The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1893-02-17
HOW ABOUT THAT!
MURDER SUSPECTED on THE BAY-NorH1sH
DONE TO sIrT OUT THE CASE

The people of the bay think they
have, hidden in their tlidst; i case Of
heinous crime. They haye been sus-
p:clous in that direction for the pa,t
two weeks, and still at last accounts
they had done nothing to clear up in
their vexed minds the suspicious cirs
cumstances involved in the case.
Two weeks ago to-day Maggie Nor-
ton died within very few hours after
her illness set in, and with her de-
parting life went also that of her STILL
born child. The woman was buried
nut her friends were dissatisfied and
talk about the case in the neighbor-
hood resolved into the opinion that
she had been poisoned to death. She
was the wife of Charles Norton-alia !
Mansondeld, from whom she had sep.
arated at Walla Walla where he now
resides. They had 4 child year or sd
old. She had come with this child
back to her mother, who lives on the
bay. She came, as the story goes, in
a destitute condition and very scantily
clad, owing to Norton's heartless neg
llgence to provide for her, and wa9
working out on the bay to support
herself and child. The little one was
taken very sick. Norton was sent fof
without the knowledge of his Wife and
came to attend at the bed side of the
child. In the meantime Mrs. Norton
had shown her mother some powders
Norton had given her and urged her
to take, but she deter,ninedly prom
ised her mother she would not take
them. With the fact that she was for
some time alone in the sick room with
Norton up to the hour of her death
this powder feature is associated, and
putting all the circumstances together
the theory of foul play, in the minds
of the community, was Quite we'll es-
tab'ished.
The GAZETTE repeats the story
simply as it gets it, for tho reader to
take for what it ia worth.
The singular part of it Is that in the
face of SO grave case as this is made
to he, nothing has been done by those
people to sift it down to the facts and
bring il to just conclusion. An off,
ficer from that place was in this city
a week ago last Thursday; working
up the case"-as he said, and solicit
ing a physician in Corvallis to go and
make post mortem examination to-
settle the matter Of poisoning. He
was properly advised that they had
physicians near at hand to do that du::
ty. So they have. They also have
every legal functionary required to Of
ficiate in such case, whereby it might
have been scrutinized through and
through and the facts aacertained at d
noiety of expense. What was the
sense, then, of posting out here to Cor
Wallis to get the matter attended to;
when the only difference would have
been to have piled up big expense,
bill on the county2 Then, failing in
this, it looks on the face of it as though
the bay authorities had "sulked in
| their tents" had not lifted a finger IN
their duty of clearing M matter
which they are so sufficiently assured
is a very grave one that they are justi-7
fed in keeping up the alarm cry;
"Crime! probably murder"
This smacks very much of the old
familiar style from that section in the
history of Benton's criminal litigation3
but the bay people must now renlem-
Der that they have set up their own
autonomy, and that this case would
have been an excellent one for them to
have begun On. The big, fat mileage
accounts and witness fees are now OBJ
solete. Benton county is able. to man
age her own criminal affairs. Sic
transit gloria Lincoln county.