The San Francisco call., 1899-07-25

his legal advisers during the preliminary
hearing. He listened with a smiling In
terest TO the testimony of people he had
known during his short stay in Alameda
who stated that he had acknowledged
himself broke and starving while in that
city, and while the physicians called by
the prosecution were on the stand he
leaned forward and followed their techni-
cal statements as to the relative effects
of various poisons on the stomach with
keen and painful concern.
1t seemed to be the idea of the defense
to suggest that Kehlenbeck had died of
a number of natural diseases-among
them diabetes, pyloric tumor of the sto-
mach and valvular affection of the heart;
but the trend of the testimony advanced
in the autopsy and stomach analysis was
that the stomach of the deceased showed
every evidence of an overdose of NOR
phine not hypOdermically Injected, but de-
liberately taken into the stomach
Deputy Coroner George r Wen FlIner eSitSr Il S
aabaIa tot NJ D. George P WeGKs' pT eai'8r Fl
Bronson of Alameda (who knew the de,
fendant when he sojourned in the Encinal
Dr. George F. Hanson and DR.. L. II. Cru
mig (who attended the autopsy and analy-
sis of the stomach of Kehlenbeck); to-
gether with City Chemist Louis Crackbon
were called during the afternoon.
Their evidence, in regular order, was
a succession Of statements about the case
took charge of the. remains OF the De
ceased There was, however, quite bat
tie from time to time between witness
and the attorney for the defense over the
matter of how the analysis could arbi-
trarily determine that the deceased had
died from an overdose of morphine.
Or ZabaIa who examined the vital or
gans of Kehlenbeck testified that the eX-
cessive use of morphine was evidenced by
the analysis although the stomach was
diseased and had in it pyloric tumor
undoubtedly been
constant user of morphine.
DR. Bronson of Alameda had met the
defendant in Alameda. Wachendorf was
then poor. had no money and confessed
himself a victim TO the cocaine habit.
DR.. Bronson, despairing of inducing him
TO give UP this habit, forbade him to visit
his house Reel B. Terry objected to all
this testimony. but the Prosecuting At
tOrney kept the ball rolling by stating TO
the Judge that the plan of the prosecution
was to show that the defendant, after
siege of poverty in Alameda, suddenly
grew rich just before the death of his pa
tient and friend, Kehlenbeck 1t was also
Intended to prove that Wachendorf was
accustomed to the use of cocaine and
morphine and had a sympathy of habit
with the deceased.
Deputy Coroner Sullivan testified that
he secured the body of the deceased on
the evening of June 26 OF this year, at
3151b Jessie street, up stairs. Wachendorf
WaS present at the time and gave the
wirness several causes of death-said afro
pine had been administered to the de-
stated that DIR. Kehlen had attended Keh-
Ienbeck part of the time.
Chemist Crackbon described the analysis
made of the stomach TO determine the
cause of death. Four tests We're used. 1t
appeared that morphine in large quanti-
lies had been administered. There seemed
to be strong evidence of poisoning. DR..
Hanson followed with technical descrp-
tions of the various tests and chemical
results of the analysis made, all of which
has been published before.
Then DR.. Grunig, who followed the tests
Of the stomach of the deceased, came to
the stand A lively word play followed
between the attorney for the prosecution,
the defense, the witness and the Judge.
II was over the question of the presence
of ptomaine in the stomach of Kehlen-
beck This germ poison is caused by the
decay of animal matter, and the means
chemically used to detect it produce SINH
lar results to those following an analysis
for evidences of morphine poisoning.
Judge Treadwell listened patiently to the
ensuing volume of technical queries over
this matter and finally asked DR.. Grunig
for some plain information as TO
ptonatnes, and especially invited statis-
tics as to the number of ptomaines which
the human stomach could accommodate
a. one time. The witness went on to state
that there were several kinds Of pto-
ma1nes, and among them one called the