The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-04-18
HAD BEEN QUITE ILL.
Went Down Stairs i'm the Early
Morning,
Took the Poison and Returned
to Bed.
In Her Death Struggles Begged
to Be Saved.

Gertrude Elizabeth BOam, the IS
year-old daughter of DR.. S. A. Boam,
died at o'clock this morning from an
overdose of strychnine, taken two hours
earlier. The poison may have been
taken by mistake and it may have been
taken with suicidal intent. The facts in
the case seem to point to the latter con-
clusion.
DR.. Boam, father of the girl, at first
denied that his daughter had taken
poison, either by mistake or with sui
cidal intent, but later stated that she
had mistaken strychnine for morphine
and had taken sufficient of the former
drug TO cause her death. His first ex-
PLANTATION was that death had resulted
from a congestive chill.
The denial of Mr.. Boam itself pointed
to a particular reason why the family
desired the cause of the daughters
death kept a secret. Later, after ad-
mitting that strychnine had been taken
by the girl, he stated that she was in
the habit of taking morphine to relieve
pain, which by reason of her age of life
she was subject to- and that he had re-
Gently forbidden her to continue its use.
He made the further statement that on
last Sunday night his daughter and a
young man named Seamen, who was
in the habit of calling upon her, had re-
manned out after attending church SER
vices later than he thought proper, and
that he had dismissed him with instruc-
tions not to see his daughter again.
DR.. Boam said, however, that his
daughter did not object in the least to
the dismissal of the young man. Peo-
pie living in the vicinity of the Boam
home on West Tenth street say that
the two young people had been keeping
company regularly for the past several
months, and that the young lady was
apparently much attached to young
Seamen.
Last evening there was a neighborIy
at a q homo
BOam entertained the party with songs
and piano selections. She was feeling
well and apparently in the best of
spirits. Soon after retiring, however.
she was taken violently i'll, and her
father was called to attend her. She
then asked for morphine as a means
of relieving her pain, but DR.. BOam, not
thinking it best that she should be given
the drug, refused to administer it. In
stead, he gave her other remedies. and
although much more comfortable after
her fathers attention, she continued to
suffer considerable pain during the
night.
This morning her suffering increased,
it is supposed, and about Z O'Clock be-
fore any of the other members of the
family We're about the house, she left
her bed and went down stairs to where
her fathers medicines are kept. From
among several bottles she selected the
one containing gstrychnine, and swallowed
a large quantity of the white powder.
Then she made her way upstairs again
and went to bed.
Shortly after that she was discovered
in a state of CONFUSION by her little
sister, who quickly aroused her father
and mother. DR.. Boam at once tele-
phoned for additional medical aid. and
everything known to medical science
was done to save the girls life. 1t
proved useless, however, and she died
in a cOnvulsiOn at o'clock, just two
hours after swallowing the drug Dur
ing her agony she frequently called out
Mamma, l want to live for your sake
To bear out the theory that the poison
was taken by mistake, DR. Boam says
that his daughter was unqueStionab
in search of morphine, having been in
the habit of taking it when she went
down stairs. No explanation is given
however of why the strichnine bottle
was selected in place of the bottle con-
tanning morphine.
1t is believed by those who hold the
opinion that the poison was taken with
suicidal intent, that the girls suffer-
ings made her respondent, and the
dependency was increased by the re-
membrance of her fathers dismissal
of the young man to whom she was at
tached. The fact that her father had
also forbidden her to continue the use
of morphine, which she felt to be her
only means of relief from pain, helped
her to the decision to take her own life
and in a moment Of temporary insanity
she secured the deadly drug and took
a sufficient quantity to cause death.
Miss Boam was a particularly bright
young lady. and had been attending the
Topeka Business college for some time
She was also studying music and was
an accomplished pianist for her age.
Her death. particularly because of the
way it occurred, is a terrible blow to
her parents.
The funeral will probably be held
Thursday afternoon from her fathers
residence 1407 West Tenth street
Relatives from Kansas City and Joplin, |
Mo-, will arrive tomorrow.