The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1905-03-07
MRS STANFORD MURDERED
Noted Western PhiIanthropist Drank
Soda Containing Strychnine.
motive IS A DEEP MYSTERY

OoMcAustOn FOLLOWS CArekui Scientific In
vestigatiOn by Medical AuthOnties--
Her Mind Clear to the Last Her BODY
to BE Brought Home From HonoIulu--
Previous Attempts Had Boon Made.
Honolulu, Fl. I-Science placed the
death of Mrs. Jane Lathrop Stanford,
Senator Leland Stanford's multi-mil-
lionaire widow individually in the list
of mysterious murders when the chem
lists to whom was intrusted the analy-
sis Of the bicarbonate of soda of which
she partook and the contents Of the
dead woman's stomach found both held
an easily mortal proportion Of strych-
nine
Rigorous investigation by the police
simultaneously developed that the muir
der was an act Of vengeance or insane
hatred, not crime committed for gain.
for it was ascertained the Jewels, val
ned at $751; 900, and other personal prop
erty Mrs. Stamford brought here in her
fight from San Francisco CAL, to es-
cape the secret poisoner were undis-
turbed. Suspicion therefore apparently
narrOwS to the persons who may have
fancied themselves aggrieved by an
act or omission of the famous philan-
thropist, unless the two attempts to
kill her with strychnine-the first in
her Mob Hill home, the second and
successful one in the Monana Hotel
here were made by one animated by
undiseriminating murderous enmity to
the rich.
1t was known unofficially that the
autopsy performed showed Mrs. Stan
ford died Of tetanus of the respiratory
organs, and the fact that tetanic
spasms such as the victim had shortly
before her death are recognized by
medical men the world over as cOnsti-
tuting one of the strongest symptoms
of strychnine poisoning was enough for
those who believed from the first the
rich American was murdered. DR. FL.
v. Murray, the physician who per-
formed the autopsy, said officially
strychnine poisoning was the direct
cause of death.
A step still more important than au-
topsy or analysis, because of the for
mality with which the law is invested
here, remains to be taken. If an arrest
is to be made in any part of the world,
it is believed it will not be ordered or
even suggested by High Sheriff Henry
until after the inquest Once the jury
returns verdict declaring Mrs. Stan
ford the victim of an assassin the po-
lice may act
Mrs. Stanford's body was emba1med.
1t will be taken to San Francisco in the
steamship China. III. A. Hackfeld was
selected to represent the Stanford inter-
ests here. Former Judge Stanley. who
first took charge of the murdered
woman's effects, will advise him
legally. Mr.. Hackfeld took the wild
owls jewels into his personal custody.
No objection was made to that by Miss
Bertha Berner, Mrs Stanford's private
secretary. Miss Berner remained in the
Monana, attended by May Hunt, Mrs.
Stanford's last maid.
Miss Berner said Mrs. Stanford, in
San Francisco, drank a glass of min
eral water with the bicarbonate OF
soda taken there. May Hunt, said
Miss Werner, agreed with her that the
soda bottle was packed in one of Mrs.
Stanford's trunks in San Francisco five
weeks ago and not opened until the
night of the widows death. 1t also
was learned that Mrs. Stanford, when
she came here on the steamship Korea,
said she had left San Francisco lin a
great hurry" No specific theory has
been expressed by the police.
San Francisco, Cal-Al doubt that
Mrs. Leland Stanford was murdered
apparently was removed when Acting
Police Chief Spillane received from
High Sheriff William Henry, of Homo
lulu a dispatch saying the bottle Of
bicarbona' Of soda, from which the
philanthropist took the dose that killed
her, contained a quantity of strychnine
medical experts said was sufficient to
kill hundreds of persons. The message
said there were 662 grains of the poison
In the bottle A physician Of high
standing, commenting on the news,
said that was enough to cause 662
deaths. One-fifteenth of a grain, he
said, was the largest dose that could be
given with safety, the average quantity
taken at one time for medicinal pur-
poses being one-fortieth of grain
All Mrs. Stanford'ss relatives and
friends were amazed when they
learned how much strychnine was
mixed with the soda. Charles G..
Lathrop, Mrs. Stanf0rd's brother, and
Mountford S. Wilson, her lawyer, who
were so ready to assert their belief
the octogenarlan had not died from
poison, were unwilling to talk after
they read the dispatch.
They Immediately held d conference
with d. o. Mills and plainly were
eager for further information from
Hawaii. Louis Falkenau, the chemist
who analysed the mineral water Mrs.
Stanford drank on January IA last. the
first time she was poisoned, said it
was Impossible for any save an expert
to detect the presence of strychnine in
bicarbonate OF soda, the harmless crys-
tails looking SO much like the poison.
Professor David Starr Jordan, Presi-
dent Of Stanford University, asserted
emphatically Mrs. Stanford's mind was
perfectly clear to the day of her death,
and said he had letters from her to
show that,