The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-09-26
DRUGGIST CONNOR HELD
Charged With Responsibility for
His Clerks Fatal Error.
An Accusation of MansIaughter Fol
lows the Verdict of the COroner's
Registered Pharmacist - Atropia
the Cause of Eva Meetings. Death.

AS the result Of the inquest convened
by Coroner hewitt at No. station yester-
day afternoon, Albert n. Conner, a drug
gist, doing business at the corner OF
Fourth and n Streets northwest, was sent
to the District Jail to await the action of
the grand jury on charge of manslaugh-
ter. At late hour last night he was re-
leased on s3,O0O bail, furnished by ]. w.
French
Conner was placed under arrest i'm
mediately after the jury returned a
verdict holding him responsible for the
death of Eva Melting, at her home, 2s y
Street northwest, Sunday night, as the
result of an overdose of atropia contained
in an improperly compounded prescription
of DR.. d. w. Prentiss. The verdict of the
jury was in effect that the death of Miss
Melting was Immediately caused by the
overdose of atropia. In addition the YER
dict read:
I'VE also find that the proprietor OF the
pharmacy Albert n. Connor, at whose
establishment the prescription was COM
pounded was criminally responsible for
not having regular registered clerks who
were fully competent to discharge their
duties in his absence"
The warrant against Connor was served
by Lieutenant Heffner at the direction of
Coroner hewitt. Another warrant charg-
ing violation of the pharmacy law in not
having registered pharmacists III his en-
ploy was at the time in the hands of In
spector Proctor He would have served
this warrant had not the Coroner's jury
held Connor. Sufficient time was granted
Conner to enable him to apprise friends
of his predicament.
The inquest opened with the testimony
of Deputy Coroner Glazebrook. who per-
formed the autopsy on the body of Miss
Melting. DR.. Glazebrook said The body
was badly emaciated. The left lung he
said, was completely useless, and all the
organs were tubercular- He found no
trace of atropia poisoning. 1t would have
been impossible, he said to have found
trace of any other than an irritant poison,
such as arsenic. as the body had been
embalmed. In the opinion of DR.. Glaze
brook Miss Melting would have died in
a few days at most from the effects of
tuberculosis.
Dr. Prentiss, the Melting family physi
clan, who wrote the prescription which
was improperly compounded testified that
he had been attending Miss Melting for
some time. He was first called in Janu-
airy. and found the patient suffering from
pneumonia, which was fast developing into
consumption. When he called Sunday
afternoon Miss Melting was very low, and
he prescribed a two-ounce mixture of
alcohol. camphor, and atropia. The pre-
scription was written according TO the
metric system. and called for proportion
of 1-i20 of 4 grain of atropia to the dram
or dose of the medicine. When Dr. Prem
tiss was again called at $50 O'Clock SIn-
day evening Miss Melting was dying. He
diagnosed the case as atropia poisoning,
as did Drs. Butler and Stands, who were
called in. All efforts to save the patient
proved futile and she died al 7:15 o'clock.
Isadore Cohen one of the drug clerks
employed by Conner, was next called. He
is not a registered pharmacist and has not
matriculated at any college. He was learn
ing the drug business under Mr.. Common.
He had filled prescriptions under the di-
recticn of Mr. Conner and was familiar
with the metric system. There were no
metric weights at Connor's drug store.
Witness said the prescription Of DR.. Prem
tiss was presented at the drug store while
Conner and Frank Tuck, also drug clerk,
were away. Conner was at Harper's Ferry
and had been gone all day. Tuck was at
dinner. When Tuck returned ten minutes
later Cohen had decided that the metric
figures in the prescription called for Is
grains of atropia- That. he said would
mean about 1-14 of grain of atropia to
the dram or dose instead of 1-120. as the
prescription called for. Cohen asked Tuck
TO figure on the prescription and Tuck de-
cided that / Is grains of atropia were
called for. The prescription was then
compounded and delivered.
When Frank Tuck took the stand he
stated that he was printer. employed at
the Government Printing Office. He had
been working for and studying under Con-
nor when not engaged at the printing Office
for about four months. He was not q reg
istered pharmacist. He was attending the
National College of Pharmacy and would
graduate next spring. The prescription of
DR. Prentiss calling for the atropia was
the first Tuck had ever put up when Con-
rot was not present. Conner was seldom
away from the store and then only for a
shorS while Tuck thought at the time
that he was filling the prescription accord
ing to the directions of DR.. Prentiss He
knew later that he had put too much afro
phine in the medicine. Tuck had figured
on the prescription and thought. as did
Cohen. that it called for l 1-5 grains of
atropia.
Albert y. Conner, proprietor of the
pharmacy, admitted that neither Cohen
nor Tuck was registered pharmacist.
He had considered Tuck responsible, but
never allowed him to put up prescIip-
lions unless he (Connor) was present
Generally. when Conner had occasion
20 leave his store, he employed a regis
tered pharmacist TO work during his