Rochester, Monroe, NY
Democrat & Chronicle
Mon Sept 15, 1902
 
GIRL IS FOUND DEAD, HER COMPANION DYING
 
Mysterious Tragedy in a Room at the Whitcomb House
Ethel Bates Dingle, Nurse From a Buffalo Hospital,
Found With Her Throat Cut, While Leland Kent,
A Medical Student, Has Serious Wound -
Kent Says Girl Attempted Murder,
Then Committed Suicide - Coroner and Police Investigating.
 
Leland Dorr KENT and Ethel B. DINGLE, both 22 years old and living in Buffalo, made a compact of death and attempted to execute it in a room at the Whitcomb House early yesterday morning. When their room was broken into by house employees, summoned by a guest in the next room, they found Miss DINGLE dead in bed with her throat cut. KENT, still alive, but with a gash in his throat, lay beside her.
     In the girl's open left hand lay a razor, slightly specked with blood. KENT was almost a raving maniac. He acted as though drugged. When taken from the room by Homeopathic Hospital surgeons he turned to take a last look at the corpse of the girl.
     "I thought I saw her smile," he said and bent low over the cold form. He was greatly agitated and cried out, "Ethel," "Ethel."
     KENT is at the Homeopathic Hospital and will recover from the gash in his throat. Detectives have guarded him since he was found at the hotel and his arrest on the charge of murdering Miss DINGLE will depend on the result of the investigation began yesterday by Coroner Henry KLEINDIENST.
     Director of Detectives HAYDEN also began an investigation as soon as he was notified of the crime, only a few moments after its discovery. He has several letters left by KENT and the dead girl and they explain the agreement to die together which the young couple had made.
     KENT made a statement of the tragedy to Coroners KLEINDIENST and Thomas A. KILLIP. This statement is not given out, but it is learned that KENT told others soon after being found in the room that Miss DINGLE cut his throat and then her own. This is generally doubted by the physicians and police.
                                                                     SOMETHING ABOUT KENT AND THE GIRL
      Leland Dorr KENT is a medical student who would have graduated in another year from the Riverside Hospital at Buffalo. His father is general manager of the Masonic Life Insurance Company in Buffalo.
      Young KENT lived with his wife and 2-year-old boy at No. 484 Fargo avenue, Buffalo. He had been married three years. His wife and sister arrived at the Homeopathic Hospital last night and talked with him of the tragedy at the Whitcomb House. It is learned that KENT and Miss DINGLE had been intimate only about two months.
     Ethel Bates DINGLE was born at Picton, Canada, but her home later had been Hamilton. For the last four or five years she had lived in Buffalo and most of that time had been in the Riverside Hospital as a nurse. That is where she and KENT met and became infatuated with each other. She was discharged from there a few weeks ago and was brought to this city by KENT, who arranged for admission to St. Mary's Hospital, where she was to undergo an operation.
      Dr. J. H. ACHESON, of No. 115 Atlantic avenue a friend of KENT, had been consulted and was in counsel with another physician concerning the intended operation. Miss DINGLE concluded not to submit to the operation and left St. Mary's Hospital September 2d, after being there a week. It is supposed that she then returned to Buffalo.
      During the four years that she was connected with the Riverside Hospital, Miss DINGLE left several times and returned. At one time while away from there she worked for the Bell Telephone Company, in Buffalo, and it is her photograph that may be seen on the first page of the Bell telephone directory.
     Miss DINGLE commenced suit for damages against the Bell company for the unauthorized use of her photograph in the book and that action is still pending. It will be seen that she was a girl of unusual attractiveness. She had a fairly clear skin, brown hair and eyes with heavy dark lashes.
                                                                      JUST PRECEDING THE TRAGEDY
     KENT and Miss DINGLE had been together in Buffalo Saturday and boarded a train for the city at 11:15. Arriving here at 1:15 A. M., they went to the Whitcomb House.
     "L. D. KENT and wife," was the way KENT registered. The couple was assigned to room No. 147 on the second floor. After that they went to the Eggleston Hotel, where they had lunch and some liquor.
     The hotel clerk on duty when they turned to the Whitcomb House said they went to their room at about 4 o'clock. Nothing was heard from the room afterwards. It was nearly 8 o'clock when a guest, said to be John BOWMAN, alarmed by the strange noises in the room, called a porter and as a result the door of No. 147 was forced open. The spectacle of KENT beheld it.
     An ambulance from the Homeopathic Hospital, in charge of Drs. PERRINE and SNODGRASS, arrived promptly in answer to a hurry call. KENT had on only an undershirt and trousers which were covered with blood. He was smeared with blood from his face to this feet. He had been walking about and had washed his hands at a washbowl in the room.
     He had tied a towel about his neck and staunched the flow of blood. There was no towel about the girl's neck. Her head lay in a great pool of her own blood which had run from the deep gash in her neck. It appeared that she had not moved after the wound was inflicted. Her left hand, which held the razor, was unstained with blood and the razor itself was singularly free from blood stains.
     About the room were several small bottles of powerful drugs, among which were hyoscine and atrophene, and morphine tablets. These little phials were from a pocket case carried by KENT. Whether their contents were taken by KENT, given to him by the girl or taken before or after the tragedy is one of the problems of the case.
                                                                           CONCLUSIONS ON AUTOPSY
     The autopsy was begun at the morgue at 3:45 o'clock yesterday afternoon by Coroner's Physician JOHNSON, assisted by Drs. KILLIP, ROSS, MacNAMARA, BURNS and JONES. The chief result of the examination was in the decision reached by all that the wound in the neck was without doubt made with a slash of the razor from left to right.
     There were no marks of violence upon the body, save the gaping wound in the neck, with the exception of a couple of slight cuts or scratches upon the left arm. These were in such a position that they might have been made without difficulty by the woman herself. There was a small scar upon the lower left leg on the outer surface, about three and a half inches below the knee, concerning which the physicians were somewhat divided in opinion. The probability is that it is the mark of vaccination, as it is said by a certain physician that she was vaccinated there last winter.
     There were a few eruptions on the face and some on the hips, which it was thought might be due to the results of vaccination. It was said that the blotch's on the face were not there a week ago, and this statement was verified by Buffalo persons who identified the body. They were certainly not post mortem blotches, as but one such spot, and that a small one on the lower left leg, was to be discovered.
     A careful examination of the wound at the throat was made. It gaped widely and there was still a slight exhudation of blood. It was a clean cut, the razor entering the neck at about the middle point of the left side and following the upper edge of the left clavicle, severing the artery, although the windpipe and jugular vein were not cut. At the lower end of the cut the incision was deepest. There was a slight cut on the under edge of the right clavicle, showing that enough force had been placed in the blow of the hand that held the steel to carry the instrument across and against the right clavicle, and would have cut much further had it not been stopped by the bony obstruction. The wound was 3 1/2 inches in length and 1 inch in width, while its greatest depth was nearly 1 1/2 inches.
     The woman was 5 feet, 5 1/2 inches tall and weighed about 135 pounds. She had fine teeth, complete with the exception of the first upper molar on the right side, and sound save the first incisor on the left side of the upper jaw, that tooth having been filled.
                                                                      GIRL WAS IN BEST OF HEALTH
