Evening journal., 1922-11-01
TIPPING MAY BE
POISON CLUE
Sender of Cake TO Devon
Couple Tried to Appear
as Novice
MRS. STERRETT
OUT OF DANGER


: sterrett, OF Devon, and illness OF his
; wife.
Postal inspectors investigating the
case are working along this line and
express the belief that II will lead to
something tangible toward a solution.
Coroner Neville OF Montgomery
J County. who is cooperating with the
? Chester County authorities in the in
vestigation will question Mrs. Ster-
rett today.
Improvement in her condition has
also improved her memory and there
Is hope. the Coroner said today that
she will be able to give more details
concerlng incidents on the day she
received the cake ad also as 10 what
occurred at the Sterrett home after
4 she and Mr.. Sterrett had eaten the
delicscy.
Coroner Neville said that those
having knowledge Of the case are
not telling all they knew and this
attitude is interfering considerably !
with the investigation. Examina- |
iion OF typewriters at several places !
in Montgomery county and also in |
/ Philadelphia Is being continued I'M |
]
spector o. G. Williamson. Those as
sisilng in this phase OF the investi-
CATION express the belief that the I
word "Penns" instead of "Penna."
or PA" was written on the pack
age 10 give the impression that the
sengier was not familiar with the
typewriter. They point out. how
ever. that a comma was placed at
the end Of each line of the address
and that the letters were struck SOL
idly showing that the writer had a
deliberate and well-trained touch.
Shortly after noon yesterday Pos
tai Inspector Simpson returned 20
the Federal Building, and went into
conference with Chief Postal In
spector williamson. The conference
lasted a half hour. and at its close
Chief Williamson announced that
something had been found that
probably would result in the appre-
hension OF the poisoner" A teie-
phone call was made 10 District At
torney windle. Of Chester county. at
West Chester. An hour and one
half later Mr.. Windle and County
Detectives Mullin and Fox arrived
at the Federal Building and were
closeted with Williamson and Slmp-
son until after 4 o'clock.
After the men had been in confer
ence for one hour they cent for JOS
eph sterrett. OF New York. who is in
this city helping authorities trace ,
the murderer Of his brother. An
hour Later Mr.. sterrett arrived and
was closeted with the officials and
4
grilling and the sound OF raised
voices hosted through an open tran
som into the corridors OF the Fed
eral Building. An hour later Mr..
Sterrett was taken out a side en-
trance to avoid a group OF newspa-
permen. and then Mr.. Williamson ?
and Mr.. Windle sent for the reporters. {
Il suppose that you desire me 20 i
make some statement" Mr.. Windle I I
said. II am going 10 make one but 9
/ am not going to answer any ques-
lions. believe that you and the
public should have some knowledge Z
- 10 what is going on. !,
We have two definite clues which, r
II they prove TO be correct, will prob :
ably result In the arrest Of the per-
sons connected with this Infamous
crime. I cannot tell you at this time y
just what these clues are. but I ask q
your indulgence and help in this
matter by not asking too many ques-
tions.
Was jealousy the cause in this
crime?" he was asked.
Please do not ask me any oues-
tons" Mr.. Windle smiled. In a few r
Il q oil -.
ask OF me-" II
Mr.. Windle then handed the news n
paper reporters photographs Of the n
label which was used in sending the
poisoned cake through the mails to y
Mr. and Mrs. Sterrett. From first OBJ !.
servation 1t was seen that the label
which was printed on a Typewriter -.
was the work Of an amateur. II was :,
probably done'by person who used :,
one finger in printing out the name :,
and address Of Mrs. Sterrett as some :.
Of the letters are darker and some =
lighter. which indicates mat the per- I"
son who used the typewriter printed :,
the letters with one nnger Moreover -
Berkeley road, where the Sterretts
live, was printed "Berkely" and the
abbreviation Of Pennsylvania was =,
'Penns" instead OF "Penna."
II was said that one of the clues =
hat probably will lead to the iden- !,
ity of the poisoner was furnished :.
~ Mrs. Sterrett herself. After she
was taken 10 the Bryn Mawr Hos ,c
oital. the poisoned woman in a state re-
II coma talked incesseDtly. Her con- r.
was described by a physi- p
ian as "babble." II was said that a,
while in this semi-conscious state al
The frequently named a certain per- pi
son and accused that person of poi
loning herself and her husband. II
vas further said that all OF that A
had been turned over b,
o the investigating authorities. Mr..
Nindle in a previous statement had OF
aid: IN
LAS far as we can find out. the 81
sterretts both lived model lives. pc
they had few friends with whom
hey were Intimately associated and ll'
t is. therefore. difficult to learn
much about them" ~
II was said at the Bryn Mawr Hos ~,
'ital that Mrs Sterrett had suf- ="
ciently recovered as to be allowed -
o return to her home today. Mrs 20
iterrett told the detectives and pos 60
al inspectors at the hospital yester- VI
ay that she ate the same amount OF
axes as her husband. She was g
uestioned at length by the detec- Ell
ives and also will be questioned to- n
ay. She is Frustrated by the death al
( her husband. The Sterrett home is