Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-09
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hibited these symptoms, according to
the physicians.
Dr. G. w Peck of this city, who
was the first physician called, today
repeated his declaration made at the
coroner's inquest, that death in all
cases observed by him was due to
ptomaines. He said that to his knowl-
edge, there is only one other form of
poison that produces strikingly similar
effects This is belladonna. In speak
ing of the findings of the inquest DR..
Peck said today:
Believes 1t Ptomaine
with all due respect to the verdict
arrived at by the coroner's jury, from
medical .tandpoint L would like to
see the investigation into this case
proceed further. Officially, the case
has been dispose, of, but L would like
the remainder of the poisoned pears to
be examined by an expert chemist"
DR.. Peck has in his possession two
quart glass jar, which contained the
poisoned pears. It contains little of
the syrup. In addition to this he has
pint jar containing a portion of the
pears, which were canned at. the same
time by Mrs. d. G.. Valdez, one of the
poison victims, last fall. Both jars are
in safe keeping, and DR.. Peck refused
lOudy 10 dllOW Sllly VI INC iliclbNI Itll ~
be given out for q chemical analysis
without legal process. At the same
time DIR. Peck expressed a desire and
a willingness to have a further anal
ysis made officially.
Guzman Has Theory
An entirely new theory as to the
cause of the poisoning, advanced in the
face of the recent coroners jury YER
dict. was suggested today by r. #.
Guznan, brother-in-law of the dead
sisters, Mrs. Dolores Garcia and Mrs.
Guadaloupe Fernandez. Guzman be-
Iieves the poison was in the glass jars
at the time the fruit was canned. He
said:
About two years ago Ysidro Reyes,
son of Guadaloupe Reyes, among the
twelve dead, suffered from severe
eye trouble. About the same time he
was compelled to undergo a serious
operation at the hospital The Reyes
family, of which the father was
brother-in-law to Mrs, Valdez, lived
next door to the Preciado and Fernan-
dez families
when Young Reyes took sick his
doctor gave him a prescription for
some sort of dressing for his eyes or
wound I don't remember which it
was. The prescription was filled in
glass fruit jars and I remember the
doctor cautioned the sister of the sick
boy not under any condition to allow
the jars to remain where they might
be used again, but to destroy them. 1
don't remember the Doctors name, but
think he was from Los Angeles.
about that time the sister was
married and mored to Los Angeles,
and she might have forgotten to de-
etToV fbp glass lars.
"When the pears were canned last
fall at the Preciado home, Mrs. Val
dez was in charge of the work and sew
eral of her daughters, including my
wife. helped her. ! heard. Mrs. Valdez
say she did not have enough cans and
Mr.. Reyes. who was standing nearby,
told her to go over to his house and
get some, as he knew of several set
ting on a SHELF
my mother-ln-law went to the
Reyes house and got some cans, which
sho used in putting up the last of the
pears. She was old, and in her hurry
to get through she might not have
washed the cans well. ] believe that
she got some of the cans which for
merly contained the medicine used by
Ysldro Reyes and feel that this was
the cause Of the poisoning"