     The internal examination showed an excellent healthy physique. No signs of disease were to be discovered. All the organs appeared to be in their normal condition. The heart was nearly empty, but one large blood clot was found in the right auricle. There were small adhesions on the right side and still larger ones on the left, of a nature that indicated that the woman had at some time or other had the pleurisy.
     The doctors were reticent as to whether the woman could have gashed herself in the manner described. They united in saying that the wound must have been made from the left toward the right. They were of the opinion that the woman was right handed, and none would say that the wound might not have been made by a suicide. At the same time it was evident that a great deal of force had been put into the blow, and from the position of the bodies it would have been possible for the man to have been the one to wield the weapon. No one at the autopsy suggested that the woman, if left handed, could have committed the deed with any other than the right hand, notwithstanding the fact that the razor was found clasped in her left hand.
     As for signs of disease, there was no one present who stated that the marks on the body were the marks of any disease, or denied that they might be the results of the action of the virus used when the girl was vaccinated.
                                                                        THE GIRL'S LAST HOURS
     What took place in the room between the time KENT and the girl retired and the girl's death may always be a sealed book. There was a period of about four hours, the occurrences of which Coroner KLEINDIENST and Director HAYDEN will endeavor to discover KENT was not backward about talking of the events of the night and from various ones who were in the room immediately after it was forced open a fairly clear idea of what took place has been obtained by Democrat and Chronicle reporters.
     It appears that the first intimation there was of trouble in room No. 147 was the sound of groans and heavy breathing heard by a guest in an adjoining room.
     "You'd better get into that next room," said he to James McCARTHY, a bell boy who answered his ring. McCARTHY got Night Clerk Fred KOHLMAN and with much difficulty they broke open the door, after repeated pounding on it failed to bring a response. A chair had been placed against the door by the occupants so that the top of the back was under the knob.
     KENT had realized his condition sufficiently after the cutting to wrap a towel about his neck. At times he talked in an apparently rational manner.
     Dr. PERRINE thought KENT might take it into his head to use the razor that lay in the girl's hand. He took it, and, closing it, turned it over to an officer. It appeared clear of blood then, but examination showed spots of blood.
     Why the blade was so clean after the two bloody deeds is part of the mystery of the case.
     The body of the woman was on the left side of the bed and KENT lay on the right side. The razor was in the open palm of her left hand and the gash in her neck, as well as that in his neck, was on the left side. How the wounds may have been inflicted by either one is a subject discussed from every point by the physicians and detectives.
                                                                           STATEMENT OF KENT
      It was but a few moments after 7 o'clock when the first word of something wrong in room No. 147 was sent to the hotel office. It was nearly an hour later when KENT was removed and in that time he told much that he said happened.
     "We got here at pretty near 2 o'clock," said he,  "and had lunch at the Eggleston Hotel, because the grill here was closed. It must have been a quarter to 4 when we came back to the hotel. We went right to bed. I went to sleep in a few moments as I felt thick from the wine and dope that she gave me. I didn't care a damn what she did to me and I drank the stuff she fixed up.
      "Those letters on the table I want mailed and I left the money and a note for whoever found them to mail. I am all in and I thought it was about time to die.
     "Yes, we had both talked about dying together,"  in answer to a question, "but I tried to get the notion out of her head. She has had a lot of trouble with a lover and her family and it made her blue. She was more so yesterday than I ever saw her before. She talked of nothing but suicide a good deal of the time and asked me if I had nerve enough to die."
     Being asked about the razor, KENT unhesitatingly said:
      "I always carry a razor when I go away, and she knew it was in my coat. She must have got it when I was asleep and used it some time before 8 o'clock. I didn't know anything about the time. I was all worked up and did not know what she did. I knew she had the razor was when I felt it in my neck. She did it so quick that when I raised up and looked at her she had drawn it across her own throat. I had enough of suicide then and I got up and tried to stop the flow of blood in my neck."
     This account of the affair was told in fragments by KENT. At no time did he evince an inclination to hide anything. He seemed very fond of the girl and raved wildly before being taken to the hospital.
                                                            LETTER WRITING DEEMED IMPORTANT
     Among the things which came into the possession of the Coroner was an envelop containing scraps of a letter which had been found scattered on the floor of the hotel room. For hours an effort was made to decipher this. Parts of it were pasted together, without giving a clear idea of its contents, as several pieces had been lost, or, at least, were missing.
     Enough was deciphered to understand that the letter was addressed to Dr. RANDALL, superintendent of the Riverside Hospital, in Buffalo. It was written on Whitcomb House letter paper and was dated the 14th, which indicates that it was written at an early hour yesterday morning. Part of the signature was discovered, enough to show that the letter had been signed "DINGLE."
     At first it was thought that parts of two letters were found in the envelope, as there seemed to be two styles of handwriting. It was later shown that the salutation and the signature were both in the same handwriting and it was quite probable that the same hand wrote all, the only difference being in the amount of ink used in writing the different portions.
     The contents indicated that the woman was writing, but almost all who examined the letter were of the opinion that the writing was that of a man, as very few or no feminine characteristics were to be noted in the script. One would naturally call the style that of a man, the flourished and heavy marks apparently strongly masculine. The writing was so irregular, however, that it was with difficulty that a single word could be interpreted. It was hinted that the fault might all lie in an attempt on the part of the writer to disguise a style which might otherwise be identified by the authorities who would conduct the investigation.
                                                                SOME OF THE GIRL'S ARTICLES
     Among the other things turned over to the Coroner was a slip of paper hearing the words, "Wm.," or "Mr. Rose, German Assn.,"  or "Ins."
     In the matter of identification, and corresponding in some degree to the marking of the name "BATES" on the woman's linen, was the mark of "E. E. B." on a white silk handkerchief, and also on the large gold rimmed brooch which the girl had evidently worn at her throat. It was the discovery of these marks that first led the authorities to believe that the victim's name was BATES.
     Another puzzling fact is the marking of the twisted silver bracelet found on the girl's left arm. On one of the smooth spots on the spiral were found the letters "H. H. C.," and on another, one immediately contiguous, were the other letters, "E. B. N."
     Among the woman's possessions were a pair of black untanned kid gloves, a white necktie, one white linen handkerchief unmarked, two shell side combs and two combs for the back hair, three hairpins, two small safety pins, and a hat pin. There was also an envelope, evidently containing a little talcum powder, bearing the stamp. "Riverside Hospital, Lafayette Ave., Cor. Barton St., Buffalo, N. Y."
     Some of these things were found in a silver chatelaine bag, and with them a small nail file and a four-bladed pocket knife with a horn handle. Neither the file nor the knife was marked.
