The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1902-04-02
ARE VICTIMS
OF PT0MAINES.
Coronsr's Opinion Of Tho Con-
ditlon Of Klein Children.
ONE DIES IN CONvULSIONS.
Parents Are Also Attacked but Not Very
sesrsy-Glh Is StIll In VERY
Critical Condition
ONE DIES IN CONCLUSIONS.

New York, April 2.-with one child
dead. two barely alive and the fourth very
III from a mysterious poison. Mr. and Mrs.
Michael Klein. OF sayville. L. l., have the
pity OF their neighbors. while the physi-
clans and county authorities are making
a vigorous effort 10 discover how the en-
tire family was stricken.
The youngest OF the children, little
Henry. just four years old, was the first
to become III. This was last Friday morn
ing. lie began to complain before break
fast OF intense pains in his stomach, ard
this was followed by nausea and finally
commissions.
Not until night OF the same day did the
other members OF the family show symp-
toms OF poisoning. Sophia. the next
youngest OF the children. was seized with
pains and convulslons similar TO those
which Henry had experienced. Mary, the
oldest child, who is ten years old, and
Annie who is eight became Ill about the
same time Sophia did Friday night. and
Mr.. and Mrs. Klein themselves complain
ed of severe pains i'm the stomach.
CHILDREN IN CoNvULsIoNs.
DIR. G. A. Robinson saw at once that the
entire family had been poisoned. He
worked over the children all night, and
saw some slight Improvement i'm the
cases of the two elder girls, but there was
little hope for the younger children.
Both were in convulsions from time TO
time all day Saturday, and late Saturday
night little Sophia died DR.. Robinson al
,,,t,. ~.
by constant attention he managed TO
check the commissions. The boy and the
eight-year-old girl are still In a very crit
ical condition, however.
There is much mystery as TO the origin
of the poison. DIR. h. s. Moore. Coroner,
who was summoned from Bayshore when
one of the children died Saturday night
gives 1t as his opinion that the childs
death was due TO ptomsine poisoning.
One theory was that the children. who
had been out searching for wintergreen
in the woods Friday afternoon. had eaten
sumac berries, and brought some of them
to other members of the family. The doc
tor said
Il found that the family had eaten can
ned tomatoes the night before the first
case developed. That was at supper
Thursday night. They had also eaten
roast beef II is possible that ptomaine
poison was in the tomatoes or the meat
i am not prepared 10 say whether the
meat or the tomatoes were infested with
the poison, because / have made no analy-
sis of the food as yet. / am convinced
from the symptoms that the children are
the victims of ptomaine poisoning"
PToMAINEs IN TOMATOES.
DR.. Robinson, the first physician called
In TO attend the family, agrees with the
coroner that there was ptomaine poison
in the food eaten Thursday night by the
family, and he believes that IL was in the
canned tomatoes. Mr.. Klein said to a
World reporter yesterday that he bought
the canned tomatoes at a village store
where he has bought all of his groceries
for years. and that the tomatoes were OF
the same kind he had been using all win
ter. All the neighbors around Sayvile
who patronized the same grocer had used
the same kind without any such results.
lone can never tell about canned toma-
toes" said DR.. Robinson. "One may buy
half dozen cans of them out of the same
lot and FIVE will be good. while another
may be bad. Again, one may buy ten
thousand and they may all be good but
one. Ptomaine poison turks In canned
goods and sometimes i'm meats when we
least expect II. There is no antidote for
the poison. physician can only nurse
the stomach and administer drugs that
will help to build up what the poison Is
tearing away"