THE STORY OF THE AUTOPSY.
All that night the body rested on the little table in the morgue, with an automatic sprinkler pouring water upon the face and breast. Decomposition advanced with such terrible swiftness, however, that by morning it was apparent that unless the process of embalming was resorted to without delay it would soon be unrecognizable. One of the earliest arrivals was John T. Cronin, of Bradford, Kansas, the only brother of the dead man. He wept bitterly, and sobbed and moaned when taken into the morgue, and at once recognized the corpse, not only from its facial characteristics, but also from a malformation of a portion of the body that the physician had kept secret from even his most intimate friends. He was with difficulty persuaded to leave the bier, and, prostrated with grief, was half carried from the room. The county authorities now took charge of the case. From the police department the following proclamation, over the signature of Chief Hubbard, went to every station in the city and was read to the men at the morning muster:
"To Captains:—In view of the fact that the mutilated body of Dr. Cronin has been found in a catch-basin in the town of Lake View, and that much public comment will be aroused, you will instruct your officers to note the nature of any such comment that they may overhear, and follow up all clues which may be thus obtained. The order is sent out merely because some person having some criminal knowledge of how Dr. Cronin met his death may be indiscreet enough to make some statement when excited that would lead to the solving of the mystery. In such a case we want our officers to be on the alert and ready to take advantage of any such admission."
Following this action, the county coroner, H. L. Hertz, decided to proceed with the official autopsy without delay. A jury was first empanelled, and, a view of the body having been taken, and an adjournment for several days decided upon, the physicians commenced the post-mortem examination. It was conducted with great care and deliberation and occupied over five hours. Drs. James F. Todd and Egbert, respectively county physician and assistant county physician, were materially aided by Drs. Bell, Porter, Miles, Kuhn and D. G. Moore, while Deputy Coroner Barrett, Captain Wing and Lieutenant Spengler watched the proceedings as the representatives of the authorities. The skull was cut open and the brains removed. When the scalp had been taken off it was discovered that the bones composing the skull had scarcely been marked by the blows of the instruments. There were no signs of congestion about the brain, but the lungs and pulmonary cavity were filled with blood, a condition which was explained by the fact that the head had been placed head downward in the catch-basin. A cut one-half inch deep was found upon the head and numerous bruises on the lower limbs. There were no signs of suffocation or any bruises about the neck such as would result from the choking of a man with a towel or rope. The passage through the wind-pipe was unobstructed. The surgeons were considerably puzzled by the fact that there was no fracture of any of the skull bones or of the small bones about the face, even the inner table of the skull being unfractured. In technical language the injuries to the head included a deep wound over the left temple four inches long, through the scalp and into the skull, a cut one and a half inches long over the left parietal bone, this one also marking the skull, a cut one and a half inches long over the frontal bone at the junction of the left parietal; a cut three inches long through the scalp marking the occipital bone, and two cuts each an inch long, together with a bruise, back of the forehead on the right parietal bone. There was also a severe contusion apparently made by a bludgeon on the forehead, as well as a lineal incision on the neck that had been made by some sharp instrument. It was the opinion of the medical men conducting the autopsy that more than one instrument must have been used to produce the apparent wounds, and that their direction indicated that they must have been inflicted from behind and were struck downward from above.
After the autopsy had been completed the friends of the deceased were permitted to take charge of the remains, and they were removed to an undertaker's establishment within a short distance of his former residence. The process of embalming was successfully carried out, the features being reasonably life-like, and their natural character well preserved; and the body, having been clothed in a suit of broadcloth, was placed in the elegant casket that had been prepared for it. This was of metal, overlaid with French walnut, and heavily mounted in gold, ornamented with silver flowers. Upon each end of the surface filling the two spaces beside the plate, were two large wreaths of gold wheat, intertwined with roses and set off with silver pansies. At close intervals around the top of the casket were heavy gold knobs, and along each side of it a continuous heavy rail of silver was mounted in lieu of handles. The ends of this were decked with heavy gold and silver tassels, the whole effect being very rich. On the massive and elaborately chased silver plate, in the center, were the simple words in English text:
Philip Patrick Henry Cronin,
BORN:
August 7th, 1846.
DIED:
May 4th, 1889.