DEATHS AND FUNERALS
-Mary N., wife of John DUFFY, died last evening at the residence, No. 29 Alexander street. She was 46 years of age.
-Christian J. SCHAEFFER died last evening at the family residence, No. 94 Sherman street, aged 38 years. He left a wife, three children, five sisters and three brothers. The brothers are Michael F., George J., and F. S. SCHAEFFER, of this city, and the sisters Mrs. J. F. SCHWARTZ, Mrs. C. P. SEELE and Mrs. C. TOPFELL, of this city; Mrs. A. J. MARSHNER, of Webster, and Mrs. S. G. BRINKMAN, of New York.
****
AMUSEMENTS
-Two performances at Robinson's Muses theater to-day. Paquerette will appear both afternoon and evening to-day.
-John Robinson's railroad show will be in Rochester during July. George FRANKLIN, contracting agent for the big show, was in town yesterday.
-Ex-Manager MARKHAM of the Muses will begin an extended trip through the West the latter part of the month. He made a courteous and faithful official during his administration.
-Professor GENTRY'S trained horses and dogs will give their entertainment both afternoon and evening to-day at the corner of Main street and University avenue. There will also be two performances to-morrow and Saturday, but only one on Friday. The afternoon performances are given in order that ladies and children may see the intelligent animals.
****
Obituary
Atlanta, Ga., June 13 - Mrs. Elizabeth LATHAM, aged 106 years, died here this morning. She was a native of Georgia.
****
Arrival of the Viking Ship
New London, Conn., June 13 - The Viking ship arrived this afternoon.
****
A Private Mill
Boston, Mass., June 13 - Arthur WALKER, the Australian welter weight, arrived in Boston yesterday, and last evening a well-known New England middle weight agreed to spar eight rounds with the Australian, with small gloves, for $50. The meeting was in a private room. The men fought desperately from the start, and in the middle of the fifth round the Australian knocked his opponent out.
****
President of Elmira Female College
Elmira, N. Y., June 13 - The trustees of the Elmira Female College to-day elected Rev. Fufus S. GREEN, D. D., president of that institution. Dr. GREEN is a graduate of Hamilton College, class of 1867. He was for eight years the pastor of the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian church, in Buffalo, and comes to the Elmira college from the Central Presbyterian church, of Orange, N. J. The prospects for a large freshman class at the college are encouraging.
****
Drowned While Bathing
Binghamton, N. Y., June 13 - Harmon HAWLEY, 16 years of age, was drowned while bathing in the Susquehanna river this evening. He was taken with cramps while swimming in mid-stream.
****
A DAY OF EXHIBITS
The Testimony in the Borden Case Chiefly ConjectureNew Bedford, Mass., June 13 - If Lizzie BORDEN is guilty the fact will be found out with a microscope, and whatever instruments are used for measuring pin points. To-day the most important witnesses for the government were sworn, and then it was seen that a human hair is as thick as a club, alongside the proofs on which it is hoped she may be hanged. The medical experts reached their findings with microscopes, and announced them as infinitesimal fractions. The blood spot on Lizzie BORDEN'S white petticoat was declared to have the dimensions of a three-thousandth part of an inch. This blood spot was the only physical thing that seemed to connect her with the crime, and it is sworn to as the size of the head of a very small pin. The government has been describing it as on the floor of her skirt, but their own chief expert to-day acknowledged this to be a mistake, and said the spot was on the back of the skirt, below its opening and six inches above the hem. The expert testimony all went to prove that no blood from the victims would be likely to reach the assailant from behind. Therefore that ought to be the last of that "damned spot."
Once beyond the reach of the microscope the points in the case against the prisoner to-day went into hypothesis, conjectures and guesses as to unproven circumstances. The basis of all the speculation was a ground work of blood, skulls and bones. The blood and one skull were brought into court and handed about. Fortunately for her, Miss Lizzie BORDEN dodged this ghastly thing. It came in the afternoon session, just after she had complained of feeling poorly and gone out. Her indisposition was likely due to the extreme heat and closeness following on a morning of sickness and horrible testimony. She had brought in a posy of bachelor's buttons, as an old maid might, and she seemed in fairly good spirits. There were no other notable flowers in the court room, but the pure white carnations were still in the center of the judges' desk.
