Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-07
HARVEST OF DEATH
LAID TO PTOMAINE
C0R0NER'S JURY BRINGS IN
VERDICT OF ACCIDENT
Admitted on Witness Stand That Med
ical History Has No Parallel
for Fate of sawtelle
Families
rsneclal to The Herald.1

SAWTELLE, Jan. 6.-Accidental
death from ptomaine poisoning is the
verdict returned today by the coroners
Jury in the cases of the eleven persons
who died following the eating OF
canned pears at the home Of Braulio
Preciado last Sunday.
The Jury took only ten minutes 10
decide upon the verdict after 1t had
listened to expert testimony on the
part of physicians who had figured
in the treatment of the poison victims
and had later conducted an autopsy
on the remains of two of them Both
DR.. G. W. Peck of Sawtelle and DR..
G. W. Campbell, autopsy physician of
the county coroner's office, declared
positively that ptomaines were the
cause of the wholesale slaughter which
has almost completely wiped out three
families.
The inquest was held in the city hall,
as there was not sufficient room in the
Finch morgue for the purpose, because
of the presence of seven of the vic
TINS bodies. which were viewed by
dozens of friends and relatives from
far and near,
Coroner Hartwell presided at the in
quest. The Jury. which included sew
eral of Sawtelle's prominent bus ness
men. was composed of the following:
A, ]. Stoner. L. B. Waterman, D. L.
Allen. Walter Down, F. H. Hartman
and John B. Graham. NJ. L. Reyes,
deputy sheriff and relative of G
Reyes, one of the eleven dead, served
as interpreter when members of the
family testified.
Guzman on the Stand
Alfonso Fernandez. husband of Mrs.
Guadaloupe Fernandez and father OF
Ysabel Fernandez, two of the poison
victims. was called upon to identity
the bodies of those of his family.
Ysidro Garcia was also called on for
the same purpose. He is the father OF
Mrs. Dolores Garcia, who with her
three children, Frank, Ramona ana
Alfonso were among the eleven:
f. F. Guzman of Sawtelle, brother
in-law of Mrs. Garcia and Mrs. Fer
nandez, told what he knew in regard
to the circumstances leading up to the
eating of the poisoned pears at the
Preciado home He and his wlfe hao
been invited to attend the dinner Wnlch
has proved fatal to so many, but they
decided to remain at home.
Or. Pack was the first physician
called to attend Mrs. Fernandez and
der daughter Isabel when they took
sick from the effects of the ptomaines.
He described the symptoms noticed in
the patients, which convinced him that
the poison was ptomaine. These syinp-
toms included restlessness, palms.
drowsiness and finally gradual paral-
ysis of the pneumagastric nerve the
effect extending to the throat, lungs,
heart, stomach and intestines.
Fear for Another Babe
The witness said that when he ar
rived at the Fernandez home, which
was shared with the Preciado family,
he found Mrs. Fernandez nursing her
baby, Maria, aged three months, af-
ter the symptoms of poison had de-
veloped From this it is feared that
the baby may feel the effects of the
poison, but so far this has not taken
place.
When the autopsy over the body of
Mrs. Fernandez and her daughter,
YsabelI was held DR.. Peck was in
charge and, from the observations
made at that time, together with the
symptoms exhibited by the patients
in life, he reached the conclusion that
ptCmaine poisoning was the cause of
the death of the entire eleven.
Dr. Campbell gave the jury, de-
tailed account of the examination of
the body of Mrs. Fernandez, telling
of the condition in which he found
all indications of health before death.
From the condition in which he found
the body, DR.. Campbell testified that
he diagnosed the cause of death as
ptomaine poisoning and this was
borne out later by a chemical eXami-
nation of the organs which he took
to Los Angeles and put through vari-
GUS tests for poison.
Lapse cf Time Unusual
As Braulio Preciado was yet ill at
his home here on Tuesday, following
the autopsy, DIR. Campbell visited him
and examined his symptoms, as he
did also in the cases of Ramona Gar
cia and Virginia Preciado, who were
sinking at the time. The witness said
that he firmly believed at o'clock
Tuesday afternoon that Preciado
would get well, because of his apparent
strength to resist the inroads of the
ptomaines. 1t was then As hours
after Preciado had eaten the poisoned
pears. The witness declared this an
unusually slow development for a poi
son case.
Il have no hesitation in promounc-
ing all the deaths in this case due to
ptomaine poisoning without a doubt"
said DR.. Campbell. There are possibly
200 or 300 kinds of ptomaines known to
medical science. I have made post
mortem examination of many cases
of the kind and these all support me
in my statement in the present case.
Ptomaines are not found in fruit, but
are formed without the body through
some form of decomposition. The
hands of the person who canned the
pears might have been soiled, or vari-
Gus other reasons might be assigned"
Top Smeared with Dough
The zinc top of the glass jar which
contained the death-dealing -,ears was
exhibited. 1t lacked the usual porce-
lain inner coating and was smeared
with dough and other substances.
This was explained by a member of
one of the families, who declared that
the top had been used on several oc-
casions to cut forms for cookies.
The funeral of the eleven who met
death from ptomaines will be held to-
morrow morning at 10 o'clock from the
Catholic church of Santa Monica, and
will be in charge of the Rev. Fathers
Patrick Have and Thomas O'CalIa-
han. The bodies will be inferred in
the Pasqual Marquee cemetery in Sam
| ia Monica canyon.