Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-05-10
IS SHE DEAD
Or IN A TRANCE
STRANGE CASE OF THE WIFE OF A
LIMA MAN, IN SALT LAKE.
SUPPOSED TO HAVE
SUCCUMBED TO CANCER.
Attending Physician Says She Is Not
Dead, But Family Refuse to
Believe Him.

To all appearances Mrs. Sidona Hal
version lies lead at the home of her
mother, Mrs. Catherine Reiser, 434 West
Fourth South street, says the Salt Lake
Herald. DR.. E. l.. Colburn, an osteo-
path of this city, is the last physician
who attended Mrs. Halverson. He in
sists that she is not dead, but in some
kin of a cataleptic state. The family
has evidently no faith in the decision of
the physician and has placed the death
sign on the front door. Mrs. Halverson
is a sister of City Auditor Reiser.
The case is a most interesting one.
Last September Mrs. Halverson mar
ried Ed. Halverson and went to live
with him at Lima, Mont. A few weeks
later she was brought back to salt
Lake suffering from an acute cancer.
She was taken to st. Marks hospital
where she was operated upon by Drs.
Pinkerton and Worthington. Her left
breast was removed, but the excision
did not seem to check he growth of
the cancer, and a few weeks later 1T had
spread to the right breast.
The operating surgeons had little hope
of the recovery of the patient at the
time of the operation, and gave it as
their opinion thai Mrs. Halverson could
not possibly live longer than next
month. The case seems to have been
a remarkably interesting one from a
surgical point of view, n both Drs.
Bower and Beer had knowledge of it.
although neither of them ever treated
the patient. This would, of course, have
been contrary to the hard and fast
lines laid down by medical ethics.
Whether Or not DR.. Colburn has any
such scruples he took the case. His
any means incurable. So fixed was his
opinion on this point that he Is said
to nave gone the length of Offering to
bet 81, 900 that he could restore the pa
tent to health. His services were not
called in until several weeks ago. He
started in on different principles from
the other doctors. He is not a believer
in the knife. His theory of reaching
the seat of disease is through the blood
and he believes that this applies to
cancer as well as other diseases.
Last Saturday morning Mrs. Halver-
son had become so weak that she lost
the power of speech. AS the day wore
late and evening approached it became
vident that the end was near. DIR.
Colburn was summoned. when ne ar
rived on the scene he was met by
weeping women and grief stricken men.
He had come too late. A physician, of
course, could not be expected to take
the word of laymen on such a subject,
so the doctor proceeded to make some
of the common tests to detect the pres
ence of he vital spark.
The result of his tests was to con-
firm him in his opinion that the wo-
man was not dead. He pronounced her
to be in a trance. He burnt her skin
with a lighted match. The test should
produce, says the doctor. a gas blister.
sevral drops of moisture squeezed
from the blister. Next he held a
match behind some of the hin tissues
of the body and declared that he could
see that blood was still in the arteries.
His reassurances did assure the
stricken relatives. they a little
faith in these signs when they saw
that their darling had ceased to
F. breathe. Twenty-four hours later DIR.
!; Colburn paid another visit to the house
of death. He is most emphatic that
4 even at this late stage when mortified
ton must surely have set in there
were no signs of decay. The relatives
had less confidence in him than ever,
They could not be aroused to hope
against hope. But DR.. Colburn refused
to sign a death certificate.
!, "For Gods sake said he, do not
! bury the woman yet, If you do you
will be buying a woman alive
He went home, but in so wrought-ur
a condition over the case that he turned
to some of his medical books. One OF
those which was very specific on the
subject he ent by messenger to thu
relatives of the woman who is sup,
posed to be dead. with the page market
so that they could read 1t for them.
selves and be convinced. He wished
to apply a galvanic battery. but thi:
the relatives absolutely refused to sub
NIT to-.
And this is where the case now
stands. Either the woman is dead. o
she is in a trance. If she is dead. g
certificate of death must be obtained
from the attending physician before
the law will allow her to be buried. L
; that cannot be obtained, an autopsy
will probably have to be held.