Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-24
SAY ADMIRAL EATON
WAS USER Of DRUGS
Testimony Given by Wit
nesseS for Defense in Trial
of Accused Wife.

PLYMOUTH. Mass. October 24--Testi-
mony to support the defenses eonten-
ton that Rear Admiral Joseph q. Eaton
was addicted to drugs was given today
at the trial of the widow. Mrs Jennie M.
Eaton. who Is charged with the murder
of her husband.
Peter 8. McNally Of Boston told the
court that In 1897 and 1903, when the Of
hcer was captain in command OF the
training ship Enterprise he frequently
appeared intoxicated. talked incoherently
to himself and stared vacantly, yet no
odor of liquor could be noticed on his
breath.
Judge George ". Kelley of Rockland,
friend and legal adviser of the Eaton
family, testified concerning the affection
OF Admiral Eaton and the wife who is &C
cused of having poisoned him. The adj
miral once said to Judge Kelley:
Il have remarkable wife, who has
been of great help to me, but she has one
obsession, her daughter June
Expressed Fondness for Husband.
Mrs. Eaton had often expressed fond
ness for the admiral. although she did not
always speak of him In affectionate terms
She told Judge Kelley that her husband
was becoming insane through the use OF
drugs, but when the witness proposed
having him arrested or committed to an
insane hospital, she declared that she
would not allow any one to harm a hair
of the admiraIs head"
Judge Kelly had no personal knowl-
edge that Admiral Eaton used drugs
Physician Prescribed Arsenic.
mr. Taooh w proup fnrpoarl,, :, ~,
ton physician. but now serving a Jail
sentence for illegal practices, testified
that in 1910 he prescribed a prepare
ton containing arsenic at the request
OF Admiral Eaton. The prescription
called for 1900 pills, each containing
one one-hundredth of gran Of arsenic.
Later the admiral brought some OF
the pills to the witness. saying that
a child had died from eating one of
them. Another time the admiral showed
him some capsules. which, he said. con-
He said that Admiral Eaton was often
Intoxicated when he called on him.
The Defense Opened.
Rear Admiral Eaton was painted. In
the opening address of the defense
yesterday afternoon. as a drug fiend.
a man Of dual personality. a veritable
DR.. Jekyll and Mr.. Hyde" Attorney
Francis ]. Grogan. who made the
opening argument, said 1t would be
shown that Admiral Eaton was ad-
dicted to the use of liquor and drugs
to such an extent that he endangered
his vessel and the lives Of men under
him when In the navy.
He attributed the death Of the admiral
to arsenic, self-administered. The poison,
he said. was obtained from a Boston
physician, who supplied the admiral In
all with 4.6OO tablets as a medicine.
DIR. F. Fremont Smith of Washington,
D. c.. the first witness, testified at con-
siderable length regarding the admiral 8
habits of intoxication during his first
wife's illness and her death. 1t devel-
oped by DIR. Smiths testimony that
naval records show Admiral Eaton to
have been afflicted with a disease for
which arsenic and other drugs are some
times administered. 1t was Dr. smith
who obtained the services of Mrs. ID. II.
Ainsworth to nurse the admirafs first
wife. and he described her as faithful
and true to her charge" She later be-
came Mrs. Eaton and is now the defend
ant in the case.
Under a cross examination by District
Attorney Barker DR.. Smith testified that
the admiral's first wife died of cerebral
apoplexy, which might be a symptom OF
the disease for which the admiral had
been treated.
Rear Admiral Charles r. Clark testified
| that as president of the naval examining
and retiring board ne declin. d request
from Admiral Eaton for an assignment to
a position on some naval board, because
he had heard of his habits of intem-
perance.
| Lieut.. Holden c. Richardson. aviation
| Instructor at Hammondsport, N. Y, tes-
| titled that while junior watch officer OF
the battleship Massachusetts, In 1903 he
had seen Capt. Joseph G. Eaton. then
| master Of that vessel. in Q condition OF
i annarenf infnxicafinn