The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-01-09
NEW YORK. POISON MYSTERY
STORY OF THE NURSE WHO At
TENDED BARNET.
Victim Received Flowers and Mys-
ferrous Note Signed Blanche
Found the Package Of Poison.

New York, Jan. S.-An apparent
progress was made today in the solu-
ton of the mystery attached to the
Adams poisoning case. Miss Addie E.
1 Bates, the trained nurse who attended
Henry c. Barnet, the Knickerbocker
club member who is alleged to have
/ died from poison, called to see Captain
! McCluskey today. Captain McCluskey
! gave out the substance of his talk with
her as follows:
According to Miss Bates statement,
! she was sent for by DR.. Henry B. Doug
! lass on Nov. l last to take care of a
case She called at Mr.. Douglass of
! fee, and was directed by him to go to
| the Knickerbocker Athletic club to at
tend diphtheria patient, a man. The
patient had a sore throat, and Dr.
Douglass came in the afternoon and
gave directions for giving medicine and
spraying the throat. The doctor also
told her to admit no one to the patients
room during his illness. She gave him
medicine at different times, and refused
to let anyone see him. Many mes
sages came to him, but they were an
swered by her over the telephone.
At different tines the statement
continues, "a gentleman having a room
on the same floor in the club called to
inquire for him, and also sent him flow
ers. On Monday afternoon before he
NAOo VIC N1FQ Oii 1uuISQdg- NOV. IUD,
some flowers came to Mr.. Barnet with
a note. He was sleeping at the time
When he awoke 1 told him some flow
ers were there, and also a note He
requested me to read the note, and I
did so. After reading the note he just
closed his eyes and said, I wonder how
she knew l was ill
After I had been there two or three
days, Dr. Douglass asked me if [ had
seen d box marked 'Cutnow' I an
swered that / had, and we found it on
the dresser in the bathroom Mr.. |
Douglass took it away with him. He !
afterward said it contained mercury. /
AT the time Of Barnet's death there |
were in the room DR.. Douglass, myself |
and Miss Jennie Calender, the other !
nurse. His brother had been there. too.
but at the particular time he died he
was not there. During Mr.. Barnet's
entire illness he was in such a condi-
ion as man suffering from diphthe-
Ia. At no time was 1 suspicious that
MS illness was due to any other cause.
de was uncommunicative through all
us illness. I paid no attention to the
sores on his mouth, and SPRAYED his
hroat.'
Miss Bates denied that she had ever
and to anyone that Barnet had been
poisoned before the poisoning with
vhlch ne was affected just before his
maj illness.
The most important part of the in
erYleW with the nurse is that which
elates to the sending of the flowers
o Barnet, and the note which accom-
anied them. This is supposed to he
be note signed Blanche" about which s
o much has been written, and about
men there has been so much specu-
alton as to the identity of its sender. S
aptain McCluskey now has this note Z
l MS possession. He will not permit I
to be seen, or tell whether it is now |
! the hands of the handwriting expert. /
lie would not admit that the note was L
gned Blanche" but when. in dis v
lSSlng some point, one of his listeners {
skeo II the note referred to was the
ne signed Blanche Captain Me- \
luskey replied in the affirmative. He L
llckly corrected himself however. a
The captain said that the interview n
lth Miss Bates threw no light upon v
ie Adams case, and said that he had c
IT requested Miss Bates to make p
2tement. He said that Miss Bates s
,uio not recall the name of the man II
no had sent flowers to Barnet at the L
ub on two or three occasions.
W nen asked as to the time when Mr. n
lnsley, the expert in handwriting 81
light make his report upon the speci- e
ems III his possession, Captain Nc II
usKey said that it might be in forty u
sht hours. With relation to the pos n
Die examination of the body of Bar
I, the captain said that that matter
IS in the hands of the district attor-
V and the cOraOrar.