A newcomer among the women spectators had Miss Lizzie BORDEN pointed out to her, and at the first glance exclaimed: "Why, she is a lady." That was an interesting exclamation. The prisoner is far from good looking, so heavy is the lower half of the face. Yet there is about her that indefinable quality which we call lady-hood. She is said to be generally thought of throughout the country as a brawny, big, muscular, hard-faced, coarse-looking girl. She is in fact neither large, nor small, nor tall nor short, but is of the average build, and in demeanor is quiet, modest and well-bred, from a country rather than a city point of view.
There is nothing half so surprising as there is about a certain double row
of ladies who come every day to study her. These women are more refined looking,
more gentle and sweet of face than the prisoner, and yet they are cruel-hearted
and come to gloat over the lone old maid. They look as sweet and fair and soft
natured as so many fallow deer, but when any one speaks to them of the trial
they say:
"Oh, I hope they will hang her." Why God has
made lovely women so unjust toward her own sex, and so prone to think ill of
any person in trouble. He alone can tell. Certainly the women here abandon reason
in their scorn of Lizzie BORDEN and are in sufficient numbers to create a hostile
atmosphere in the court room.
______________
Yesterday's Evidence in the Borden Trial
New Bedford, June 13 - Dr. DOLAN was called this morning to resume his testimony in cross-examination, Mr. ADAMS conducting. He said: "The marks on the plaster casts were marked by Dr. DRAPER, I think, last Friday, here in New Bedford. The second time I saw Mr. BORDEN'S body I made a more thorough examination than I did at first. I think the effect of repeated blows on the head would be made to make it sink some, and the head might have been higher when he first laid down. Perhaps I disturbed it slightly when I examined it. I don't know what the height of the sofa was; I did not measure it." (Here an arm chair was placed against the wall to be used as an illustration of how the head of the sofa was when Mr. BORDEN lay on it last).
Witness then placed two coats in the chair and upon these put the plaster cast of Mr. BORDEN in the position in which the body is alleged to have been, with the exception that there was an additional height of a pillow under his head when laying on the sofa. The chair was directly at the end of the jury seats where the jury could look at it and get a correct estimate of the position of the body.
"Granting that the chair was against the wall," said the witness,
"the chair is relatively in the same position as was the sofa at the time
of the murder."
Witness continued:
"Of the ten blows, four penetrated the skull. The second blow beginning
at the nose on the left was four and one- half inches long, and cut through
the bony formation of the substance beneath the eye and very slightly through
both jaw bones; these bones are comparatively hard; the bones about the eye
are not as strong; this one and one- half inch cut did not bisect the eye, but
the one next to it did, and it was a clean cut, indicating a sharp-edged instrument.
"In my opinion the claw-headed hatchet could have made the cut and the cut was made from left to right; the one over the eye was also from left to right; the latter was even more marked in its features; there were no others having a left to right tendency that I discovered. I have seen the handleless hatchet before. It was before the first hearing, and I never referred to in any way in my testimony. It was with the others and we (the marshal and I) examined it; I don't know whether it was done or not. I don't remember what the conversation about it was when we were looking it over; I don't know whether the district attorney was there or not when we were looking it over. I saw it again when the grand jury met; I consider it, as it appears, the same in appearance as when I first saw it. The edge is sharp now and is not turned. It has a clean cutting edge; when I first saw it there were white particles of ashes on it. The highest bloodspot was about six feet above the floor of Mr. BORDEN'S room when I saw it first. The greatest number, eighty-six, were about a foot from the head, a short distance above on the walls the spots on the picture were about over his feet, half way up on the wall; there was one spot on the jamb of the kitchen door and one lower down on the panel of the door. In that sitting room at that time there was the usual furniture of such a room; there was a table about four feet away from the center of the room. There were books in it, but I saw no blood on them. There were blood spots on the ceiling over the body; I never mentioned the blood spot on the door jamb because it had been taken away when I made my memorandum. It was on the dining room side.
"To a certain extent, I made a statement as to the position of the assassin after having seen that spot on the jamb, but I now change that statement, because I am told the spot is not blood; I never said, however, that the assailant reached around the door casing to deal the blows. I saw no spots on the carpet between the sofa and the parlor door, but there were some on the parlor floor, on the panels and on the division of the panels, but I cannot tell exactly how high above the floor - perhaps five or six feet.
