Los Angeles herald., 1905-03-06
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POLICE READY TO ACT
San Francisco Officers Waiting for
Result of Analysis
By Associated Press.

BY Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO, March 5.-Acting
Chief of Police Spillane said tonight
that the>police department of this city
had stopped all work on the Stanford
case today. absolutely nothing can
be done until hear from High Sheriff
Henry of Honolulu in regard to the
results obtained by the chemists in
their analysis of the contents of the
stomach and of the conclusions de-
duced by the physicians from the au-
topsy performed on the various organs
of the body"
Are you ready to make an imme-
diate arrest in the event that these
reports make it certain that the cause
of Mrs. Stanford's death was the re-
suit of strychnine poisoning?" the
chief was asked.
Eyes, we are prepared to act" was
the reply.
AS to who was to be placed in prison
the official would not say.
Doubt Poison Theory
| Police officers and detectives working
on the case are beginning now to ex-
press doubts that Mrs. Stanford was
really poisoned 1t is believed that a
private detective agency of this city
will continue to shadow all suspects
until the results of the work at Homo
lulu clearly demonstrate that no crime
was committed.
Harry N. Morse, who has taken per-
sonal charge of the investigation by
the private detectives since Capt. Cal
lundans departure to Honolulu, de-
MED that any of the Chinese servants
| in the Stanford mansion was under sur
veillance. There has never been any
strong suspicion pointing to any of
the Chinese who were in the house
at the time of the poisoning.
The detectives at an early stage of
| the investigation had theory that the
poisoned water from which Mrs. Stan
| ford drank on January IA might have
been meant for Miss Berner and that
the poison was placed in it by one of
the Chinese servants out of desire for
revenge on the secretary. This theory
was based on the fact that there had
been a quarrel over a trivial incident
| a few days before the poisoning, the
principal parties to the quarrel being
Miss Berner and Wong Wing, the Chi
nese housekeeper.
Former Buffers Story
According to Max Machner who was
Mrs. Stanfords butler in December,
the relations of Miss Berner and Miss
Richmond were very friendly. Con-
tinuing. Machner said:
Mrs. Stanford enjoyed life, and
| do know she desired to live until some
| certain work at the university was
completed. l remember a number of
instances in which some dish of which
she was very fond, but dared not eat
would be placed on the table and she
would say: Max, take that away or
I shall eat some of that and l must
not"
Machner was in the employ of Mrs.
Stanford for about six months and
says his dismissal was due entirely to
the jealousy of the other servants.
In answering number Of searching
questions, Machner said that Miss Ber-
ner was in receipt of an additional
salary from Charles G. Lathrop, un-
known to Mrs Stanford; that Miss
Berner's duties were very exacting at
times and she had frequently threat
ened to leave, but Mr.. Lathrop had
added to the salary paid by Mrs. Stan
ford. for the reason that he we'll knew
| Miss Berner, better than any one else,
| understood her aged employer.