     There was in the bundle a rather large blue and white silk handkerchief, probably the property of KENT. It had no initials on it, but was marked by two small French knots of white linen thread in one corner. Both this and one of the gloves seemed to have a few spots of blood upon them.
     A hypodermic syringe and a book containing various drugs to be applied by the instrument were in the bundle, but whether they belonged to the young doctor or to the nurse was a question. The opinion was at first prevalent that they were the property of the man, but a consideration of the fact that trained nurses possess such an outfit rather shook confidence in the first opinion.
      The little book, or pocket case, containing the bottles, held eleven small phials, four of which were empty and had no slips to show what drugs they had once contained. The other seven were partly filled with the drugs indicated by the slips of paper with which they were marked. The phials themselves, at least those containing drugs, bore the mark of "Parke Davis & Co." The case itself was stamped with the name of another firm, "Jeffrey Fell Co., Elliott Square, Buffalo, N. Y."
                                                          INDICATIONS OF PRE-ARRANGEMENT
     From the fact that KENT wrote letters to his father and to his college fraternity and that girl also wrote two or three letters, it seems that the two had carefully arranged their plans to die together. KENT in his letter to his father told him what he owed and made the request that his father give $100 to the Riverside Hospital. What he wrote to the fraternity is not known. Two physicians who came from Buffalo to see KENT desired that the fraternity name be kept out of print. One of the doctors who had been so intimate with KENT that they were called "the twins" said that the girl must have been to blame for the tragedy.
      Miss DINGLE wrote one letter to her sister, Mrs. Marie VAN ALLEN, of No. 78 Edward street, Buffalo, and another to Dr. RANDALL, at the Riverside Hospital.
     There is a great deal of mystery about the writing of the letters. When were they written? is a question. There are indications that those by KENT were written after the tragedy.
     One that he wrote was evidently unsatisfactory to him, for he tore it to bits and, and, rolling it in a wad, which was thickly clotted with blood, placed it in his trousers pocket. It was found there after he was taken to the hospital and the clotted bits were taken by a detective.
      Another letter which was torn to bits purported to be written by the girl and its wording, as well as it could be made out, upbraided a man who she intimated had driven her to a suicidal frame of mind by his treatment. This end of the case may yet develop an important bearing.
     When the couple first appeared at the Whitcomb House office they were perfectly sober, and being very well dressed, there was no hesitancy in giving them a room.
                                                                    KENT'S YOUTHFUL ROMANCE  
     KENT was formerly of Palmyra. He received his early education at the Palmyra High School and was very popular among the young people of that town. He was a football player and a good athlete.
     Connected with his early school days is a peculiar instance. Before he finished his course in the High School he was married to Miss Madge TAYLOR, also one of the pupils of the school. The marriage attracted no little attention in the usually quiet town, as it was an elopement. The young people did not learn there had been a marriage until several days after it had taken place, when it leaked out at the school house.
     It was only a short time ago that KENT visited Palmyra, and every one who met him remarked how well he was looking. He was of large physique. This summer while KENT was visiting there he had his wife with him and they seemed happy. KENT was taking the practice of a Buffalo physician so returned there, leaving his wife to finish her visit. While he was away Mrs. KENT was taken seriously ill and KENT was sent for. He arrived on the next train. He was her physician and brought her out of the illness. Soon after this they both returned to Buffalo.
                                                                     THEORY OF KENT'S CHUM
      At about 8 o'clock last evening, two Buffalo physicians, Dr. L. Edward VILLIAUME and a companion, appeared at the Morgue and asked to see the body of the dead girl. They identified her at once, but refused to say anything, not even consenting to give their names. When questioned they talked guardedly for a few minutes, and then hurried off.
     Both asserted that they could not believe that the man had committed the deed, and claimed that the cut received by KENT was made by the woman. They stoutly upheld his innocence and spoke of his excellent reputation and character. They would say little or nothing about the woman. Said Dr. VILLIAUME, in part:
     "The spots and blotches said to have been found on the body of the woman are not the evidence of disease, but are the results of drug taking. She has been in the habit of taking a tablet in her beer, and the blotches are due to the effect of the drugs. The blotches noticed on her face were not there less than a week ago when I last saw her.
     "Concerning the cuts found on the bodies of both man and woman, and their positions and directions, it is very evident to me that they were both made by the woman herself. In saying that she was right handed the physicians who made the autopsy have said what not one of them could swear to, and I state positively that she was left handed. It would be an easy matter for her to have cut herself as she did with the razor in her left hand, and almost as easy for her to have slashed him.
     "When we were at the hospital, even at that time, it was evident to all that KENT was still under the effects of some drug. As I say, the woman was in the habit of taking a drug in her beer, and somehow she doped his beer with morphine and atrophine, and thus got the man under her control. It was while he was in this condition that the woman slashed him, and finding the blood flowing as it did, thought she had accomplished her deed and thereupon slashed herself. Feeling the wound, the man got up but, being under the effects of drugs, sank back into bed again and fell asleep.
     "I am not going to give you my name, nor will my friend here do so. Our names are likely to be brought forward more than either of us could desire, and it will but make them all the more disagreeably prominent by giving them to the press. But I think the tragedy will in time, after complete investigation, be demonstrated to be an unsuccessful murder and a successful suicide. I know KENT well, and have all confidence in his innocence. I have slept with him for years, and have been with him so much that we have been known as 'the twins.'  That's how well I know him. And I am sure that there can be no grounds of accusing him, if he recovers, of the murder of this woman."
     Dr. VILLIAUME spoke in a very earnest manner about the reputation of his friend KENT, but looked upon the tragedy from one side only. While examination of the wounds on both bodies revealed nothing which would render it absolutely impossible for the woman to have struck both the blows, still the matter is not easy of settlement.
                                                             KENT LIVED WITH HIS PARENTS
     Buffalo, Sept. 14 - Leland KENT's home in this city was in Fargo avenue, where he lived with his father and mother and his young wife and 2-year-old son. The KENTS moved to this city three years ago from Palmyra that their son, Leland, might take the medical course at the University of Buffalo. Young KENT was senior master in the Omega Epsilon Phi fraternity of the university.
     His mother said to-night that her son never drank, but that he frequently used strychnine hypodermically as a stimulant. Last year young KENT occupied the place of one of the physicians of Riverside Hospital while the latter was away on a vacation. It was then that he met Miss DINGLE, who was employed as a nurse in the hospital.
     Miss DINGLE was 22 years old and was described by those who knew her as a strikingly beautiful young woman. Her parents died when she was quite young. She had been connected with the staff of Riverside Hospital at various times during the last seven years and was very popular and highly respected. Her grandparents, it is believed, live in Toronto, Ont.
Rochester, Monroe, NY
Democrat & Chronicle
Tue Sept 16, 1902
 
