The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-03-06
Witness Falls In lit

: glass Of water was 4ui ky given the
+ Hale trembling woman Let htr re-
tire Il moment. said the JddE". Mrs
Hay then stepped from tie witness
-eand and lust as She hal cached
the door 10 this jury room. bur two
steps off. she fell heading through
the door. Physicians soon surround
"a her and she WAS made ~ com
portable as possible. But ii ten MIN
utes il was reported she was Very sick
and counsel agreed that h could
be taken home II 4 carriage Is soon
as she could be moved safely. and
the introduction OF further tcStI-
mony should be begun, pending her
reeovery sufficiently t. undergo cross
examination. 1t developed hat Mrs.
Hay had a genuine fit.
Turner Take the stand.
TIE next witness was Dr. !. +. Turn
~, Who testified Il am county coroner
and have been practiting medlcln"
since April. 1896. | reached Mathews
residence at ten O'Clock. December
1st. Found Drs. Brooks and Farlar
there. After examination Of patient
and consulting with physicians. we
agreed that the case was n of
opium poison. / readily agreed With
the treatment Dr. Brooks and Farrar
had adopted, but suggested more
heat around the body. Trey told ne
ltlfN Iidtl StN'4i ttiA 1lNAt.hti 3i ''
grain Of strychninc hypodermically
lust before | arrived. She Was pro-
feundIy unconscious tic only motion
being that Of her chest III breathing.
Her pulse was very high. | Wouid
catch it sometimes at Ito n ! -.
Her appearance was thar Of Il person
Who might die at any minute. Face,
pale. bps blue. cXtremitics cold. pupils
dilated. We discussed this diIatIon
Gf pupil because in single opium poi-
son pupils should not b" dilatrd. our
opinion WAS that along with tie opium
OF morphine there had been atrophinc
and this had produced the diIated pa
pills. : When / arrived the physicians
were applying a strong current 81
electricity. To test its efficacy ~"
took it off and the patient collapsed
and we put it Jack and She responded,
until the battery ran out, when we
sent and procured another. At twelve
O'Clock [ suggested that the other
doctors go to dinner. While | was
there alone. Or. Mathews came in and
asked about his wife anu told me ne
knew | was very busy and if ! desired
TO | could leave the batteries there,
and he would attend to his wife unlil
the other doctors returned. ] de-
clined TO go. Mathews then sat down.
He said he had been to Durham the
day before and when he reached
Greensboro his wife met him at the
train and kissed him; that he had To
go TO the office to meet a patient;
that while in his office. his W.Tc
'phoned him something he could not
understand, and he hung up the
phone: that about the time it would
take her to walk from home to the
office she came in and asked him what
drug would produce death and not
destroy consciousness; that he Old
her she had no business knowing; that
they went home together about ten
o'clock; that he hung his coat up and
went in the bath room. When he re-
turned he saw Mrs. Mathews in the
act of swallowing tablets of strychnine
she had gotten from a val that was
in his coat. She aid she had taken
it 10 Kill herself. In q short whiic
he said she was suffering Intensely
with contraction Of the body and
muscles ana begged for morphine to
relieve her. From time to time dur-
ing the night he had given her IN
jcctions Of morphine, and he had sat
up all night i'll III effort to relieve
her. Then he again insisted hat /
go about my other business. Dr..
f'arfar, returning at one O'Clock lcIt
and came back at four O'Clock. /
found her much improved. Her res
peration was better and there was
some color. DR.. Mathews would run
n and out, seeming anxious about his
wife, feeling her pulse and asking how
she was. He was told hat she was
much better. but still desperately i'll.
At II time he asked Us all to retire.
as he wanted to have a secret prayer
With his wife. / said the other doe
tors could retire. but | was going 70
stay. lie said he was not accustomed
10 praying in public and desired to be
alone. / old him he did not have To
pray out loud necessarily. We all
then stood out in the middle of the
1OOr while he Went nn to tho had aud
kneeled down. | watched him closely
and saw the cover make A quick move
ment. | Immediately suspicioncd he
was using 2 hypodermic under the
cover sprdng over. pulled back the
cover, and saw him remove the polut
IF the ~hypodermic needle from the
place in her arm between the elbow
and wrist. He closed the hypoder-
mic III his hand. | said, Doctor what
are 70 udoing, what have you in your
haHd2 He said nothing. | said. Doe
tor, there is no use lying to me, you
have a syringe in your hand nov.
and | took II from him. | said. What
III the world have Won given YOUR
WIFE He tool the syringe and started
Tor z bowl Of water. saying. III show
you. Or. Brooks and FdrIar caught
fln1 and | took the hin from HIM
again. He refused to say what he had
given her and aid. 'tfeptlem4u there
l. 10 use saying anything about this.
my wife IS going to de, anyway and
It vii bring disgrace upon Us. we
could not get him to tell u what he
mad given her, denying that ne had
done 50. We physicians consulted Is
to what had been given. We wcfe
- sea. but agreed that within fifteen
minutes II Il was strychn.ne size would
5ho" Siglls Of ia Ill about that time
sile began - show ~tyitehing-. Her
lips became blue. pulse small. and a.
'dekS Of muscular t~UitchiTgs and
flgldity each tifteeu minutes began -
come With more frequency. We had
10 work hard to keep her breatu4,.
She would have sinking spells. Wa
satisfied that VIC bad t. deal win
stileflhI9e poison NOW. ii addition
u morphine poison. Dr.
tanner and brother arrived from Duf-
nam. We're called il AND told or tar
Nh"ie circumstance. After ~.
while Or. Brooks was down stair. coz
EefSlns with them | was left alol,,.
airs. Mathews had Z violent %convnf-
SION. ana | was completely exhanSfad
t:Nillg % Keep m TpcIiratfor -