Rock Island Argus., 1904-12-01

returned 10 the mouse MaHlHid hau
| Just come up from the basement
heard mamma ask him which he wish
| ed. tea or coffee. He said he would
Itake coffee Mamma poured a cup for
| each of us. Papa first ate piece OF
lbeefsteak. | saw him take one sup of
coffee.
| Tells Her to Call Doctor.
Then he moved away from the table
and said that he was having another
sinking spell. Ee had these spells be-
fore lie called for mamma to assist
him. aided mamma in helping him
to the dining room from the kitchen
He began To shake. opened the door
TO let in air. We placed him on the
sofa and he stretched out stiff. | re-
moved his shoes. Papa told me TO so
for the doctor and | did SO. / also
called Mrs. EXstrom and Mrs. Mcln-
tire Mamma was sitting on the porch
when papa died. She cried when she
was told that he was dead Mamma
and / wore black at the funeral, but in
respect To the wishes of papa. we dis
carried il after the funeral. While the
doctor was in the room with papa |
cleared The breakfast table. There
never was any strychnine in the houst.
that ! knew of. Papa left the spoon
standing in the saitpetre through the
night
naLi~ to Swallow Medicine.
Dr. l.. g. Moore. who attended the
deceased. said: i found Mr.. Johnston
lying on the couch. He was twitching
and was greatly excited. | prepared
an emetic for him, but he said that he
could not swallow. | placed the spoon
To his mouth, but the medicine got no
further. After the second convulsion
he asked me if thought he had taken
too much saltpetre. | answered that |
did not think saltpetre could bring on
the symptoms that he had. Mrs. john
ston came in. holding the saltpetre bag
in her hand. and asked the same ques-
ton. | gave her the same reply. did
not know what was the cause of the
commissions. He had four. | think.
Strychn;ne will produce commissions.
\ quarter of a grain will cause death.
and could act in 20 minutes. The
symptoms of strychnine poisoning are
smothering. nervousness. twitching of
the muscles. and drawing back of the
head. thought his symptoms were
those OF poisoning. 1t is my opinion.
judging from the symptoms. that death
might have been caused by poisoning.
Has Interview With Widow.
After Mrs. Johnston returned from
Aledo | asked her if she was going
away from the village. She said that
she was not. / asked her if her hus-
band had ever threatened suicide. She
answered no. / told her there were
peculiarities about his death, and that
the symptoms simulated strychnine
poisoning. l asked her if there had
been any strychnine about the house. !
and she said there had been. She told
me she had thought of going to see her
brother Frank, and that she had a
farm in Nebraska that she wanted to !
look after. After the first convulsion |
Johnston called to his wife: Mary, !
come and help me- She replied: Joe. |
there is nothing that l can do for you
Mrs. Johnston remarked after her hus-
bands death: Mabel. he is gone The |
table was cleared 10 minutes after my |
arrival at the house
Mrs. Alois EXstrom said when she |
reached the house she found Mrs. |
Johnston holding her husbands hands.
She had been at the house at o'clock |
to have Mabel go ON an errand for her. |
Her second visit was when she was !
called by Mabel when Mr.. Johnston |
was taken sick. Mrs. Johnston cried |
after her husbands death. She did |
not see the table cleared of the dishes. |
Mrs. Emma McIntire said that when |
she went into the room where Mir. |
Johnston lay, he spoke to- her. Mrs. |
Johnston was weeping. Mrs. McIntire |
noticed there was a spread over the |
breakfast table. she could not say |
whether the dishes had been washed. |
Mrs. Sophia Johnston corroborated |
Mrs McIntire.
Johnston Had Money Ia, Eecn.
q William Doonan :! n farmer, said that |
Johnston told him last February that |
ie had money 10 loan. He asked if |
Doonan or his son needed any. and was |
told that they did not. He told Doom |
an that he was planning to go to Cali /
fornia with his family in October to
spend the winter. He never had heard |
him speak of suicide: on the contrary, |
he knew him to have positive views |
against self-destruction.
May Schleuter arrived at the home |
after Johnston died. She dried the |
breakfast dishes. Mabel, she suppos-
ed. had washed them.
Susan Wayne said that Mrs. John
ston told her of her financial circum-
stances. and that she was worried |
Mrs. Johnston told her of her hus-
bands plans To go to California, but |
she did not know where the money /
was coming from. Johnston, she under
stood. thought they had plenty of /
money.
Banker Tells Of Cattle Loan.
r. p. Wait, proprietor of the Rey-
nolds bank, is serving as 4 member of 1
the coroner's jury. He was called TO |
the witness stand. He said: Mrs. !