Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1884-01-17

anxious about this man with them. but b
! being drunken, they could not get him uI
ever the bank, and % they left him and wen
down and gave themselves up to the polict
officers. This man wa left there alone il
that condition. His clothing was very thin
and he had just come out of q warm jai
where he had been 80 days. He vas found
little ways from the camp out on the ice on
the river in an easterly direction, lying on
his face where be seemed to have fallen, and
there seemed to be no evidence of his having
been disturbed. His coat was buttoned up
and his mittens were on. His clothing wa
in complete and perfect order. On his per
son was his wallet with Is cents in it, his
little bottle with a small amount left in it,
and . piece Of tobacco and some other things.
Neither of the blows have spoken of suE-
gested itself to me - having caused his death.
There was little blood there. 1t vas said
that there WAS little blood from this shanty
out to where the man was found, but if there
was there was no evidence of it when We
got there. His nose was . good deal
fattened on the ice. 1 think l
saw no marks of blood about his
clothes. think the only blood l saw was
about his face. And it was very evident
from what saw that it came from his nose.
He appeared to have fallen and laid right on
his nose and twisted it right around. and
there it froze. There appeared to have been
no struggle to get up. Ny recollection il
that his hands we're under him. We opened
his clothing and examined his body all up
and down. We did not 60 to the expense of
post norton examination, although l held
myself in readiness to make one. From
some things heard supposed was going
to get call to make one, but did not hear
anything from any person, and l did not
deem it necessary myself, so did not 60 any
farther. did not see any evidence of "a
terrible blow back of the ear" NY recollec-
ton is that one blow was on his right temple.
and if recollect right. although l may be
mistaken, there was another on the same side
down by the ear just down on the neck
DIR. Alton Sawyer, sworn. testified: was
one of the coroner's jury who held an inquest
on this body. examined the ice whore he
was lying. The ice was broken up. 40 it al
ways is on the edge of the river, and was in
clined down towards the bed of the river.
Then after examining the ground looked at
the body as it lay there. The man was
pitched forward on his face, his arms under
his chest, his legs slightly drawn ur, and his
face lying right in q crevice in the ice. His
head was bare, NO Overcoat on, and thinly
clothei ], and on the seat of his pants was
some frozen snow or ice. The coroner and
turned the body over and examined him As
he laid face upwards. His face down Is far as
his neck, had purplish appearance, discol-
ored from CONGESTION Of blood caused by lying
on the incline of ice and being pitched for
ward. His nose and lips were turned towards
the LETT Of his face. The bruise we found on
the face was not on the temple, but over the
right eye. and it was simply a cut not more
than half an inch in length. 1t was not deep
enough to cut through the muscles that cover
the frontal bone. No blood appeared to
come from that wound more than would ooze
from little mite of cut. This man was
frozed stiff, and it would be impossible to tell
whether that was done at the time he fell or
whether it was an old bruise; but not know
ing anything of this occurrence here the day
before concluded it WAS simply q cut he re-
ceived in falling. 1t was a sharp cut such as
would be made by ice. Such cut could not
have been made by blow of the fist You
get Confused blow from the fist. This
was a clear cut. The bruise that We found
was not behind the right ear but on the left
side behind the ear. That looked as though
it might have been produced by blow of a
fist, billy, or club of wood. II was q con-
fused blow. examined it carefully. 1t was
no more than a man would ordinarily carry
off from a heavy blow from fist. Those are
the only two marks OF violence found on this
mans face. From the left nostril there was
some blood that had oozed cut and went
down into the inner corner Of the eye. There
was no evidence of any other blows or cut
about the mans face. Some one remarked
how bad he looked. That was simply this
appearance frsm his nose being detected to
the left and his lips twisted round and frozen.
And this purple state of the head and neck
was from the blood as it had settled. That
was from the position in which the man fell
and not from any blows which he received.
1t was on account of his head being lower
than his heels. We removed his coat aud
vest and shirt and undershirt that
he had on and examined his body
for spots or cuts, and found none. The two
marks have described were all the marks
of violence found upon him. There was no
evidence of severe twisting of q cord round
his wrist. They were not even badly dis
colored. One Of the wrists seemed to have
the appearance a. though it had been corded
some, but not enough to cause any abrasion
or cutting through. There was no bleeding.
1t was eighty indented.
Q.-Whether in your judgment there was
such bruises on his head or any part of his
BODY as would cause the formation of blood
clots or effusion of blood on the brain SO a
to cause death?
Ave found 20 such evidence. This
blow behind the ear was evidently quite q
severe blow to produce a confusion. But il
it had been a blow severe enough to cause
death it must have fractured the base of the
skull, and q fracture of the base Of the skull
would have rendered the man insensible al
the time of receiving the blow. 1t is moi
possible for a man to receive . blow behind
the ear hard enough to produce q fracture OF
the base Of the skull, and be able to traml
off half dozen miles. 1t would produce
insensibility at the time he received it. This
blow on the forehead was not on the temple
A man would carry of q heavy blow there
without producing any efusiOn or inf1amma'
ton that would lead to effusion.
Q.-What in your judgment was the cause
of that mans death?
AFTER viewing the body and hearing
| the testimony had no doubt. and it wa
hardly questioned by any one Of the jury
that he came to his death in any other way
than that he was partly stupe6ed from drink
and it being q very cold night, he came on
| of this camp where he was left, and natural
| " struggled of in a stupe6ed state down thu
| bank onto the river and fell over and froz
| to death very soon in the cold. His ear
| we're Just as free from blood Is mine are.
George Wentworth, sworn, testified:
am city marshal Of Gardiner. I say