The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-07-11

dismissed the attendant. but / think he
is still in town. said DIR. Burlingame,
IF you want him. You had better
come out and / viii tell you about it"
Inquest Possible.
1t is possible that an inquest will be
made in the Boline case though this
would involve disinterment of the
body and bringing it back to Fergus
Falls for the inquest. At any rate,
Mr.. Thompson said today, the matter
will. be presented to the grand jury.
In Fergus Falls Thursday, George
Gard, clerk of the district court, abso-
lutely refused to permit the photo
graphing for The Journal Of the cor
oner's death certificate in the case of
Mrs. Bolin. A copy of the certificate
was obtained and sent to Minneapolis,
where the copy was photographed.
The certificate gave the cause of
burns by scalding in bathtub". MI.
Gard was a former employo at the
state hospital.
Coroner Censured.
Coroner j. G.. Vigen conferred. with
County Attorney Thompson last eve
ming. MI. Thompson told the coroner
he thought he had used bad Judgment
in the case. DR.. Vigen admitted that
he had taken many things for granted,
that he did not know himself whether
the woman had Bright's disease, but
took the word Of the hospital I'hysi-
clans. He took back his statement
earlier in the day, that the woman had
been fastened in the tub by a metal
sheet. He said that this was a mis-
take, and that he had been told that
there was a sheet over her. He had
not been told that the woman was
fastened in.
How Long in Tub?
Mr.. Thompson will try to get at the
facts of Mrs. Bolins' death. On We'd
nesday the hospital authorities said
the nurses discovered the water to be
hot as soon as the tub was full, and
drew it off at once. Coroner Vigen
was told, however, that the woman
was left in the tub for hours. and that
during that time the cold water ap-
.Iarently ceased to run so that the
water ran all hot. Some of the ques-
lions to which Mr.. Thompson will try
to get plain are:
Was Mrs. Bolin fastened in h tub.
and if so, how?
How long did she remain
Did the cold water fail, or was 1t
shut off?
Was the nurse in tn ebathroom all
the time, or was the woman left alone
for hours?
Right Method Described.
Old nurses who have worked at the
hospital said today in Fergus Falls
the proper way to administer the
water treatment to patients is to fill
the tub first, test the temperature of
the water, and then have the patient
in. This, they say, is the way they
were instructed to do 1t when In the
service.
ANY assumption tat the state
board of control has {; opted a policy
suppressing information concerning
accidents or other matters relating to
patients in the state institutions and
has placed a ban of silence on its sub
ordinates is absurd" today insisted
Charles E. Vasaly, chairman of the
board of control.
First information concerning Mrs.
case was received by the
board July 2, another report July s
and between these dates an official re-
giving the cause of death was re-
When an inquiry was made
at the office of the board of control
July 8, all members Of the
board were absent and could not be
reached. Downer Mullen, secretary of
the board, then declared that he had
heard nothing of the case.
Reports Already In Hand.
AS the official report of the death
and the two personal letters of DR.. G.
G., Burlingame, assistant superintend-
ent of the hospital, already were in the
office, Mr.. Vasaly was asked why MI.
had not procured the informa-
ton when asked for it, if he had no
orders to the contrary. Mr.. Vasaly
said that he knew of M reason why all
the information in the office should
not have been supplied.
"The latest letter from DR.. Bur
Iingame was on my desk at the time
and was unopened because I was out
of town Wednesday," explained Mr..
Vasaly. why the letter should have