The San Francisco call., 1905-03-03
DETECTIVES ARE CLOSELY GUARDING
CHINESE COOK IN THE STANFORD HOME
All Wing VIII Not Be Allowed to Wander
Forth Until the Mystery Is Solved.
Other Servants Being Watched.
Continued From Page /, column

was poison in Mrs Stanford's stomach.
they have: found two possible motives
for the crime of poisoning.
One is that some Of Mrs. Stantord's
employees, jealous Of the confidence
the good woman so openly reposed I'M
Miss Berner. had planned to destroy
This confidence ). by administering
strychnine to. their. mistress; through
the medicines and drinking waters
Mrs. Stanford was in the habit Of talk;
ing, hoping that an investigation
might direct" suspicion to the secre-
tary, who. it was known. was usually
near Mrs. Stanford when she took med
icine OF mineral waters.
- The other theory is the stronger
with the detectives. It is the opinion
Of the officers that some beneficiary
in Mrs. Stanford's will may have
hoped to gain. possession OF the money
the philanthropic woman designed
for him or her: 1t is known now that
Mrs. Stanford left d larger estate than
was at first supposed and in her will
had. provided bequests for nearly all
Of her household employees from Miss
Berner down. TO the restrained cook,
All Wing.
These employees knew that they were
to receive a beauest and the detectives
are speculating on the possibility of
one Of them having secretly determined
10 hasten Mrs. StAnford's death in or
der TO get a lump sum OF money.
II Mrs. .Stanford's death is shown to
have really been due TO poison placed
in her bottle of bicarbonate of soda, the
suspicious of the detectives will be CEN
tered around a very few OF her en-
ployes. Since the announcement was
received by cable from Honolulu that
strychnine had been found in the bot
tie: Of btcarbonate the detectives have
made careful search Of Mrs Stanford's
Califorhia-street home and her place
IN Palo Alto At both they have found
ope-Dound can of imported bicar-
Donate OF soda. The can at the PaIo
Alto home had not been opened, but
from the one discovered in. the Cali
fernia-street mansion there had been
taken a small portion, presumably the
amount needed TO fill the small bottle
that Mrs. Stanford carried with her to
Honolulu
Both of these cans have been an
alXzed~ by a local chemist, who has
pronounced their contents absolutely
free. from any kind of poison. With
this knowledge in their possession the
detectives have been eager To. discover
who refllled the small bottle and pos
sibly mixed the bicarbonate of soda
with strychnine. But three persons, it
is claimed, we're close enough to Mrs
Stanford 10 gain the opportunity to
place the strychnine in the small bot
tie which, according TO Miss Berner's
statement in Honolulu Wednesday and
also that Of Miss Hunt, the maid, was
packed away in Mrs Stanford's trunk
at the California street home a few
days before the steamer carried Mrs.
Stanford. away 10 her doom in Homo
lulu.
POLICE ARE CONFIDENT.
The circumstances are so positive in
so far as the soda is concerned that if
q murder was really planned, as the
report Of the autopsy surgeons viii to-
day determine, the local detectives en-
gagged in the case feel certain they
wilt have no difficulty in narrowing the
crime down TO at most four persons.
all of whom might have been a gamer
in one way or another by the death of
Mrs. Stanford.
The detectives have also been very
busy investigating the charge that an
attempt was made TO poison Mrs. Stan
ford seven weeks before her departure
for Honolulu, by placing strychnine in
bottle of Poland water of which Mrs.
Stanford drank. What remained of the
contents Of the bottle was sent to
Chemist Falkenau. His report, now in