The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 2, 1905, Page 1

J THE THEATERS ‘ng‘zm—"c-mm Jinke" CALIFORNTIA—*‘David Harum." MAJESTIC—"0Old Heideiberg.” ORPHEUM-—Vaudeville. Matinee to- day. TIVOLI—Comsic Opera. +— SAN FRANCISCO, i ; 7 ol »_ . : " s A ‘ PRICE FIVE C MRS, STANFORD IS DEAD AT HONOLULU DURING ILLNESS OF FORTY MINUTES SHE DECLARES SHE WAS POISONED AND POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING THE CASE CHEMISTS REPORT PRESENCE OF STRYCHNINE IN MEDICINE THE life of Mrs.Jane Lathrop Stanfbr’d, widow of the la’te"-Sénator Leland Stanford, came to a sudden end .in Honolulu Tuesday night under strange circumstances that ha.v’e aroused suspicion of murder by poisoning. Miss Bertha Berner, who has been Mrs. Stanford’s private seeretary. for many years, and the maid, Miss May Hunt, are under police surveillance pending investigation, but there is no-tangible evidence against them. Before Mrs. Stanford retired for the night she took a dose of bicarbonate of soda and it is now known that it contained - strychnine. Chemists who made analysis so reported at an early hour this morning. Her groans attracted other s at the Moana Hotel at 11 o’clock and after forty minutes of convulsions she expired. She declared that she guest was poisoned, but her friends believed she was the victim of a hallucination that enemies were trying-to kill her. T IMAGININGS BROUGHT ON TERRIBLE CONVULSIONS AFFLICT BENEFACTRESS, BAFFLING MEDICAL SKILL MYSTERY. VEILS DEATH “I Am Poisc?né«j,TCries Noble Woman Just Before the Sudden Stroke. Special Cable to The Call. HONOLU- LU, March 2, contents of the bottle to determine whether or not the stuff 'contained poison. A report was cufrent to-night that Duncan had found strychnine in the: medicine, but up to a late hour the rumor was not officially con- firmed. High Sheriff Henry and Deputy Sheriff Rawlins at once began an in- vestigation into the case and have en- listed the services of the police. It is not likely that any developments wiil == | occur till the contents of Mrs. Stan- 2:.30a.m.--The chemists posi- s i & st s HIGHTON TELLS STORY. iremains of the dead woman. The jury ied, but made no report. The jury . . { S t ry C h n I ne |n manager; T. A. Hays, H. Jeffrey % . the bicarbon-| " | sonal friend of Mrs. Stanford, is one | whom the police will have to asist : | her that an attempt was made to pois- land Stanford | | I > | ~Mrs. Jane | of the late | Leland Stanfori tively report the|=: | In accordance with the law, a Cor- joner’s jury was summoned to view the p I’ese n C e Of? :q'xnwed the room where Mrs. Stanford | consisted of W. C. Peacock, proprietor he Moana Hotel; J. H. Hertsche, |and J. W. Harvey, guests, and E. S, [ Cunha, who resides near by. 3 ! Mrs. Henry Highton of San Fran- ’ite Of SOda O: cisco, a guest at the hotel and a per- C |of the most important witnesses {them in working on the case. Mrs. wnic 'S, L_E- nishton says dire. Stanford had tord on her in San Francisco and that she < partook. 1 the terrible ergoing caused | and cry pite- assistance came nte a doctor, 4. T was ur the flo Whe: | n with ccn-J | | ner wag the first to had fed from that city for fear that it might be renewed. % “Mrs. ‘Stanford told me she had I an Francisco because an attempt hal {been madc on her life last month, said Mrs. Highton in ‘She was terribly worked up over the whole affair and said she feared and She told me that enough pois- o kill twenty ‘people had been ced in a bottle of mineral water in San Prancisco.” ¥ Heunisch, who occupied 1ents adjoining Mrs. Stanford’s made the following statement red shortly before .11 o'clock t night and was awakened soon by the sounds of groans in the ning room. I rushed in there to ford partoo.. & What was the matter and found The doct Mri tanford standing in the middle a room, with her arms raised. e her head. She was moaning and ppeared to be in great pain, though *he ‘was not weak to outward appear- ances. % CRIES OUT IN-HER AGONY. When she saw me she cried out’ Continted on Page 5, Column 3. ath of Mrs 3 T the cit Territqriat od Commissioner ang | Chemical Analyst ‘R.° A. Duncan at ence began an _investigation of the an intetview. | yother effort would be made to Kkill'y e | FAMOUS PHILANTHROPIST, WHO DIED YESTERDAY IN HONOLULU. - CONTENTS OF WILL WHICH WAS MADE Mrs. Stanford died possessed of an estate worth from seven' ta ten mil- lion dollars. Three-fourths of her property was two years ago turned ower' to the university ‘which bears her deceased son’s name. She had retained what, she deemed sufficient to keep her in luxury for the remainder of ‘hér life .and to feave gomething for relatives and friends. . g ¥ Contrary to what many may sup- pose, Mrs. Stanford does “not leave a very ‘large estate to her relatives, for during her lifetime she deeded the property she inherited from her hus- band to the regents of Stanford Uni- ! |stitution after her death. versity, to be held in trust.for that in- The last ‘transfer of importance made by Mrs. \Stanford was about. three years. ago, when she made over ‘her magnificent, residence on California street and . at the same time ;ee practically gave to the regents of the university a trustee- | ship to her jewelry, which ghe provided should be disposed of for the benefit of Leland Stanford Jr. University after: she had passed away. . . [ Of those who are likély to receive a share of the estate left by Mrs. Stan- ford, it is generally believed that Miss jJennié Lathrop and her sister and |bmther. Hermione - and Leland Stan- ford Lathrop, the children: of Charles Lathrop,- will fare the best,: for ey were ore. frequently.in.-her.com; than . th:in. gtg ford. Bostane terested _Stan . Besides t relatives Mrs. nford 3 d by & brother, Arlel:uthmp“otfflbl.n*f and _deeply in- |- N.