The morning call., 1892-07-30
POISONED MEDICINE.
Startling Statements OF Mrs.
Captain Trayers.
The Mystery of Her Husbands Death-wa.
Hs Made Away With WAR Between
Widow and stepscns.

a CALL reporter by the widow of Captain
f. " Travers, at 917 jefferson street. Oak
land. last evening.
CAPTAIN Travers has been in his grave
but tree days. Yesterday young James
Tray3rs went 10 San Francisco to ask the
Coroler to exhume the body, that an exam
inatitn might be made as 10 the real cause
of death The day before he had asked the
Alameda County Coroner to do so. Each
told lin that the other had jurisdiction in
the natter.
.'VhO put the poison there?" asked the
reporter Of Mrs Travers.
81 10 not know. That medicine had been
tamIered with, but Captain Travers never
tookany of It,"
Sow do you know it was poison ?"
POISON IN MEDICINE.
eli tell you. l bought bottle of patent
metfi,ine and my husband took about half
of it. One night after he had taken none OF
il TO TWO weeks, l got down the bottle TO
piyenim a dose. / poured il in a teaspoon
and he spoon turned black immediately.
/ loiled at the cork and it was also black
TIL, bottle. which had been about half
emly, was then nearly full. | said. My
Coo, husband, this medicine has been pois-
onel!
"Ie said, Il believe they would poison
me, mother, if they could
- carried the medicine to a chemist at
| one and told him to keep ii ready to ana
| lyztit if lie should be called upon. | sus-
| peced then that there would be trouble If
F! Caltain TTavers died. l demand now that
! thebudy be eXhumed and examined"
Tie Mrs. Trayers with whom this inter-
! vie. was had was the third wife of Captain
| TrHers and had been married to him 20
| yeas.
STORY OF THE CHILDREN.
.bmes and VIII Travers are his stepsons,
| ant yesterday James. who runs a weekly
! paFr ia West Oakland, caused to be printed
| in al the daily papers stories intimating
tina his father had not died from natural
| capes and had been poisoned.
lis statements minated that the STEP
muber administered the poison. Der state
met ast night was TO the effect that he did
not die OF poisoning, but that poison had
beer prepared for him, and she iDtimated
| tina tie children had prepared it. Only an
| exhluatIon OF the body Will set the matter
| of lis death at rest
'.ragee days before lie died" said Mrs.
| Tra'srs. young Jim TIayers came to see
| him
"Why have you not come oftener?
al could not bear to see you suffer-
ansieIed jim.
IL am not suffering said Captain
| Trisers.
Oh, YES. you are; know you are said
| Jin.
a FATHERS ACCUSATION.
Sim then left" said Mrs. Travers; ''but
| as l. went out his father turned his dimmed
| eyes toward the door and said:
| believe, mother, he put>the poison in
thai bottle; believe he tried to kill me-
'lssid: on. no, father; surely he is not
so wicked as thai. i do not believe that lie
| coui have done that
1 haca nd IL
| then to no one before. / would not have
! told them TO you only for the stories that
| hav, been printed to-day. | deny those
STOKES absolutely. They say that Captain
| TrEers, my husband. with whom I lived
! fOr20 wears, died Of Starvation aud poison
| ing What : ssamei II he was starving
wiz aid net bis sons come here To see him
hsy stayed away. and never brought bin
/ seaseeh as ga orange. when be died then
T1ssnes eanie. and after he was buried they
sen me No mat Trey .~euId lara yzs me =
TRoygSfE ABOUT PROF EHrY.
There has beer bitter yend stsa between
the sirpchildfen aud The stepmether. The
Inheritance Of property has something 20
do eiih IL Captain Trayers was pioneer,
/ an fx-Pllct Commissioner and citizen
usi<@rsalfg knewH- The charges snd
couaieT-chaFges are most sensational. and
the case. IS cue that viii attract universal
attention.
Young Jravers says that the stepmother
was cruel tn bisa and his brother from child
Odd. She beat them continually and with
out cause while their father was at his busi-
ness In the city.
slim was years old and his brother 9
when / married their father" said Mrs.
Iravers last night. The only time Jim was
Whipped was when be refused to 60 to
school, His father punished him then
prepared bis lunch every day. bnt Instead
OF going To school he rode ~ and down on
the local train. He did this f0F . anoie
year.
WHINE Is THE WILL?
mis- house was all the property owned
by Captain Travers," SAID the wife. "He
decided It t. me five years ago, and there was
then an $500 mortgage on 1t. Since then ii
has oeen paid, but recently another mort
gage for $4,000 was made"
WAS there a will?'' asked the reporter
YES ST."
DO you know its contents?"
IL lett The property to me-"
Nv here is IL now? ?"
There is no will now. When the time
comes L will tell what became Of it. Captain
IraWrs sent for 1t ben he was i'll. He
had he entire disposition of it
why did he leave nothing to his chill
dreu?"
AS l told you the property was decided
and willed TO me. He said that his bows
could take care of themselves Only short
time ig0 he paid note of $1,000 for lis boy
Jim. and he thought that this was quite
enough"
RESPECTABLE BOYS.
Tn two sons are eminently respectable.
and Known by nearly every body in Oak
| land. But Mrs. TTavers is equally prom
inent and the matter, therefore, assumes
serious proportions.
DIR. Riley, who attended Captain Trayers.
attributed his death 10 heart failure. He
contracted influenza n year ago and after
ward had n stroke of apOplexy complicated
with bronchial troubles He had been an
| invalid for many months. He was also a
| dyspeptic, but DR.. Riley saws that he had
| plenty Of nourishment. The children went
10 him few DAYS ago and communicated
their suspicious Of poison TO him, but he
scotfel at the idea.
A DIFFERENT VERSION,
James and Will Trayers were seen lest
night and told quite different story from
the ABOVE.
II visited my father frequently" said
Will Travers, and lie said to me once Iha,
he believed some one was trying to poison
him. | saw her take a bottle of medicine
off tie bureau once as | entered and she
left the house with 1t. He called my atten-
ton TO it and said, Why should any one
want to poison man as sick as am p He
had used half of that same bottle of medi.
cine and he said she had filled il again"
''She used TO abuse US terribly" said
James, "and the neighbors will testify to It,
did not visit father as often rs / wished
because / could not tolerate her."
my father told me shortly before he
died." said viii, that she had his will in
her possession and that the children were
provided for"