The Daily News Batavia, Genesee County, New York State August 9-1897 NO TRACES OF POISON. Professor LATTIMORE's Report in the Case of Mrs. William BAILEY. Coroner BARRINGER's inquest in the case of Mrs. William BAILEY, who died suddenly on June 25th at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles TRIETLEY, on South Liberty street, was proceeded with in the courtroom of the Schaefer building this afternoon at 2 o'clock. The inquest has been adjourned several times, awaiting the report of Professor LATTIMORE of Rochester, to whom portions of the body were submitted for analysis. All the jurors were present this afternoon except William D. SMITH. Coroner BARRINGER read a communication from Professor LATTIMORE, who stated in it that on June 25th the Coroner and District Attorney LeSEUR submitted to him for chemical analysis a stomach, a watery greenish colored fluid said to be vomited matter, and a section of a liver, with six small powders, to ascertain if they contained any poisonous substance. The Professor's conclusions are as follows: "I have to report to you that I am fully warranted in my conclusion that the materials which you submitted for my examination contain no foreign substance which would account for the congested condition of the mucous membrane of the stomach or for the death of the subject." The statement is sworn to. The powders were found to contain colonel, their average weight being seven-tenths of a grain. ***** Daily News Batavia, Genesee County, New York State August 10-1897 WHAT CAUSED DEATH? Demise of Mrs. William BAILEY is Still a Mystery. Following the reading of yesterday afternoon of Professor LATTIMORE's sworn statement to the eight jurors empanelled by Coroner BARRINGER to investigate the death of Mrs. William F. BAILEY three witnesses were sworn and at 4:30 o'clock an adjournment was taken until 8 p.m. The witnesses were Dr. H.A. MORSE and Dr. Ward B. WHITCOMB, who helped perform the autopsy on Mrs. BAILEY's remains, and Dr. MANCHESTER, who was the attending physician and who was also present at the post mortem. After their evidence had been received Coroner BARRINGER said: "Gentlemen, you have listened to the evidence of four witnesses and men of good standing in their profession. Three of these have sworn that they are unable to account for the death of Mrs. BAILEY except that it was the result in their opinion of some corrosive poison. The chemist himself does not account for the death, and I think that it is your duty and mine to proceed with the investigation. If this young woman has met with a violent death by the self administration of poison or at the hands of others it is our duty to sift the matter to the bottom. Professor LATTIMORE told me personally that the stomach looked as if it had come in contact with some corrosive agent. It remains for the jurors to say whether the circumstances warrant a continuance of the proceedings. There is one important matter that has failed to come out in the evidence and that is that when the autopsy was performed the blood, with the exception of the heart clot, was found to be in an extremely fluid state and of a bright pink color. Now, if a volatile oil was used such conditions would result. I think that all the circumstances tend to show that the death was an unnatural one, and, this being so, it deserves a thorough investigation." The jurors agree with the Coroner and advocated a speedy and uninterrupted investigation. Dr. MORSE, when he was on the stand, stated that he assisted in the autopsy on the remains of the dead woman on June 25th last, in which R. WHITCOMB, the Coroner, and Dr. MANCHESTER took part. The remains showed no exterior marks of disease. "We removed the heart, liver, lungs, intestines, stomach and other organs," Dr. Morse said, "and examined each carefully. We also discovered that the woman was pregnant and the child in a normal condition. There was a slight disease affecting the afterbirth, but not of a sufficiently severe nature to cause death." Dr. MORSE added that no trace of disease, sufficient to cause death, was found. "The conditions," he said, "were such as are found in cases of death from an irritant poison. I have seen a number of cases where the symptoms were almost the same. The only one I now recollect, however, is that of Joseph HEIDE of Batavia, whose stomach looked the same and gave evidence of arsenical poisoning. The only difference was that in HEIDE's stomach particles of a white substance were found. I have never seen a death like this before except from an irritant and I am forced to say that if this was not the cause I am at loss to assign any reason. I am surprised at the finding of the chemist." E.O. BONSTEEL, a juror, asked Dr. MORSE if it would probably have been discovered at the autopsy if oil of tansy had