 
            TORN LETTER THOUGHT TO TELL THE MOTIVE
 
Authorities Trying to Decipher Ethel Dingle's Last Missive
Whitcomb House Tragedy Being Investigated by Coroner and District-Attorney -
Kent's Father Retains George Raines to Defend His Son,
Who is Still at the Hospital - Inquest to Be Held To-morrow.
 
Leland Dorr KENT, at the Homeopathic Hospital, is recovering from the gash in his neck which he claimed was given him by Ethel B. DINGLE early Sunday morning in their room in the Whitcomb House. KENT slept most of yesterday, and two detectives watched him closely. He is virtually under arrest, but no charge is preferred against him and will not be until the result of Coroner KLEINDIENST's inquest is known.
     By the order of the Coroner no one is allowed to talk with KENT. When the young man's father, A. Dorr KENT, of Buffalo, arrived yesterday morning from Detroit, he secured permission from Coroner KLEINDIENST to visit his son. He did so accompanied by a representative of Attorney George RAINES, who has been retained by young KENT's father to defend the boy's interests. As Mr. RAINES was at Bath a man from his office interviewed KENT in the presence of his father. Several matters were arranged between them, as well as some fraternity affairs in young KENT's hands.
     There were no startling developments yesterday in the case. The most important facts held back from the public by the officials are contained in the two letters said to have been written by Miss DINGLE to friends in the room at the Whitcomb House. Those letters are in the possession of District-Attorney WARREN, and their contents will not be known until the case comes to trial in the event of KENT's indictment for complicity in the crime.
                                                                  MISS DINGLE'S BODY AT BUFFALO
     Lorenzo VAN ALLEN, a jeweler of Buffalo, and brother-in-law of Ethel DINGLE, came to this city yesterday and claimed the body. His wife is one of the dead girl's sisters. The body was sent to Buffalo at 2:30 P. M.
     All day long a stream of curiously interested persons called at the morgue to look on the face of the beautiful victim of the tragedy. There seems to be a deep vein of heart interest in the tragedy for the reading public. There was only sympathy expressed for the dead girl.
     Hundreds of handsomely dressed young women, scores of well-dressed men, and many women long past 50 years made up the thousands that applied to see the remains. With few exceptions there were refused.
     A brother of Miss DINGLE left Hamilton, Ont., yesterday for this city, but stopped over in Buffalo and probably will not come to this city until the inquest to-morrow.
                                                                 RUSH FOR TELEPHONE BOOKS
    When it became generally known that the attractive photographs long admired in the front part of the Bell Telephone directory were posed for by Miss DINGLE there was a rush for the books, and hundreds of them are to-day minus the prettily illustrated page showing the "right way and the wrong way" of talking into a telephone receiver.
      Ethel DINGLE was employed for six months during the Pan-American season at the pay station of the Bell Telephone Company, No. 14 West Seneca street. She worked for some time before with the operators in the exchange, and after taking charge of the station posed for the "right and wrong way" of telephoning. Her picture is shown in three positions in every telephone directory used in the past eighteen months in Buffalo, Rochester and intermediate towns. The picture of the girl sitting at a telephone of the lower left hand corner of page three is not Miss DINGLE. She was never employed at the switch board on the Pan-American grounds. She was in the Seneca street office, resigning from there to go into hospital work.
     "She was a pleasant and efficient employee," said an official of the company, "and we deplore her fate."
     There were few persons who called at the morgue who had not seen the photographs, but these only seemed to make them more desirous of seeing the girl's own features: Death made but little change in the girl's finely moulded face. The skin was as white as marble, but there was no expression of pain.
                                                                 LETTERS ARE BADLY MUDDLED
     District-Attorney WARREN and Coroner KLEINDIENST held a conference over the one yesterday and made plans for conducting the investigation. The letters written by KENT and the girl at the hotel are now in the possession of the District-Attorney and efforts are being made to decipher their contents.
     It is almost impossible to make out those written by Miss DINGLE, because of the rambling character of the handwriting and wording. It is plainly evident that they were written  by one under the influence of drink or drugs. A powerful magnifying glass and microscope were used to detect signs of drugs on the letters, but none were found.
     The letters written by KENT are more intelligible, it is understood, which may or may not indicate anything of importance. One thing at least is indicated by the rambling writing of the girl's letters; she was in an abnormal state of mind.
     The drinks taken at the Eggleston Hotel just before they retired to their room at the Whitcomb House doubtless tend to put the girl in a frame of mind in which she would write just such a letter as she appears to have left.
                                                                MISS DINGLE NOT LEFT-HANDED  
     One of the problems that is bound to be a leading one throughout the investigation of this case involves the possibility of the girl slashing both herself and KENT on the left side of their necks while she lay on the left side of the bed. The razor was found in her left hand. One statement agreed to by all who first entered the room is that the girl appeared never to have moved after the wound was inflicted.
      "She was dead in five minutes," KENT said after the room was forced open.
      Doctors say that one would immediately become unconscious from shock after the severing of the vital artery which was cut in Miss DINGLE's neck. They agree, too, that she would be dead in five minutes.
