The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-10
POISON IN THEIR COFFEE.
a FAMILY MADE SICK IN A VERY
MHSTERIOUS KAT.
Patrick HART or Hrooaiyn Desd-Feur Naem-
bers er HIS Family RESPONSIBILITIES OF =
white Powder Supposed 70 ne Arsenic
Were Dtscoverea Tn the Conee Grounds.

-ANe SN1N -FFN-N
Were Discsverca in the Conee Greunds.
Patrick HART Of s57 Bedford avenue, Brook
lyu. who. with his wife and four Of his ak
daughters, was taken Ill after drinking coffee at
breakfast on Thursday morning, died at 1880
o'clcck on Thursday evening. Tho other mem-
bors OF the family who were made Ill by the cof-
fco had 30 far recovered yesterday afternoon as
70 be able 10 DO about the house.
From the finding Of particles Of q white pow-
der among the grounds in the pot in which the
coffee was made, and from the condition Of the
stomach MS revealed at tho autopsy, 1t 10 con-
cluded that Hartt and his family were poisoned.
supposedly by arsenic. Tho reason that Hartt
died. and that members OF his family recovered
from the effects OF the poison, was furnished,
In part at least, by the autopsy. The mans
weakened physical condition made 1t impossible
for him to countoract the poison's effects.
The facts thus far brought out servo only to
throw q mystery about the case. HART was .
woll-to-do dealer In fertilizers and q commission
dealer In building materials, with an ONCE In
tho Building Material Exchange at 90 Liberty
street. He owned . large brickyard at Mata-
wan, N. j.. and Q plant for reducing ore and
pebble phosphates to fertilizers at oldbridge,
N. J. He lived in q thrce-story and
basement brick house. His family consisted Of
n wife and six daughters, whose names, Begin
ming with tho eldest, are: Celia, 80 years old,
Lavtnia, %; Alice, %; Ada, 10; LILLIAN, IL, and
Euphenlia, Is. The only son died about two
yenrs ago.
No servants were employed in tho family. Mrs.
HART and tho daughters doing the housework.
On Thursday morning, Lavtnia Hartt arose
about z o'clock and went down into the kitchen
to prepare breakfast. which consisted of wheat
and rye bread and butter and coffee. The Iiartts
always bought their coffee in the bean in ton
z-- d. III. y..e - a. lank ryrnhanA ~
coffee was taken from The canister to mako the
coffee on Thursday morning.
Lavtnia put tho ccnee beans into a mill and
ground them. She 10 positive that the mill was
clean when tho coffee beans were put into II.
The ground coffee was then put into n pot Of
asateware. Hot water from an agateware tea
| kettle was poured upon It. Miss Hartt IL quite
pot and teafettle as she is about the cofoo mill.
f, whsH ns srss esIisS. T r.. f srss to the Ps. rsSs e % t the
call were Mr.. Hartt and the two youngest daugh-
tiers, Lillian and Euphemis. When they were
seated at tho table Lavinia poured coffee for
finishing her hrst cup Of, coffee Lavinia drank
y second cup. About this time Mrs; Hartt and
Who Sis o didn't oome to breakfast at al, entered tho
Mrs. HART took her soa. opposite to her hus.;
band, and was about to pour coffee. for herself
wet mamma a SAM an drink I,ol !, te / 4, coffee; 1T II
% heat that Z = tS eofPes again 1G before se' You pour ri it" D'
Mrs. Hartt had no objection to this propoh
ton, but Celia HART, tho eldest sister, did. She
well. I don't want my coffee 80 hot that 1t
will seeIch my g,ophaga : when I drink it Give
Jack sprs.t could eat NO fa., his wife could
S Willis nf Ii. ,s aife pa sSf,aas ! en Ts% ior tsii.: Nj Fi,s don't done,
Celia began drinking her coffee, while Alice
heated b lied T Ti,sss wa' l IF i II the so bot sxer eot gss ' ME.'
for Alice. The conSimsnts were GRADUATED 81.
taking her hrst sip of the coffee, Mira. Hartt re-
There is something the matter with this
had been poured into It; Taste it, Alice, and 500
IiIes sd aid 1s as Ssr s moiher r ss9es; taking two
III should say there was something wrong.
N"Not much" replied the eldest daughter. 1T
iSSIdpSf sstiss !snythflns tho matter with that
"oh. your mother and Alice have dark brown
tastes in their mouths this morning and they
Mr.: Hartt, addressing his remark to Ceiia.
There's nothing the matter with my taste,
m :1Esi, s Siys me sa s.e,As5 e %9.' HART. "it YOU
my CUP can't drink more than half a cup.
,. e. ss = e, she s,R poured nts , sssus :, h NJ. f The shs oq Ts
syeR, h. 81 excused SHn; d himself Inns HE' from Inc let ..sis. ssy,ns
that he was going Into tho drug sto1e OF Oscar
tSs nunSe r r tsT s? s5s B hs'3 I shs s1 aa = t'''a'n'''
Last March Nr. Hart was injured By q trolley
car on the Graham ayenue line, ead he sued the
eS@RaaY sim 1fSs kkt S.%ss "a n Sea ny S talH ss1.r -
ye..s ago in Z Piston .S Of { {. belt sdsd line car ~ Nth III
oserss e sss fo5 5 900: =.
wife that hi tuit against tho Graham avenue
E. e !. ! RI y a H. i rs "a dF HES :ssf :. ss ts SSa g. + +
J. Reilly Of 70 Bedford avenue, the physicians
remind tn OF q consultation they were 10 have
The d thtsr, Euphem,s, secoppanied he.
cred forse:' There Sppeared to. Be nothing
talked with DR.. Carroll over tho tsiophono and
then returned 70 the house.
the s't store HSnd1 rang u Dr.. Pesrroii's oaies In :
what sho told the doctor whom she got him a
Doctor, when yon start out make your fret
call at our honse.. Papa and mamma and all
tho Eost are sick from the coffee we had for
IT To l ths Ihrq9s sdSr inGaifte 18th. the cir girl h ssid .i tho,
Lillian. had bgenmade ~ by the coffee that they
had drunk; pr Carroll reached the house be
tween y ana 10 o CLOCK. He lound Inc whole raini
ly Ill except the two youngest girls and Ada. wit
had not taken breakfast; He examined the COFFEE
pot after the liquid had been Toured from the
grounds. He GOULD see particles OF a white pow
der mixed with the grounds. From the condi
tion OF his patients he concluded that they were
suffering from an ~irrltant poison; From what
he saw In the coffee pot no concluded the poison
miahJ DO arsenic. and no ran into the drug store
to got an antidote for lrsCnical poison.
This antidote was administered as quickly a.
possible, Oi the daughters affected Celia ant
Laylnis were the least II, and they rocoveros
onsly affected. The antidoto seemed to have nj
effect upon him. Toward nightfall The NOR
violent symptoms OF Illness ceased. largely, DR.
Carroll says, because of tho weakened condition
OF the patient From then on Mr.. Hartt grldu
ally grew weaker until he died. The rost Of thu
family were out of danger In a few hours.
After Mr.. Hartt's death Coroner Sasen wa;
notified. and 80 were the police. Yesterda,
and Dunn OF tho Fifth precinct station
at the corner of North First street an'
There seemed to be no doubt that MI
tant poison. Tho question was, how did tn
s,,, a ,fa.a A 81 xrarLlnn oil laU tho pnli,