The morning call., 1893-10-11

he found that death was due to peritonitis
and septicemia, resulting from criminal
operation.
Amelia Wickey. or Amelia Donnely as
she was better known to her associates,
was but 16 years OF age, and was unusual ly
prepOssesslng in beth face and figure.
Her parents denied any knowledge of
her condition or of the operation which
caused her death, though the mother told
many conflicting stories, and evidently had
something to conceal.
DR.. Neumann. who reported the case,
was seen at his office last night, and made
the following statement:
"a man who said his name was Donnely
came to my Office about midu ght Monday
and said he had been referred to me by MIR.
Knapp. young friend OF mine who is
clerk in downtown drugstore. The man
said his stepdaughter was very i'll. and
wished me 10 20 and see her, He said she
had high fever and was deliri0us at
times, ana he feared that she was dying.
Il went with him to 430 Natoma street
and found girl lying ON bed in one oil
the back rooms. She had a high fever and
was only semi-conscious. After a few
brief Inquiries / made a digital eXamina-
tion of the patient, and found enough to
satisfy myself tnat she was the victim of
malpractice. l also saw instruments In
the room, and these helped to confirm my
susplcions. / told the mother what was
the matter. and also told her that her
daughter was dying and that | could do
| nothing for her. l asked what physician
had attended the girl. and was told that
| DR.. FilZgibbon had been called in earlier
in the evening. but: had refused to treat
| the girl on the plea of being pressed for
time. The mother also told me that her
| daughter had been under the care of
mid dwiie for some time past.
After giving the patient some medicine
to stimulate the action of the heart went
home. | felt worried about the case, and
went down there again about 10 80 o'clock
| this morning. The girl was dying, and /
so informed Mrs. Donnely. She asked me
in case the girl died to sign death certifi-
Cate giving pneumonia as the cause of
death. l refused to do so. and the mother
thereupon told me that doctor whose
name she did not remember, and who had
not been called in by any member of the
family, had been to see the patient and
after making an examination said it was a
case of pneumonia. He also said that should
the girl die he would sign the death csrtifi-
cate and give pneumonia as the cause of
death. This convinced me that | was right
in my previous suspicious, and | imme edi-
dately informed the Coroner of what l
knew"
Mrs. Donnely was seen at her home,
and when asked for information as TO the
circumstances surrounding her daughters
death denied any knowledge of the facts
revealed by the autopsy.
Amelia has been sick for two or three
months" she said, ''but | did not think it
was anything serious. About six weeks
ago l took her to Mrs. Dr. Godfrey, on
Howard street. Mrs. Godfrey had doc
tored me long time ago, and [ thought
she might be able to do something for my
daughter. The doctor came to the house
several times, but l am certain she never
performed an operation. The instruments
fQrrn nd m y Qr " Cxxyn mi fhaxy
were never used on my daughter. She
was not very i'll until week ago and then
she complained of cramps aud had to be
put to bed. If anything was done to her l
don't know anything about it. 1t was not
done in this house anyway"
TIE terrible death of the young woman
did not seem TO affect the different men,
bers of the family, and they were inclined
to resent any inquiry as to the manner of
her taking off. About the midwife, Mrs
DR.. Godfrey, they were especially rpticent,
and declared that they did not know where
she lived Mrs. Donnely finally said that
she thought she lived somew here on
Howard street, but she had forgotten the
number.
After search the Office of Mrs. DIR.
Goufrey was found at 1121h Howard. On
a sign IN front of the house is the legend,
" Drs. Godfrey" The woman herself
afler&ard explained that this meant
DOctIcoS UOutIcy. LIE uOCtTeSS proved
to be no less a parsonage than Nine. Be-
linda Laphame, who figured so conspicu-
ousiy as defendant in the Lottie Watson
murder case some months ago. The
madame was not aware that her
identity was known and expressed
great surprise when asked about her
acquaintance with AmeliasDonnely. She
declared that she had never seen the young
woman, much less treated her, and ex-
pressed no regret when informed of her
death. She said that she had treated Mrs
Donnely several weeks ago for cancer,
and was TO receive S37 per month if the
treatment was successful. After prescrb-
ing few times she concluded the cas- was
hopeless one and gave il up. She de-
clared she had never seen the daughter,
but few minutes later acknowledg ged
having treated her for pneumonia. She
denied that the girl had ever been at her
house, and said the mother had told will
ful uniruth In this particular.
The house at 1121h Howard street is
kept as lying-iD hospital. The alleged
DIR. Godfrey at first stated that her has
band was physician. but later on denied
this statement and said he was a common
iaborer. She also said that she had a ply
siciAn whom she called in to assist her in