The San Francisco call., 1905-02-21
NOT LOOKING
FOR POISONER
Detectives Say Story of At
tempt to Kill Mrs STAN
ford Is Piece of Fiction
SCOFF AT WILD TALES
Facts Strongly Contradict
Theory That Mineral Wa
ter Contained Strychnine

Around the fact that Mrs. Jane
Stanford. eight weeks ago. after par
taking Of q hearty dinner given to sew
eral Of her friends, quenched a natural
thirst with a glass of mineral water,
which is supposed TO have been re-
sponsible for nauseating feeling that
followed, there is being weaved a SEN
sational story Of an attempt to muir
der the generous-hearted woman.
Although no motive is shown for
the supposed attempted destruction of
Mrs. Stanford, who has no enemies.
and although a thorough investigation
of the matter satisfactorily. showed
that a plot did not exist, there are
those who seem to think that the phil
anthropic lady really had a narrow
escape from death and they are sug-
gesting all kinds of thories to support
their frenzied imagination.
1t was positively stated yesterday by
the detectives who worked on the case
that several hours labor proved to
them conclusively that no attempt had
been made to poison Mrs. Stanford
and, so advising her needleSsly
alarmed servants, the detectives
ceased their work and later presented
their bill for one days labor. Stories
told by two former servants of Mrs.
y
nine, sufficient TO kill a dozen persons,
Yves found in the bottle of water from
which Mrs. Stanford took q drink are
pronounced by the detectives as great
" exaggerated. While ii is admitted
that the water nauseated Mrs. Stan
ford for a few minutes, it is possible,
so the detectives suggest, that this
fact was due TO an overloaded stom-
ach, for the lady had an hour pre-
Viously eaten dinner with friends.
If, as il has been asserted, the bot
tie of mineral water contained the
amount of strychnine alleged Mrs.
Stanford would probably have fallen
writhing in pain on the floor and
would have felt the effects of the poi
son for a number of days. Instead,
however, she retired that evening ap-
parently in the best of health and the
following day went TO Palo Alto,
where she remained until a day or so
before the entertainment given at her
residence on California street. Upon
the latter occasion, which was ten days
after the supposed poisoning episode.
Mrs. Stanford was in excellent health
and continued so for a number Of
days longer, when she experienced a
recurrence Of a bronchial trouble
from which she has been a sufferer
for many years and which was the
cause of her making her present trip
physician. 1t was this annoying af-
fection that caused her to abandon
the plans for formally Introducing her
niece, Miss Jennie Lathrop, to society
at a party arranged for at the Califor-
nia-Street mansion.
The true reason for bringing -detec-
tives into the case was a simple one,
but unfortunately lent some color to
the original reports that Mrs. Stan
ford's life had been attempted. When
Mrs. Stanford and her private secre-
tary, who also drank the mineral
water, complained of its peculiar taste,
they recalled the fact that they had a
large supply of il on hand and had
accustomed themselves to drinking il
regularly. It has occurred several
times in San Francisco that persons
have been poisoned by drinking vari-
Gus mineral waters, and remembering
one particular occasion about ten years
ago, when several prominent Pacific
Union Club men were poisoned one day
by drinking a well-known water, Mrs.
Stanford concluded that il would be
advisa bic for her TO inquire into the
cause of the peculiar taste of the water
she was drinking.
Accordingly she turned the matter
over to the detective firm, which has
frequently done work for her, and
whatever anxiety she had entertained
was quickly dispelled. The story of the
alleged attempted poisoning, however,
was not sprung until the evening of
the day that she departed for Homo
lulu. Ii is said by those who profess
TO know that the former servant who
is taking a lively interest in the SEN
sational story did not quit her en-
plOyer with the best of grace and has
not attempted to disguise the fact that
she bears i'll will toward Mrs. Stan
- -4.y-x
tives who worked on the case said that
the matter was closed as far as they
were concerned and that the report
that they suspected any one of an at
tempt to injure Mrs. Stanford or had
been shsdowing any one in connection
with the matter was absolutely false.