New-York tribune., 1905-03-08
FOUND TRACE OF POISON.
Chemists Got Color Reaction Only
from Mrs. Stanf0rd's Organs.

Honolulu, March when the inquest into the
death of Mrs Jane L. Stanford resumed to-
DAY the first witness called to the stand was R. a.
Duncan, food commissioner and chemical analysst
to the Board of Health. He testified that three
analyses of the bottle of bcarbonate of soda found
In Mrs. Stanford's room had been made He said;
We estimate ST that in the bottle were f4rtythTee %
contained half grain of strychnine. .
we examined a portion of the contents OF the
stomach, with negative result. for strychnine
We further examined one kidney and some OF the
contents of the ntestines. but were unable to sep
arate any poison from the substances; yet we oe-
1ained the color reaction characteristic OF strych-
and found that a test of an extraction gave the
color reaction indicative of strychnire. The test
far as know. 1t is the most trustworthy test The
color reaction we obtained Is not produced except
by strychnine
San Francisco. March 7.-For the last two days
the police have been considerably more active In
their investigation of the circumstances surround
ing the death of Mrs. Stanford. Albert Beverly
the former butler, and Miss Elizabeth Richmond
the former maid have been through severe IN
qusition lasting nearly three hours, and the police
are not through with them. Mountford wilson,
attorney for the Stanford estate District Attorney
Byington and Captain of Detectives Burnett did the
questioning.
The police refuse to divulge the line of question
Ing to which Beverly and Miss Richmond have
thus far been subjected, but it has been learned
that Beverly admitted that he was in the habit OF
taking commissions purchases made Tor the
nouSehoIo while in Mrs. StantordS employ. AHe
police refuse to affirm deny the correctness or
the statement of Beverly that Miss BerneG shared
with him n these illegal commissions on pur-
chases. In a cable dispatch from Honolulu she
makes absolute denial of the charge
Miss Richmond declared TO the police that it was
McWhnuey, a butler. who opened the bottles or
mineral water on the occasion of the attempt made
to poison Mrs Stanford last January. McWhinney
succeeded Beverly butler.
Captain Burnett authorized the following state
ment to-day:
The San Francisco police accuse no one and have
The witnesses who have been examined thus far
have come to us voluntarily Our position Is SIMPLY
this If the verdict of the coroners jury at Homo
lulu be that Mrs Stanford came to her he DEAN f 2
position TO turn over to The officials there every Dill
of evidence obtainable In San Francisco.
1t has been learned to-day that Mrs. Stanford had
been worried for a number of weeks before the
attempt was made to poison her January ID. by
insane Chinese named Wong Toy Wong the
fellow wrote her letter in which he demanded that
she give him 100000, which he said he had on de-
post in the Leland Stanford, Jr. University Trust
Bank, mythical institution The man hung around
the Stanford home until he was arrested py d
FebuaTy Both Re eH private V 3 detectives and the
local police deny hey ever suspected TINS oRnese
that they spent much time in tracing MS move
ments. c.s.
said that she believed murder had been commit
ted and that the murderer was now IN Sn or
to give the grounds of her suspicion. Miss Gilmore
said that Mrs. Stanford recently said she was posi-
tive that some one in her household had endeayored
to poison her but that she suspected no particular
one
''The CALI publishes a dispatch from Honolulu
which says that the reason of the failure of the
chemists to make their report of the analysis of
Mrs. Stauford's stomach the discovery that
the cascara capsules of which Mrs. Stanford
took at the same time she took the bicarbonate of
soda on the night of her death. also contained
strychnine.
Miss Berner, when questioned about these cap
sules. explained that they were prescribed many
hN a Ta nh he bad
had them made and again. One of the
component parts of the capsule poison.