The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-04-30

had been always careful enough not to
sign his full name. bu: had corr sponded
with her regularly. signing himself Jack"
Witness said that she had in her pocket
one of his letters to her, showing that at
one time he suffered great reyersns of for
tune and was in very low SHIRTS. I'M,
letter was Produced and read. 1t ran as
follows!
SAFETY NITRo-PowDER CoMPANY.l
July o, 1890.
By Dear Wife; Your dae July 9th at hand,
so glad 10 bear from you, still this does not
leave ME ry well. have worried so much,
darling, about our troubles that L am sick and
worn CUT. The weather Is very hot, dear, and
when was In the East 1t was terrible some.
Thing awful. You speak OF your black dress l
am soTry am not There 10 20 out with you The
first lime you wear it, notice the newspaper
clipping OF w l.. Hay aud wife, do you sup
pose they are MARI or not il looks very
close at home IL they are not l do SO wish
l could be with you, II Is running me being away
from |ou. hav fully made up nv mind to 70
back 10 l.. and NJ. an going back in debt |
expect TO get parl Of The money | have spent
back. l VIII start for Tie coast In about a
mouth, and will come by Montana. ! am sick
anu heartbroke. dear, about the. | had almost
rather died than TO have disappointed you so.
am lallute, May-l wouldn't blame you. dar-
ling, II you threw me over, but II You do II will
break my heart. sure. Good-by, dear; l always
tried 10 do right. l have no hopes dear that
you viii try 10 do anything apo ut The lol at this
late DAY. Good. by. Your unhappy JACK.
On conclusion of her testimony the wit
ness stated that she preferred TO sign the
name OF her deceased friend. She accord
lngly, though with trembling hand.
signed herself "May Spencer"
DIR. Charles l.. Darlington testified TO
having found four ounces Of dark LIQUID in
the dead mans stomach, one ounce of which
ne thought was the tincture of opium
known as laudanum.
AT this an unusual proceeding took place.
Dr. harrington was aked number of ques-
tions at the instance If DIR. Bettencourt of
Oakland, relating to what authority he
had for saying that the liquid was lauda-
mum and not morphine Question after
question on tie same subject followed until
the Coroner, regarding the questions as
taking too much the form oil q cross-examin-
alton, put stop to them and dismissed the
witness.
DR.. j. D. S. Bettencourt of Oakland was
the next witness He testified that he had
known Spencer for about one year; that
be had met him at Mr.. McAllister's house
in Oakland. Mr.. MeAllister being Spencpr'S
predecessor in the position of Pacific
Coast manager of Leggett 81 Meyers
tobacco firm. DR.. Bettencourt had
entertained Spencer and his fancee to 6in-
ner only ten DAYS ago. when both parties
appeared TO he in the highest spirits.
Questioned as 10 Spencer's means the
witness said lie had no idea how deceased
stood financially, but he judged his salary
to be about $500 month. His health was
mostly good, but lately lie had been troubled
with a cough, for which he had been taking
medicine.
John NJ. Gamble, Spencer's private sec
rotary. was called upon to testify as TO the
deceased'S means. He said that he judged
his salary to be from $50 TO $780, but he
was not sure.
He said that Spencer never had had the
handling OF any OF the firms money, SO
could not be in debt TO his employers.
And it was at this juIcture that the most
extraordinary discovery UaS made Durinr
CANDLES testimony DR.. Bettencourt had
been actively skipping around picking up
and shifting at number of bottles that had
been taken from Spencel's dressing-table,
Nothing transpired until the doctor came
10 a bottle labeled Halls Catarrh Cure"
which contained but a few drops of some
liquid. No sooner had the doctor smeIt it
and tasted it than he passed the bottle to
the Coroner, who, after similarly tasting it,
gave it into the hands of DR.. Darlington for
examination.
DR.. harrington tested the mixture with
nitric acid, and at once pronounced il to
contain opium.
The Coroner at once called upon DR..
Darlington to take the stand again, and on
his testimony being entered the bottle was
put 10 one side. and the mystery of the miss
ing poisou-botlle considered 10 have been
cleared at last.
Tie inquest closed with the testimony Of
the Coroner's deputies, which was purely
l.
Leon Jones, the Deputy Coroner, testified
that to the best of his recollection when Mir.
Rich took him up to decpased's bedroom the
door was unlocked and he simply pushed it
open.
Kelly, the Coroner's messenger. who
came next, went further than this, and
sw0re positively that the door was IN
locked
However, the conflicting testimony on this
point was Tor the present ignored and after
brief charge the jury consulted together,
finally returning a verdict to the effect that
of laUdsnum, self administered"
lust where deceaSed's jewelry has gone to
is pulling everybody. aud as yet no direct
motive is given for his rash act. But that
he was always pressed for ready money is
impossible. for his account at the Pacific
Bank shows that since January this year
Spencer had as much AS 500 on deposit and
at the time OF his death there. was still SCI 10
cash balance in his favor
But April must have been an expensive
month for Spencer, for since the 10Th of the
month he has drawn checks for no less
sum than 1927 20. These checks have been
paid out as follows:
On the 18Th to NJ. L. Van de Bozart,
S27 20; TO j. +. Lowell, So; IN the l8sh TO
NJ. X. Shiphard, $50 So; 10 G. Taconi, s53
To his secretary, John NJ. Gamble. he paid
on the 18th. $50 and $50 50 on the 22d, $50
and on the 18th, $50 and SIS.
Besides these Spencer drew in cash from
the bank $3.50 on the 22d and SI15 on the
18th Of April. What the money was used
for is not vet known.
A telegram is ut hand from Portland, Or,
bearing yesterdays date and conched in
these words
Friends OF JOAN d. Srencer, who was
found dead in the Grand Hotel in san
Francisco, deny that he ever lived with a
woman in this city as his wife ard assert