The evening world., 1911-11-27
DEATH Of WOMAN
IN A GOLF HOUSE
DUE TO GRIM Joke
Poison That Killed Miss iris
tram at Van Cortlandt Park
Mistaken for Disinfectant.
MEANT TO MAKE HER ILL
But Joker Who Secured Drug
Is Liable to Punishment
for Manslaughter.
MEANT TO MAKE HER ILL

~ 9riely practlcal Jok0 Was un-
doubtedly responsible for the death by
carbolic acid early yesterday OF Miss
Alice Tristram Shanks. said 10 be the
daughter Of Canon Tristram Of Dublin.
at the Var Cortlandt Park golf house.
Coroner Shongut's investigation to-day
convinced him that the Irish singer had
not committed suicide. but had taken
the fatal dose of carbolic acid and
iysol in the belief that It was Yarmouth.
Eight men who were In the party at
q table In the restaurant above the
barroom with Miss Tristram will be
closely examined by Coroner Shongut In
an effort to discover which one Of the
eight was guilty Of bringing the bottle
containing the poison from the mems
iavatory adjoining the barroom.
It was established to-day by Charles
Nolie, the waiter who served the party.
and by the bartender Of the hotel that
Miss Tristram could not have possessed
herself OF the bottle and that II was
secretly conveyed to the dining room up
stairs. The bottle was not labelled pol
son. and It 10 probable that the person
Who perpetrated the murderous Joke
thought he would merely succeed In
making his victim Ill. His Joke. how
ever, amounts to the crime OF man
slaughter. punishable by twenty years
Imprisonment.
CORONER sUePoENAe MEN AZ
WITNESSES.
Coroner shongut stated to-day nat
n the course Of his investigation he a.
catained that In the party Of eight men
who were with Miss TriItrAm when she
drank the acid were William J. Tottcn
ana Thomas Totten. members Of The
lotion Brothers real estate nrm ct No.
ESQ Broadway: Edward Gallagher. con-
nsotsA with the city Paymaster's
.oHaos Of the Comptroller . Department;
Jossph Cribbens Of Two Hundred and
Forty-afth street and the Albany Post
road, and william Lappe Of Two Hun
va and Fiftieth street and the Albany
~ roed. The Coroner has Issued sub
snas for all Of the above-named men
| has urged tho police TO discover
,identity OF the other members Of the
".
uniam J. Totteu. when he learned
I0I0n0 ouOu8utS wv
that he was q member Of the
%. He said that his brother was
out OF town and that he ! not be-
iieve he could have been present.
Nolle, tho waiter. declared to an
Evening World reporter to-day. that
while he did not see Miss Tristan drink
ths disinfectant, h did witness the
panic among her companions when she
collapsed in her chair. All OF he eight
mon at the table hurriedly left the din
ing room, leaving Nolle 10 care Tor the
poisoned singer and summon assistance
WANTED TO SEE WHETHER SHE
WOULD MIX DRINKS.
One version of tho episode that
reached the Coroner was that the Joker
who got the bottle from the room ad-
Joining the barroom put II on the table
beside Miss Tristram to 'see II she
would mix drinks" confident that she
would pour the disinfec.ant into her
glass. That she did so and that no
hand was raised to prevent her 10 a
proper conclusion II Coroner Shongut
has been correctly informed.
The police. following the usual Ines
of least resistance. have recorded Miss
,Tristram's death a. a suicide.
The story Of the woman's two months
in America Is a pathetic one. Pieced
together, It 10 a record Of successive
hopes and disappointments. While some
Of her bills were paid by Miss Winisred
0lsn- Coats OF Ferguslie Park. Paisley.
sootland. a daughter Of Sir Thomas
Usu-Coats, NJ p, whom she called
-.-s- % ..orah aftap har daath fniIad
10 bring to light any vestIgs Of her two
truAls md ssveu oAGe, And ~ haA MOI
even Ave osnA IN AN.
The woman was a PROFESSIONAL entsr'
tainer and exhibited press notices com
piimenting her on her abilities IN tha'
line in England.
HAD FAILED IN EFFORTS Tc
FIND EMPLOYMENT.
INQUIRIES since Miss Trtstram's death
indicate that she had been making val
ian efforts to obtain employment. She
had received o tryout on tho roof Of the
New York Theatre. with tolerable sue
cess. but no definite engagement hao
materiaMsed, and she told Mrs. Mar,
Byrnes. housekeeper at the Carlton
Hotel, No. 900 West Fifty-fourth street
that the boys &C the theatre had mad
fun of her voice and her songs.
Last Friday night Miss Tristrs9
went to the New York Theatre Roo
Garden for . TRY OUT before an au
dience made up OF managers anc
booking agents.
Her most pathetic song was "Kath
lesn Mavoureen." for her voice brok'
and the last phrase was only a sob
She told friends afterwards that sh'
had been engaged at 500 a week. blu
this is denied by the management.
Novel Catholic Undertaking..
WORCESTER, Mass. Nov. H.!
ment said to be the first of II
kind In the history of the Catholi
Church IN America has been started I
raise 500. 900 for the enlargement O
Holy Cross College. Every catholl
clergyman In the diocese. headed b