      There seems to be an overwhelming amount of testimony to the effect that Miss DINGLE was not left handed. Dr. Lillian RANDALL, of the Riverside Hospital, Buffalo, who had been a close observer of the girl for the six or seven years that Miss DINGLE was at the hospital, said when asked if the girl was left-handed.
      "I am quite certain she was not. I am thinking of the things she did in the hospital and I feel sure that she could not have been left-handed, else I should have remembered it."
       "What were her duties at the hospital?"
      "She attended to dressings and helped about the hospital, but in her work she could not have been left-handed or it would have necessitated her doing many things from a different position than would the normal person. I feel safe in saying positively that she was not. Why do you ask?"
     "Because the razor with which her throat was cut was in her left hand."
     One of the hospital nurses agreed emphatically with Dr. RANDALL that Ethel DINGLE was right-handed."
     Dr. JOHNSON, who conducted the autopsy at the morgue Sunday, found that the dead girl's right biceps measured 10 1-2 inches and the left 9 1-2, which is said to prove that she was right-handed.
                                                                MORE OF MISS DINGLE'S HISTORY
      Miss DINGLE was born in Picton, Canada. Her parents both died when she was quite young, and she went to live with her grandparents in Toronto. Eight or nine years ago, she came to this city in company with her sister Mabel. Ethel wanted to be a trained nurse. With that object in view, she went to the Riverside Hospital about seven years ago and was admitted as an assistant to the nurses. She remained at the Riverside for some time, and then left. Later she returned to the hospital. She left the hospital several times, but always returned. Dr. RANDALL took a deep interest in her. Nearly two years ago she entered the training class for nurses at the German Hospital on Jefferson street and was there for about six months. At the end of that time, she was dismissed for inattention to her duties. That is the reason which the hospital management assigns for her dismissal.
     After leaving the German Hospital, Miss DINGLE was employed by the Bell Telephone Company as an operator. Last summer she worked for the company in the electricity building at the Pan-American Exposition. After leaving the employ of the telephone company, she went back to the German Hospital, where she remained for a month and then left. Since that time she had been at the Riverside Hospital, and was employed there at the time of her death.
     DR. RANDALL, head of the Riverside Hospital, stated that Miss DINGLE was inclined to be wayward but was never bad.
                                                             TOO ATTRACTIVE TO GO OUT ALONE
     "She was a remarkably beautiful girl, with a faultless figure and a charming face," said Dr. RANDALL.  "She attracted men wherever she went and I realized that she was in constant danger. I tried in every way to protect her. Whenever she left the hospital. I tried to arrange it so that one of the other nurses could accompany her. She was frequently away alone, however, and I have no way of knowing whom she associated with or what her conduct was on such occasions.
      "Dr. KENT met her last summer in this hospital. I never noticed that they were especially attentive to each other or that they met outside of the hospital."
     Miss DINGLE's sister Mabel was a nurse at the Erie County Hospital for a time and then married Lorenzo VAN ALLEN of Buffalo.
                                                                 YOUNG KENT USED DRUGS
     Mr. and Mrs. A. Dorr KENT, parents of the young medical student, and Leland KENT, his wife, and two-year-old son live at No. 484 Fargo avenue, Buffalo. He went there from Palmyra several years ago. Mrs. KENT was reluctant to say much about her son. From what she and others said, however, it was gathered that young KENT was not of a wild disposition.
     Though only 22 years old, he was ambitious and he was also of somewhat headstrong nature. The latter trait was evidenced by his failure to heed the warnings of his friends to have nothing to do with Miss DINGLE for fear of ruining his future. His mother declared that he was away from home seldom, and that, when he was, he gave as his excuse that medical duties had detained him. She admitted that young KENT had taken strychnine hypodermically to tide him over examinations, but denied that he was a victim of the drug.
                                                                   KENT'S DOUBLE LIFE WAS KNOWN
     So far as could be learned KENT never referred to Miss DINGLE at his home, although the young woman's name was said to be familiar to his family in the same way that they were familiar with the names of other nurses at the hospital.
     Aside from his obstinacy, as shown by his determination to do as he pleased, KENT was said to be an agreeable companion. He was well liked by the members of the college fraternity to which he belonged, and on Saturday took an active part in renting a house at No. 152 Park street for the use of the fraternity. All his college chums declared that KENT never spoke of Miss DINGLE, although many of them knew of the attachment between the two.
     The two were together frequently in the care of cases at the hospital, and an attachment sprang up between them.
     After that young KENT frequently spent his nights away from home. He explained his absence on such occasions to his wife by stating that he had been called in to assist at surgical operations which kept him away from home. His parents and his wife believed him. His friends and fellow students, however, were aware of the fact that he was leading a double life. Some of them who saw him on the streets in company with Miss DINGLE remonstrated with him, and warned him that he should be more careful of what he did in public.
                                                                    CONFUSION OVER GIRL'S NAME
