The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 3, 1905, Page 2

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 1905. DETECTIVES ARE CLOSELY GUARDING CHINESE COOK IN THE STANFORD HOME Ah Wing Will Not Be Allowed to Wander Forth Until the Mystery Is Solved. Other Servants Being Watched. 7. (nnunm-d From Page 1, Column 1 Mrs. Stanford’s stomach, two possible motiv of poisoning. t some of Mrs. lous of the 04 woman 0. openly reposed in Berner, hsd planned to destroy e by administering their mistress through and drinking waters d was in the habit of tak- an investigation to the secre- own, was usually ford. when she took med- oison have r the ves Stanford's confidence the stronger some beneficiary will may have in.possession of the money thropic ..woman designed er. It is known now that ft a larger estate than jed. bequests for nearly sehold employes from Miss to the restrained -cook, down These employes knew that they were | receive a bequest and the defectives spec en the of possibility Stanford's death in or- ump sum of money. nford been ‘due-to poison .placed t nate of soda, the detectives will be cen- very few of her em- ce the announcement was le from Honolulu that been found in the bot- have of Mrs. Stanford's e and her place they have found mported bicar- The can at the Palo not been opened, bhut vered in the Cali- rision there had been n, presumably the 1 the small bottle detectives ate the o At botk Mrs. St nford f these cans have been an- who has absolutely poison. With wled eir possession the s have been eager to discover mixed the bicarbonate of soda hnine. But three persons, it , -were close enough to Mre. to @ain the opportunity to strychnine in the small bot- v according to Miss Berner's t in Honolulu Wednesday and of Miss Hunt, the maid, was away in Mrs. Stanford’s trunk California street home a few vs- before the steamer carried Mrs. nic away to her doom in Hono- the POLICE ARE CONFIDE £ £ ‘ar as the soda is concerned that if | was really planned, as the ort of the autopsy surgeons will to- determine, the local detectives en- d in the case feel certain they have no difficulty in narrowing the down’ to .at most four persons, whom might have been a gainer in ope way or another by the death of Mre. Stanford. The detectives have also been very y investigating the charge that an tempt was made to poison Mrs, Stan- rd seven weeks before her departure Honoluly, by placing strychnine in bottle of Poland water of which Mrs, 2 murder ® Stanford drank. What remained of the ntents of the bottle wds sent to Chemist Falkenau. His report, now in AD\ E.RTIBELIEVTS- @he Fub Chas Beilus & Ca Exclusive figh-Grade Clothiers No Brapch Stores. apd No Agents. THE PROPER STYLE FOR THIS SEASON'S WEAR IS TO0 APPEAR ELONGATED. QUR MODELS ARE BUILT TO EAVE THIS EFFECT. THE SHORT, STOUT MAN HASN'T BEEF FORGOTTEN. The fonx sack coat the for _smart e bive the Privilege of showing them first. 152 fiearny Street Ehurlow HBloch ie thing dressers It is the opinion | d and in her will { all | ng secretly determined | s death is shown to | arried with her to | i the small bottle and pos- | reumstances are so positive in | i EX { ] | o 1 e +- the hands of Attorney Mountford Wil- son, says that *“‘the Poland water e amined by.mé shows preceptible tra ings of strychnine.” It was later ‘discovered that Mrs. Stanford had been in the habit of or- dering the mineral water two cases at a time and the contents of several |-bottles found in her home were an- alyzed without revealing any poison. The water had been purchased from a local grocery firm, whose stock of the water was also examined without any better results. DETECTIVE AT BERNER HOME. Acting "Chief Spillane, Detective | Captain Burneit and Captain Callun- dan of ‘Morse’s Detective Agency, which was the first to.be employed on the Stanford poisoning mpystery, were in conference at the Hall of Justice for several hours vesterday, but just | what plans they -discussed is a mat- | ter they are keeping secret. Captain Callundan was alsop in con- ference with Charles Lathrop, brother f Mrs. Stanford, for some time during | the day, but later refused to make any statement. When Charles Lathrop