The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1883-12-20

, in the medicine taken by them on the 24tl
of February last but how said poison go
, into the medicine thus taken they are
from the evidence, unable to determine.
AS is well known here, it has all along
been the desire of the management tt
leave no stone unturned to ferret this
thing out, and lay its responsibility where
it belongs, no matter where, or upon whom
And hence it was determined to seek, and
if possible secure, even at great expense
the most efficient means for probing the
matter to the very bottom. and finding, il
it could be done. the guilty parties--nC
matter who they were, or where they be-
longed.
To do this effectually required, of course
the most slIllfl, vigilant, and experienced
detectives and such, at the same time, as
were wholly unknown about here. Even
the prominent detectives of Richmond and
Baltimore would have been inefficient here,
because known to some. If not many, mem
bers OF our community. After delibera-
ton, therefore, and as early as practicable
after the subsistence of all excitement and
suspicion. it was determined to employ the
celebrated ''Pinkertons. who, while oper-
ating in all the cities of this country, have
their principal headquarters in Philadel-
4
Pile here. This was accordingly done, and
| done so secretly that detectives, after hav-
ing put themselves in possession of all the
facts they could, by studying the testimony
given before tine coroner'S jury and other
wise, acre on the prsnaises here constantly
and elsewhere, operating for months, with
out the knowledge of any one (saye the Su-
perintendent 81. whether official, member
OF the Board. employee, stranger or pa
tient.
Every facility was offered for full and
free investigation i'll any way and by what
soeyer means were thought proper by this
experienced company OF detectives, and at
a time when no body suspected it, but
When. every now and then, were heard
coming from prominent quarters such eX-
pressions as, well, if the officials at the
| asylum are innocent. and want to do what
| is right, wlly, iii Gods name. don't they
employ a detective?'' &c.
The operative-a doctor-at first sent
here {about the 1st Of May, besides being
a shrewd, adrDit man, of large experience
as detective, was an accomplished physi-
clan. with u diploma from at least two
first-class medical colleges. He was adj
mitted into the asylum as q patient, ac-
companied 10y an officer, and all the papers,
forms, &c., that are usual and necessary !;
and as lie gradually improved (?), his priv
ileges were extended. and license to visit
the city aud other surroundings, at first
| with an attendant. and then alone was al
lowed him. as other convaleScentS, as early
as possible, to enable him, without suspi-
cion. to explore infinitely and satisfactorily
the entire field. both within and without
the precincts of the institution. This OPP
erative,o of great experience, and with Won
derful manner. familiariZing himself with
everything and becoming acquainted with
everybody ards busy night aud day from
the lst of May till the early part OF August.
And it may not be amiss to add that
those with whom he was most intimately
associated all this time-thoSe who seemed,
in fact, to be his confidential friends here,
both in and about the town, were, as arule,
inimical to the present administration.
They were, to say the least, not in Sympa-
thy with it in any respect, so far as could
be known and, besides charging the terri
BILE disaster to the incompetency OF the
druggist, were not slow to make known
their sentiments of dislike and distrust on
any occasion. These, say, SO far as we
could observe, were the operatives aSsoci-
| ates and and advisers; and yet, withal,
after several months constant association,
| vigilance, observation and investigation
reporting in the meantime almost daily to
! his principal and colleagues-the principal
OF superintendent of the company makes a
report which concludes as follows:
| In accordance with your request, we
selected frst-class detective to make the
| investigation, who was furnished with
every facility by yourself while at the asy-
| lum to get any information that could be
obtained. And the conclusion arrived at,
from the reports of the detective and per-
! sonal interviews, is that the poisoning re-
suited from no carelessness OF lack of pre-
caution on the part of the faculty, but was
evidently the work of design, and has been
| perpetrated by parties outside of the insti-
tuition, whom it is unnecessary and would
/ also be injudicious to undertake to name at
ttis time. Yours truly,
| (Signed) ''R. J. LINDEN.
| Superintendent, de-. The Pakerton Ma
tion@ Detectire Agency"
| 1t is regretted that want of space pre-
vents the publication here in full. of the
| testimony before the coroner'S jury, DR..
Mallets report, and the whole of the jury's
verdict, and the detectives report; but,
| with this simple recital OF the circum-
| stances, the subject is respectfully SUBJ
mitted to the judgment of all fair minded
people.
| OTHER MATTERS.
Independent of this subject the report
is interesting. 1t Shows that this great
public charity has had under its care during
the past wear more of the insane than at
on1, ,,ro,,;o,s nor;od &c Ire b;s+orv Eor
Guy pie'io'' p.-ioo ~ io' ii'J.
the pettef provision lor 1he unfortunate
people, extensive improvements have been
made. and the work of extending the ca
,,oa;t, sc +,,o A.,,,l,,,, hoe ,ro.roosod =,
| p"oi'S =. .ne n'Sioi'' 400 p,os, oe9eu' -
summarizing the year s WORK. theouperln-
tendent says:
~ IS, tlilnk; i matter OF congratula-
S Sio 05a aS sao 4ho u to,, y" IF
other wear the fiftv-iifth of it's existencel.
| not only without the severe visitation of
any mallgnant or epidemic disease, OF even
faLaISa o,,;denoa 90 ~ nros,,ar;tv
and usefulness.
The repairs and structural improvements
| nave peen unuSuatiy extensive the per
;no,,g;,,os go 4ho .,oiso,,, ,r9 d;snstors'
is but little beyond the annual average
the proportion of recoveries, in view of
Ine llnavolaapie annual increase OF accu-
consnmntivas and other ipcuno,i{eemeitheI
because of extremely advanced age or bro
as at any time in the past and the num-
Der OF insane treated and cared for, has