"Examining all the things in connection with this matter I should say the blood spots came from different directions. The spot upon the doors showed they had come over in a curve from the body; those on the wall near the body had the heavy spots down. In my opinion the assailant stood between the parlor door and the head of the lounge. I don't think the assailant swung the instrument in the direction of that table, and this accounts for the lack of blood on it, even though the blows came from left to right; I think the one-handed blow would have done the work. Had the artery below the jaw been cut there would have been a heavy flow of blood; but the assailant would not have been covered with blood from the spurts necessarily. The swinging of the hatchet would have been likely to cause spattering of the blood on the assailant and on the victim"
Witness here arranged the cast of Mrs. BORDEN's head in the chair to show
the relative position of the body when found, and, continuing, he said:
"As she lay all the cuts on her head were seen; the thickest hair would
naturally be over the back portion of the head; when I first saw her the wounds
were open, gaping and distinct; the hair on the back of her head would furnish
a natural cushion for the blows; the cuts were clean and sharp, and they were
all left to right blows; I don't think I ever said the cut was as clean as though
cut with a razor (here the testimony of the witness at the first hearing to
this effect was read to him and he acknowledged then that he did say so. I think
now the blow on the top of the skull was from right to left, and I don't think
a very heavy blow was necessary; I think moderate force only was used in all
the blows. The head of Mrs. BORDEN did not come as far up as the top of the
pillow sham; the spots on that sham came from left to right; the spots on the
side of the spread were nearest to where she lay. (Here the spread was stretched
over the jury rail, the foreman holding the lower edge and Mr. JENNINGS holding
the sham above it, to give the arrangement as near perfect as possible for the
jury to see).
"I found a few spots on the marble of the dressing case or bureau; there were some on the molding of the baseboard; there were seven of them I think, but I don't know that I examined in which direction they came; beyond the bureau and near the north wall there were some on the molding, some on the wall paper, about three feet up; there were no spots on the window. Taking the position of the body in my opinion the assailant was astride the body facing the east wall. I don't think the blow in the back was from left to right. When I made the examination of this wound in the back there were other physicians present, but Dr. DWE?Y was not present; when we made the autopsy there was no discussion as to this having been made by an instrument having three edges, a triangular one, although the center of the wound was deeper than the edges. On Saturday when I was at the BORDEN house I was given a dress by Mr. JENNINGS; I don't know where he got it (dress which has been in the case shown and identified as the one). I remember examining it at the time.
A juryman was taken sick and a recess of five minutes was taken at 10:15. The prisoner was affected, and was led from the room.
Dr. E. S. WOOD of Harvard Medical College was called and described the examination of the stomachs. WOOD found nothing to indicate disease or irritation in either stomach and their contents showed a difference of an hour and a half in the time of death. There was no evidence of poison in the stomachs or in the milk used by the family on August 3d and 4d. Examination showed no blood on the claw-hammered hatchet or axe or on the blue dress. The hair found on this hatchet was not human. The white skirt showed a small blood spot. WOOD said the blood spot on the white skirt probably came from outside and was human blood. The shoes and stockings and dining room door casing had no blood spots. The handleless hatchet had no blood. The break in the handle contained no dust. The handleless hatchet had dust like ashes on the blade tightly adhering. Under defendant's objection and exception, Professor WOOD testified that the handleless hatchet might have been cleaned of blood before the handle was broken off.
The jury took their seats again at 10:30 o'clock, Mr. HODGES appearing refreshed, but, Miss BORDEN having retired in the meantime, it was necessary to await her coming before proceeding. She came in six minutes later, and then Dr. DOLAN resumed his examination of the dress. He said when he looked at a pocket in the dress there was a spot on the pocket which resembled blood, but he had not heard any report to the contrary, although as he looked at it now he did not think it was blood. He had the shoes and stockings brought to him the same day and thought there was blood on the sole of one of the shoes; he found none on the stockings; he found a pin head spot on the white skirt; don't know what I said at the time about the time of death of Mrs. BORDEN, as compared with the time of death of Mr. BORDEN; don't know whether I said she had died one and a half hours before I saw her, or before Mr. BORDEN died. (The minutes of the first hearing showed he had said then she had died from an hour to an hour and a half before he saw her.)
