Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1922-10-14
THE CORONER'S OPINION

luSS "lu, IN E''iN'
THE CORONER's OPINION
DR.. Whitfield said today his opilr
,o,, thot tho woman was clectrocuted
was based on conditions he louho' iio
said he found several severe burhs on
the left hand and arm OF the Doog. oAe
burn was on the back OF the mana az
the base Of the thumb, another OH inc
back of the wrist near the 'front.' ye'
another on the finger next TO the htt'o
finger on which there was a golo rilie
the burn being around the ring; ana
there also was q burn on the left fore
arm near the elbow. An injury on
the forehead where 1t struck the floor
WREN the body fell, was evident.
The head was found lying IN cor
ner between tho telephone and the
lamp, one hand grasped the telephone
roceiyer and the other the stem or
the ornamental lamp. The top of the
lamp was damaged when tho lamp fell
and was lying across the body. The
desk on which the telephone stood was
damaged probably by the fall OF inc
body. One OF the legs of tho desk was
broken off.
sUI0E 1T WAS ELECTROCUTloN.
DR.. Whitfield said that he was Ger
tain that the woman was eleotrocuteo
though how, it could not be determm
ed. He said he had summoned elcctrl
cal INSPECTORS from the telephone anu
power companies and the city elcctrt
cal department and they had pro-
nounccd the wires and transformers
in good condition. There was no tron'
Bile with the telephone, he said, be-
cause it was used while he was there
and any current which would have
burned the woman as she was burned
would, in his opinion have burned the
telephone out and any current OF sucn
strength would have burned the insnl
tation of the wires if it had passed.
through them.
NORMAL WIRES, PHONE co SAYS
Telephone officials said today that
q thorough test Of the line and con-
Meeting lines showed them to be III
normal condition and working order
Manager Tanner said that the phone
current consists Of only four volts.
officials of the power company salu
that the voltage Of electric wires, such
as were in the apartment was usually
115 to 145 and in exceptional cases IL
reached a voltage Of 240 and that the
current used in legal electrocutions
ranged from 1900 to more than 2,0O9
volts.
EXPERT MAKES COMMENT
A well-known electrical expert whr
is frequently called in cases in courts
in which the most expert knowledge
OF electricity is required said today
after all the facts had been explained
to him:
"I think that it was probable that
as little as $40 voltage could have
caused her death If her hands were
covered with soapy water and she had
a weak heart.
The presence Of I've in the soap.
water furnish an excellent conductor
Of the electricity into the body ami
If only the fraction Of an ampere
reaches vital organ it sometimes
causes death.
The voltage sends the current
through the body and the extra stimu
lation Of the electricity causes the
muscles to contract and the blood YES
sells to be squeezed so that the heart
Is greatly taxed and If weak, it viii
succomb. The burns, however, would
indicate that high voltage affecting
weak heart caused instant death and
that the burns were caused slowly by
the current at certain contacts. "The
woman had been washing something
at the sink in the kitchen and she went
to the telephone with wet hands
Street car officials said they did not be
lteve that the current in the electric
lamp could not have caused death and