The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-03-27
TIE rom JnrrIS TNAGnDY.

Father and Mothr Dead by Poisoning and
 Daughter Dying-Mrs. nyner Died Yes
 tet day After Scene in the Death Cham Der With Her Daughter Mrs, Whitaker
 The Daughter Now at tine Point of
 Death,
 Port Jervis. March 26,-This town is in a state of excitement over the trag- edy enacted in the unpretentious home of Jacob and Frances Snyder, at 57 East Main street. Snyder and his wife lie dead in adjoining rooms in the sec ond story of the residence from the ef- fects of arsenical poisoning admins tered by some person on whom the crime has not yet been fixed.
 Snyder died on Tuesday night in aw- full agony and his wife fingered until this morning, when at 1920 o'clock she also succumbed.
 The Snyders' only daughter, Mrs. Martha Whitaker, who is suspected of having administered the poison, has been under the surveillance of the po- lice since yesterday morning.
 She was debarred from the presence of her parents by order of the physi- clan, Dr. Swartwout, on last Sunday, at which time it was first ascertained that they had been poisoned. Mrs. Whitaker was practically a prisoner in the sitting room below the room 1 where her mother lay suffering all day yesterday a policeman standing guard on the outside of the building by order ! of Coroner Harding, who has the mat | ter in charge.
 1 When Mrs. Snyder was found to be in dying condition at o'clock last evening the daughter was admitted to her presence. As soon as she entered | the room the. mother called out: Get l her out of my sight," The daughter did not leave the room, but remained where her mother could not see her,
 When the mother died Mrs. Whitta- ker swooned and fell to the floor. Snort- 1 ly after she was seized with nausea, ! and Dr. SwartWout was hastily sum moned He found her suffering evi- 1 dently from the effects of poison, and administered antidotes. The physician
 was again called at o'clock, and later l at Il o'clock. At noon it was said that the woman was dying. At noon it was the woman was dying. Policeman liar vey still stayed on guard.
 Coroner Harding took an ante-mor- l tenn statement from Mrs. Snyder on Tuesday, the substance of which he will not make known until the inquest, a jury for which was empanelled this l morning.
 The inquest on the body of Jacob Snyder will be continued this afternoon l by jury formed yesterday. Autop- sies have been performed on the bodies of both the victims by DTS. Swartwout, | Cuddeback, Banks and Medrick. The stomach intestines and other organs showed violent irritant poisoning by 1 arsenic.
 These will be sent to-day to a New
 York chemist to be analysed. 1 A box of rat poison Tn the house, from
 which about two spoonfuls had been
 taken, is in the possession of Coroner 1 Harding.
 | Mrs. Whitaker by the death of her
 parents would have come into posses sion of $3 900 insurance, s2,000 of which
 was on the life of the father, payable | to the wife, and S1 900 on the life of Mrs. Snyder, payable to her husband
 Mrs. Snyder made a will on Tuesday in which she devised her property so as to | deprive Martha of the $2,000, but the 1 S1 ,oOO insurance on her own life she could not change.
 | al Iyar q ccertpH that she innocent of the crime and that when | the relatives learned of the will they 1 Hooked to the house and precipitated l a quarrel. The district attorney has | instructed Coroner Harding to make @ 1 thorough investigation so as to clear up the mystery Unfortunately for Mrs. Whitaker in her present situa- 1 ton. she has borne an unenviable rep utation for years. She was married several years ago to Benjamin Whitta- ker, and they separated, the father hav- ing custody of the nine-year-old son. Since then she has lived with her par l ents. She has caused her father any amount of trouble, and was for a time l in the Hudson reformatory. l Jacob Snyder lived here over thirty years, and was for fifteen years Erie yard engineer Mrs. Snyder's maiden name was Rhodes Both were very worthy persSns and were highly re- spected.
 A double funeral will take place at 10 o'clock on Friday from the home 1 This tragedy occurred directly across the street from the spot where Bob Lewis was lynched over three years ago.