     Finding the names "BATES" on the linen collar and on a handkerchief of the girl led at first to the conclusion that that was her name. It is said by her brother-in-law that her middle name id BATES. At the Riverside Hospital Dr. RANDALL called her Ethel Blanche DINGLE. Miss DINGLE is said to have had an intimate girl friend named BATES in Buffalo.
     An incident in connection with the finding of the letters and the search for the girl's name caused some caustic comment at the morgue yesterday. Coroners KLEINDIENST and KILLIP and half a dozen others struggled most of Sunday afternoon in piecing together a torn letter that they thought would give the girl's full name. They did not know that Detective O'LOUGHLIN had in his pocket four letters and a note bearing both KENT's and the girl's names. The detective was watching KENT at the hospital.
                                                                  INVESTIGATION IS THOROUGH
    Coroner KLEINDIENST has covered an amazing amount of ground in his two days investigation of the case. He has the statements of many persons who have information concerning the relations of KENT and the girl. Dr. J. H. ACHESON, of Atlantic avenue, who graduated from the Buffalo Medical College this summer, has made a statement to the Coroner, as has also Dr. L. Edward VILLAUME, who came from Buffalo Sunday. John BOWMAN has also made a statement to Coroner KLEINDIENST. The two doctors are friends of KENT and refuse to talk to newspaper men about the case.
     Director HAYDEN, who promptly took hold of the case, left town Sunday night, and has not been seen or heard from since. It is believed that he has gone to Buffalo or Canada to investigate the past of Miss DINGLEY and young KENT.
                                                                   THE MATTER OF DRUGS
     Investigation of the strange tragedy leads the officials into the subject of drugs to a depth to which few of them had ever before delved. There is contradictory testimony on the point of Miss DINGLE being addicted to the use of drugs. Some way that she took a drug with beer, and others assert the contrary. Dr. JOHNSON, who made the autopsy, says of the condition of her body.
     "Her organs were in normal condition. The tissues were firm and well nourished. Her heart was one of the best I have ever seen. If she were a "dope" user she would have a strychnia heart. There was not even the slightest evidence of this. Her lungs were excellent, her stomach was in fine condition, and there wasn't the slightest trace of drugs anywhere on her. If she used a hypodermic the needle would have left scars wherever inserted. I looked for scars. There was none visible."
      It is said that KENT was jabbing a hypodermic needle into his arm when the door of his room was burst in Sunday morning. It did not seem to work, and he threw it on the floor exclaiming:  "Damn the gun, it's jammed again."
     It is understood on excellent authority that the throat cutting occurred at about 5 o'clock. KENT was able to staunch the flow of blood at his own throat, yet he did not ring for a bell boy, which seems the logical thing for one to do under such circumstances. Instead, he returned to bed beside the corpse of his companion, and raved and groaned until attention was drawn to the room by the strange sounds.
                                                                  GIRL WAS BORN NEAR HAMILTON
     Special Dispatch to Democrat and Chronicle.
      Hamilton, Ont., Sept. 15 - Ethel Blanche DINGLE was a daughter of the late James DINGLE, butcher, and was born on the old DINGLE homestead near Hamilton. Her father kept a butcher shop here for a number of years and died fifteen years ago. Afterwards Mrs. DINGLE moved to Toronto, taking her children with her. She lived with her mother, Mrs. McDONALD. She died a few years ago, when the three daughters went to live with an aunt, Mrs. McPHERSON, in Buffalo. Ethel was a most attractive girl and had many admirers. She was here last summer visiting her brother, James DINGLE. The family is well connected here. James DINGLE went to Rochester this morning as soon as he heard of the tragedy.
                                                                  PALMYRA WAS AROUSED
     Palmyra, Sept. 15 - The news of the tragedy at the Whitcomb House in Rochester was received here with great surprise. Young KENT was a son of Mr. and Mrs. A. Dorr KENT and the family had always resided in Palmyra until about three years ago, when all moved to Buffalo in order to give Leland the advantage of an education at the University of Buffalo.
     Besides the son there were two daughters, and they were very popular in Palmyra. The three children received instruction in the Palmyra-Union School. The father owns a large farm a few miles north of Palmyra and the children were all born there, but the family removed to Palmyra village when they were quite young. They all gained popularity as soon as they went to Palmyra, Leland especially being a favorite. He was a big, whole-souled fellow. He was very large for his age and soon became a well-known athlete and football player, and took an active part in the social affairs of the village. He was a good student, always well advanced in his studies.
     In the spring of 1899 he was united in marriage to Miss Madge TAYLOR, but he kept on with his studies and soon began to prepare for entrance to the University of Buffalo. His father being a traveling man, his headquarters could as well be in that city as in Palmyra, so the family moved to Buffalo. Leland would have finished his university course this year. His wife and young son spent the summer in Palmyra and he was here a good deal with them. They did not return to Buffalo until about two weeks ago. His sisters were both graduates from the Onconta Normal School and are now teaching.
     One of Leland's friends in Palmyra said to-day. "There wasn't a mean thing about him." His friends seem confident that he will be able to explain things to the satisfaction of all. Owing to the prominence of the families and relatives of the young man, the affair was the main subject of conversation in Palmyra to-day.
Rochester, Monroe, NY
Democrat & Chronicle
Wed Sept 17, 1902
 