was asked if there was anything new-in the case he | politely referred his interviewer to At- | ‘torney Wilson, and the latter then | shrewdly sent his visitor to Callundan, who promptly excused himself with the | explanation that whatever .information he had belonged to those who had en- gaged his services, and the privilege of | making it public devolved wholly upén | them. He was again appealed to last J‘ night, but refused to give out any in- formation further. From other sources, however, it was learned that one of Morge's agents had | been sent to Palo Alto in the afternoon’ |to talk with. Mrs. Berner, mother of Miss Bertha Berner,” Mrs." Stanford's | private secretary. Earlier in the day | when Mrs. Berner was asked ‘if her | daughter, before going to the. Orient, | | | | 1 | had expressed to her any suspieion as | to who might have plaeed poison .in the mineral water taken by Mrs, Stan- ford, she admitted that Miss Bertha had etrongly intimated that she and Mrs. Stanford at that - time . strongly suspected that the. crime’ might be | traced to Ah Wing. Later yesterday, however, after Mrs, Berner had received a call from' the r»prflenmne of the Morse detective agen(-y, she grew extremely reticent | and refused to make any -statement re- garding the case or even reiterate the | statement. made earlier. According .to advices received Jlast | evening from Palo Alto the detective was still at the Berher home, which | was built: for ‘its mistress by Mrs: | Stanford, and" was- assisting Mrs: Ber- ner in aviiding interviewers. ' Another | report that reached this city late yes- |terday was to the ‘effect that a man, supposed to be ‘a San Francisco' de- tective, was shadowing Elizabeth Rich- mond and Albert Beverly, the.former maid. and butler of thé Stanford home, Who are living at Beverly's house on San Mateo Heights: I ‘the early reports of the death of Mrs. Stanford :in Honolulu her maid, May Hunt, who accompanied her mis- tress to the islands; was described as a newly employed servant. As a mat- ter of fact Miss Hunt was in the ‘em- ploy of Mrs. -Stanford for .many years, but about four years ago she received financial assistance from the kind wo- man and opened a lodging-house _ in this city. Recently ghe abandoned that _business and returned to the employ of Mrs. Stanford, whe had always shown a klndly interest in her w:lfare ———— Leib Will Call Meeting. SAN ‘JOSE, March 2.—8. F. Leib, vice president of the board of trustees of Stanford University, has not yet decided when he will call a meeting of that body, though he says he in- tends to call one before Mrs. Stan- ford’s remains arrive for interment. He will consult the other trustees be- fore deciding on the date. Mr. Leib declares that he cannot foretell what, action will be taken by the board, M@’/ ( (21:,4;,4“ P o .. Al LS Prord IN (‘Ol'\CIL ER \'ESTERDAV AFTER DI LENGTH THE, BUSINESS AFFAIRS AND ESTATE OF BE\LF:\LTRE% + ‘(\RD WHO GATH- ISCUSSED AT | | P | ! | & THINKS DEATH WAS NATURAL —_— Miss Lathrop Refuses to Believe Her Aunt - Was Murdered. - Miss Jennie Lathrop;, daughter of Charles G. Lathfop and niece of Mrs. Stanford, granted-The Call an Inte!‘- view yesterday. She said: . We are utterly in.the dark as to the tragic occarrencs at Honolulu, To be frank, 1 am woping for the.best, #nd In daing so must di credit the press dispatches that have been pll lished ‘thas far. 1 have no opinion whatever to give out, but 1 cannpt belleve that my aunt was the victim -of a cruel murder. Who in the world could wish to do her harm? .Who could have motive or a will that would not falter to-seek he life of euch a good, noble woman? I can’{ believe that any human being could have déstroyed the fife of the sweet, womanly woman in & manner so cowardly. ' I' cannot imagine any person thinking of raising & hos- tile hand against her. My aupt abver discussed with me the re- _ported attempt at poisoning her ih San Fran- cisco in January. 