The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-07-12
FEAR Of DISEASE
CAUSES SUICIDE
Mrs. Virginia Lee Heath is
Victim of Belief She Has
Pellagra
DRINKS CARBOLIC AND
CRAWLS UNDER HOUSE
Act Committed in the Morn
ing, Police Notified by Viz
gilman, Coroner Hears
it At Night


gering death from the ravages of pei
lagra, Mrs. Virginia Lee Heath. an
attractive widow. thirty years of age,
swallowed carbolie acid yesterday
| morning In the rear yard OF her home
at SIT North Twenty second Street,
and crawled. like a wounded animal.
far back underneath the house, In
darkness and rubbish to endure the
| agonies of the poison and meet her
fate alone
/ Unconscious from the fatal draught,
| covered with cob-webs and dust and
ner clothing torn and disheveled by
the bits Of glass, tin and other rub
bish over which she had dragged her
self, the dying woman was discovered
by her aged and feeble father. G. u.
Baker, extricated with difficulty from
| the narrow space between the ground
and the floor OF the house and half
carried. haifdrsgged from the DARK
ness to the bright sunshine in the
yard.
| Scores OF neighbors, aroused by news
of the search for the missing woman.
were gathered In the yard when her
senseless form was dragged to view
and though a physician labored val
| iantly over the body for more than an
| hour he was unable to win the fight
against death, the woman dying in the
! sight Of several relatives and the
NsiAPhe w PEtSSHs AtN3NE III we H%ttR~
| borhood.
No Report Made.
Although Coroner Taylor has for
maIiy pronounced death due TO her
| own hand, the demise of Mrs. Heath
may be the result OF an Investigation
as no report of her death was made
to the police for several hours after
| she swallowed the poison and the coro-
ner was not notified OF the case until
after nightfall
While relatives OF Mrs. Heath de-
| clare she drank the acid at 10 o'clock
| Tn the morning and died FIVE min
utea before noon, Dr. Chambers G.
! Woodson, OF 22os East Broad, who
attended her In her last moments.
states she swallowed tho poison at
o'clock and died at II O'Clock. 1t was
nearly o'clock In the afternoon when
a reporter for The Richmond Virginian
notified Clerk Toler at police head
quarters Of the suicide.
Police officials assert that this was
the first notification received by the
police. Detective Sergeant Wiltshire
was at once dispatched from head
quarters to investigate. When he
reached the house the body had already
been removed TO the undertaking es
| adjustment Of Edwin Phaup, at 11S
North Eighth Street and preparations
begun for burial Astonished by this
! unusual procedure. Sergeant Wiltshire
continued the inquiry with renewed
v'oor for the purpose or submitting a
complete report of the case to Chief OF
| Police Werner to-day.
About o'clock last night Coroner
Taylor was notified and he at once
| went to the undertaking establish
ment where he viewed the body. AS
| Formally. he gave permission to
prepare the body for burial but this
ner iasiop was hardly essential the
preparations had already been. started.
As "a result of the disclosures, a rep
resentative of The Richmond Virginian
interviewed DR.. Wooason last night.
Not Irregular. Says Doctor.
The physician said.
There has been no irregular or
| unusual action in the case. ! reached
Mrs. Heath before she died and pro-
nounced death due to alcoholic poi
soning There was no doubt OF the
cause of her death, and no suspicious
circumstances in connection with the
case. consulted with Undertaken
Phaup and we agreed 1t was not
coroner's case. 1t certainly was not
necessary to notify the police IS
When DIR. Woodson was asked IL 1t
Is not required by law that the coroner
shall be notified in every death not
due to natural causes he replied:
When l notified Coroner Taylor and
told him the circumstances OF the
case, he was satisfied and did not think
an investigation by himself necessary,
though he viewed the body as for
maiity. Though may have been crit
icised for waiting so long before no.
Itifying Or. Taylor, the criticism Is I'M
just and unfair.
Mrs. Heath resided with her IA
Their. G. ID. Baker. brother and two
sisters Her husband, w. r. Heath,
zv~y
manufacturing concern. died about
four years ago, leaving her childless
The widow had not enjoyed health
since her husbands death. %
Strange Disease.
Several months ago she contracted
a strange skin disease. which her rel
atives declare caused her the loss OF
her mind. Removed to Memorial Hos
pital, Mrs. Heath was treated for
eminent specialists who examined
her declared she was suffering from
peflagra- Her hands frequently grew
red and the skin peeled OF so as to
appear that the skin was slowly wear
ing away.
1t is stated that physicians later
said the disease was not pellagra, but
Mrs. Heath did not believe them, and
went to her death believing she was
a victim Of the dreaded malady. Re-
Gently she was told 1t would be nee
essary for her to return to the hos
pital for an operation. She had been
operated on while at the hospital. but !
what the operation was for has not
been learned. Neither relatives nor |
physicians who attended Mrs. Heath |
are inclined to discuss the nature of |
her illness.
Excited to the verge OF q nervous !
collapse by knowledge that she must |
undergo second operation and con- |
WINGED that she was destined to suffer |
all her life from pellagra. Mrs. Heath |
recently had grown very Respondent, |
and to members OF the family threat
ened TO end her life. Efforts to cheer /
and comfort her were of no avail.
Just what occurred in the Baker
home yesterday morning has NOT been |