The San Francisco call., 1898-12-31
IT WAS SOLD IN THIS CITY
NAME OF THE PURCHASER NOT
 KNOWN AT PRESENT,
Letter From a Druggist That May Throw New Light on the New York
 Tragedy.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

NEW I llhh. Lee. 0Nk--1 HeTe IS nope that borders on certainty that the sil- ver-plated trinket received by Harry Cornish through the mails may prove a conclusive clew to the person respon- sible for the death of Mrs. Kate l. Adams and the poisoning of Cornish. It was not a bottle-hOldeI. as it has been represented to be, but toothpick- holder or ash-receiVer A private mark is stamped in the silver of this little article. Nc. S14, toothpick-holder or match stand" It was made in New ark, N. J., by Frank A. Lebkeuchner x Co, manufacturing silversmiths.
 MT Lebkeuchner said that his New York customers included the leading silVersmiths of the city It was the practice of all such firms to keep track of their wares, and No. Sl4" should be traced direct to the purchaser.
 A silver match-holder or toothpick- holder such as No. S14 is rarely. if ever, purchased fo a woman or by one. unless it is intended as a present for a gentleman. The little tray sur rounding the cup shows in itself what it k to be used for-cigar ashes. burned matches or broken tootnpicks.
 There is no size of bromo-seltZer bottle made that fits that article We made, said MT. Lebkeuchner, T tried it myself to-day. All are either too large or too small. A bottle in a bot tle-holder its perfectly The promo seltzer bottle must have rattled around in No. S14 and showed plainly that it did not belong there"
 Captain McCluskey of the detective bureau said to-day that he had ascer- tained the store at which the tooth pick holder was bought, but he refused 10 say what establishment it is. fur ther than that it is in New York Cap tain McCluskey regards the clew as the most important one that has been developed thus far.
 This afternoon MT Lebkeuchner said that only fifteen of the silver match safes of the design sent to Cornish had been made by his firm. Of these one each had been sold in the following cities: New York, Brooklyn, Salem, Mass; Newark, N. J.; Baltimore, Syra- cuse San Francisco and St. Louis. Two were sold in Middletown. Conn., and five were disposed of to firms in chicago.
 The names of the firms purchasing them MT. LebLeuchner withheld at the request of the police.
 District Attorney Mcintyre has re- ceiYed a letter to which he attaches a certain amount of importance. It sug- &eSlS that the bOlSOl kildl hl11CO MI =. Adams may have developed from a omo-seltzer in the process of de- composition.
 "This letter may shed light on this mysterious affair" said he. Tt may prove that Mrs. Adams death was ar unfortunate accident, and that there IS no crime back of it.
 The letter in question was sent to MT Mcintyre by s. J. Russell. druggist o1 Jersey City. While reading the ac- count of the Adams poisoning case tr the papers, Mir. Russells attention was arrested by the statement that the glass bottle containing the supposed bromo-seltzer bore. a label of drue company in Baltimore, Md. This re called to his mind an invoice of promo seltzer which he had received from tha company. but which he had sent bacl as unfit for sale.
 He then received from the company a letter saying the company had trieC granulating bromO-SeltZer, but founC that it did not keep well Tn that form and decided to abandon II.
 The question raised by this letter i whether the decomposition of the gran uIated bromO-seltZer that was manu factured by the Baltimore company i likely to produce a poisonous sub stance. and if so whether that sub stance is the same poison which killed Mrs. Adams.
 NEW. YORK, Dec. 31.-The Worlt says: Captain George McClusky chief of the detective bureau, firml! believes that he has solved the myster, surrounding the attempt to kill Harr' Cornish, physical instructor of tn KnickerbOCker Athletic Club, by send ing him poison through the mails.
 At o'clock last night Captain Nc Clusky stated that he would have tn culprit in custody within F hours. Tn lame of the suspected murderer i withheld from publication. lest it's an nouncement should defeat the ends O justice.
 The man under surveillance was for merly a member of the Knickerbocke Athletic Club. He was at one time man of high social and financial stand ing in this city, but in late years through evil habits and evil associa tions. his descent was rapid.
 From being unpopular in the athleti club he latterly developed into a per son with whom the members of tn club thought that they could not as soeiate. Things finally reached such pass that a special meeting of the elu was called to act upon his case and h was ignominiOusly expelled.
 It is well known that he from tn first associated MT. Cornish with tn revelation of facts which led to thi action
 All who know the person in questio find but one word with which to char acterize him. He is spoken of by ther as one of the worst types of hopeles and malicious degenerates.
 It is said that he took the action e the club in eXpelling him with bitte resentment. It is also said that he ha concentrated this feeling upon certai members of the club in particular an conspicuous among them was MT. Cor nish.
 With these general facts to suid them, the police set out to find eyi dence that would connect this perso with the deadly parcel which was de livered to Mir. Cornish by the postma at the Knickerbocker Athletic Club Q Saturday.
 The first definite clew was the trac ing of the little silver roothpiek holdt which came with the parcel of poiso from the manufacturer to a reta dealer. This dealer the police visite and from him obtained a minute an Ia4, s1.a1 ,l.