Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-04-25
LAWYERS
GAINING POINTS
IN SW0PE CASE
Miss Margaret Swope Takes
Stand to Tell of Her Illness
and Death of Father.

KANSAS CITY, April 25.-There was
nothing harmful about the s~trychnine
tonic which Colonel Swope was accus-
toned to take, testified o. H. Gentry,
an independence (Mo.) druggist, in the
Hyde murder trial today. This drug
gist filed the prescription for James
Moss Hunton for many years. Hunton
induced Colonel Swope to take the
medicine. !
This tonic" said Mr.. Gentry, lis a
general one for building up the system
and adding red corpuscles to the blood.
1t contains a small mount of strych-
nine, but is harmless"
AS he talked he held in his hand a
1ve-ounce bottle of the medicine. Proof
that he had faith in his medicine was
not lacking, for occasionally he un-
corked the bottle and o a drink OF
the contents.
Besides compromising the tonic Mr..
Gentry said he sold Mr.. Hunton many
other kinds of medicine which went
into the Swope home. None of them
contained cyanide of potassium or other
poison in dangerous quantities, he said.
DIR. Hyde wrote some of these prescrip-
tions.
On December 9, however. said the
druggist, he sold to some n of the
Swope family two tubes of hypodermic
strychnine.
BY proving the colonel's habit Of TAX
ing the tonic, the defense expected to
explain the alleged presence of strych-
nine in the body.
DIR. Hyde faced the first of his alleged
victims shortly before moor today, when
Miss Margaret Swope tool the stand.
The physician Is indicted on three
counts charging him with poisoning
her.
No. witness that has been before the
jury has interested DR.. Hyde and his
wife SO much as this girl. Both fol-
lowed the witness closely and watched
her carefully.
The testimony of Miss Swope this
. morning was uninteresting In the main.
She had just begun to discuss her ILL
ness when court adjourned for the noon
recess.
When Frank P. Walsh reopened his
cross-examination of Miss Anna Hoult-
han, a nurse, he was well provided with
ammunition furnished by Mrs. B. c..
Hyde, wife of the defendant.
All day yesterday, in. her ROOM, Mrs.
Hyde worked on a plan to break down
the story of the nurse who was so
conspicuous during the tempestuous
days In the Swope homestead. The de-
Tense delivered telling blows to the
story of Miss Houlihan Saturday. and
this spurred them on In the hope that
further progress might be made today.
us it not true" asked Mr.. Walsh,
that a hypodermic injection often
causes a hard lump to raise on the
ARM"
Sometimes Miss Houlihan an
swered.
"Margaret's arm was sensitive TO
these injections and you had beer or
dered to cease giving them TO her, !
believer
1.-THE arm was sensitive"
you gave her four injections Mon
day under the direction of DR.. ivy
MANI"
1T can't remember"
"Margaret's temperature fell from 8
traction more than 102 to about 9sSand'
I went to call DIR. Hyde" said the wit
ness. II told him about this. He did
not arise, but told me he a done all
he could do"
That DR.. Hyde reprimanded her be-
cause she did not give the girl hef
medicine at the prope time was al
| mitted by Miss Houlihan.
"He spoke sharply and seerfed great
Nv put out about it," said the nurse.
Did Chrisman Swope suffer from
Authorizations? 2" asked Mr.. Walsh.
yes replied Miss Houlihan; he
imagined DIR. Hyde was going to oper-
ate on him and that Margaret was
dead"