"I have not the impression that I said that, but I now say the difference between the deaths would be from one to one and one-half hours. I have studied the matter some time and have reached this view now. The coagulation of the blood has a bearing on my present view. In warm weather eight or ten minutes is sufficient to cause blood to coagulate; it is not safe to form an opinion of the blood after fifteen minutes. The coagulation of the blood caused Mrs. BORDEN'S blood to look darker than the other. Then there was a difference in the warmth of the body, but I only learned this by the touch. I am willing to stand on this. Ten to twenty-four hours is allowed for a body to become cold, but external temperature would have something to do with it; if both died at the same time her body would be warm longer than his and warmer. The matter of digestion came in, also, based upon normal conditions. My opinion is based upon the temperature, the condition of the blood and what I found in the intestines. If a person was afflicted with indigestion, or had eaten breakfast at 7 o'clock in the morning, having been sick the night before and vomited, it would be difficult to prove how long since breakfast had been eaten, if death occurred as in this case. In this case, however, knowing both had partaken of similar food, and both having been ill, and finding something in one intestine and nothing in the other, I think an opinion might safely be formed. Had one been more ill than the other, a difference would be made in the digestive organs. I would not dare express an opinion here on that basis within half an hour, so that really I have nothing left for my opinion, but the temperature of the body, and that was by touch only. If the assailant stood over the body of Mrs. BORDEN, as I think, I don't know about there being blood spatters over the body, although there might be some on the lower part of the body.
Re-direct. "There is nothing in the length of the wounds to show that they could not have been made by a three and one-half inch hatchet. There was nothing in the intestines to show that indigestion had been other than normal.
Edward S. WOOD, professor of chemistry in the Harvard Medical School, testified:
"My attention was first called to this matter August 5th, when I received
a box in which were four preserve jars, one of which was labeled milk of August
3d, another milk of August 4th, a third the stomach of A. J. BORDEN; the fourth
the stomach of Mrs. BORDEN. The seals on them were intact when I got them. Mrs.
BORDEN'S stomach was removed; it was natural and had been surgically unopened.
I opened it and removed the contents and thoroughly examined them. There was
no evidence of the action of any irritant whatever; there were about eleven
ounces of food and a small quantity of water; partially digested starch was
there, also a large quantity of partially digested meat and oil; some of the
pieces of meat were quite large and their nature readily determined. In addition
there was a number of indications of vegetables. So far as could be determined
by the appearance of the food, it was undergoing natural process of digestion.
The stomach of Mr. BORDEN I examined in precisely the same way, and there was
no evidence of any diseased condition; there was but a small quantity of solid
food there, however, but what there was was of the same kind as was found in
the stomach of Mrs. BORDEN. The total quantity was about six ounces. The digestion
here was much further advanced, the stomach digestion being almost completed.
That stomach had not been opened surgically. Both were immediately tested for
prussic acid, with a negative result. Afterward they were analyzed in the regular
way for other poisonous substances, with a negative result. There was nothing
abnormal or irregular in the condition of the stomachs. Assuming that they both
ate at the same time and of the same kind of food, the difference in the time
of death, from the condition of the stomachs, would be about one and one-half
hours; digestion stops at death.
