The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1905-03-31
DETECTIVES AND
NEW EVIDENCE
,(Continued from page one)


the commissions that invariably attend
the dying moments of victim of
strychnine poisoning are so severe that
it would be impossible to even hold a
patient on a chair.
1t was established by the detectives
that when Mrs Stanford summoned her
maid Miss Hunt, and her secretary,
Miss Berner, she complained of a
nauseating feeling, and the two women
led their mistress first to a wash stand,
where they began administering to her
hot water and then placed her I'm an
ordinary straight back armless chair. |
Later they placed Mrs Stanfords feet |
in bucket of hot water, and while !
Miss Hunt busted herself rubbing the !
sick woman's limbs, Miss Berner got |
a tin dish of hot water, which she |
placed in Mrs. Stanford's lap and then |
bathed the latter's hands. Had Mrs. |
Stanford, as was previously testified /
to by DR.. Humphris, been subjected to |
severe commissions, it would have been
impossible to keep her feet submerged
in the pail of water, or to have ball
anced the basin of water in her lap.
To this strong evidence, not brought
out at the inquest, the detectives adj
ded the information gained from Miss
Berner and Miss Hunt, that finally
Miss Berner removed the basin from
her mistress lap and thereupon Mrs.
| Stanford took Miss Berners hands in
her own and placing one against each
| cheek bitterly complained of agoniz-
! ing pains i'm her stomach. Detective
| Callundan closely questioned DIR. Hum
phris concerning his knowledge of
! strychnine poisoning symptoms, and
| the report made to Captain Burnett
yesterday by Callundan and Reynolds
makes no hesitancy in questioning the
doctors ability to clearly diagnose a
case of strychnine poisoning
1t is shown by the evidence gath
cred by Callundan and Reynolds and
! attentively listened to by DIR. Jordan,
that Mrs. Stanford death was attend
ed by only the ordinary rigidfty of a
death from natural causes, and that
Immediately after she had passed
away she was removed from the chair
to her bed, where little difficulty was
experienced in Strengthening out her
lifeless form, a task that could not
| nave DeeI accomplished niu SlIyCnIllIe
poisoning alone caused her death.
Captain Burnett was furnished an
other strong point against the Coroner's
verdict of strychnine poisoning i'm these
'ptwo facts First that the bottle of BIZ
carbonate of soda, from which Mrs.
Stanford took a potion, contained in
all 662 grains of soda, which, when
analysed was found to contain only As
hundredths of a grain of strychnne,
which, propOrtionately, was only
1-1326th of the total contents of the
bottle.
Second, the cascara capsules, of
which Mrs. Stanford took one, contain
ed one-thirteenth of a grain of strych-
nine which the chemists declare COM
bined with the strychnne i'm the soda
might have produced death in a per-
son of Mrs. Stanford's age and at a
time when her system was upset by
over-eating and unusual exercise, such
as she INDUCED i'm on the day of her
death
In further rebuttal of the original
testimony given by DR. Humphris Cal
lundan and Reynolds gave Captain
|
Mrs Stanford could not have possibly
fallen to the floor after taking her
medicine, even if it did not contain poi
son. and regain her feet without as
sistance To substantiate this asser-
ton the detectives produced state
ments of Mrs. Stanford's physicians
and of Miss Berner and Miss Hunt
to the effect that for more than a
year Mrs Stanford had suffered from
stiffness of the knees, and had found
ii beyond her physical ability to rise
from the floor alone.
Although the physicians who con.
Quoted the autopsy made the state.
= ment that Mrs. Stanford's organs were
y in remarkably healthy condition fol
a woman of her age, the detectives
y CLEANED from inquiry among severa
y prominent surgeons who examined The
y heart that the latter discovered that i
y was anything but healthy. 1t wa.
found to contain portions of fat that
. had not been examined by the autopsy
n surgeons, and bore other noticeable in.
n dtcations of disease. Another surpris
= ing discovery made by the detectives
a and one that should have entered into
the considerations of the autopsy sur
, geons, was the amount of food con,
n sumed by Mrs. Stanford a the picnic
On that occasion she ate four Swis,
n cheese sandwiches, two tongue sand,
wiches, two lettuce sandwices, two OF
n three large pieces of ginger bread, Of
4 which she was very fold, two cups a
, cold coffee, which she had prepared
! herself before she left the Moana Hon g
also some fruit, and twelve or fourteen
pieces of French candy, which she
later complained made her slightly
sick at her stomach. Tt destroyed hei
appetite for the evening meal ? aW
The croWding Of her stomach, after
considerable walking, naturally weak
ened her heart and might easily have
fastened the end of a woman of Mrs
Stanford's advanced age, so experts
contend. These facts, revealed by the
persistent inquiry of Captain Calun-
dan, readily appealed to President Jor-