The Washington times., 1919-12-19
Mother Accused of Throwing
Son Into Ocean Expected to
Be Declared Insane.

ieved, will depend whether Prosecu-
tor Gaskill will submit the case to
the grand jury.
Likely to Go to Asylum.
There u every indication Mrs. Blake
viii be found insane and committed to
an asylum without standing trial for
murder.
rhe esroner's Jury, after twenty
minutes' deliberation last night, de-
cided that "James NJ. Blake. jr..cane
of his mother. while she was laboring
under q state Of mental aberration.rr
Tells Of Married Life.
The boys body was found in the sea
near ventnor pier after Mrs. Blake
had raised the alarm by claiming two
negroes assaulted her and kidnapped
her son.
An account Of fifteen years Of mar
ried life, spent for the most part apart
because Of the wife's mental AMI
nervous condition, was recited by
James M Blake, the woman's hus-
band and father Of the dead child,
at the inquest Mr.. Blake and his
wife are represented by the same
attorney, Walter Hanstein, Of At
lantic City.
We found It impossible to arrange
affairs SO that life together would be
liVable," he said. 1.-The first four
years of our married life we spent in
Baltimore. Then her mental and
physical condition forced her, of her
own free will. to enter an institution
for the insane in Baltimore
Repeatedly Forced 10 Part.
Here she became better and came
back to our homa But we never
lived q tranquil life and repeatedly
we were forced to part In 1915 we
separated by agreement made by our
lawyers. and that agreement remain
ed in force untilhas year, when she
visited my home in Mount Airy ami
attempted to bring about a reconcilia-
ton. / had been forced to move my
business from Baltimore to Philadel-
phia.
I'VE usually allowed her to take the
children out for short walks, and then
only when one of our family could OBJ
serve her. Friday the child was taken
out by its mother while / was away
from home. This was one of the few
times he went out unobserved. The
child was strong and active and hard
to manage"
16 Other Witnesses Heard.
Testimony of sixteen other wit
nesses was heard. Further than es-
tablishing the fact that the child
plunged into the ocean from the
Ventnor Pier. the testimony produced
by the Commonwealth brought no new
evidence to light.
Mrs Blake, according to the tes-
timony of DR.. John T. Beckwith. DO
lice surgeon and one of the physi-
sians investigating the mothers mem
tai and nervous condition, told him
that she fell after Buddy" fought
free from her grip. Il fell on boards"
Mrs. Blake told the police surgeon.
Whether she was on the boardwalk
or not she did not know, he said.
After the fall / didn't know any
thing until I revived and found Bud
dy' missing"
DR.. Beckwith testified that the
woman. whom he has been observing
for five days in the Atlantic City Hos
highly nervous in temperament She
told him she once attempted to end
her own life by gas.
Whtskey on WenaR's Breath.
Detectives testified that the woman
procured whiskey At the home of her
husband, where she lunched previous
to taking the child on the fatal trip
last Friday.
Miss Mabel Fox, daughter OF Benja-
min E. Fox. on whose doorstep MrA
Blake was discovered Friday night
testified that when the mother told Of
the KIDNAPPING OF her child by two
negroes, her breath bore a peculiar
odor. which she identified as alcohol.
That Mrs. Blake was not a drug ad-
dict was testified by her physician,
DR.. William w. Fox. DR.. Fox told OF
the visit Of the mother and son to his
office two hours before the child dis
appeared. The mother at that time,
he said, asked whether she had better
place Buddy in an institution, as the
child was hard to manage.
william Pepper. conductor of the
street car which took Mrs. Blake and
her son to Ventnor from Atlantic City
Friday. also testified that the woman
complained that the child was par
ticularly unmanageable on the day he
disappeared.
Chief Of Police William w. Spraguc
Of Fentnor City. said that the mothers
first words to him. when he doubted
her story OF the kidnapping and asked
her where BUDDY" was, II wanted to
do away with the boy the day he was
born"
Called Mentally Unsound-
DR.. Lewis r Souder, Atlantic coun-
ty physician, testified that he found
Mrs. Blake was unsound mentally.
He based this assertion on the history
OF Mrs. Blakes case told him by her
sister, who said she had been highly
eXCitable since Eirlhood. Mrs. Blake
he testified. had been unsound for
ten years. he believed.
lie said also that he had reasonable
doubt that the mother had thrown
her son into the sea
Others who testified were Mrs. vii
liam Riddle, wife of former Mayor
Riddle, of Atlantic City, and her son.
Donald Riddle. both OF whom CON
firmed the statements Of detectives
that had any commotion been raised
such as would have accompanied thc
alleged kidnapping, their dogs would
have been aroused.
CASH 0NIY AT H0IIR1