"On August 10th I went to the BORDEN house, but afterwards received from Dr. DOLAN the axes and the hatchets, the blue dress skirt and waist, the white skirt, the pieces of carpet, a piece of false hair, a lounge cover, three small envelopes containing hair of Mr. and Mrs. BORDEN and hair taken from the hatchet. The claw- headed hatchet had several stains on it, on the sides, the head and the cutting edge. (Located them to the jury.) All were carefully tested by me chemically with negative result; the two axes I examined in the same way with negative result, so far as blood is concerned. The claw-headed hatchet could not have been washed quickly because of the crevices of the blade. The hair sent me was undoubtedly that of a cow; it was not a human hair. The other envelope which I received, and in which was a note that a hair was in a piece of paper there contained nothing but a mucilage spot. I only saw one hair. I want to say, however, that I found some cotton and wool fiber on the lower edge of the claw headed hatchet. On the blue dress I found a brownish smooth near the corner of the top of the pocket, which at first looked like blood, but it was found not to be blood. Another spot on the skirt was found not to be of blood. There was not suspicion of a blood stain on the waist. The white skirt contained a small blood spot six inches from the bottom; it was about one sixteenth of an inch in diameter and appeared plainer on the outside than on the inside. It was a real blood spot. Here the professor described the blood on the carpet pieces; there was no doubt about the spots on those pieces being blood. Both pieces were stained through. The witness said he experimented by opening an artery in the leg of a dog and let it run on the pieces of carpet, finding that both absorbed blood in about the same degree. There was no blood on the sofa cover. The blood on the lock of gray hair from Mr. BORDEN'S head was genuine, as was that on Mrs. BORDEN'S hair. He found no blood spots in front of the sofa other than those shown by the piece of carpet. The shoes of Miss BORDEN and the stockings were shown by the witness, but said he found no blood on them.
"On the 30th," witness continued, "in the court room at Fall
River, I received the small hatchet and the two pieces of wood. The claw-headed
hatchet. I should say, measured four and one-half inches on the cutting edge.
The small hatchet had no blood stains; the dining room piece of wood I examined,
but there was no blood on it; the piece of the mop-board from the guest chamber
contained two small spots of blood with the stem end down, showing they came
from above down. When I received the small hatchet the fractured end was in
the lower end of the eye; the blade was rusty as it is now; there were several
spots on the head which were not blood spots. The fracture end of the handle
was very white and some chips which have since disappeared were there when I
had it. There was no dirt in the broken end of the handle; no blood had been
removed from the handle. In the crevices, now, under a small microscope can
be seen a trace of white coating, which might be ashes, and has not been rubbed
away with all the handling it has had in this court. On the evening of November
15th, I gave this hatchet head and the claw- headed hatchet to Mr. SEAVER, and
when they came back the chips had been taken from this handle. The dirt which
is on the small hatchet might have been placed there after it was wet; that
is, it would stick more tightly after it had been wet. When I got that hatchet
it was covered with rust, In my opinion if that hatchet was used for inflicting
the wounds described and afterwards was subjected to a cleaning process, I could
not have discovered the blood, if it was done before the handle was broken.
After the handle was broken it would have been impossible to have washed the
blood out, quickly, at least. The handle in the small hatchet fits very tightly;
that in the hammer does not."
Cross-examination: "The spot which I found on the skirt was located
a little to the left of the back. Witness said he considered the assailant of
the murdered people must have been spattered with blood.
Frank W. DRAPER, M. D., Boston, testified he had assisted at the autopsy. He examined the wounds on the head of Mr. BORDEN, and made the marks on the plaster casts. Here the doctor described the wounds. The first wound examined was in a vertical direction, four and one-half inches long, beginning in the corner of the left eye, and crushed in the bones; this direction was nearly vertical, or at right angles to the plane of the face; the next wound was one above the left eye brow, an open one which was lost in the eye brow; the next one studied began in the last, passed through the eyebrow and crushed in the cheek bones; it penetrated the cavity of the skull; the next was a flesh wound only; this was beveled from left to right; the next was a short cut in the scalp; the next was parallel with the two preceding, two inches in length; it was directed from the front backward; the next went down through the lower jaw; the last, but one, was immediately in front of the left ear; the last one was a little above the left ear, two inches long, vertical in direction. Recess was taken until 2:15 o'clock.
The court came in after recess at 2:15 o'clock. Dr. DRAPER was called to
the stand and his examination was resumed. He said:
"The depth of the wound in front of the left ear was one and seven-sixteenths
of an inch from the side of the skull to its deepest part. When I examined them
both bodies were slightly decomposed. Upon the head of Mrs. BORDEN the first
wound studied was the one in the back, just at the left of the middle line of
the neck in a direction upward and outward; it was two and one-half inches long;
I could not ascertain accurately its depth owing to decomposition. It was about
on a level with the shoulder blade. It was from the right to the left in direction;
the next was the scalp wound. It was above the left ear; it was two inches long;
a flesh wound, a flap wound, and was cut from the front backwards; then there
was a group of two wounds, one being behind the shorter in a right to left direction;
the deepest place was behind at the back of the cut, it was chipped off at the
left side; the next was nearly parallel and went nearly through the skull and
scalp. It was three-quarters of an inch at its back part; that was a clean cut.