DINGLE INQUEST THIS FORENOON
 
Inquiry Into Whitcomb House Tragedy
Letter to Dr. Randall
Fragments Have Been Pieced Together and the Scrawl Deciphered
As Far as It Is Possible to Make It Out -- No New Developments.
 
The inquest in the case of Miss Ethel Blanche DINGLE, whose dead body, with a deep gash in the throat, was found in bed in a room in the Whitcomb House early on Sunday last, will be begun this morning by Coroner KLEINDIENST. It was rumored that friends of Dr. KENT, the young man who was also in the room, with a similar but slighter cut in his throat, had retained Attorney George RAINES to defend him, but it is understood that Attorney RAINES has denied this. The statement was made yesterday that Dr. KENT had not sought legal advice.
     It is not known how sensational may be the evidence presented at the hearing this morning, but strange and unexpected will doubtless be the facts that are made known. The fact that the authorities have in their possession several letters found in the room where the tragedy occurred, and the further that Dr. GUILLIAUME, the Buffalo friend of the suspected man, also has some letters which may possibly be placed in evidence, are quite likely to furnish something out of the ordinary at least.
     Dr. GUILLIAMUE still asserts that Miss DINGLE was left-handed, and holds that the deed was done by her, claiming in support of his theory the fact that the razor was found in her left hand. This position on the matter was taken by him Sunday afternoon, in spite of the opinion of older medical men, that the girl was right-handed, and in spite of positive statements to the same effect on the part of several who knew the girl. This in spite of the fact also that the razor was almost clear from blood stains, and the further fact that the wound received by the girl was of a character which would probably, so physicians say, have caused almost instant unconsciousness.
     It was reported that the razor was found lying loosely in the open palm of the girl's left hand. Concerning this fact one who has been acquainted with the facts concerning many suicides said yesterday:
     "The fact that the razor was held loosely in the girl's hand is plain enough evidence that she was no suicide. I have seen the bodies of many suicides before investigation on the part of the authorities has been begun, and have seen bodies in which death was self-caused by the use of razors; but I have never seen a single instance in which the instrument has not been clutched in the hand with almost superhuman strength. In fact the police authorities could tell you that in every instance of such a character, a great deal of force has to be exercised in order to pry the fingers apart and release what is clutched so tightly. Had the girl given herself the ugly gash that ended her life, the handle of the razor would have been found clasped so tightly that perhaps the strength of two men might have had to have been required to take the instrument from her grasp."
     It has been suggested in Buffalo that there is a possibility that Miss DINGLE was dead before the blow was struck, and it is said that if a chemical analysis of the girl's stomach is not made by the authorities KENT's friends will insist upon having it done. A physician stated yesterday that had the girl been dead before her throat was cut, it would hardly have been possible for the wound to bleed so freely.
     The hearing will begin at 10 o'clock. The following have been called as witnesses: Joseph McCARTHY, George CHUTE, Director HAYDEN, Detectives NAGLE and O'LOUGHLIN, Officer SELLINGER, Special Officer SEINER, John P. BOWMAN, and Doctors ROSS, McNAMARA, JOHNSON, ACHESON and KILLIP.
     An interpretation has at length been suggested for the contents of the letter found torn into bits and flung upon the floor of the room in which the tragedy occurred. The letter was written on Whitcomb House letter paper. There were found parts of another letter, also, in the pocket of the trousers which KENT had on when he was first seen after the crime had been committed. These letter pieces were heavily stained with blood and the authorities have been hard at work, it is understood, in an attempt to piece together the many fragments. It is necessary for the authorities to keep secret the contents of any such letters until after the inquest is begun and they are submitted as evidence.
     The following is the text of the letter on which so much time was spent on Sunday, before it was discovered that one of the detectives at work on the case had in his possession several letters very closely bearing on the tragedy. A small piece in the middle of the left margin was missing __ work was first begun toward deciphering the missive, for this reason at least two words are entirely wanting, together with the first few letters of two or three other words. The missing parts, whether of whole words or portions of words, together with somewhat doubtful ones, are in parenthesis marks. The letter follows:
                                                                   Sept. 14, 1902
      Dr. RANDALL: My life has been a failure due to your plai_ lie to my (sis)ters. I have worked hard for you and (them) many years. I don't regret it, as I have learned a great deal. But (you) bear __ be (truthfully) you will gain a great deal more. A am about to die and thinking of the many years served in your (hospital) I am unable to die without forgiving you.
                                           Goodbye,     From
                                            E. B. DINGLE.
Rochester, N. Y.
      It was at first thought that fragments of two distinct letters were in the small package when it was taken to the morgue with the bundle of the young woman's possessions, because the first line following the salutation, together with the salutation itself and the signature and conclusion, appears to be in a much heavier handwriting. The middle portion of the letter was light, so far as the amount of the ink used is concerned, but the style of the characters is like that of the first and last portions. While appearing to be written by the woman, and really having a signature -- in spite of the fact that the latter was originally declared to be missing -- the letter from beginning has the characteristics of a masculine hand.
     If it should prove that the word "sisters" is correctly interpreted, the letter might become a part of the evidence, as it is said that Dr. L. Edward GUILLIAUME, of Buffalo, friend and chum of Leland Dorr KENT, has in his possession letters reported to be addressed to the sisters of Miss DINGLE, by the contents of which it is intended, in case of need, to show the responsibility of some other individual or individuals in the matter of the Sunday morning tragedy. Dr. GUILLIAUME is making a strong effort to keep quiet in the entire matter, and stated to a Democrat and Chronicle reporter on Sunday evening that he would not give out his name for publication. It is understood that Dr. GUILLIAUME, who is still in the city, has not been summoned as a witness at this morning's hearing, but that he will doubtless be called to the stand before the inquest is over.
     Dr. KENT was reported last night by hospital attendants to be doing finely. The cut which he received upon his neck has practically healed beyond the point where any danger can be expected. It was said that he is in such excellent condition that he could be called to the witness stand to-day without injuring his health in the slightest degree. No one is allowed to talk with him and he is constantly guarded and watched by Detectives NAGLE and O'LOUGHLIN.
     Yesterday he asked for cigars and cigarettes.
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DIED FROM BURNS
 
