The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-11-22
WAS Old SILVA POISONED?!'
TESTIMONY SHOWING HE DRANK
FROM THE FATAL BOTTLE.
Mrs. De Ornellas Swallowed Some with
Him on Sunday and Was Seized with
Sickness.

The inquest into. the death of Joe
Silva depressed considerably yesterday
and fully as much of the testimony Civ
en- related to the habits and death of old
man Silva as to the three victims of the
connection found by them in the house
of the old fellow. Probably the most
important fact elected was that old
man Silva had, beyond much doubt
died from the same cause which carried
away three of his countrymen but was
allowed to be buried without any in
quest being held or the slightest excuse
of an inquiry in the nature of his death
before a death certificate was given.
Another fact which also made consider
able impression upon the jury was the
realization that the law permitted the
sale of methylated spirits, a poison, but
prohibited the sale of pure alcohol.
Xavier the young man who attended
old man Silva during the latter's last
illness testified to having been at the
bedside of the old man Sunday night
Silva had vomited a black matter but
the witness did not notice whether there
was any bloody serum i'm it or not.
Silva had complained shortly before his
death of being unable to see distinctly.
Deputy Sheriff Chillingworth asked il
Xavier had 60 informed Dr. Pratt
Xavier claimed that he had told DR..
Pratt of the vomiting but was not sure
whether he had spoken of the blindness.
Xavier gave considerable testimony
regarding the habits of the old man and
events preceded and after Silva's
death but much of it was hearsav. Xa-
vier did not think that the old man used
any huid as spray for plants and
thought he would have noticed It for
the witness lived in the same yard near
the house of Silva. Silva appeared to
be proud of his ability to doctor wines
and was continually boasting OF it. The
mother-in-law of the witness had taken
some of the peculiar tea colored con-
coctlon offered her by Silva and it made
her sick.
Subsequently this woman Mrs. Ger
trude de Ornellas took the stand and re-
lated her experience with the deadly Ii
quor of Silva. On Sunday the day pre-
ceeding the death of the old Portu-
guese, she and her daughter the wife
of Xavier were at the house of Silva and
he asked them to take drink. He Of
tered them a glass of tea colored stuff.
similar to that from which the three
men died. She remarked that II did
not look much like wine whereupon
ShVa laughingly took the wine glass
from her and drained the contents saw
ing that he would take it first so she
need not be afraid OF it. She swallowed
nearly glass full and her daughter
took about teaSnoonfuI Neither liked
the taste of the stuff. That night Mrs.
Ornellas was taken sick and vomited
considerably. She warned the men on
tuesday not to drink the stuff telling
them how sick it had made her.
Additional light as to the character
of the stuff which Silva had manufac-
tured was given by Antonio Castro.
The witness stated that he knew the
old man had purchased a gallon of al
cohol and mixed it with sugar When
at the house of Silva on Tuesday a week
ago he was offered some liquor similar
to that shown him by the coroner but
owing to sickness the witness had de-
clined to drink any of it. Silva had told
the witness in the presence of NJ. j.
Faria blacksmith of his intention to
purchase the ingredients for making
the liquor. The last statement was
denied by Faria who said that Silva
had told him he intended to get some
sugar but no mention was made of the
alcohol. This was a week ago Satur-
dav.
Antoine Joaquin testified that a week
before the death of old man Silva the
witness had visited his house and taken
a drink but felt no i'll effects from it,
Joaquin drank the liquor with Joe Silva
and the others at Silva's house on Tues
day from the effects Of which Silva.
Medeiros and Cabral had died. On that
day the liquor had been found in old
man SilVa's house by the three men
now dead, 1t was a trihe darker than
that shown him by the coroner. In
taste the stuff seemed like peppermint
but it did not burn the throat. Some
body told the witness it was coffee Ii
quOr.
j. Gaspar related the circumstances
of finding four square face bottles con-
tanning the peculiar tea coloped mix
ture hidden in box in the corner of
Silva's kitchen on Tuesday. The wit
ness drank of the stuff with the other
men. After the Portuguese Consul left
they hid one of the bottles in an out
house in order to have more to drink
The witness swallowed a small guam
tity of the stuff and it tasted like gin
Antoine Piemente also drank of the
stuff with the three victims. He took
four drinks and the only effect they
produced upon him was that they made
him feel dizzy. When he called, Silva
would always give him stuff to drink,
which the old man manufactured him
self
Nirginius MedeirOs a son of one Of the
victims told of seeing a number OF men,
his father among them, drinking the
tea colOred stuff at SilVa's house on
Tuesday. The boy tasted of the drink
but did not like it,
NJ. j. Simoes a groceryman and friend
of old man Silva testified to having
given the old fellow a number of empty
gin bottles. Witness knew nothing of
Silva's wine making plant.
DR.. Shorey the chemist said that he
did not consider it possible for the he'll
lebore to have been in the empty bot
ties before Silva got them by being
simply the remains of the poison stuck
TO the sides. There was too much Of it
in the stuff found at Slva's house
Wood alcohol could not contain an ir-
ritant poison like hellebore unless it
was artificially placed there. He re-
piled that the amount of wood alcohol
contained in the gin bottle would not
of itself be sufficient to cause the death
of a man. A pint bottle of gin taken at
once might kill some men.
H. c. Phunger of the HOLSTER Drug
Company stated that his firm kept he'll
lebore in stock but there was little call
for it, Portuguese and others were in
the habit of buying considerable guam
titles of methylated spirits
An adjournment was taken until 2
o'clock this afternoon when the jury
will ms lxa a Gaarph n Gi1Nafg hOI1gn