Untitled Page 30

Dr. Francis Root Day, being first duly sworn, testified as follows:
Mr. Rawlins. Q. Your full name please?
A. Francis Root Day.
Q. Doctor, you are a duly licensed practicing physician in the city of Honolulu?
A. I am.
Q. Your titles and diplomas are what please?
A. Doctor of medicine, graduated from the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College in
1882 and from the Rush Medical College in 1894, both in Chicago.
Q. Have you practiced your profession continuously since graduation doctor?
A. Yes sir.
Q. How long in the city of Honolulu?
A. With the exception of times that I have been away on vacation.
Q. How long in the city of Honolulu, Doctor?
A. Since October 1887.
Q. On Tueday evening February 28th 1905 you had occasion to visit the Moana Hotel
situated at Waikiki in the District of Honolulu, in connection with the illness of Mrs. Jane
Lathrop Stanford?
A. Yes sir I had.
Q. Will you kindly state what time that was doctor if you remember?
A. I was aroused by the ringing of the telephone about a quarter past eleven of that night.
Q. Yes?
A. February 28th, and on going there Doctor Humphris asksed me to come out to the
Moana Hotel, he stating that it was strongly urgent, not to spare either horse or expense
or myself in getting there as fast as possible, and bring a stomach pump as he thought he
had a case of strichnia poisoning. I use the utmost haste to get dressed, and get the
stomach pump, a bottle of chloroform, solution of chloral and tannic acid as antidotes for
strichnia poisoning. Having sent for my horse I came out and got here about a quarter of
twelve and was ushered up to Mrs. Stanford's room, and Doctor Humphris met me in the
hall and took me in and told me that it was too late, that she had just died. I asked him
what time she had died and he said twenty minutes of twelve; I looked at my watch and
it was just twelve minutes of twelve then. Do you wish me simply to go on?
Q. yes, Proceed right along. Did you examine the body doctor?
A. I saw the body laid out on the bed. I didn't examine her particularly, but was
impressed with one conspicuous feature, and that was the rigidity of, --- the position of
the feet; the ankel was in extreme extension, that is, the toes thrown down so that the arch
of the foot was very much exaggerated and drawn inward toward the middle line, a
condition that I don't recall having seen before on any body. That was the only feature
that I noticed.
Q. Was this indicative to you of any cause of death, that is, did it suggest to you, what?
A. It suggested of course that the patient in all probability died in a spasm.
Q. In a spasm?
A. That is a strong contraction of the muscles.
Q. Who else was present there with you at the time besides Doctor Humphris?
A. Doctor Murray was in the room, Miss Berner and the maid; I don't recall whether
there was anyone else there at the time or not.

30