been taken. "Yes," he replied, "we would expect to smell it. Excessive vomiting, however, might cause it to pass off so as not to be discoverable. Dr. LATTIMORE told me that the condition of the stomach was such as he would expect to find in a case of death from an irritant poison." Dr. MORSE did not think that the woman's death could be accounted for by her previous history. He deemed it a very strange and inexplicable case. The witness said that a woman living in the neighborhood had told him that Mrs. BAILEY had said on one occasion that she did not care whether she lived or died. This showed a tendency towards depression. The Coroner also said that he had heard of the girl being depressed and morose. There were some argument as to how long the chemist, who at the time was connected with the BENHAM case, had delayed his labors, as it was thought that delay, even if the jars containing the organs that were examined were sealed, might render the analysis of no material benefit. Dr. MANCHESTER testified that the dead woman was a sufferer from St. Vitus's dance. He testified briefly to the occasions when he had called on her and stated that he had at no time considered her symptoms serious. He was present at the autopsy, but neither from what he had learned there nor observed when attending her had he been able to form any opinion as to the cause of her death. Dr. WHITCOMB's evidence was largely of a corroboratory nature. He testified to finding the different organs in good condition, excepting the stomach. There was, he said, no evidence of heart disease. The condition of the stomach resembled arsenical poisoning, with the exception that no flakes were in evidence. He could, aside from the corrosiveness, see nothing which would cause death. "I am frank to say," concluded the witness, "that if Mrs. BAILEY's death was not caused by some corrosive poison I don't know what the cause of death was." William F. BAILEY, the woman's husband, was on the stand at the evening session. He stated that he had been married eleven months. His wife, during her last sickness, complained frequently of severe headache, to which she was subject. She was naturally cheerful and spoke with pleasure of the advent of the child. An adjournment was taken until 8 o'clock this evening. + + Daily News Batavia, Genesee County, New York State August 10-1897 UNKNOWN TO THE JURY. The Cause of Mrs. BAILEY's Death Not Determined. After many adjournments, the employing of an expert chemist and the listening to medical evidence tending to show that Mrs. William F. BAILEY's death was an unnatural and peculiar one, Coroner BARRINGER's jury last night at 11:15 o'clock rendered the following verdict which leaves her strange death as much a mystery as ever, and the BAILEY case will probably pass down in history as one which has never been satisfactorily explained: "We the undersigned called as Coroner's jury to investigate the death of Mrs. Libbie BAILEY on June 25, 1897, find upon the testimony of witnesses that she came to her death from some cause or causes unknown to the jury." It was 8:45 o'clock before the proceedings were gotten under way in the courtroom of the Shafer building last evening. There were only two witnesses sworn, Mr. and Mrs. Charles TRIETLY, the parents of the dead woman. The father testified in regard to his daughter's illness. He said that she had never to is knowledge made any complaint regarding her domestic life and seemed happy and contended as far as he could see. Mrs. TRIETLY stated that her daughter was last up and about the house on the Wednesday night preceding the morning of her death, which occurred on Friday. On this occasion the daughter wanted something to relieve a pain in her abdomen. The witness gave her some brandy. On Wednesday morning, the witness said, her daughter's eyes were all puffed out. The brandy which Mrs. BAILEY took during the night was thrown up. On Thursday Mrs. BAILEY vomited some fruit which she had eaten. On the afternoon of that day she was very ill, with a violent pain in the head. She constantly exclaimed: "Oh my head will split, my head will burst!" Salt water, given to her to settle her stomach, was vomited. Mrs. TRIETLY testified to her daughter's happy family relations and to her death on Friday morning. The evidence closed at 10 o'clock. The Coroner remained in the jury room while the jurors deliberated. The oil in the lamp gave out and they repaired to GILLETTE & PRENTICE's store, where the deliberations were concluded. Drs. MORSE and WHITCOMB, who performed the autopsy on Mrs. BAILEY, both say that the statement credited to Coroner BARRINGER in The News last evening to the effect that pink blood was found during the autopsy was incorrect. The physicians say that the blood was dark. + + submitted by Linda C. Schmidt