A SEA TRAGEDY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 101, 23 January 1919, Page 4

A SEA TRAGEDY

DEATHS ON THE MOANA

. The voyage of the Moana, which arrived in Wellington yesterday morning from San Francisco, was given a tragic turn by the deaths of a passenger, Miss Ingsay M. Ishister, of Christchurch, and the ship's surgeon, Dr. Grimm. The fatalities occurred on January 3, when the vessel was at sea, and, as reported by cable message at the time, were the result of poisoning. The tragedy has not been completely elucidated. The captain of the Moana will make his report to the proper authorities, and in the meantime he is not prepared to discuss the affair. He stated yesterday, in answer to.questions put by a Dominion reporter, that he was satisfied the poisoning was accidental. Miss Isbister and Dr. Grimm, with other passengers, were playing deck quoits on January 3; slid between games they had a drink of lemon squash, the two drinks coming from the same bottle. They were taken ill at once. Miss Isbister died quickly and the doctor succumbad later.

The liquid left in the bottle was analysed later and was found to.contain prussic acid or cyanide. The poison was of a deadly description, and it is probable that no remedies would have been of avail. How the poison G=me to be in the bottle hss not been discovered. Some further inquiry will be made. .

Miss Isbister, who was'in her, twentieth year, was on her way back to New Zealand. She had ton studying daiicing , in California, and had been described by her teachers as a particularly promising pupil. She was a popular girl aboard the ship, and her sudden death' cast a gloom over the passengers tha,t wa.s not dispelled during the rest of the voyage. .■■■''■■