1 never knew anvthing of it ‘until the newspapers made ‘mention of it. T dld not belleve the story when it came out in print, and 1 will not credit jt now. The fact is that I have stopped reading the newspapers now. I don’t want to_see their accounts of what iz gving on in Honolulu. I prefer to walt until my father recelves authentic news from Hawaii before.1 will accept anything as | true. i"was given to understand that my aunt went to the mid-Pacific islands for the benefit of her hesith =~ She was. suffering from & bronchial .affliction, was told that she was mdvised 1o seck a ) nlmy clime. T do not belleve the pfess dispatches when “they say that she had explained to friends in Honolulu that she left San Francisco bécause of the fear that some one was trying to poison her. 1 could ndt for a moment think that any one connected. with Mrs. Stanford's household is implicated in apy crime against her. She wag always kind and considerate and always agreeable in her manner toward them. T think it is_outrageous for- the police of Honolulu to place Mies Bertha Berner under surveil- ianee. I do mot include in this statement May Hunt, the maid, because T do not know her, but 1 feel assured that there would be no one about my aunt and looking after her care who did not come to love her, Mijss Berner had been in the employ of Mrs, Btanford ak long as- I can remember. She was devoted to my aunt and my aunt held her in the highest esteem). Miss_Berner's mother and brother live here in Palo Alto and of course they are shocked over Mrs, Stanford’s death and grieved at the action of the police in Honolulu, do not know May Hunt, the maid. I have never sten her. She was by Mrs. Stanford a short time before starting from San Frapcleco. I do not know where Hunt came from, or who she is. I only know that she must have come weli recommended .or otherwise she would not have been engaged. 1 -am sorry that I cannot furnish any Aefinite information. But my father, mother and myself are all in absolute darkness owing to the lack of what we d as authentic information from Honolulu. ~Meantime we are & for the best and that no mystery of crime wiil mark !he close of so noble a life as that of my a poc Al PSRRI, Progress in Guatemala, GUATEMALA, March 2.—The Na- fionai Congress of Guatemala assem- bled -here to-day. The President's message gives statistics showing that constant progress has taken place during the last seven years under the administration of President Cabrera. 7/ ROBERT BERNER IS INTERVIEWED ——e Denies That His Mother Suspects Any One of the Poisoning. ‘STANFORD. UNIVERSITY, March 2. ‘What Mrs. Berner, the aged mother of Miss Bertha Berner, secretary to Mrs. Stanford, might say in regard to the alleged poisoning of Mrs. Stanford, her son does not wish her to tell. Late last night shé declared to a reporter that her daughter and herself had direct suspicions against a ‘“‘certain individ- ual.” Mrs. Berner also said she be- lieved this Honolulu poisoner was the same person-who attempted to murder Mrs, Stanford in San Francisco last’ January, but she refused absolutely to name that person. To-day Robert Berner, the son and brother, has guarded the doors of the Berner residence at Monte Verdg, just above the university, and declares that he will shoot any reporter that at- tempts to see his mother He angrily said: 2 They, would nevér have seen,my mother last night but for the fact that ! was away. I have, guarded her closely ever since the mid- dle b January to ‘keep her away from you newspaper men, and the minute I leave you swoop dowa and she fells the very thing that T gidn't want her to say, Jo My mother Is 75 years of age and she did not know what she was talking about last night. She is prostrated to-day over the eftects of that® interview. I do mot know whether Bertha will ever come back alive to us or not, there seems to be 80 _much poison floating around every- where. The statement that Mrs. Berner is reported to have made a remark that she could place her hand upon the person who committed the crime s entirely without foundation. It is borrible to have these insinuations cast about my mother and sister. I don't know what we will hear pext. ..Mother is terribly grieved over the situation of affdirs, It is an appalling blow to us. Mrs. Stanford has been such & good friend to Bertha that we cannot express the terrible grief-we feel at her death. Mr. Berner has been away from Palo Alto