The morning journal-courier., 1908-02-19

basement to the first floor Were made by blood from the murderers finger and could not have come from Mir. Ed wards. It is here of interest to follow the track of the hemorrhage from this alleged murderer's finger. Starting with the injury in the attic, there was bleed- ing on the attic stairs. This apnears then to have stopped, not even bleed- ing on to the bedding nor the carpet of the room in which the murder is all leged to have occurred. and this in spite of the fact that the murderer stopped long enough to force lauda- mum down MT, Edwards throat. At the same time the bleeding from the finger was rrofuse enough to account for all the blood on MT. Edwards body and undersuit. There was evidently no bleeding from the finger after leav- ing Edwards while passing through the hall or while going down stairs from the second floor to the first floor, for Dr. Wolff fails to record any here. But before the stairs from the first floor to the basement were reached, the finger again began to bleed profusely for here there were two or three drops of blood on single stairs, and these were found in num- bers from the top to the bottom of the stairs as well as blood stains on the railing. The absurdlty of the theory as given is evident to any thinking person.
 Again the blood stains on the stairs from the basement to the first floor could not according to Dr. Wolff have come from MT. Edwards. First, 1t is to be noticed here that the stains were not as alleged in his report near the right side of the stairs but near the center of the treadway exactly where they would be if person went up the stairs taking hold of the rail- ing with his right hand and the blood dripped from the left ear, and not where they would be If one came down stairs along the treadway and was bleeding from his left hand pr. Wolffs opinion regarding the shape of these drops, an opinion based upon a large number of investigations made by several we'll known observers" as we'll as his own observations, was that they could not have come from as great a height as the ear of Mir. Edwards. He does not specify the observers referred to. As matter of fact medico-legal works give very little regarding the appearance of blood drops from different heights, and on this account a long series of experiments to determine this point was carried out at the Yale Medical School following the finding of these spots on the stairs. The results showed that the appearance of such spots depends much more upon the character Of the surface on to which l they fell than 1t docs upon tho height from which they fall: that the only way to determine in any given case Is tc experiment with the exact kind ot surface under consideration. The gen eral conclusion was that in so far as could be told without actual tests upon 1 the stairs themselves. the spots oi | 1 Ter house were consistent with the theory that the blood dropped from Mir Edwards car. It is to be recalled tha, person going upstairs in the condition in which Mir Edwards k then supposed to have been would naturally grasp the railing and lean 1 forward rather than stand erect SC that the blood would drop from the ear on to the first or second stairs above him
 Further in considering these blood spots on the basement stairs there i' the important fact shown in the cor. i onor's report that the noise of the | shooting which was placed by two re ! liable witnesses as occurring shorilN after o'clock in the morning was sc distinctly heard in a house at some dis tance as to make il seem probable tha
 it occurred out of doors instead of in side the house, while another witness who slept in the room next to tha
 occupied by Mir Edwards, did not hea
 tho report of the revolver al all. Thi
 would correspond entirely with tn theory that Mir. Edwards went up thes stairs after the injury was inflicted
 Fourthly. the alleged finding O
 blood spots in the attic and on tn
 front door. and thumb print, etc. oi
 the railing of the stairs, which mark
 were not discovered by the authori
 ties. These certainly were not foun,
 by the officials even in the very care
 full search which was given the who'll
 house including the attic. Whethe
 they were later found or not by sub
 seuuent investigator. the public can a
 well judge as the officials If the the
 ories offered by pr. Wolff and tn
 conclusions based upon these appea
 sound these alleged findings in tn
 attic are of importance and should h
 accepted. otherwise they deserve [
 he discarded. Two things. howevel
 should be remembered, as pr Wolff
 rerort would seem to Indicate the con
 trarv. One is that there Is no metho
 known to science hy which one pcr
 sons blood can be told from another
 unless perchance there may be som
 
 nec,,Ijar disease of the blood in a gi, en case by which it can be recognized There is no chemical nor microsccp means by which an examination of th hloodsnots on the stairs could shown io have come or not come frol Mir. Edwards Also there is no wa
 known to science by which the age z
 blood stain can he accurately tol,
 This may be roughly estimated by th color of tho blood drops but not mor exactly determined.
 There are two theories as to tll .ausc of Mir. Edwards death offere
 to the public One. that of the off ,.ials. that the shooting was don , down stairs outside the door. and tha this as well as the taking of the lau
 danum was suicidal, that immedatel after the shot NIT. Edwards remaine in an upright or sitting position