The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-04-04

in the limited time between the time
OF her leaving The house and the time
when her abseace was noted. Such a
poison is not readily procured by the
ordinary poisoner.
Some suTmISCs were made as to the
manner OF death. based upon the posi-
ton OF the body while floating. These
have no value one way or the other.
Must Have Been
Taking into consideration the moral
circumstances. there is no obvious rea-
son for her suicide. Accident seems To
be out OF the question. We are there
fore thrown upon the murder hyyo-
thesis. II she was murdered. IL was
not Tor ordinary reasons Her person
was not violated. nor was she robbed.
The reason for ;he murder then seems
TO have been something personal to
herself, and connecting her directly
with another Individual and IT Is lot.
10 say the least OF IL, unreasonable TO
suppose that this individual is the man
who was with ner. and who has shown
such indifference TO her fate"
Coroner Taylor continued his obse--
walton further in the matter OF dead
bodies that have been taken from the
water.
In the examination OF dead bodies
TO determine the question OF drowning.
VIC dEptlu Sill=ls upOn kHt COIOlA1O.s
OF the lungs, which are likely TO Yield
water when the substance is cut into
and pressure applied. and also 10 the
presence OF water in the stomach.
when the water has been swallowed in
the act Of drowning. Unfortunately.
his idols. The writer is very positive
these signs are absent in a large per-
centage of cases. and we have TO pay
regard to various other conditions
which NAV ar NAV not chance IN no
present.
For instance, in the case OF Lillian
Madison no water was found in her
stomach, but she was known TO have
been drowned by the fact tina both
her hands held. tightly grasped.
masses OF mud from the bottom OF the
reservoir. This was undoubtedly n liv-
ing act, and could not have occurred
after death.
The greatest difficulty in the medi-
cal examination OF Miss Cropsey would
arise from the long submersion OF her
body in the river. PurtrefaCtive
|. changes of a very confusing kline
would require great care in making
the observations to reach even an APP
proximately correct conclusion.
Doctors Were Too Positive.
Il may venture to say in no spirit
Of u~nfriendly criticism that | hin
the IIeulCdl testimony IN the trOpSey
case was. too positive in assigning the
appearances on the head to the effects
of a blow. l think that possibly they
might as reasonably be attributed to
putrefactive changes. but as the medi-
cal men saw these appearances, and l
did not see them, their opinion Is more
valuable than my suppostion.
Il have examined $685. cases of
deaths of various kinds in my ex-
~perience, some teaching me little,
others teaching me much.
I'm the Lillian Madison case We were
not hampered by difficulties intro
duced by putrefactive changes. The
body was fresh. There was no doubt
of the blow on her head. Not only was
there a swelling at the point where the
blow was received, but there was eff
fusion Of blood upon the brain be-
heath the seat of the blow. This. in
connection with the mud grasped in
her hands, was on the murder theory
interpreted to mean that she had re-
ceived a blow which stunned her. and
that while still living she was thrown
into the Observation-Disclosures Dis
patch