much of the time. He returned to his mother’s home here last January | and has been with her continually ever since. Mrs, Berner has received = se eral letters from her daughter since h parture with Mrs. Stanford for lulu. In one of them, written three days out, Miss Berner says: “The storms are terrible, but we do not mind, because they are less terrible | than the things we left at San Fran- cisco. Mrs. Stanford worries all the time. It is terrible to see the face that is 80 dear to me grow so suddenly old. Except for this feeling of depression Mrs. Stanford feels quite well.” This was the last heard from Miss Berner. The mother of the secretary was in great fear lest the daughter also be made 8 vietim of the X . i i .lieved she had been poiso remy could approach her. ono- l SAYS MISTRESS WAS POISONED Miss Berner Describes Scene at Death of Mrs. Stanford. —_—— Special Cable to The Call. HONOLULU, March 2.—Miss Bertha Berner, private secretary to the late Mrs. Stanford, is positive her mistress was poiscned. “Yes,” she said, “I believe she was poisoned, but by whom, or how, or why, I have not the slight- est idea. Mrs. Stanford herseif be- lieved she was poisoned. She said so repeatedly while we were working over her before she died. - She exclaimed | almost as soon as I entered her room: ‘Oh, -Bertha, been poisoned.’ “When the doctor came she told him to get a stomach puimp,pas she be- He said she must be mistaken, but she re- peated it and certainly believed she had been roisoned. Mrg. Stanford told me to tell the doctor what had hap- pened before, meaning the previous at- tempt on January 14 to poigon her at her home in San Francisco. She real- ized that unless she could vomit she would not recover. Her mind was per- fectly clear. “While we were v\orklns over her, giving her hot water to drink and bathing her feet she was in convul- €ions, but her mind was clear until the last moment. She did not say any- thing as to-who had polsoned her. “I got the medicines out of the trunk for her just before she retired to .bed Tuesday night. I~ got a cascaret capsule and about a half teaspoonful of powder from a bottle marked ‘bicar- bohate: of soda.’” She told me to get them, saying she would take both. She told me to take some soda. I re- plied 1 was going to take a capsule and would not take soda. I have seen the bottle marked ‘bicarbonate of soda’ for some time. It had the label of an Adelaide (Aystralia) druggist, but I do not ‘recall the circumstances of its purchase. “For some reason she kept that bot- tle. My mind isn't clear as to the bottle, but I am under the impression that as fast as its contents were used by Mrs. Sanford she either sent it out to have-it refilled at a druggist's or got powder in quantity to have bottle filled at home. I never had any- thing to do with that. I am at present unable to recall anything about it. Mrs. Stanford was in the habit of tak- ihg bicarbonate of soda when her stom- ach did not feel well, but she didn’t take it regylarly or in any large quan- tities, “The bottle which is believed by the police to have contained the strychnine that killed Mrs. Stanford was packed |, in a steamer trunk’ by Miss May Hunt, Mrs. Stanford’s maid.” . _— - RELATIVE SEES NO MOTIVE. I believe I have NEW YORK, March 2.—"I am ab- rolutely at a loss to understand why | rests will follow _manifested all the symptoms of grippe, SUSPECTED POISONERS MAY SOON BE BEHIND THE BARS POLICE OF TWO CITIES - FOLLOWING UP CLEWS otartllng DeveIOpments Are Likely to Result After the Autopsy Is Held. Special Cable HONOLULU, March 2.