The San Francisco call., 1896-10-02
Suspicion Was Held Concerning
Poison, but an Analysis
Showed No Result.
ALL SYMPTOMS IDENTICAL
The Rem aiming Milk Will Be Tested
Once More by the Health
Authorities.

Three families were made sick Tuesday
night by drinking milk. all of which came
from one can, this can having been
brought from a dairy in San Mateo
County to Becker's grocery-store on the
southeast corner of Sutter and Taylor
streets. -Four persons residing in the
tenement above Becker's store were made
ill. Two of these are Mr.. Becker's young
daughters. Two others are ladies from
the interior, q Mrs. Watson and her
daughter. Mr.. and Mrs. Becker were alb
sent from the City, so they did not drink
any of the milk, but young man who is
employed in the Becker store, William
Kroencke, suffered.
Two physicians, Drs. Bunker and Davis,
whose offices are in the neighborhood,
worked about all Tuesday night and until
8 o'clock yesterday morning in at
tendance upon Mrs. E. f. Dugan
and her daughter of 632 Sutter
street. They were worse than the mem
bers of the Becker household. As they
were sick after drinking the milk,
the connection was clearly established in
their cases. Another family on Sutter
street, near Jones, drank the milk and
were made ill.
When the physicians and their several
clients compared notes yesterday it was
found that the symptoms were Identical
in all the cases. All the persons appeared
to have been poisoned, but the probabil-
tiles were otherwise against such sup
position. 1t is true that the milkcan was
placed in an areaway some hours before
Becker's store was opened, and there was
ample opportunity for any one to tam per
with 1t, but it was not thought to be prob
able that any one would poison a whole
can OF milk and place in peril many un-
known persons. When the driver of the
San Mateo concern, which had supplied
the milk came around Wednesday he was
surprised to hear what had occurred. He
took away what was left IN the milkcan to
have it analyzed by the authorities at the
City Hall.
Mrs. Dugan is the mother of Mr.. Dugan,
the druggist and chemist. whose pace of
business is on the southwest corner of
Taylor and Sutter streets, directly opposite
Becker's. Some milk remaining in his
mothers s house, he caused an analysis of
it to be made in his store.
A search first was made for arsenic,
strychnine and morphia. No traces OF any
mineral or other poison were discovered,
and last night the secret of the illness of
Mrs. Dugan and the others remained un-
explained, but tnere was no question that
the milk caused it.
Most of the milk went into tea, so that
no one drank very much. This is consid-
cred to have been especially fortunate. for
the majority of the victims were very i'll.
Four were not fully recovered last night,
the two ladies from the country and Mrs.
Dugan and her daughter. Ali the svmp-
toms were similar to poisoning cases.
MIR. Kroencke drank the milk at noon
and was sick In the afternoon. The others
had the milk at night and were sick some
hours later. One or two others are re-
ported TO have suffered slightly, but this
is not verified.
The Can in which the liquid was taken
to Becker's was an ordinary three gal lon
affair. There is no suspicion concerning
any person. The general opinion in the
neign borhood is that the milk was unit
to drink when it was delivered,