The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1908-12-18
STEWARD
SAD ENDING
trrom Thursday 8 Advertiser.l

(From Thursdays Advertiser.)
al have taken poison and the bottle
is in my pocket; send for Captain Par
ker to be witness, so there viii be no
trouble to you about how died"
These were the final words uttered
by James Steward as his eyes closed in
death shortly after O'Clock yesterday
afternoon in his residence in Buckle
lane, off vineyard street. Mr.. Steward
died peacefully and with none of the
agonizing incidents generally connect
ed with death by the poison route.
For the past two years Mr.. Steward
has not been in good health and he has
brooded much of late. At one time he
was heavy user of intoxicants, but
he stopped drinking two or three years
ago. In the last few weeks he was no.
ticed by his family to be brooding and
at least once has threatened to commit
suicide.
He went down town yesterday morn
ing, and remained away from home UNI
til shortly before clock. After his.
death search of his clothes revealed n
one.eighthounce bottle of strychnins
with half the contents gone. The
strychnine, properly labeled poison"
! was in a Chambers Drug Company
wrapper. Inquiry at the drug store de-
veloped the fact that Mr.. Steward
bought the bottle of strychnine about
!. IL a. m. and signed the POISON"
Q record book kept for that purpose as
, provided by law. The purpose for
' which he wanted the poison was set
r down briefly, "rat poison"
] Upon returning home about O'Clock
Mr.. Steward went to the bathroom and
4 closed the door. On coming out he went
i. to his bedroom and to his wife said
that he felt i'll. His wife Immediately
: left the house and went to a neigh
a boris to telephone for DR.. Baldwin,
: whom she asked to come at once. On
h returning to the bedside of her hus-
: band, he made the statement that he
. had taken poison. He was then quite
y i'll, but perfectly conscious. Other mem
s. bers of the family were sent for. VIM.
- Steward, patrol wagon driver at the
il police station, arrived just as his father
IS breathed his last.
o Sheriff Iaukea and Chief of Detec.
4 tives Kalakiela visited the Steward
home, and after learning the facts, dc.
= cided that coroner's inquest was I'M
necessary. The half.flled bottle Of
strychnine was given into the keeping
of Sheriff Iaukea, who made inquiries
/ concerning it at the Chambers drug
| store. Mr.. Bierbach, a member of the
firm, showed the book where Mr.. Stew.
Il; ard had signed his name.
"Mr. Steward has bought strychnine
=" from us BEFORE" he said, "ahd has al
s. ways said it was to be used as rat
e poison. As long as we know who pur-
e chasers of poisons are, we sell them,
1t complying with the law in every in
t. stance. This strychnine is labeled poi
3. son, in both English and Hawaiian, and
there is also the skull and cross bones I"
Or Mr.. Steward was born in Castlerey
e. street, Auckland, December IS, ls49,
n SO that he was just one day over fifty
l. nine years old.
20 Mr.. Steward leaves widow and nine
IS children. The latter are william, Da-
m vid, Catherine, James, Henry, Thomas,
e Paul and Christopher Steward, all of
If this island
e. Notice of the funeral will be given
.. latter, although it is expected to take
10 place some time today.
N ---s.*.s--