The shorter wounds could have been made with the lower end of the hatchet."
The other wounds were described substantially as was done by Dr. DOLAN. During
the description Miss BORDEN retired, not caring to listen to the witness in
his rather horrible recital. The wounds varied from one-half of an inch to five
inches. Witness's statement relative to the intestines of the body was substantially
the same as that of Professor WOOD, and he said there was nothing abnormal about
their condition. Witness said that he was of the opinion that the temperature,
the differences observed in the digestive condition and in the condition of
the blood were all important factors in determining the difference in the time
of the death of the two people. He was sure of the priority of death on the
part of Mrs. BORDEN; as to the interval, he was confident it was at least an
hour between the times of death. (Here the skull of Mr. BORDEN was produced
by Dr. DOLAN that Dr. DRAPER could make a more comprehensive statement as to
the position of the wounds and their effect). By examination of the skull the
witness was enabled to assert positively that the cutting length of the instrument
used on the skull was three and one-half inches. He demonstrated this fact by
a piece of stiff tin which he inserted in several of them and showed that there
was a good fit. He said the small, handleless hatchet could have been used in
making the wounds. (Here witness took the skull to the jury and pointed out
to them the cuts and gave an explanation of them). Witness considered that the
skull of Mr. BORDEN was a thin one. The thickest point is at the back, the next
over the top; the thinnest point is over the temple region, and in this skull
it was so thin that the light struck through. He also considered Mrs. BORDEN'S
skull was much thicker; that is, it was thicker in the usually thinner portions.
Witness considered these blows to have been produced by a hatchet or some sharp
cutting instrument; in his opinion the blows could have been caused by a woman
of ordinary strength.
(Here the proceedings were interrupted slightly by Deputy Sheriff FALVEY and HODGES picking up a New York artist who had refused to obey the sheriff and throwing him almost literally from the room).
In my opinion of witness the assailant of Eva BORDEN stood over her; the assailant of Mr. BORDEN stood behind him at the head of the sofa; think he was lying on the right side of his face well over to the right; he thought there was no way of determining the direction of the blood spatters and he could not say as to what chances there might have been of the assailant being spattered. Dr. DRAPER said the skulls of the murdered persons had been in his possession from May 26th to June 2d, and during that time, because of requests of those in authority, he had allowed Doctors DWIGHT and RICHARDSON, of Boston, to examine them.
Cross-examined by Mr. ADAMS: Witness said the heaviest blow given Mr. BORDEN was the one which cut the eye, and then he was obliged to give a detailed statement of the character of the eye and its position and surroundings in the head. He thought the blood spots on the wall near the sofa were caused by spattering, rather than from arteries. The assailant of Mr. BORDEN provided a short-handled hatchet was used, would necessarily stand close to his head, and would receive some spatters on the clothes; if the right hand was used, then the upper right part of the body would be spattered; if the left hand was used, then the spatters would be on the upper left hand side.
(Here counsel produced a new hatchet, which he asked Dr. DRAPER to see if it would fit the wounds; this was attempted, but would not fit, because it had not been sharpened and was blunt; it was three and three-eighths inches wide on the cutting edge).
On Mrs. BORDEN'S body the witness found twenty-two wounds, eighteen of the cuts in the head, one in the back, and three contusions on the face. The wound in the back may have been caused while she was standing, or it may have been caused when she was lying on the floor. It proceeded from below upward. He saw nothing about the cutting of the hair on Mrs. BORDEN'S head to indicate that a sharp instrument like a razor had been used. On Mrs. BORDEN'S head there appeared to be blows which were beveled in both ways; taking the injuries on Mrs. BORDEN'S head altogether he thought they had all been given in one direction, from right to left; the assailant of Mrs. BORDEN must have been more or less spattered with blood in front, although some of the blood might have gone in the air and come down behind, and that the face and hair might reasonably have received some blood spatters. If fresh blood were put on the head of the hatchet in August on a hot day in our climate, it would dry quickly, if not spread too thick. Blood would intermingle with rust and would wash off less easily than if smeared on a bright surface. If blood was smeared on a rusty hatchet at say, 10 o'clock, it would in one hour be dried in on a hot day and could not very readily be washed off. I think in the case the blood would come off before the rust, and there would be difficulty in detecting the presence of blood there by chemical test.