+¥., two nieces, one in New York and the other in Brooklyn, the daugh- ters. of a late brother, Daniel S. Lathrop, and two nieces:in Saratoga. | That they have all been provided for is generally understood, for Mrs. Stan- ford had frequently remarked to friends that while she did not see much | of her relatives in the East she had not forgotten them, and would remember them 'in her will. 7 2 - Mountford Wilson, Mrs. Staaford's atterney, and her brother, Charles Lathrop, who were’ together a large part of yesterday communicating with Honolulu . relative bo? t:le ‘g:..re ;.&d ' shipment of the ly to > ‘that Mrs. Stanford made her “a few months ago, but until later they: would not make its contents “known to the outside world. . sensational reports. In this he was BY AGE AND a2 d GRIEF ARE. ONE VERSION OF MYSTERY IN FEAR OF POISONING Charles Lathrop and Intimate Friends Do Murder Not Credit Theory. * The news of the death of Mrs. Stan- ford was § shock to San Francisco, and crowds were gathered about the bul- the meager accounts that came over thé- ocean cable. Charles G. Lathrop, Mrs. Stanford’s brother, sought ener- getically throughout the day to get def- inite particylars, but until a late hour his information was gained altogether from the press repocts. G a Mr. Lathrop would place no credence in the version that came so persistently in the news dispatches that his sister had been poisoned. He gave out a statement that he did not believe the supported by Mountford S. Wilson, Mrs. Stanford's attorney. They were agreed that Honolulu had become over- excited and that dispatches were being sent out recklessly, The fact that death had followed so closely on a reported attempt on the life of Mrs. Stanford in this city by means of peison did not seem to give the brother and the lawyer any occa- sion for misgivings. And many of those who had known the estimable woman intimately shook their heads in doubt as to the tales of poisoning. By them the suggestion is put for- ward -that Mrs. Stanford was the vic- tim of an unfortunate hallucinatign that gshe was to ‘be polsoned. Her ex- clamations when found in Houolulu in a dying condition are accepted with much reservation. TlLe recent stories of her illness and the suspicion of foul play while in this city are seriously doubted: It is rather belleved that Mrs. Stanford was prone to declare she had been poisoned whenever she bécame indisposed. She was 78 years of age and a failing of her mind was easily possible, 2 It was on January 14- that Mrs. Stanford drank what she atterwa.rd‘ sald was a fatal potion at her resi- demce in San Francisco. Detectives were employed, but after most diligent effort they” failed utterly to incrimi- nate any one. The Poland water, in which the poison was thought to have been : placed, was submitted to a chemical analysis. No report has been given out as to_the result of this, but inasmuch as the investigation was dropped it is evident that no strych- nine was found. Had there been poison in the water Lathrop and Wilson would probably riot . have been so content yesierday that Mrs. Stanford was not the victim of a crime in Honolulu. While they rmraintain the strictest silence, it is sur- mised that they were aware of the hal- lucinations that had marred the hap- piness of Mrs. Stanford. { system, Mrs. Stanford had told friends Honolulu that she left San Fruc!fl:‘. to escape the mu&;so- burw of “she .- were it on poisoning her with T physician in this city says 'd her to seek a more salubrious clime for the brom- t':hlaé affiiction from whigh she suf- ered. While the murder the is not be swept aside, the d.vmpmc-u : Honolulu last night tending to in- crease its probabiljties, there is good reason for the views entertained by those that belleve Mrs. Stanford's dec- larations as to poisoning were the emanations of a mind somewhat dis- ordered on the subject. It is said that she had sought surcease in spiritual- ism from her-keen sorrows that were occasioned by the dea of her much beloved son and later of her husband, to whom she was devoted in deep af- fection. The result was that she brooded until her mind gave way under the strain and the strange hallucination develop- ed that her life wgs being sought through the cruel means of She never could point the finger of stspicion to any one, nor were the de- tectives, who &ld their utmost to.@is- cover the slightest clew to the identity of any person who might have purpose of murder. . On the other hand, if the suspicious circumstafces attending the death of Mrs. Stanford develop Into proof that her life was taken the crime will ap- pall the civilized world. A late cable from Honolulu says tHat the bottle of bicarbonite of soda from which she - partook before ‘retiring for the night was fllled in San Franeisco and had not been opened before she took this last potion to soothe her disturbed stomach. Captain of Detectives Burnett cabled for.particulars last night, Dbelieving that there might be important work for him to do in this city. The local police gave aftention in January to the report that Mrs. Stan- ford had been poisoned at her resi- dence on Nob Hill and gave it a thor- ough sifting. The conclusion reached went far to the lite But at he weakening and that the dresd in which she lived had.no foundation in fact. But the evidence of crime ap- to be much stronger at Home- results of the analyses to this city, so police in Honolulu have them under surveillance. —_— RAILROAD SHOWS RESPECT. Although Mrs. Stanford had long ago disposed of her stock in the Cen- tral Pacific and Southern Pacific ers of the great Western rallroad and ‘that she had, for a time, been interested In the welfare of the corporation, was promptly recog- nized yesterday by the head of those big holdings. Immediately after the cable an- nounced that Mrs. Stanford had flags on all the staffs of the company* over the entire railroad system, from Portland to New Orleans and from woman. On nearly all buildings of this city the at half-mast, showing that nians keenly felt the loss of erous hearted widow of one g:w of the indi iden West.