The morning call., 1894-02-08
PLAINTIFFS EVIDENCE IN.
Some Interesting Experiments
to Be Made.
The Testimony Yesterday-As Usual
the Doctors Disagree The
Number of Shots.

The trial OF the suit of Mrs. l.. B. Nc
Whittier against the Connecticut Mutual
Life Insurance Company is drawing to
close. This morning the plaintiff will finish
with her evidence. The testimony in re-
buttal and the experiments to be made for
the benefit of the jury will follow. The
experiments promise to be interesting.
The question which they are to help to de-
termine is concerning the nearness to Nc
Writers body at which the pistol was
held from which the bullet was fired
through his heart.
The theory of the defense, claiming
suicide as the cause of death. is, of course.
| that McWhirter used the pistol upon him.
self that it was fired at close range, and
that convulsive action upon the part OF
the man caused by the pain of the shO',
such as grabbing with Lis hand his clothing
just over the wound. thus putting out
any fire that might have been caused by
the explosion of The pistol. and the further
| fact that the blood from the wound at once
| mixed with the powder, and powder
smoke, caused the marks on the garments
| to assume the appearance which they pre-
| sent. The experiments of the defense will
| be conducted by placing muslin, such as
that OF the nightshirt, over fresh beef or
| pork and firing shots into il from the ps-
| tol admittedly owned by McWhrter. and
the one found in the yard with the triangle
| and III upon IT, while identically the same
| caliber of cartridges with which both pis-
| tolls were loaded. namely, "41-caliber
| short" will be used.
| On the other hand the plaintiff will seek
| 10 show by experiments that no such
marks could have been made upon the
| garments had McWhirter shot himself.
| Just what experiments, If any, the plain
| uil 10 10 Eu0
The trial of the case yesterday brought
| forth nothing really new other than the
| testimony OF Professor Price and DR..
| Webb Unfortunately the mOOied question
canuot be settled by chemical analysis but the
| experiments may go long way toward helping
to solve IT. The testimony was as follows:
W. w. Philips, president OF the Farmers
Bank OF Fresno. testified 10 the dates of GER
| tain NOES given by McWhirter.
Professor Thomas Price, the chemist, told of
| his examination under microscope of fifiy-tve
diameiers OF The stains on the nightshIt wut n
by New hirter on the night of his death He
found no burns on the cloth and there was no
evidence OF stains made by the elements Of
powder so far he could observe. This
| opinion given only upon observation
! through the microscope, as he did not make an
analytic examln nation of the stains. Such an
examination, by the way, Is impossible at This
! time because the exhibits must remain in their
present state until after the second trial of
Richard Heath for the killing of McWhIrter.
| There was no crossexaminati0n OF Professor
| Price.
Dr. f. Cook Webb a physician said that from
j 662 TO 1866 he had treated gunshot wounds
entirely. he had also rracticed in Government
hospitals and treated a number of gunsnot
wounds inflicted at close range. The witness
had seen thiee attempts at suicide with pistols
held at eleven or twelve inches away. The
Iistos we're old Colts, but he did not know how
they were. loaded. the court ruled he could
not tell about the suicides. The witness found
no powder burns on McWhirter's garments
On cross-eXamnation the witness swoTe thai
he had discovered certain blood crystals with
I mi -hya n
not explain the shape OF the crystals, and when
asked by Bud IL he aid not know that such
crystals could not be seen under microscope
OF less than 800 diameters, admitted that he did
not know.
W. j. Tinnn, an attorney OF Fresno, swore:
visited McWhlrteT's residence the night be-
fore his death; remained about an hour and
half; McWhirter was a cheerful man; was
awake on the morning that McWhirter was
shot; counted the shots. there were seven;
the first shots were closer together than the
last; there was no difference in his conduct
on Sunday night nom that at any other time"
| Cr0Ss-eXamined: Heard no screams; counted
| the shots out loud"
Mrs. W. j. Tinnin, sworn: Counted the
| shots aloud; my husband Joined me in count
| ing them ALOUD; there was interval between
! the Shots; the last four shots were extremely
rapid"
A. L. Wagstaff, sworn: "Am a newspaper
man; was working on the Morning Republic n
! in August 1892; was at my home the morning
| that McWhlIter mel his death; heard three
shots. then an Interval and then three more
scream
| ing His cross-eXaminatt0n was continued
until o'clOck In order that the files of The Re-
| publican might be produced TO show that the
| witness had written articles saving ONLY SIX
! shots had been fired
| Phil Scott, brother of the Sheriff of Fresno
| County, sworn: WAS member of the Coro-
| ners jury; made an examination OF the gunny-
sack and the seventh bullet in the Dashboard OF
the fence; thought the bullet-hOles and mark
on the board were fresh; found no sawdust in
| the lot where Bury sawed the Usage orange
IA
limb lay when We visited the lot"
! The last question was asked by the Judge,
| ana the answer sustains Detective Bury, VINO
swore thar be did not saw the limb where it
originally lay but over by the fence. and the
testimony of Lee BlasIugame was that lie
| pulled the limb back II ON where Bury sawed
| II TO the place where it originally lay This
accounts for the absence OF the sawdust.
On cross, examinaiion."L Blaslngame was
was said bout The limb being brought back 10
| the place where 1t originally lay"
The next witness was James III. Budd of
counsel for the defense. Asked whether orEnot
he was present at the COrOner's inquest on the
body of McWhirter, Mr.. Budd said he was
there part of he time. The witness was then
asked whom he represented at The inquest, and
he promptly declined TO answer. Laer Mr.
Budd stated that he appeared for no insurance
company at the inquest, but was sent for Dv
pc rsoDs who wanted 10 see all the facts brought
out.
Upon the admission OF the Coroners verdict
by the plaintiff as part of her testimony the
court excluded IL, first because It was vague
and secondly because il was lmmaterial.
The first witness of the afternoon was c. j.
Stwell, who testified that In company with
Gunsmith WarDekros OF Fresno he made GER
tain experiments in June, 1893. with 41-cali-
Der Colts revolver. loaded with both long and
short cartridges. The cloth used In making
the experiments was exhibited to the Jury
Cross-eXamined: Budd placed a magnifylng
glass over the bullet holes and called his atten.
tion to the fact that there was not a hole in the
cloth made by firing shot over one foot from
the cloth that was clean cut, such as the holes
n q nj i.h ala
bullet holes. The witness also testified that
tht re was sheet of newspapers behind the
cloth when the shots were fired. Judge Gilbert
stopped the examination, saying that the expe-
rlments TO be made before the jury would prob
ably show all that the defense wanted to bring
out.