The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-04-19

New York. April 1s.-Mrs. F. Adams
Darling. writer Of war letters. and one
of the founders of the Daughters Of the
Revolution. is seeking the Indictment
of DR.. Francis Xavier Spranger and
his wife, who was formerly her daugh-
ter-in-law. Mrs. Edward I. Darling. by
the grand jury of New York county.
The case is in the hands of Assistant
District Attorney Battle. and is now
in such a shape that it will probably be
presented to the grand jury the CON-
ing week.
Mrs. Darling's son. Edward Irving
Darling. died February 8. 1894. at Mount
Clemens. Mich. from what she claims
to have been slow poison. He was
musical composer and a poet Of some
renoWn. Shortly after his marriage to
Beatrice May Klingle. in Washington.
IN 1885, he met with an accident in fall
ing out of a window and breaking sew
eral bones of his body. DR.. Spranger,
then a recent graduate of a western
college, was called in to attend him.
For many weeks the young man lay
in plaster of paris cast. and it is now
alleged that during this time the doc
tor fell in love with his patients wife.
Poison in Milk.
On July 4. 1892. the younger Mrs.
Darling received news of the death Of
her father in Washington. This left her
an estate of more than $1.00O,OOO. Mr..
and Mrs. Darling went to Washington
10 attend the funeral. and stopped at
the Ebbitt house in that city. While
there the young man became violently
i'll after drinking glass of milk. Mrs.
Darling. the mother. now claims that
the milk contained poison.
After the funeral of Mr.. klingie, Mr..
and Mrs. Darling returned to Detroit.
and from that time on it is said that
the husband became an invalid. Ac
cording to the story told by the mother.
Dr. Spranger was in constant attend
ance upon her son. When DR.. Spranger
was questioned as to the cause of the
Illness, he said Darling was suffering
from Bright's disease. On November
Is, 1898. while in a bad condition physi-
caily Darling came to this city and
visited his aunt, Mrs. DuvaL While
stopping with her his health continued
so improve and he gained % pounds.
Became Worse.
Mrs. Darling Joined her husband in
New York on January l, 1893, and, it
Is said, Brought with her medicines
prescribed by DR.. Spranger. After q
short time the son began to grow i'll
again-according to the story told by
his mother and when his wife re-
m precarious condition. Darling re-
turned to Michigan on June of that !
year to live with his mother at Mount |
Clemens. There he was attended by |
DR.. Richard Lochnor, who said the |
young man had been under the influ- |
ence of violent drugs, which had de- |
stroyed the tissue of the body and that |
his death was only a question of time. |
The patient died on February 8, 1894, |
but previous to his death he made a |
Statement that his wife and DR.. |
Spranger had Systematically poisoned |
him and that he would die from the |
effects of the drugs given him. The
body was cremated without a post |
morton examination at the request of |
the patient, who maintained that he
did not want his body ITO fall into the
hands of his wife.
Mrs. Darling, the mother, had re-
allied, as she claims, that her son had
been murdered and took the matter
before District Attorney Fraser, of
De -roit who said that the suspicious
while perhaps well founded, were not
strong enough to warrant the arrest
of the doctor and her daughter-in-law.
On Their Honeymoon.
The motive, according to the dead
mans mother, has now been estab-
1ished through the public marriage of
DR.. Spranger to Mrs. Darling, in Bal
timore, in March Of this year DR..
Spranger and his wife are now in Cal
ifornia enjoying their honeymoon.
As soon as their marriage was an
nounced, John Quincy Adams, a bro
ther of the dead mans mother, resid-
ing in this city, took the case before
District Attorney Fellows. He sub
mitted proof as he claims, that poison
was administered to the son by his
wife while they were stopping in this
city in the early part of 1893. District
Attorney Fellows assigned the case to
Assistant District Attorney George c.
Battle, who is making a thorough ex-
animation of all the circumstances
the death of young
Darling.