The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-11-15
MOURNING IN THE PORTUGUESE
COLONY.

A Poisonous Drink Kills Joseph Silva
and Three Mourners at His Funeral
Large Families Bereaved.
| Three mourners who gathered at the
! bier of Joseph Silva on Punchbowl
street last Tuesday morning are dead,
poisoned by drink which they took in
! the room where the dead body lay.
They are Joaquin Silva, Joseph Cabral
and A. Medeiros. .Joseph Silva himself
was found dead last Tuesday morning
and the deaths of the other three have
| given rise to suspicious that he too
was poisoned. There is mourning in
the Portuguese colony, for three large
families are fatherless.
! Silva lived alone in a small house on
the right hand side of Punchbowl street
above the Mormon church He was
! florist and winemaker very well known
among the Portuguese, whom he sup
piled with wines of his own make. He
had no relatives in Honolulu, but left
a wife whose whereabouts are un-
| known.
After the death of the old man Con-
! sui Canavarro visited the house and
ordered 1t locked up, as there were no
relations to look after the belongings of
| the deceased. A coffin was sent for
and Joseph Cabral, driver for H. H.
| Williams, drove to the place with the
coffin. He entered the house with Joa-
quin Silva and Medeiros, together with
two others j. l.. +. Silva and II. Gas
par.
In the room where the dead man lay
| the five visitors found bottles of the
drink that killed three of them. Know
ing that Silva had been a winemaker
they expected to be able to find some
], Is,1 Co.. tg, L. FS,.
it, The stuff they found was in a large
gin bottle. 1t looked and smelled like
methylated spirits, with some sort of
adulterant, probably fusil Oil
After drinking a good deal of this
stuff the men left the place. 1t was
! a nasty and highly Intoxicating mix
ture but the men do not seem to have
| felt any serious effects until evening.
On Tuesday night Medeiros complain
ed to his wife that he was very i'll. He
became worse as the night wore on
and DR.. Miner was called. Yesterday
mornino Medeiros was no better and he
told his wife at that time that he was
golng to die and that he had brought
it on himself by something he had
drunk At one o'clock in the day he
told his children that he was a dead
man. From that. hour he sank rapidly
and death came at three in the after
noon.
The illness in the other cases was
about the same. Severe irritation of
the stomach, with sickness and pains,
were the first symptoms Later the
eyes and head were affected and the
victims of the poison became comatose
and passed away. Cabral died at nine
o'clock last night and Joaquin Silva at
four o'clock this morning.
The three victims of the poison were
all married and all leave a number of
ob nil
dren, some of them very young and
now left with their mother to shift for
themselves. Medeiros left eight chill
dren and Cabral three. None of the
families were in VERY good circum-
stances, and the three widows will have
little time to mourn while they look
after the fatherless children.
This morning the police were noti-
fled of the mysterious deaths and an
investigation was begun. Captain
Costa of Company C, of which Joaquin
Silva was a member, visited the place
where the drinking was done, and
brought the bottle from which the men
had drunk to the police station. Drs
Pratt, Raymond, Herbert and Miner
were interested in the various cases
and an autopsy and an analysis of the
drink were ordered
Joseph Cabral had been driver fol
H. II. Williams ever since the latter
undertaking parlor was established He
was a good steady workman and fire.
quently had charge of funerals. The
dead man was very we'll known both
among Portuguese and others in Ho-
nolulu. His home was on Kuakin
street, where his widow and children
now are.
Joaquin Silva was guard at the In
sane Asylum at Palama, and shoulC
have gone on duty last night a
II o'clock. He was a former steward
of the Hawaiian hotel. His widow anC
nine children are living on Punchbow
street. He was no relation of the ole
winemaker Silva.
The other victim of the deadly mix
ture which was found by the dead
body of Joseph Silva, A. Medeiros, was
also a prominent member of the Por'
tuguese colony. He formerly kept {
I store at the corner of Punchbowl anC
[ Beretania streets and lived on Punch
bowl street, with his wife and eigh
children. Medeiros was stronl
healthy man.
The old Silva, who died on Tuesda!
> morning, is supposed to have used tn
stuff that killed his three friends t
y flavor his wine. 1t is thought that tn
stuff was something that the old maj
was wont to use in small quantities t
improve the taste of his wine, whicl
had a local reputation. In such smal
quantities it would be harmless, bu
the three dead men appear to hav
taken it unadulterated, as drink.
Old Silva showed much the sam
symptoms as the other three men, an
it is considered. very likely he also wa
poisoned by the mixture that killed tn
others Several bottles had bee
consumed. The police have anothe
full bottle, unopened.
One theory is that in making hi
wine Silva made a mistake, putin
too much fusil oil in it,. Then he dram
I some himself and die alone in hi
- home, leaving a quantity of the stu
- there.
y Three other people are known
have had some of the deadly miXtur,
One of them, a Portuguese woma
who was neghbor of Silva, is now