—Honolulu is awaiting with undisguised jimpatience the result of the autopsy on the body of Mrs. Jane Stanford, which High Sheriff Willlam Henry stated to-day will be finished to-morrow. If the re- sult shows that the bicarbonate of soda taken by Mrs. Stanford Tuesday night, shortly before she died, -contains strychnine, as the chemists have rea- son to believe, it is v-.derstood that ar- and the first of the sensational developments surrounding Mrs. Stanford’s tragic death will ensue, This information was given out late this afternoon by one high in author- ity, and indicates that the detectives of San Francisco have the strange case well in hand and are ready to act promptly. From the same source it was learned to-night that the authori- ties in San Francisco, who have been carrying on a voluminous correspond- ence during the last twenty-four hours with the officials here, have their sus- picions directed toward at least four persons, who were closely connected with Mrs. Stanford in her private life. Of this number it was learned here to- day that one is already practically yn- der arrest in San Francisco and that his detention was the result of Miss Berner's open accusation that she had reason to suspect him. Although the authorities refuse to discuss the case- for publication, having been advised to take this stand by the Police Depart- ment of San Francisco, it was learned that the man now under arrest in San Francisco is the Chinese cook, who had long attended Mrs. Stanford. MISS8 BERNER IS RETICENT. ‘When asked to-day if she had really made an accusation against the cook or had been in any way responsible for the suspicion directed against him, Miss Berner refused to make any an- | swer, explaining that she did not mean to conceal anything that might ma- terially aid in sifting to the bottom the mystery that surrounds her mistress’ | death, but had been instructed, in the | interest of justice, to refrain from dis- cussing the matter. Keenly appreciating that they are involved in solving one of the greatest criminal cases in the history of the Hawaiian islands, the detective forcé of Honolulu is to-day exerting every to The Call. effort to gather together valuable clews that will aid their fellow sleuths in San Francisco in running to earth the polsoner or poisoners, should to-mor- Tow's Tesults of the autopsy; glearly suggest ‘that a <rime bas been com- mitted. Although the detectivess have not given the slightest Intimation- to Miss Berner that she is being carefully” watched, it is neverthéless a fact. A ‘watch is also being kept upon May Hunt, the maid. Both wommen seem to | realize that some suspicion is directed toward them, and.Miss Berner, tearful at times, complains that public opinion is upjustly questioning her lnyally to her dead mistress. WOMEN CLOSELY WATCHED. While there is no- chance of either wemanp leaving tle island without the knowledge of the poitce, the lattér, taking. 3 precaution that" their ‘official position demands, have beth women under their eyes, thus insuring them- selves against even the remate possi- bility of one 6f the womehn falling off a cliff or destroying herself during"a fit of nervous ~excitement, - which would mean a loss of a valuable wit- ness to the prosecution in the event of a charge of murder belng preferred against any one in the mysterious case, To-night it was announced that the next steamer from San Francisco, the’ Alaimeda, - which leaves there on Sat- urday, will have among her passengers | one or more of Sin' Francisco’s clever- est detectives, sent here to malke a hurried investigation of the facts lead- ing up to and following Mrs. Stan- ford’s death. It is expected that the Alameda will arrive early on March 10. The steamship China. ig due here ‘thé following' day and will convey. back to San Francisco the re- mains of Mrs. Stanford, umless in the meantime the detectives here are able to show that the commission of the crimé: was here.and the guilt is charged to some one -here, a probe ability that no.one at present offers much' hope for.. The China wifl ar- rive in San Francisco'March 17. Dur- ing the voyage the detectives who will return with the body and Miss Berner and Miss Hunt will have ample time to closely question the two.women and gain whatever valuable information they may pessess. DR. BOERICKE GIVES OPINION Says Strychnine Might Have Caused Illness in January. - Dr. William Boericke, the physician who attended Mrs. Stdnford subse- quent to the alleged poisoning of Jan- uary 14, said last night that althoygh he treated Mrs. Stanford for grippe, she told him on the occasion of his last visit that she had been poisoned. At the time Dr. Boericke made his three visits Mrs. Stanford was in bed. ‘and seemed- very weak. Dr. Boericke said that although she such” as