Newspaper Clipping of the Day

via Newspapers.com

I keep a file of stories that I call "Mini Mysteries": true crime cases where there isn't enough information available for a full blog post. Among them is this newspaper item from the "New York Tribune" of August 2, 1922, describing the day when death was on the menu of a popular eatery.

Two more deaths were added last night to the four caused by arsenic in pie served at the Shelbourne Restaurant, 1127 Broadway. Charles Roman, sixty-three years old, a manufacturer, of 1148 Lexington Avenue, died in Mount Sinai Hospital, arid Joseph Laubheimer, thirty-eight years old, of 11 West Sixty-fifth Street, died at his home.

Four others died earlier in the day and at least 100 more were affected, many so seriously that they had to have hospital treatment. More deaths are looked for. It has been impossible to obtain a complete list of those suffering from the poisoning because most of them are being treated at their homes.

The four who died yesterday morning are:

Hyman Bernstein, thirty-two years old, Warren Avenue, Palisade, N. J.

Lillian Getz, eighteen years old, 1262 Brook Avenue, Bronx.

Ida Weissburg, twenty-five years old, 976 Kelley Street, Bronx.

Jacob Pfeffer, fortv-eight years old, 1981 Eightieth Street, Brooklyn.

Mr. Pfeffer was an advertising man, with offices at 318 Broadway. He was well known among Jews in this country and Canada as a forceful editorial writer for Jewish newspapers. At one time he was connected with "The Jewish Daily News" and at another period published "The Jewish Weekly," a paper cf his own.

He was born in Galicia, Austria, and came to this country about twenty eight years ago. He was a prominent member of the Independent Order Brith Abraham and one of the lodges of this organization was named for him.

District Attorney Banton will summon every employee of the restaurant to appear before him to-day in an attempt to fix the responsibility and to find a motive for placing the poison in the pie served in the restaurant on Monday. Samuel Drexler, head of the firm which operates the restaurant, is helping the District Attorney in every possible way. Drexler went to the Bronx and to New Jersey yesterday to see if he could identify the dead persons among those who ate in the restaurant on Monday. In this connection Mr. Banton declared that it might be difficult to establish legally the fact that those who died did actually dine in the restaurant, and therefore, ho said, he wished that all those who ate there on Monday would communicate with him, as they might be helpful on this point.

A special meeting of the Board of Health was called yesterday afternoon by Acting Health Commissioner Monaghan, at which Drexler and his attorney, Harry H. Oshrim, were present. As a result of this meeting, the license issued to the Shelbourne Restaurant was revoked pending tho investigation by the District Attorney's office, the revocation to take effect immediately. After the meeting, Ole Salthe, chief of the Bureau of Food and Drugs of the Health Department, said that chemists of the department had made an analysis of a sample of the pie crust taken from the restaurant and found that it contained arsenic in considerable quantity. All the ingredients which were used in the making of the pie dough were analyzed and found to be pure.

"In my opinion," said Mr. Salthe, "the arsenic was maliciously put into the pie dough." He also announced that samples of all the food served in the restaurant were in the possession of the Health Department and that these would be analyzed as soon as possible.

The District Attorney's investigation has failed so far to reveal any one on whom guilt may be fastened. Mr. Banton thought it possible rat poison (which contains arsenic) or some similar substance might have been mixed with the dough by mistake in place of some of the proper ingredients.

Charles Abramson, a baker, who left the employ of the Shelbourne Restaurant on Saturday, was questioned by the District Attorney's office. Later he was held as a material witness and was released in $100 bail. According to Mr. Banton. he is apparently not to blame.

The examination of witnesses disclosed yesterday that Abramson had been connected with the restaurant for three months, coming into its employ when Louis Mandell, the former baker, quit to go into business for himself. A couple of weeks ago Abramson heard that Mandell had not succeeded in his new venture and had sold out. Believing that Mr. Drexler would desire to take Mandell back, Abramson got another job, and a week ago Monday told Mr. Drexler that he would quit on last Saturday. Mr. Drexler then re-engaged Mandell, who came to work on Monday morning. Abramson also came down that morning to instruct Mandell in the number of pies to bake for the trade that day. According to Mandell there were two pies left over from Saturday (the day Abramson quit) and the crusts of these were thrown away. There was also about five pounds of dough left over and, as was the custom, he mixed this with about two pounds additional, which he made, to compose the amount to be used for that day.

It was also found during the investigation that the baker's helper, a man called Louis, whose full name and address were not available last night, always came very early in the morning and prepared the basis of the dough and that when the baker himself came all he had to do was to add the proper amount of shortening and whatever other ingredients were necessary for the actual process of baking. It was also the duty of Louis to take care of the dough left over each day and see that it was placed in the ice box so that it might be used with whatever new dough it was necessary to make the next day. Louis will be summoned for questioning to-day.

The first knowledge of arsenic in the pie crusts came from the restaurant management. Several people came to Mr. Drexler after lunch and declared that the pie must be bad for it burned their throats. Mr. Drexler turned to his brother-in-law and partner, Frank J. Rosenthal, and said, "Frank, you have a sweet tooth. See if anything is wrong with those pies." Rosenthal tasted several of them and said they seemed all right to him. However, a short time later he was taken violently ill and Mr. Drexler, becoming alarmed, sent a sample of the crust to Bendiner &, Schlessinger, chemists, of 47 Third Avenue, who, after an analysis by Dr. Israel Schwartz, made a report showing that there was considerable arsenic in the crusts.

While most of the victims are supposed to have been poisoned by eating the pie, at least one of them declared yeptcrday that she believed there was poison in some, of the other dishes. Miss Sadie Brown, of 1118 Forest Avenue, the Bronx, one of those made ill by the food, asserted that a woman sitting next to her in the restaurant ate nothing but a small portion of beef a la mode, and nevertheless became violently ill in a short time.

So, where did the investigation into this seemingly utterly senseless mass murder go? Absolutely nowhere. Although it was logical to presume that the food was poisoned by one of the small number of people with access to the restaurant's kitchen, police were unable to find sufficient motive, means, and opportunity to lead them to any one suspect. The crime was never solved.

Unsurprisingly, the Shelbourne closed its doors for good. And it took some time before New Yorkers rekindled their taste for pie.