The Portland daily press., 1898-10-27
if he had heardsany noise. ing the house.
and the boy said he had not.

u. l.
at the Maine General hospital, testlleo
next. Mrs. Murphy was trought to tine
hospital about g. 80 O'Clock, He made an
examination, found seyerebcontuslon on
the back of the head and cut or tear on
| the left ear. He dressed these wounds
took several stitches in the ear and with
the assistance of nurse prepared ner lor
bed. She remained unconscious anu was
very cold. There were bruises on.her
| chest.
s"Might not the. exposure to the nlgnO
air have been factor in making her coll
dition serious?' asked Mr.. Kehoe. Inc
witness replied in the affirmative.
| could not alcoholism and exposure,
independent of her injuries, have caused
her fatal illness?" the witness was ASKED
and his response WIS: "Yes, I suppose
SO, if she had been drunk enough.
| The witness admitted, in cross-exam1n-
alton, that he did not make a thorough
examination that night, and did not dis
cover that soms of her ribs were frao-
| tured.
| DIR. Alfred King, who has been MEM
Der of the staff of hospital surgeons since
1891, said he first saw Mrs. Murphy at
the hospital Sunday forenoon. She was in
a dying condition, and all the treatment
that could be given her was something to
relieve her suffering and support her
strength. He testified in great detail re-
garding the disclosures of the autopsy.
There were bruises and contus ions on the
| legs, feet. arms, back, shoulders and
head. The confusion on the back of the
head was severe, and about eight ounces
of blood had gathered beneath the skin.
| Four ribs on the right side and seven on
the left side were fractured, some OF them
| in two places. There was depression on
| the left side of the chest. and the left
lung was lacerated and indamed by con-
tact with the fractured ribs
Having infinitely described the nature
of the injuries, DR.. King continued,
without hindrance, to give his opinion as
to what might have caused Them. He
said the fracture of the ribs was evident
ly caused by some soft, padded instru-
ment, for the skin was not bruised or the
tissues broken down by the force of the
blow. A foot. brought down with great
force upon the chest of PROSTATE body
might cause just such a condition. The
blows on the back must have been dealt
with some rougher instrument. The
bruises on the neck and back gave evi.
dence that the body had come in contact
with some hard substance and slid along
on it, being more severe than would nat
urally be the bruises received by person
in an intoxicated condition falling down
short flight of stairs.
| "Your honor, l object to this kind of
testimony" interposed Mr.. Kehoe.
"Well, why haven't you objected
before responded Judge Robinson.
Mr.. Kehoe began his cross examination
by asking what, in the opinion of the wit
ness, was the direct cause of death. DR..
| King replied that death was due to trau-
matte pneumonia, resulting from the
fractured ribs pressing against the lung.
''What is the usual treatment in such
cases2''
"Strapping the chest and relieving the
| depression.
"When did you first discover that her
ribs were fract1red?"
"Sunday afternoon"
"Would not earlier treatment have pre-
vented her death?"
81. She was in dying condition all the
time she WAS in the hospital. 1t would
not have been wise to have given her
ether and attempted to relieve the depres-
SION"
"What part did exposure play in pro-
ducing her death?''
''None, think"
"Was it not very cold, raw night,
and would not exposure in such atmos-
phere tend to cause serious illness"
| 1T was called out that night, and do
not consider that it was a very cold
night
would not two or three hours expos
ure out Of doors on such night have
caused pneumonia, of which she died?"
"No sir. She died of traumatic pneu-
monia, caused by the fractured ribs press
| ing against the lung"
County Attorney Libby" Could not
such wounds as were on her chest have
been inflicted by a bare foot?'
| Witness They could have been.''
| Mr.. Kehoe-"And, as matter of fact,
Doctor, could they not have been inflicted
with fists, or club, or shovel, or any
thing else?"
| Witness-stThe bruises on the chest
could not have bsen caused by contact
| with any hard substance; there we're no
bruises of the skin or of the tissues
underneath A heavy pressure on the
chest with foot or padded instrument
could cause breaking of the ribs without
bruising the skin. ;"
Miss Maggie Flaherty, an employe at
the Falmouth hotel testified that she
spent the early part of the evening of o.
tober IS at the home of the Murphys. She
took care of the baby while Mrs. Murphy
went to a grocery store to make some pur-
1