The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-05-17
QUEER OLD Mrs LARsEM
xeasons for Thinking She Accidentally
Drank tho Poison that KilleA ner.

| xeasoAs for Thiukine She Aeeiaentally
Drank the Poison that Killed Her.
Mrs Mary Larsen. Willismsburgh's woman
hermit, who was found dead In her house. 73a
Grand street. on Sunday morning. probably
drank the poison that killed her By accident.
She was 70 years old and great miser. tis
| not often that miser sacrifices his gold By
taking his life. Mrs. Larsen's instinct was to
collect and save money. She was successful
| in doing 1t. as the search Of her house By the
police after her death showed. and there was
no reason for her to commit suicide.
The belief that she took the rat poison BY
accident Is based on the fact that when her
room. which was doubly looked and barred
and bolted from the inside. was broken open.
there were on the table with the glass from
which she had drunk the poison half y dozen
other glasses. one Of which contained milk.
The house is overrun with rats. 1t was not
unusual for her to purchase rat poison. and
presumably she mixed 1t with water and
spread it around to kill the rats. as 1t was her
apparent intention OF doing on Sunday.
She was worry near sighted. and possibly.
after mixing the poison in the glass. she left
the table and later returned to drink tho milk
and got hold OF the glass OF poison by mistake.
This theory Is bornc out BY the note she
scrawled on piece of paper as she lay dying
on the floor. The note read: Il have made
Ere.a t;o mistake; have taken polls" Tho
Grand street for, fifteen years. For five years
daughter was queer. too. In the fifteen years
the only human beings except the POLICE who
~ eyer crossed her threshold. she said. were
thleVes;, something over a year ago she told
broken into tho house aud had stolen 1000,
she didn't want any policemen to 20. into her
house nous, and look around. Her story Of the rob-
boy passing, the house one morning saw
2 shoe and foot sticking out Of a
SPt the sn%Ss wa! Hs roSs sd nt & ssn
was found on the floor bound and gagged. and
s sne said that 19bhers had entered the house
ssi ss sHf thsD GSSs
rns shs hsy be uSdef n:
nr tb;a the police dropped the case
Good boy who ran Strands for her c'a and sM III.
Martin. who, keeps restaurant across the
eE IN they sve etsa ss Se
blinds of hcr house down after 9 o'clock in the
morning they might know that something had
Tho blinds, wore down Sunday morning. and
this ). led TO the finding Of the body.
and that 'S nephew Sn one said ths
eight years ago. so he may be dead now. She
always bHught what little meat she used from
butcher hliuck on the corner above her house.
Her husband had trad ed there before HE death.
one winter night eight years ago she called |
at the butcher shop and said she had Just got
who Vas dyng The ' next day she Went to
ing. She told Mr. klinck that she had reached
New Rochelle lust in time and that her sister
had given the deeds Of three houses In New
DIRK to her five minutes before she died.
Now. Mrs. LARSEN" said the butcher. "you
ought to take cir! to live with you In that
house"
Mrs. Larsen took offence at that and never
spoke to Mr.. Klinck again. She seldom paid
|or things she got She was known to be we'll
1N and evory one was willing to trust her |
When she began trading. with Martin. the res
aurnnt man. she paid him the first week. and
After that she said she would pay him In a
Jump She told young Good the same thing
food says that II month ago she told him the
house in Grand street. Wi!liamshurgh. was ali
he real estate that sheowned. What becameof
he three houses her sister gave her is a Ques-
ion. They were in Washington street, near
,!arksonn; OF! leases Of them were found
he seven bank boo ks that were found had the
interest been footed up for nearly ten years. |
n one bank book showing deposits OF 81. 900 |
10 interest had been footed for twenty years. |
Nothing was heard from the nephew yester-
lay. though Carriage Maker Remsen teIe-
.raphed sunday to the address she had given
lin. He may 10 dead. too.