The Wilmington daily Republican., 1901-08-06
Describes the Trial
49,

! tho days Of tho tainous, Uddsrsook muSdsS
trial has tho Court house here contdleeo
90 many curious people % II did t0aa2;
| whom the habsas corpus proceodinke ldGtl
tutsd by the attorney for William Pratt.
who - charged With the murder ,ot hll
wife 4 began r. \ before % Judge Butler d. ~
The Court room was jsmmea Wiz !
crowd. who were attracted here from all
parts Of the county, and hundreds bid 10
be turned away from the doors
The Commonwealth wus represented
by District Attorney Bald win, and AlfyS8
P. Reid and Thomas W. Pierce appesred
for tho defendant.
While the Common wealth has about 2S
witnesses subpoenaed, only . third Of
them were heard to day. Nearly tho on.
entire day was consumed In hearing the
testimony Of Drs. Cheyney, Patrick, Hemp
hill, Rothrock and 6cattergood. Dr.. Pat-
rick's testimony wac possibly the mdst
important. and he was kept on the stand
for nearly two hours this afternoon, ,ooun>
sci for Pratt putting him through o ~
affair 10 as follows:
Mrs. Pratt lay upon tho floor with her
hair down over her shoulders, all matted
with blood. 1t was impossible to see what
wounds had been Inflicted. ggaie,- II 4.
took hsr by tue hair with one hand and
passed the other under her body to lift hef
up. Az did 50 some one said: There Il
the knife. Hooked down and saw 1t held
In the right haud. but about to fall out Of
the hand.
Icaught hold Of the hand In order 10
see the position of the knife. Aftsrward
l discovered the bullet wound in the back
OF the head. but 1t was not sufficient I'd
kill.
The pieco of skull was then produced,
and tim wnunh and iha m n N n nf-{fo In
Fiction described.
How many Of the wounds were necessar
lily fatalp asked Mr.. Reid
The Doctor answered Tho large cut On
the right side was necessarily fatal. The
one on the left side. that interfered with
the jugular vein, would bo fatal II left un
cared for short time.
In answer to questions as to the amount
Of blood found on the mating noar thS
head Of the body and the top Of the back
stairway. he stated: = =
think the total loss of blood st those
two places must havs been about q pint
and q half. My impression Is that at eacK
down. -.
The loss Of blood was sufficient to cause
one to faint most likely.
Judge Butler asked: We're the smaller
wounds Of such nature US to cause CON
tinuous flow Of blo0d9
They were, answered the doctor.
How then, do you account for tho fact
that the trail Of blood, from there to thS
front stairway, was not continuous asked
There must have been some effort to
stop the blood. for that trail would have
been unbr0ken unless something wRa
done to check 1t The great quantity OF
, blood upon the body Of her Gress led mo
to conclude that it had been gathered up
to staunch the wounds.
In response to questions as to the nbis
ity Of Mrs. Pratt to move after being
wounded, be said;
In my opinion, she would have been
able to walk but short distance after
the worst Of tho six wounds on the left
side was inaltt ted. She might have walk
ed to the top OF the front stairs. lido
not SEQ how she could have kent up to
walk down the stairs and yet there were
no marks to indicate that she fell down
The stairs. After long cut was made III
the right side she could neither walk nor
speak"
Did you not attend Mrs Pratt for
melancholy?" asked Mr.. Pierce.
II did attend her about year ago and
prescribed for her. She suffered from
what would call melancholy
Mr.. Pierce did you not testify before
the Coronsr's jury tLas you had prsscrib
ed for melancholy Within thres weeks be-
fore her deathf'
DR.. Putrck-"'No; did not. In fact
did not SEQ her within six months before
hor death. stated before the COronef's
jury that William H. Pratt came to my
office for medicine for hiinself two or
three times within three weeks before
Mrs. Pralts death. and on one Of these
occasions referred to Mrs P rntt aa nn-
well and that hhe twas troubled about
that and about financial matters" =
Tbs tessinony Of the other physicians
was corroborative of DR.. Patrick's testi.
tmony, it being the opinion of each one
that Mrs. Pratt could not have fired the
bullet that was found imbedded in her
skull,
Other Witnesses heard were County
Surveyor Macdonald, who had made 4
map of the scene Of the tragedy; Mrs,
Thomas Darlington and her two dnugh-
ters, Alice and Mary. and Harry S. John.
son. all Of whom were at the house short
ly after the body of Mrs. Pratt was dis
covered. Mr.. johnson waa In the midst
Of cross examln alton when Court adjourn
cd this evening until 10 o clock tomorrow
morning.
Tomorrow Pratt's littlo son. Wilbur,
will DO put ON the stand, together with
about dozen more witness, including
Willie Wise, the berry pickar. who cluimS
to have seen Pratt wash blood of bis
face and hands after coming out .0tthe
house.
-- A.
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