The San Francisco call., 1899-03-15
BABY GRAY
A VICTIM OF
FOUL PLAY
Autopsy Bears Out
Murder I heory.
STOMACH BURNED BY ACID
STOMACH BURNED By ACID
CHILD COULD NOT HAVE SWAL.
LOWED THE POISON.
DR.. Zabala Believes the Corrosive
Fluid Was Forced Down the
Child's Throat-Mother
Pleads Innocence.

Two-year-old John Richard Gray did not
swallow the acid which caused him to die
in frtghtful agony Monday morning vol
UNFAIRLY. AT least such is the opin
ion of Autopsy Physician Zabaia,
who made post-mortem exam
ination Of the frail little body for the
purpose of determining the cause of
! death, at the Morgue yesterday afternoon.
DR.. Zabala says he found the child s
mouth and throat badly burned by the
fiery fluid and his stomach literally caked
by the action of the deadly poison. In
view of these facts, the physician de-
clares that in his opinion the acid was
forced oown the baby's throat.
'If the child had found the bottle con-
tanning the acid in the yard, as stated by
his mother" said the doctor, "he could
hardly have drank sufficient quantity
of the stuff to cause death in such a short
time. A taste of the acid would have
caused him to Immediately spit 1t out
and very little could have gone down his
throat, certainly not enough to cause mis-
death so soon, or to leave such terrible
evidence of its work"
Another point made by Sergeant Duke
and Detective George Graham, who have
been detailed on the case, in support of
their contention that murder has been
committed, is that while there are broad
scars made by the acid on the face of
the dead child, there are no marks on tie
chin. This, they claim, proves that the
child's head was forced back and the acid
poured into its mouth, while if he had
drank the poison from the bottle some of
the fluid would naturally have trickled
down on its chin and left its mark plainly
visible.
Owing to the absence from the city of
Coroner Hill the inquest will not be held
until tomorrow morning. In the mean
time Mrs. Minnie Adams is confined be-
hind the bars of the City Prison. accused
| of numbering, her offspring by Wilson
Gray, who admits it's paternity and his
former love for the woman Her 10-year-
old brother, Harrison Tyrrell, whose evil
dence may convict or clear her, occupies
an adjoining cell, and the officers of the
law are securing the city for additional
evidence against her.
Mrs. Adams has not yet been formally
charged with the crime and will not be
until the Coroner's jury has rendered its
verdict. She seems hardly to realize the
enormity of the otense charged against
her. She Is not a good woman morally
but she does not look like a murderesS,
and while her accounts Of the events Of
the fatal morning are conflicting it is but
justice to her to say that the inaccura-
ceS in the statements made by nec TO
! are by no means fatal in themselves to
her cause. She talks freely of the case
and without any appearance of desire
to hide anything, but while she speaks
in loving terms of the little one, her
words lack the tender feeling natural to
a mother. She uses the same information
her of the unnatural crime. She says it
is a piece of spite work on his pat, but
she says so without a>trace OF resentment
in her manner and with little. arpareht
concern. She tells the story Of her past
without hesitation or attempting TO pal
late her offenses against morality and
decency She is not pretty, yet she as Tar
from being a plain woman, and TO an Or
binary observer there is no evidence of
"toughness'' in her makeup.
Mrs. Adams says she was married to
John c. Adams, a soldier at the Preside,
on March 10, 1898, when she was girl OF
49, They kept a rooming-house on Ches-
lev street for a while, and John w. Gray,
an ex-soldier, was one OF her roomers.
my husband did not provide for me or
the children" she said yesterday, and
when he deserted me and went to Oregon
in 1896 Gray offered to provide for me,
and l accepted his offer We got along
very well for some time, although he Of
ten came home drunk and abused me.
He gave me his wages to save every
week and the first serious trouble we had
was last July. l then had $165 of his
money, and when he came home drunk
one night and demanded it l refused to
give it to him until he was sober, as L
knew he would spend it. He finally got
revolver and threatened to kill me. He
got the money and drove me and the
Children from the house and wrecked the
furniture / had him arrested, but he
offered to pay for the things and behave
Several weeks ago some one broke into
the house and stole $50 we had saved
and Gray accused me of taking it. He
threatened to kill me and drove me away.
I then went to live with my father.
.I did not kill my baby, and | do not
see how they can accuse me OF such
thing. l sent for Mrs. Kenney as soon as
1 discovered him in convulsions at the
foot of the back steps, and she said he
had spasms and for me to give him some
whisky, which did, although told her
he never had spasms. l found him at a
quarter past II, and at % minutes TO IL
DIR. Niemeyer came and did everything
he could to save the little fellow, but he
died before noon. 1 did burn the boys
waist. as it was dirty and burned with
the acid; Perhaps ! l. did wrong, but !
have any fear for my safety, as 1 have
done nothing for which they can punish
me-"
and the woman's accuser, is a teamster
and resides at 1147 Harrison street. He
is dull looking man OF about 40 years OF
age and according to some accounts is
Possessed of a far from pleasant dispo-
sition. He has not. so the Tyrrells say,