Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-06-14
WOUNDS OF THE BORDENS.
Yesterday Afternoon at the Trial Given to
the Testimony Of Physicians.

"OONOS Or k6OnOENSs
Yesterday Afternoon at the Trial Given to
the Testimony of Physicians.
After the recess in the Borden murder trial ct
New Bedford, Mass, yesterday DR.. Draper was
called to the stand and his examination was re-
sumed. He said the first wound studied upon
the head of Mrs. Borden was on the back; II
was two and a half inches long; he could not as
certain accurately its depth owing to decompo-
sltion. Continuing, he said:
"The next was the scalp wound. It was above
the left ear. 1t was two inches long. Then
there was group Of two wounds. The deepes,
place was behind, at the back of the cut. The
next was nearly parallel and went nearly
through the skull and scalp. 1t was three
quarters OF an inch ut its back part-that was q
clean cut. I"
The other wounds were described substan-
TALLY as was done by DR.. Dolan.
During the description Miss Borden retired,
not caring to listen to the witness in his rather
horrible recital
The wounds varied from half an inch to Ave
inches. Witness statement relative to the in
testines of the body was substantially the same
as that OF Prof. Wood, and he said there was
nothing abnormal about their condition. He
was sure Of the priority Of the death on the
part of Mrs. Borden. As to the interval he
was confident it was at least an hour between
the time of deaths.
Here the skull Of Mr.. Borden was produced
by DR.. Dolan. that DR.. Draper could make a
more comprehensive statement as to the DO
sition of the wounds and their effect
BY examination Of the skull the witness was
enabled to assert positively that the cutting
length Of the instrument used on the skull
was three and half inches He demonstrated
this fact by a piece Of stiff tin, which he in
serted In several Of them and showed that there
was good fit. He said the small handleless
Ratchet could have been used in making the
wounds Witness considered these blows to
have been produced by Q Ratchet or some
sharp-cutting instrument; in his opinion the
blows could have been caused by woman of
ordinary strength. In the opinion Of witness.
the assailant Of Mrs. Borden stood over her;
the assailant Of MIR. Borden stood behind him
at the head Of the sofa; he thought there was
no way Of determining the direction Of the
blood spatters, and he could not say az to what
chances there might have been Of the assailant
being spattered
THE HEAVIEST BLOW.
Cross-examined by Mr.. Adams, witness said
the heaviest blow given Mr.. Borden was the
one which cut the eye The assailAnt OF Mr..
Borden, provided q short-handled Ratchet was
used, would necessarily stand close to his head
and would receive some spatters on the clothes
On Mrs. Borden's body the witness found
twenty-five wounds-eighteen Of the cuts in the
head, one in the back and three Commissions on
the face. The assailant Of Mrs. Borden must
have been mole or less epattered with blood in
front, although some Of the blood might have
gone In the air and come down behind and
that the face and hair might reasonably have
received some blood splatters. If fresh blood
we're put on the head Of hstchet in August,
on hot day in our climate, 1t would dry
quickly il not spread too thick.
Blood would lnterminOle with the mat and
would wash off less easily than if smeared on a
bright surface. II blood were smeared on a
rusty Ratchet at, say 10 o'clock, it would in one
hour be dried in, on hot day and it would not
very readily be washed of. think in this case
the blood would come of before the rust. and
there would be difficulty in detecting the pres
ence of blood there by chemical test.
David W. Cheever, Boston, physician and
surgeon, OF thirty-ive years experience, testi-
fled that he he'd been shown the skulls of Mr..
and Mrs. Borden, and had since then studied
them with view to determining the character
and effect of the blows. He believed Mrs.
Borden died first, the minimum time being one
hour. the maximum not more than two hours.
The injuries on the bones we're made by heavy
metallic instrument. with sharp edge. not more
than three and half inches-such as Ratchet.
He had examined the handleless Ratchet, and,
assuming it had a handle of ordinary length.
he thought it would make the wounds. He
understood the nature Of the wounds, and was
Of the opinion that a Ratchet not much smaller
than that previously described could perhaps
have been used. but in NO event can the maxi
mum OF three and half inches be exceeded.
Cross-examined by Mr.. Adams-An instru-
ment of a cutting edge OF three inches or pos
sibly less. might have made one of the wounds
on Mrs. Borden's head. Witness thought the
assailant of Mrs. Borden stood face to face with
her when the scalp wound was made, and the
others were made when the assailant WAS astride
OF the victim. He thought the assailsnt must
have been spattered from the waist MP. II the
assailant stood bes.ride the victim 1t was a
question, he thought, whether the shoes would
be splattered. because the dress would have .
tendency to hide them.
Adjourned until today.
A NEWARK BARBER's STORY.
William II. Devere, who keeps q barber shop
at 3s Bridge street, Newark, N. J., told the fol.
lowing story yesterday:
zone afternoon last fall do not recollec,
the precise data man entered my shop. He
was about five feet six inches tall, and weighed
about $50 pounds. He wore a heavy blacl
beard and mustache, his hair was black. He
was about forty-6ve years Of age. His clothe,
were neat and tidy. He wore a black derby
hat and no coat. He said he wanted me tc
shave of his hair. beard and mustache. die
so.
"While was shaving the man he asked me
If would take chew Of opium. l refused
When had finished shaving the man he asked
for some writing paper. He wrote three let
tiers. and they did not seem to suit him, SC
he rewrote them. He wrote fine hand, ant
appeared to be trying to disguise his hand
writing. He acted SO strangely that fell
alarmed.
Before the man went away he looked a
himself in the glass and said to me: 'Yor
would not know me, would your l told him
NO. would not. l noticed two sheets Of pa
per on the floor that he had left behind. The,
were spoiled sheets that he had rewritten. One
of them was addressed to Mayor Coughlin OF
Fall River. 1t read: L murdered Mrs. Borden
/ did il out Of revenge. II Is no use irving e