Los Angeles herald., 1907-10-29
SCORES ARE
POISONED; 4
MAYSUCCUMB
employees OF DYE, WORKS
VICTIMS
SEVEN PHYSICIANS LABOR FOR
HOURS
Ptomalnes In Corned Beef In Lunch
Claim Many---PIant Turned Into
HospitaI-ReIIef Comes
at Last Moment

Eleven employees Of the Berlin Dye
works suffered acute agony for hours,
many of them entirely lost consciousness
and all narrowly escaped death from
ptomaine poisoning from eating the dead
ly toxins in canned corned beef yesterday
afternoon. Scores besides were slightly
affected; four may die.
Only through the heroic treatment ad-
ministered by DR.. Lincoln Rogers, DR..
III. M. Hale and five other assistant ply
sicians were the lives of the sufferers
saved
Seven doctors worked all afternoon and
last night over their patients, and 1t is
possible that three of the victims may die.
Following are the names of those who
were most seriously affected:
/. Lowenstein, 1446 Maple avenue; as
sstant bookkeeper.
]. P. Clark, Dallas apartments, assist
ant dry cleaner.
Joseph Garberino, 1888 Elwood, assistant
dry cleaner.
j. E. Cottle, chief engineer, 1913 West
Twenty-flrst street
Vincent Ricco, night watchman.
Thomas Starr, head spotter, 1859 East
Forty-ninth street
William Starr. shipping clerk, 1863 East
Forty-ninth street.
Thomas II Gray, head dry cleaner, s52
East Eleventh street.
Solomon Miller, assistant dyer, the
Roanoke Twelfth and Central streets.
Elizabeth Weidman, finisher, 1906 San
Pedro street
Miss Ida Hurley, 957 South Broadway,
finisher.
Miss Hurley, William Starr, j. E. Cot
tie and Miss Weidman were in such
precarious condition last night that their
death is momentarily expected.
Miller Is Cook
A. H. Kornblum, manager of the Berlin
Dive works plant at Griffith and Wash
ington avenues, where the tragedy 'oc
CURED, says:
.,Our employees are accustomed to con-
tribute for their lunch, which is served
Z here Miller has been assigned the posi-
tion of chief cook and he 1t was VINO
prepared the meal yesterday noon. There
wasn't enough meat, SO the employees
sent to the Sanitary butcher shop across
the street for canned corned beef The
proprietor of the butcher shop says the
meat was timed by the Swift and Liebig
companies of Chicago, and that he re-
ceived it recently.
"Over 1o0 employees partook of the
lunch I presume that those who es-
capped did not eat any of the corned beer.
"Scon after the employees had finished
but 1 had eaten some OF the canned
meat myself and about half an hour
after lunch l began to feel very Ill.
became suspicious of the meat imme-
diately and went through the plant in
quiring of all l met whether they, too,
had become sick. Scores of the employees
felt the bad effects of the corned beef.
I teleptfoned for LIT. Lincoln Rogers.
Fifty in Agony
''Dr Rogers arrived in an hour and
by that time nearly fifty men and women
were rolling in agony on the moor The
plant looked like hospital. Dr. Rogers,
after examining one patient, gave 1t as
his opinion that If he had arrived an
hour later all of those who had eaten
much of the corned beef would have been
dead, and he said that more physicians
would have to be called in.
'I notified the butcher who sold us the
corned beef concerning the seriousness
of the cases and ne telephoned to the
Swift and Liebig downtown offices. I'M
mediateiy the big meat companies sent
out half dozen more doctors and they
worked heroically over the stricken VIC
Tins of the ptomaine.
''It was feared that Miss Weidman,
]. e. Cottle, the chief engineer William
Gray and Miss Ida Hurley could not
recover 1t is possible that one or all
Of the latter may yet succumb."
According to one Of the attending ply
sicians the Berlin company employees
were poisoned by that class of ptomaine
called neurin, which is a product Of
putrid flesh and causes toxic results in
distinguishable clinically from those pro-
duced by certain alkaloids.