The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1919-03-25
DENIES he CAVE
0. K. ON C0FFINS
Naval Man on Stand In the
ButterWOrth Trial
Continued From Page One

crtor, objected. and was sustained
Tucker explained that he was get
ting at the coffln'a merits
The next witness. capt. Goodrich.
testified that he was In charge Of
the purchase OF collins at the Of
ficea OF the depot quartcrnaster Ia
Seattle. during the influenza cpl
demic In October. and that at the
request OF the authorities at Camp
Lewis. he attempted to buy as cas-.
keta for the burial OF dead soldiers
nj Camp Lewis. ~ that Time. Capt.
Goodrich testified. the bodies of dead
men were being held up" at Camp
Lewis thru lack OF collins.
Hard 10 Obtain
Goodrich says he obtained IL her.
medically sealed, motal-lined Baskets
from the Buttorworth company
which was put TO special effort To
provide them. az the unusually large
percentage OF deaths in Seattle were
taxing the company 10 capacity. lie
said that at the time. II was almost
impossible 20 obtain a coffin. cspe-
cially metal.llned one.
The defense tried to secure tesu
monial Of inspection of caskcts from
Chief Petty officer II. q. vogthin.
who explained that he visited the
Buttcrworth establishment merely 10
assist In the checking OF the bodies
II didn't notice the caAkets." he
said.
Inspected Bodies
The evidence OF Lieut.. =. T. James.
naval training statior chaplain. was
substantially the same.
when Dr. Swinburne took the
stand. for the second time during the
trial he was asked by Tucker II he
noticed the interior OF the eoffinA.
Il did not" Swinburne replied.
when you examined these bodies
they were In tho casketH. were they
no,T" Prosecutor Moore demanded.
They were
And you examined the bodies. bu,
not the caskcu7"
Yea"
What was your purpose OF inspec
tonY"
To sec that the bodies were IN
proper shape, In uniform, shaved
and In a presentablc condition"
why didn't you inspect the cas-
ketsy"
1T was not my work"
Son II on Stand
ITO whom wcro you responsible
for your inspoouonsg'
ITO Commissioner Miller Free
man"
Tho prosecution. In Interrogation
OF Fred X. Bu,torworth. cndcayored
10 demonstrate that tn. defendant
WINS not responsible for the activi
ties Of the company. as he was only
Entrusted with manaEcrahlp.
The defense plans TO call between
IS and Is Witnesses
The position OF the defense was
explained at the close OF Monday
afternoons session. following the
close Of tho arguments Of tho prose
cution. The statement. read by WI
mon Tucker. In as follows:
"E. X. Butterworth ia the rolc
owner Of the business. lie came "a
Seattle In 1880 and enraEoi In the
Undertaking business. shortly AFR.
ward. his son. q. NJ. Buttsrworth.
cBert1. came here and went 10 work
for his father upon a salary
Then IN. other sons came and
also entered the business under sim.
liar conditions.
~ year ago. r.. II. Bu,terworth.
the old gentleman. In broken health,
WAS forced 10 give 10 active man
lss ment OF the business and he
placed each Of the sons IN charge OF
some department of tho establish.
mcnt
Under this condition the contract
witt. the naval district was entered
upon In July. 1918. The evidence
VIII show that no one could antici.
pate or realize what wis going 10
happen shortly thereafter No one
contemplated the affliction OF Span.
;ah influenza. causing the great
nrmber OF deaths as It did
Prom July TO October 4. Butter
worth & Sons were called on TO pre-.
pare for burial only three bodies for
the navy. IL will be SHOWN. And
fhey were handled as nearly accord.
ing 20 the contract entered into as
was humanity possible.
Couldn't Get Caslets
"The wording OF that contract Is
not Of serious moment II was word.
ed by the navy. No ono could fiji II.
Nobody expected II to be fulfilled.
No such casket as was ordered WAS
ever Hcld. The evidence viii show
that there was never casiS.t man.
ufactured OF the kind specified. No
one in Christendom could have car.
ried out that contract
Tire first body that came TO the
unGe' taking establishment WIS
placed in metallic casket. as were
the second and thitG. Then. abo1i
OWNS to the influcpz1. the bodi"s
came in seven. four and five n day.
About that time the death rate was
enormous In the army camps of the
country. The officers In charge
we're clamoring for caskots, as
bodies were being held after post
mortems and were lying on the con.
crete floors OF the barracks. UMPIRE
pared for burial. The manufacturers
could not furnish caskets In suffi.
cient quantities.
"In addition. the war industries
board sent word out asking manu-.
facturers to refrain from using any
metallic lining for baskets except
zinc. And It was impossible to get
zinc.
I'VE did not furnish these metal
lic.lined caskets because we could
not furnish them. We gave the next
best thing.
IN every instance, the evidence