The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-10-17
CAP TAIN BELIEVES
He WAS POISONED
CAPTAIN JOHN DE GREAvEs HAD
A NARROW ESCAPE-ARSENIC
WAS PLACED IN HIS FOOD.

Captain John de Greaves, of de
Greaves Island fame, and who is in
charge of the morgue at the Board of
Health, is recovering from a severe i'll
ness which he declares was the result
of an attempt to poison him, by put
ting arsenic and phosphorus in his
food, in the form of rat poison. The
case presents many suspicious feat
ures, and the captain says he has sus-
picions as to the perpetrators of the
deed. De Greaves had a most narrow
escape from death, being found uncon-
scious on his veranda after a night of
intense suffering, and only restored
with difficulty.
The old captain lives alone in Kaka-
ako, and does his own cooking. The
poison was in some corn starch pud
ding which the captain ate for his
evening meal. Il have ms doubt" he
said, that deliberate attempt to
poison me was made, by parties who
hope to get hold of some property
hold. About two hours after l had eat
en- the stuff, l began to feel the effects,
and when l attempted to retire | fell
unconscious on the floor of my room.
1 passed a night of fearful suffering,
and the next morning some children
found me on the lanai They thought
l was dead and SO reported, but when
it was found that l was still alive Dr.
Mcdonald was sent for, and he sue
ceeded in bringing me round. He found
all the symptoms of arsenic poisoning.
The only thing that saved my life was
probably the fact that l refrained from
drinking any water after taking the
poison"
The corn starch was analysed after
the poisoning of the captain, and both
phosphorus and arsenic were found in
it, There Is no evidence as to how it
got there, but the captain is inclined
to think he has reasons for suspecting
certain enemies. 1t had evidently been
placed there since the food was previ-
ously used, for the captain had used
corn starch from the same package
without experiencing any i'll effects.
Captain de Greaves had been told that
kahunas were at work on him, and
thinks the poisoning is perhaps a nat
ural result.
THAT is what l call kahuna' bust
ness" he said The kahunas don't
pray people to death. In cases where
they are successful they simply use
poison. I've been here long enough to
know their ways. 1t was narrow es-
cape for me, and l am not quite over
it yet, but am getting along all right,
and they will have to wait a while for
Captain De Greaves is a well known
mariner. He was the discoverer of De
Greaves Island, which Captain Law
less of the Australia recently discover
ed, after it had been lost for many
years. The island is thought to be a
valuable one, and De Greaves is said
to be the only man in the world who
has it's exact location. An expedition
to the island was proposed some time
ago, but the financiers of the PROPOSE
! ton and the captain did not come to
terms and the scheme fell through
Captain De Greaves has lived in Ha-
wall number of years, and was in
the service of Kalakaua when the lat
ter was king, He has visited practt-
cally every island in the Pacific and
is one of the best posted men in the
world about the various islands and
groups. The captain has several thou
sand dollars worth of property, and
some very valuable charts and records
in his possession, and he thinks that
the attempt to poison him was by
parties who hoped to get hold of the
property.