New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-09-18
TWELVE POISONED
BY EATING BISCUITS
Man and Wife Taken by Police
Here on Complaint from
Connecticut.
SERVANTS OF w. l. SEARLES
Butler and Maid Had Been Dis
charged Same Day Family
and Their Guests
Became Ill

With the arrest last night of Pierre
Reritier. and his wife. Honorine. by
Central Office detectives. there came to
light story Of the poisoning of twelve
persons in Rowavton. Conn. on Sep
tember {. after they had eaten biscuits
made at the home of William L. Searles.
4 retired vooIIen mercha Mt. who was
formerly in business in this city.
The twelve persons poisoned We're Mr.
and Mrs. Searles, five friends who we're
guests at a dinner party. a laundress
and her four-year- son. and three
persons to whom she gave biscuits at
her house.
Heritier was employed in the Searles
household as butler His wife did the
upstairs work. They we're with the re-
tired merchant for about ten weeks,
when Mrs SearIes found their work IN
satisfactory and discharged them, on
September : That afternoon the two
left Rowayton.
In the evening Mrs. Sear1es had her
friends TO dinner The cooking was
done by Ida Minnow. who has been with
the family for some years. II was she
who prepared the biscuits.
The dinner had not been over long
when the seven persons became i'll
Word reached the house later that a
Mrs Harrison. the laundress. to whom
Mrs. Searles had given some Of the bis
cults. and her little boy and three
friends who had visited her were also
sick The life of the boy was despaired
of at first, but he recovered
The wholesale poisoning was reported
70 the authorities at Bridgeport At the
suggestion of Henry c. Stevenson. clerk
Of the Superior Court, warrants were
issued for the butler and his wife. The
rapers were handed to Chief William
Brennan Of the Stamford police force.
He arrived In New York on Friday and
went to Police Headquarters, where he
obtained the services of Lieutenant
Brown.
The two men spent Friday looking for
the couple. Yesterday they found them
through a fake telegraphic dispatch sent
10 No 232 West 37th street. an address
given TO them by an employment agency.
Heritier and his wife We're arrested af-
ter they had admitted their Identities
and were taken to Police Headquarters.
where they were locked UP. charged with
being fugitives from justice. The war
rants on which they were arrested do
not charge them with being implicated
in the poisoning Steps will be taken
at once to procure their extradition to
Connecticut
The warrants were based on an affida-
Wit made by Stiles Judson. attorney Of
Fairfield County. at Bridgeport, in which
he charges the two prisoners with an at
tempt to poison William L. Searles by
placing a quantity of rat poison. the
chief ingredient of which is arsenic. in
4 barrel Of -four. the contents of which
we're used by Mr.. SearIes's cook in max
ing the biscuits.
When reached at his home at Roway-
ton last night. Mr.. Searles said that, as
the case was in the hands Of the proper
authorities. he did not feel at liberty to
talk a about il.
The two prisoners were silent last
night. They seemed surprised at their
arrest They freely admitted that they
were discharged from the Searles house.