harbors and almost no data on shore defenses. Not a very good data base on which to plan an invasion. So..…to get data on Sicily, you began to think what a less politically correct government might assume in time of war.

Having read the tabloids, the Navy assumed a guy named Lucky Luciano might know something about Sicily. And, since he was early in on a 40 to 50 year sentence, he would have time to listen. Mr. Luciano (according to the same published reports, your honor) did not recall much direct detail of Sicily but (according to the same reports) thought he might know a guy or two who did. And boy, did he!

Over the next 10 months the Mafia (er... an unknown group of partisans) provided enough data on Sicily's defenses that when the allies invaded (7/10/43), they captured the whole island in 37 days. And they killed 167,000 of the enemy while losing under 24,000 - - remarkable in any invasion at that time.

The story, of course is, we are sure, just a coincidence of history. And, the fact that Mr. Luciano's sentence was changed three years later (he was released from jail in 1946 and deported to - where else - Sicily - - despite about 35 years left on his term). The whole thing is, of course, wild conjecture (except for the facts). We also hope to disprove the Mafia/Castro/ Assassination linkage in a future episode. Imagine, the U.S. Government cavorting with gangsters. How very, very unlikely!

To mark the day find some guy named “Don” and see if he has any contacts in Afghanistan.


Many thanks to Mr. Cashin and UBS Financial Services who graciously allow his historical musings to be republished on this site. To enjoy more of Art's posts simply click on "Cashin's Comments" in the label section on the sidebar.

Rome Wasn't Built On Just Any Day

Image= MHarrsch Photostream

By Art Cashin

On this day (-1) in 753 B.C., the Ancient and Eternal City of Rome was founded. For the first quarter millennium of its existence it was ruled by kings - starting with Romulus (part of a notable brother act with a doggy home life) and ending with Tarquinius Superbus. (If your king sounded like an oversize van, wouldn't you give up the monarchy?)

Next came the Republic: lots of success, gladiators, scholars, arch-ways, public baths, Spartacus and Caesar (but no salads). During this period, Rome dominated, educated and even enumerated virtually all of the known world. (Doubters may look up "Census - Tiberius et. al.)

So - okay - you're sitting there saying "I learned all that in sixth grade." And you're also saying "does that dope expect me to believe he knows the precise date when Ancient Rome was founded." Well...the answer is - Yes! You see it's the "A.U.C." thing.

If you were living in Ancient Rome and wanted to count time, it was tough. You couldn't do "B.C." since you couldn't anticipate the date of the birth you were counting before. (Huh?) So, without the birth of Christ as a date of demarcation, the Romans had a problem. If you were opening a toga shop, would you put on the
letterhead....er....parchment head....e.g. "Founded - ???"

At first they tried the obvious: "In the third year of Romulus..." But that got to be a problem as new kings were envious of the names of old kings still having their names around on walls, letterhead, etc. Even worse, it could get confusing, "Was he born in the second year of Pliny the III or the third year of Pliny the II"

So, the Romans opted for something a bit more permanent like the city itself. So, they began dating everything from the time the city was founded which you will recall from Latin class would be Ab (from) Urbe (the city) Condite (founding). Thus, they made cornerstones and time clocks possible. "Annus 2768 A.U.C."

Many thanks to Mr. Cashin and UBS Financial Services who graciously allow his historical musings to be republished on this site. To enjoy more of Art's posts simply click on "Cashin's Comments" in the label section on the sidebar.

Don't Let Stubby Bite You in the Ass

Stubby was very fond of dogs.
Image = Esquire.com

By Grant Davies

On this day (give or take a few),  in 1918, an American soldier was wounded in a WWI battle. It was during a raid to take the town of Schieprey that he was hit in the leg with shrapnel from a grenade thrown by a retreating German soldier. The soldier in question was a sergeant, known affectionately by his fellows as "Stubby."

Stubby had quite an interesting career in the war. At different times during his 18 months at war he participated in seventeen battles on the front.

 He  was gassed by the enemy, and although he recovered, he never forgot the smell of the poison or the sound of the shells as they came in. Everyone who served with him knew he had greatly enhanced senses of hearing and smell. So when he warned of a surprise mustard gas attack, they paid close attention.

Stubby was also very good at finding and giving comfort to his wounded comrades out in "No man's land." But his most impressive feat was when he caught a German spy single-handedly.

It was during the battle of Meuse-Argonne in September, 1918, when he spotted  the spy mapping the American trenches. The spy tried to deceive him and pass by unnoticed, but ole Stubby wasn't fooled. When the German finally gave up the ruse and fled into the forest, Stubby, who could outrun almost any other soldier, ran him down. During the brief scuffle Stubby did what he had to do...he bit him in the ass! That's right, and he wouldn't let go until other soldiers caught up and subdued the scoundrel. It made the front page of almost every major newspaper back in the states.

So Stubby was famous. And when he returned to his beloved US as a hero he was honored by President Woodrow Wilson. Later he was also to meet Warren G Harding and Calvin Coolidge at the White House. He was given free rooms at the finest hotels, and lifetime memberships in the American Legion, the Red Cross, and the YMCA.

Starting in 1921, he was featured during halftimes at Georgetown University football games. He basically invented the halftime shows we enjoy today. Quite a guy that Stubby.

He was also invited to the Smithsonian Institute so people could see what he looked like, and he hangs out there everyday... to this very day. Yes, he's old, but he looks the same as he did back then. You see, they liked him so much they had him stuffed and put on display.

Stubby was after all... a dog.

A Toast to Walter Hunt

Image = Moah.org

By Art Cashin

On this day (-1)  in 1849, the U.S. Government issued patent #6281, for a very remarkable and stunningly successful product. The product was so simple yet useful that most people think it's been around for centuries.

No smarty, it was not the telephone nor the fax nor even the radio, this product sold ten times as many items as every telephone, fax or radio ever made. Pointedly speaking, short of matches maybe no other product has sold so often or in such volume.

The product is....the safety pin! And its invention was a bartender's delight. In a saloon conversation a customer complained of the problem of fastening things easily without cutting your finger or harming the person wearing what you were fastening. After a couple of rounds, a guy named Walter Hunt opined that the solution to the riddle was not so tough. After calling for a piece of string steel (to the left of the olives and two shelves down from the boiled eggs - - doesn't every saloon have them) he began to twiddle.

Egged on by cynics and buyers of rounds he first resolved a loop at the end to give the gadget spring. But what helped was a spring with two pointed ends. Amidst hecklers and more drink buyers Hunt showed that by hammering one end (with a bartender's muddle); you could cap the sharp end of the pin. Thus in less than three hours Walter Hunt had invented one of the most widely sold items in human history.
                        
But it wasn't over. The cynics at the bar said it would never work. Another round please! But one guy said, "Hunt, I'll pay you $100 for the rights." And Hunt said, "Sold!" Thus in three hours and ten minutes Hunt had conceived invented and then sold the rights to one of the simplest yet most successful inventions in history.

It’s hard to imagine. Whoever heard of a clever guy sitting at a bar giving away million dollar ideas for free?  Pass those peanuts please.



Many thanks to Mr. Cashin and UBS Financial Services who graciously allow his historical musings to be republished on this site. To enjoy more of Art's posts simply click on "Cashin's Comments" in the label section on the sidebar.