Omaha daily bee., 1891-03-28
Suspicious circumstances Attending the
Death of Emma Anderson.
DIED AFTER EATING A HEARTY MEAL.
Interview with the Parties Interested
The Dark Il hreat ofan Unknown
Woman Against Emma
Anderson's Life.
Emma Anderson is dead.

and decisive action.
And yet physician says 1t was only
coincidence and due to an mex xplicable
freak of la grippe.
The deceased had been housekeeper in the
family of Isaac 5. Hascall for the past eight
years,
Though death resulted under most
suspicious circumstances, the affair
| was not made public, but on the con-
| trary every effort was made to hush the mat
ter up, and this morning the remains we're
conveyed to the union depot and borne away
| on the 10 :15 B. * NJ train for the west.
| The cause Of death is unknown, as the only
| two physicians who were called in differ
widely ia their opinions, and each is very de-
| cided in his views regarding the true state OF
| affairs
| One maintains that it was a case of strych
nine poisoning, and the other says that death
| resulted from congestion Of the spine and
| brain induced by la grippe
| AL that is definitely known about the case
| is with reference to what occurred during
| the few hours intervening between the time
| when the deceased and several otner mem
| bers OF the family were taken suddenly i'll
| and when she died the next morning in thu
| most awful agony.
Tuesday noon no symptoms of illness had
| made their appearance so far as any member
| VI bue lHiIllly Was CCNCtrNeu, anu Iney SaU
| down to dinner with no intimation of tn q
| strange sickness that was so suddenly 10 fol-
| low.
The principal dish was boiled fresh beef,
| OF which the Anderson woman and nired
| man named John Es person partook very
| freely, and the Others, consisting of Martha
| McHeel, Mr. Hascalps sister, Victor Hascall
| his son, and Annie Swanson, ten year-old
niece of the housekeeper, ate more or less.
| About ten minutes later they all became
rtIIl ,lr 4.
| retching continued during the afternoon.
| Mr.. Hascall was away from home, and did
| not return until IL o'clock that nigh when
! he found all of the family completely eX-
hausted, but they seemed to be recovering
| with the exception of Miss Anderson, who
| the intens pain.
Hascall at once started fire and removed
| the sick woman to a warmer room. He did
what he could to relieve her sufferings, but
| no doctor was called until the followin z
| morning about 1880 O'clock when he
| went after Dr. Walker and asked him to
| hasten back with him at once. The doctor
| was just sitting down to breakfast, but hur-
riedly donned his coat and accompanied Mr..
| Hascall. When he entered the house, he said
| that the patient was suffering from severe
| attack of congestion of the spine and brain.
| Her skin was cold and no pulse could be
| detected at the wrist or temple The head
| was drawn back, pupils contracted and the
/
| gave whisky internally and injected large
| quantity of the stimulant hypodermcally,
but the attempt to revive her was unsuccess-
| ful, and at 80 o'clock she was dead.
| The other members of the family had
| Yearly recovered from their sickness, but the
| man Esperson was still very weak and at
that time his recovery was by no means cer-
| tain.
Notwithstanding these suspicious circu m
| stances no report OF the case was made to the
/ coroner. ARRANGEMENTS a I'm n
| for the funeral.
| Esperson's case was not attended to by DIR.
| Walker. II seems that after recovering
| from the first attack of nausea he went TO
| the saloon at the corner OF Thirteenth and
Dorcas and sat down at a table. A few
moments later, man rushed into DR.. j. j.
Solomon's office a few doors away and
| exclaimed, "For Gods sake, doctor,
| come quick. There's man
dying right up here" fastening to the sa.
loon, Esperson was found in spasms, His
chin was drawn down upon his chest, his
teeth clenched, tongue rolled up and eyes
staring. He was given dose of tartar
| emetic and salt and soon afterward theemetic
| began to relieve the overburdened stomach
The man was laid upon billiard table, and
! for an hour the doctor and several of the by
ISLANDERS worked over him. When he recov-
cred sufficiently to walk he was assisted back
to the house. OF his experiences after that
time he said this morning;
when l got back there | found them
all sick. Victor was stretched out
on two chairs and Emma was in bed.
stayed a little while and then Martha said
she was so sick she must go to bed, and
would have to go up to the castle, Hascairs
new building, where / always sleep. l tolc
her was so sick couldn't go, but she sale
l had to, for If Hascall came home anC
found me sleeping there he would make fuss
couldn't walk up there though it was only {
block and had to take street car. II was
all could do to get up stairs aud get to bed
l was fearfully sick all night and got worse
in the morning. lsuppose l would have dice
| before noon, but after Emma died som,
of the folks came up to see how l was
was hardly conscious and they hurried ou
and got DR.. Solomon again. He brought
battery and gave me medicine and after
while came out ali right. Idon't suppose
| will be well for week. for my strength |:
all gone and my stomach Is readfully sore
l am satisfied was poisoned, though aon'
| know how.
"My doctor says 1t was poison, but tn,
| other doctor says Emma died OF congestivt
chill. j don't think we all took congestivt
chills at the same time. 1t don't seem TO m'
that II could have been the meat.
"rhere must have been some more OF tina
same meat around here somewhere, and
| haven't heard Of anybody outside Of tn,
| family getting sick froil it,
"Hascal came to me and said he didn'
| want TO hear again OF my saying that IL wa
a case of poisoning, but told hlm | woult
| say JUST Wnat / tn0ught, L KNOW l am II
great luck to be alive today, and think tn,
case ought to be looked into, | have beel
surprised not to see anything about the cas-
in the papers.
~ have worked for Hascal
and boarded there since Septem b or
l did the inside carpenter work on the castle
but during the winter just chored about tn,
house. The thing want to know is how
happened to get sick"
Victor Hascall, a young man seventeen
| years of age, was asked for his opinion Of tn,
case aud replied
"Theres something queer about It
The old man says Dr. Walker i
right and Emma died Of chill
but don't believe it. Common sense ough
to tell anybody that half a dozen peopl
wouldn't take u chill at the same time, a
soon as they got up from the table, but tn
doctor says whole family might take tn
grip within five minutes.
| II think it was the meat, but the old maj
has traded with Kobe for fifteen year
and don't want to say the meat wasn't good
II seems TO be matter of friendship be
| tween him and the butcher. don't believ
any poison was used, but it was just dis
, | eased becf''
When asked about the domestic relation
} ! In the family, he said everything was har
| monious and there was no jarring in tn
} | household machinery. .F
The butcher, Mr. Kobe, was very indig
nant over the diseased meat theory, and sal
that he would make somebody smart for il
: | Said he
~ am the Oldest butcher in Omaha, and
L t,Aa aaNa a..nI ana. sAA nd 1 All