The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1906-06-08

NOhFOlN, N NEBl(AShA, II
| aard to the case. The record shows
that the man ate well after the fight
and died an hour after u ConvulsiOn on
| December 2G.
DR. Nicholson said he heard the
story of the broomsticl from Attend.
ants Altschuler and Wolf but he did
not hear It until several months after
and when they had left the institution
Dr. Nicholson never inquired into the
matter of who jabbed the patient with
the broom stick but wrote 1t to the gov.
crnor. lie could not say whether he
talked ii over with DR.. Alden or not
before he wrote the governor. DR.
Nicholson says that neither the super.
intendent nor the assistant was in
any way to blame for the death.
He tried to find out II there was any
truth in the broom stick incident but
never could find out. The whole foun
dation OF the report was julius Ait
schuler, who claimed to have gone into
the bath room when the patient was
being jabbed. Or. Nicholson said he
visited Shockley every day between
the time of the fight and his death
and never saw anything to show
whether he got pounding or not.
When asked why he did not put in
the record details of how the injuries
were inflicted, he replied that he did
not think the injuries received in the
fight with Weser were enough to kill,
but he knew nothing of the broom
stick incident until several months af-
terward.
The Wolf Letter.
The letter of l.. NJ. Wolf, former
farmer, to the governor, was here in
troduced, and he said that Shockley
was a peaceable trusted patient and
an unusually strong man. The cause
of the fight was disagreement over
a game of cards Weiser dared him
to fight and he finally did start in to
fight.
DR.. Nicholson says that the state
ment made in the wolf letter that the
patient was in restraint until two
hours before his death, is untrue.
Wolf had resigned and gone at the
time the letter was written and his
whereabouts are now unknown to the
officers.
The John Prosser Case.
DIR. Nicholson in his letter to the
governor said that John Prosser, aged
81, fell to the floor and was brutally
kicked by an attendant and died as
the result
On the witness stand, the doctor
says he got his information from Wolf,
and he talked with an attendant named
Biggs who said he saw Ellis, the at
tendant in charge, kick Prosser.
The record of the death of PrOsser
was read as follows: "John Prosser,
a farmer from Knox county, was bad
ly bruised on the left side when he
was received at the hospital. He came
January /, and died February 2. Cause
of death, senie decay"
Dr. Nicholson says he did not ex.
anime him the day he came but took
the word of Ellis, attendant in charge
that he had these bruises when he
came. Biggs told DR.. Nicholson that
he saw Ellis kick Prosser. The doctor
did not hear of this until after the
death. The doctor said such bruises
might have led to death, but they were
not sufficient to directly cause death
Man Who Was Jumped On.
In his letter to the governor, DR.
Nicholson said that an old man named
Baird was jumped on in bed by an at
tendant and was kicked in the stom
ach while he begged not to be killed
On the stand the doctor says this
was hearsay also. He didn't know
where he did hear it and that in ex.
amining the man after death he saw
no indication of bruises on the body
anywhere.
Struck With Fists.
Another quotation from his letter to
the governor was, Il do know several
patients who were struck with fists
by attendants"
On the stand he said 81 do not know
any patient who was struck with a
fist had it through hearsay that one
patient was struck with a fist, but
do not know anything about it."
Dragged by Towel.
In letter DR.. Nicholson told the
governor that patients were dragged
by towels around their necks. He tes
tilted that he secured this information
from hearsay Wolf told him. He
personally does not know of any in
stances. Biggs also told him that he
had seen it done but he knew nothing
of it until after the row was started
The charge that old patients suffered
with cold was inquired into. 1t was
charged that Frank Bell did not keeI
up the fires on account of drunken
! ness. The doctor said that he would