The Hawaiian gazette., 1894-02-09
Members of Company e. Are Sud.
denly Taken III.
THE FACTS POINT TOWARD CRIME
After Their Dinner, and Have All
the symptoms of Mineral Poisoning
They Recover During the Night,
From "wednesday Daily. ]


For the second time in the histor,
of the Provisional Government, wha
looks like a case of attempted whole
sale poisoning has occurred. Las
evening 4 number of the members o
Company f were. seized, soon afte
their dinrer, with symptoms OF min
eral poisoning, and, although NJ
serious damage was done, they suf
fered severely for some time.
As soon as the men began to show
that they were i'll DR.. Cooper, the
regimental surgeon, was sent for. He
found fifteen officers and men of Com
pany +, which is stationed in the
basement of the Executive Building,
suffering from severe cramps and
nausea. He at once gave them emet-
les and stimulants and soon brought
them around. The men who were
first taken sick were Lieut.. Coyne,
Sergeant Moore, Corporal Mcdonald,
and privates ellis, Fisher, Thomas,
Lubbock, Williams, Govea (2), Ham
bly,, Fuller, Murphy, Slattery and
Madeira, all of Company E. A num-
Der of others complained later of s.
slight touch of the same illness. AL
together about thirty were attacked
by the symptoms Of mineral poison
ing.
DR.. Cooper could not state positive
ly that the men were poisoned, al
though he said that it looked very
much that way. Samples of all the
food that the men had for their dinner
were saved, and a chemical analysis
of them will be made.
Captain Good was seen last evening,
and said:
al am not, of course, sure that this
is a case of attempted poisoning, but
the fact of so many men being taken
i'll at the same time certainly looks
suspicious. Soon after dinner eight
or ten men were taken with severe
cramps in the stomach, and retching.
The majority of them are all right
now, however,
A serious phase of the case is that,
although all the men ate together, all
did not suffer the same consequences.
Men who sat next to each other and
partook of the same food, would be
differently affected, one having all the
appearance of having been poisoned,
and the other being entirely free from
any illness. This was especially so at
the officers table, where Lieutenant
Coyne was the only one attacked.
DR.. Cooper, who attended the men,
said that it was possible that they
had not been poisoned, but be evident
thought it was more probable that
they had.
'sThe cases look very much like min
eral poisoning" said DR.. Cooper, "the
symptoms, cramps in the abdomen,
headache, nausea, and severe vomit-
ing, all pointing that way"
The men had for dinner roast beef,
poached eggs, macaroni and cheese,
and mashed potatoes. If the meat
had not been fresh, the cause of the
trouble might have been found there,
but it was conclusively proven that
this was not the case The only thing
that could have hurt the men was the
cheese that was used with the macar-
roni. This DR.. Cooper said, if put on
cold might have had q similar effect,
though it is hardly probable. 1t is
most, likely that someone has tried to
poison the men, and failed in the das-
tardly deed.
None of the men Of Company F were
taken i'll, although one or two COM
planned of a slight feeling of nausea.
They had about the same food, and it
is probable, had there been no poison
they would all have been affected
similarly.
Later in the evening a report from
the Headquarters was to the effect that
several more men had been taken with
the same symptoms, and every few
minutes a new case would be reported.
Lieutenant Coyne, who was able to
be up, although still weak, said that
DR.. Cooper thought it was poison that
caused the trouble, although he could
not be sure,
1t will be remembered that SINH
lar case took place April 18th last,
although in the present instance the
men were attacked with the symp-
toms of poison sooner after their
meal, than they were then. At that
time, it was supposed by some that
the men were poisoned by canned
goods that had been served, but in
this present case, there were no can
ned goods whatever on the tables
The symptoms in each case were ex-
actly the same, cramps, retching
and severe vomiting marking each.
About the same number Of men were