Re-direct: In both cases examinations showed that digestion had begun. Witness then explained again why the new hatchet submitted by Mr. ADAMS would not fit the wounds because it had not been sharpened. Witness was asked to designate the spot by a pencil mark on the skull where the blow over the eye was struck, and the marking was not allowed. Witness said in his opinion the handleless hatchet might have caused the wounds in the heads of both people.
David W. CHEEVER, Boston, physician and surgeon, of thirty-five years' experience,
devoting most of his time to surgery, testified:
"On the 31st of May he had been shown the skulls of Mr. and Mrs. BORDEN,
and had since then studied them with a view to determining the character and
effect of the blows. He had heard most of the medical testimony in the case,
and was present when the casts were marked. In his opinion the facts from which
he drew conclusions as to the difference in the time of death of the two persons
were, as to the temperature, the condition of the blood, the condition of the
digestive organs, he believed Mrs. BORDEN died first, the minimum time being
one hour, the maximum not more than two hours. The injuries on the bones were
made by a heavy metallic instrument, with sharp edge not more than three and
one-half inches, such as a hatchet. He had examined the handleless hatchet,
and, assuming it had a handle of ordinary length, he thought it would make the
wounds. He understood the nature of the wounds and was of the opinion that a
hatchet not much smaller than that previously described could, perhaps have
been used, but in no event can the maximum of three and one-half inches be exceeded.
Here the witness fitted the small hatchet into the wounds on Mr. BORDEN'S skull.
He thought nearly all the wounds in Mrs. BORDEN'S skull had been made when the
body was lying flat on the floor on her face. The scalp wound on the side, he
thought, was given when the assailant and assailed were face to face. The wounds
on both persons could have been inflicted by a sharp cutting instruments of
sufficient weight and leverage, not less than twelve or fourteen inches, and
a woman of ordinary strength could have done it. Some of the blows indicated
plainly the direction of them; the one which smashed in Mr. BORDEN'S skull,
for instance, was from right to left; on Mrs. BORDEN'S head, the scalp wound
might have been cut either way.
Cross-examined by Mr. ADAMS: An instrument of a cutting edge of three inches and possibly less might have made one of the wounds on Mrs. BORDEN'S head. When witness performed an operation in surgery he usually changed his outward clothes, partly to unsure cleanliness and partly to protect his clothing. In performing surgical operations, blood rarely struck his hair, but sometimes his beard and face received some, and it was not uncommon to have his shoes spattered. There is a temple artery in the head where two of the cuts in Mr. BORDEN's head were made; they, when cut, would throw spray, and the direction of the cut would determine the course of the spray; if Mr. BORDEN was lying on his right side and the artery was cut from behind, the spurt would be backward; the other artery nearer the ear would spurt on a level with the body; a person standing behind and delivering the blow standing behind and delivering the blow which would cut this artery, the spurt would come on the assailant. A person standing behind in the rear would be apt to get blood on his face, hair, hands and body. The cut over the eye indicates two blows, one from left to right, the hatchet having slipped, and both are on the same plane, but the other is a vertical cut.
"The blow which crushed the skull I now think to be vertical, and not
as I stated in my direct examination," said witness, examining carefully
the skull and fitting the piece of tin in the wound.
Here witness gave a representation with the new hatchet, to show how the
blows on Mr. BORDEN'S head might have been used, taking Mr. ADAMS'S head in
front of him to bear out the figure. Witness thought the assailant of Mrs. BORDEN
stood face to face with her when the scalp wound was made, and the others were
made when the assailant was astride of the victim. He thought the assailant
must have been spattered from the waist up. If the assailant stood bestride
the victim, it was a question, he thought, whether the shoes would be spattered,
because the dress would have a tendency to hide them.
Re-direct: "It is the action of the heart which caused the spurting.
The garment witness uses in surgical operations is easily taken off and on."
The court adjourned at 5 P. M. until to-morrow morning at 9 o'clock.
___