Los Angeles herald., 1909-06-15

several of my upper teeth" Desqus
showed the broken teeth to bear out
his statement.
'fWhy did you not report this to ms
before?" inquired DR.. Wilson.
Because I was afraid I would get
more beatings from the attendants
replied Desque
DR.. Wilson then told his story to At
torney GoodcelR, which did not differ
materially from his testimony, at the
inquest in Los Angeles. He did admit,
however, that on two occasions reports
of Berg's brutality had come to him
and that Berg had been reprimanded.
DIR. Wilson made the assertion that
Berg on one occasion threw patient
into bed with such force that the
patients back was badly sprained, but
did not result in the mans death, and
that for this offense Berg was simply
reprimanded and told not to do it again.
on another occasion DR.. Wilson said
that Berg had pushed a patient against
the iron bed and severely cut his face,
and was again reprimanded. DR.. Will
son said that there had been cases of
bruises in Berg's ward that had never
been accounted for.
Case Three Months Ago
The last case of brutality happened
on Bergs part about thre months ago,
but DR.. Wilson said it was not the case
Of Edward L. Parsons of Los Angeles,
who also received injuries at Patton
that are alleged to have resulted In
death.
"Grassmee showed no homicidal ten
dencies," said DR.. Wilson, "but did
show suicidal tendencies, and at one
time asked for carbolic acid, saying
that he wanted to die. He was not
given the carbolic acid.
Or Jennings and DR.. Simpson We're
present when DIR. Loizeaux performed
the post mortem and we saw but three
fractured ribs. did not make a minute
investigation, but 1 did see that the
brain showed the last stages of pa
resis. In my opinion Grassmee could
not have lived but three or four days
longer. even if the injuries had not
been inflicted. OF course the injuries
hastened death by causing exhaustion
No other officials have been discharged
on account of the accident l have,
heard that such a method known as
'kneeing' a patient had been reported
in the hospital, but no case ever came
to my personal attention"
Says Bruises Are Common
Supervisor G. J. Butler next was
called and reiterated his testimony
given at the inquest, but added that
cases of bruises and black eyes were
common among the patients and could
not be accounted for.
'I do not think anyone in the room
with Grassmee was physically able to
inflict the injuries sustained" said Su-
pervisor Butler, land do not know OF
Berg having been called away for any
length Of time on the night of June
5. though it is possible that the af-
fair could have happened while Berg
was in a side room attending to some
other patient. DR.. Loizeaux testified
to the post morten performed on Grass
mee's body and stated that paresis
was the cause of death, and said the
lungs were not punctured, but splinters
of bones might have fallen in the chest
cavity while he was removing the
sterum. He also agreed that but three
ribs were fractured, and said that the
transportation of the body from San
Bernardino to Los Angeles might have
caused the additional fractures. He adj
mitted he did not know how the body
was placed before being shipped. DR.,
Loizeaux concluded his testimony by
saying: ITO the best of my ability L
say that but three ribs were broken,
and that the fragility of the bones in
a paretic is such as to render them
easily breakable."
When questioned in regard to the
death of Edward. L. Parsons, which oc-
CURED at Patton March 16, DR.. Wilson
said: parsons was injured before he
arrived at Patton and was constantly
fighting. We have never been able to
tell just who beat him, but he struck a
patient named Phosole and fight en-
sued in which Parsons received injuries
that resulted in his death. Phosole is
still at Patton, and at times has to be
restrained"
This version of Parsons death is not
in accord with the story of brutality
related by Mrs. Parsons of Los Ange-
les, who declared that her husband was
the victim of such beatings from the
hands of attendants at Patton that he
died from the injuries.
The exact time of the investigation
of the board of managers will not be
determined pending the arrival of Med
icaI Supervisor Blair, but the investi-
cations of the district attorney will
proceed independently, and that other
arrests will follow is more than likely.
The board of managers will hold an
Saturday afternoon.