Evening journal., 1890-08-18

horse was thoroughly gentle with them.
The dashboard of the buggy was pushed
out frem the inside. The boys observed
ne other damage They drive TO the
residence of DR.. ]. F. Fahey, at Fourth
and Adams streets He was one of the
nearest doctors. Besides he is the coro-
ner's physician andsa personal friend of
Mr.. Mckee They hurriedly told
him what had happened He put few
restoratives into his pocket and told the
boys to drive on and that he would
| follow. He did follow in his own
carriage without knowing where he was
going. He reached the bridge in about
half an hour.
Mrs. McKee's body had meantime
been covered with the lap robe which
had been used in the carriage. DR.. Fahey
spoke to Mr.. Mckee and then looked at
the body. He saw that Mrs. Mckee was
absolutely dead. The wound in the back
of her head was a deep and severe one.
The skull VAS probably crushed. The
other wounds were not so heavy Her
face was slightly purple in color and
bubbles Of gas exuded from the nostrils.
His opinion was that Mrs. Mckee
lying face downward, had drowned. But
in his view, she must have been I'M
conscious when she struck the water.
Otherwise, as the water was so shallow,
she conld easily have struggled out Of it..
The wound in the back of her head in 2
Dictated what had made her unconscious,
But how did the wound get there2
Theories About the W ound
Mr. Mckee said that he thought the
horse might have kicked her DR.. Fahey,
after thinking the matter over, said that
it was difficult to see how the horse
could have inflicted the injury and
gave it as his theory, that the
woman, falling backwards over the bridge
crushed her head in upon a stone on
the side or in the bed of the streamlet
and then, turning. fell face downwards
in the water and being unconscious, lay
there until death came. Others thought
that probably her head came in contact
with one Of the planks of the bridge in
the fall. Mr.. Mckee, it was said. did not
realize the full danger of the situation at
first. for he said he did not know there
was any water there, but had imagined
that beyond the bridge all was meadow
Mr. Mckee was greatly shocked by the
occurrence. He took $3.50. check out
of his pocket and said
Poor woman Almost the last thing
she did was to give me this check.
DR. Fahey. realizing that he could do
nothing, returned to Wilmington. Mean.
time, an acquaintance of MIR. MeKee's,
who was passing along the road and had
heard of the occurrence, called on Or.
/ Willard Springer of Thirteenth and King
streets and told him that Mr.. Mckee
and a woman had been driving and the
woman had met with an accident The
man had called on Mr.. McKee's family
physician, DR.. e. L. Lawton of Della
ware avenue, but DR.. Lawton was out.
DR. Springer provided himself with
/ spirits of ammonia, some wbiskey and
other restoratives, and got Undertaken
| Wilson's private ambulance and went
out. He was coroners physician for
seven years. He retired in March last.
He is a personal friend of Mr.. Mckee,
but does not know his family. AS soon
as he saw Mrs. Mckee he pronounced
her beyond all hope of aid and the body
was brought in the ambulance to Mr..
McKee's residence in Wilmington.
DR.. Lawton, it is understood, subse.
quently called in. The coroner. feel
ing satisfied as to the occurrence, gave a
burial certificate. the funeral, which was
largely attended, took place, the body was
laid away and Mr.. Mckee received q
large number of messages of sympathy.
Old friends speaking Of Mrs McKee's
death spoke OF it as remarkable in view
of the end. that she lad been among
horses all her life. that she was a skilled
horsewoman, and even in her childhood
she would bravely ride even q spirited
horse. Her temperament, however, was
nervous Mr.. Mckee with his children
has been spending some days at Cape
/ May