coughing and high tempera- ture, which was 103, the.fever and high -téemperature might have béen the after effects of strychnine. In telling the doctor of the pn’ems ol drinking the mineral water Mrs. Stan-| ford laid great stress on her beligf that an attempt had been made to poison her and despite the doctor's reassur- ances nothing could change her mind. Mrs. Stanford, however, made no men- tion of taking bicarbonate of soda with the mineral water and the doctor says he aid not recommend or forbid'} her to take the harmless combination. At that time Mrs. Stanford spoke only of the mineral water and declared that poison was undoubtedly placed in it. One of Mrs. Stanford’s Triends is the “authority for the assertion that Dr. Boericke prescribed medicine for his distinguished patient in little candy jujubes to do away with the unpleasant taste of the drug, but Dr. Boericke de- nies that he made any such prescrip- tion. If Mrs. Stanford had such me- dicinal pellets in her possession they ‘were without his recommendation or knowledge, he says. Prior to his call on Mrs. Stanfard on January 21, the first of the three visits he made after the attempted poison- ing, Dr. Boericke had not attended country. Dt. —_— poison her. She had no. suspicion against any one and despite the doc- tor’s questioning she declared that thd motive was inexplicable, Mrs. Stanford seemesd much vomed and the condition of -her hez'th not im- proving the doctor began (o urge a change of scene. It i8 said that when he mentiened going away Mrs. Stan- ford exclaimed ‘that such action might be safer and suggested leaving the Boericke tried to reas- sure her again and suggested that she seek the warmer climate of tfe south- ern part of the State. A few days aft- erward Mrs. Stanford lef¢ for San Jose and subsequently for Honolulu: | UNIVERSITY WILL BE IN- MOURNING FOR WHOLE MONTH STANFORD UNIVERSITY, Mareh %, Stanford University wil go into decp mourning- for a.month in.respect to the ‘memdry of the beloved fotnder. Though there has béen mo official bul- fetih to this effeét, yet itis the wigh of Dr. Jordapthat such a course be * adopted and the .students are glag to follow thé suggestion, All- entefeain- * ments are postpoped- until in. Ap: “Every Man in.His Humor.' the old . Ben “Jonson comedy thaft was to have been revived by the®English Club oa March 11, Wil be producesl on April 29, Thé junior farce will be given dn the 20tk of the same months *The annual _ dance given by.the junior class is also postponed until late in April” The a letit teams will of, necessity prae and there will probably be ball games and ‘track’ meets, " but taese will he conducted as quietly as possible. The unfversity will impressively Ronor Founder’s day gn Msrell 9. The regu- lar work of the unl\ersl!v however, will probably ®o on unlnfermptedly until the date “of the burial of Mrs. Stanford. - upon Mrs. Stanford for nearly two years. In fact, during that interval she was not attended by any physieian, having a strong disinclination to eon- any one should have wished to take !sult doctors except in extreme sick- Mrs. Stanford’s life,” said Colonel George Perkins Lawton, Mrs, Stan- ford’s nephew-in-law. “I am also un- able to understand how such an en- She was always a careful woman and was guarded by her servants and attend- lnu and although I am her nephew by marriage and the relations be- tween us were most friendly I was not always allowed to see her when I wanted to. “That any of her servants could do the deed is to me quite unthinkable. Such a crime is not committed with- out a motive, and I don’t see how any of her servants could have had such a motive. Her relations with them were always, so far as I know, pleasant and amiable.” To Prevent the unx;m.mwun,uuw' ‘old and otk or siamatere . WGioren gl ness. The fact that Dr. Boericke was| sammoned seems therefore to point to the idea that Mrs. Stanford deemed herself in serious danger, whether from grippe or from the effects of strychnine. On his second visit the doctor still treated her for grippe and the condi- tion of his patient was about the same. There seemed nothing in her condition She related to him how, after drinking