Little Florence Keehley's Dress Caught Fire From Matches
 
     Florence C., infant daughter of Fred and Jennie KEEHLEY, of No. 78 Lincoln street, died yesterday from the effects of burns received Monday. Her age was 3 years and 10 months.
     Florence was playing with neighbors' children Monday. The little ones found some matches and ignited them. Florence's clothes took fire and she was so terribly burned that death resulted after several hours of suffering. One whole side was badly burned. Physicians were immediately called and treated the little sufferer. She died at the family home, where she had been treated. She was not taken to a hospital.
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PERSONAL MENTION
 
Miss McKELVEY, of Glenwood avenue, spent Sunday with friends in Avon.
 
Marcus DAVID has returned from his vacation at Lake Joseph, Muskoka.
 
William HILZINGER, of No. 351 North street, is visiting his aunt in New York.
 
Mr. and Mrs. C. V. WEEKS and Mrs. H. L. WEEKS, of No. 31 Savannah street, have returned home from Pultneyville, N. Y.
 
Mrs. John ATKINSON and son Ernest, of Cleveland, O., are visiting Mr. and Mrs. James McDONALD, of No. 14 Leopold street.
 
Mrs. F. SCHOLL and daughter Lottie have returned home after spending two months with Mrs. THISTLE, a sister of Mrs. SCHOLL, in Jackson, Mich.
 
Miss M. WILLIAMS, of Buffalo, who has been the guest of Miss Kathryn FITZGERALD, of Emerson street, for the past few weeks, has returned home.
 
Miss LOEWENGUTH, of University avenue, has returned home after a four weeks' trip up the lakes, visiting Port Huron, Detroit, Mount Clemena and other places.
 
John J. E. KENNEDY, of Marietta street, visiting P. J. KENNEDY, of New York city. He will be absent two weeks, during which time he will spend a week hunting in the North Woods.
 
R. M. LOZIER, of No. 123 Columbia avenue, left the city this morning for Gettysburg as a delegate from the 136th New York Infantry to the unveiling of the General Slocum monument.
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MEETING OF MISSIONARY SOCIETY
 
The Woman's Missionary Society of Central Presbyterian Church will hold its monthly meeting this afternoon at 5 o'clock. The exercise in the study course will be in charge of Mrs. J. G. MAURER and the subjects on the scheduled programme will be discussed by Mrs. MAURER, Mrs. E. E. BURGESS, Miss E. DEWEY and Mrs. NEWTON. At 8 o'clock Rev. John DIXON, D. D., secretary of the Home Mission Board, will address the members of the society in connection with the usual Wednesday evening service.
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VACATIONS AT POSTOFFICE
 
The following letters carriers began their fifteen days' vacation yesterday: W. J. KAMMER, J. P. KISLINGBURY, F. C. WHITNEY, C. P. BURRITT, W. T. SMY, R. E. LEE, C. M. LECKINGER, F. E. MORSE, H. W. PHILLIPS, J. T. BRENNAN and C. S. HARVEY. These two clerks in the city department also began their vacation yesterday: William H. CALLISTER and W. K. ANGEVINE.
Rochester, Monroe, NY
Democrat & Chronicle
Thurs Sept 18, 1902
 
NOTHING TO SHOW HOW WOUND WAS INFLICTED
 
Little Not Known Brought Out at the Dingle Inquest
Dr. Acheson Testifies That the Young Woman Found Dead
With Gash in Throat Had Talked of Suicide -
Absolutely no Evidence Establishing Guilt of Man Who
Was Found With Her, Also Wounded.
 
All day yesterday, before Coroner KLEINDIENST at the morgue, District-Attorney WARREN and Assistant MATSON questioned the witnesses in the case of Ethel Blanche DINGLE, the Buffalo girl whose dead body was discovered Sunday morning in a bed at the Whitcomb House with a deep gash in the left side of her neck.
     George RAINES appeared for young Leland Dorr KENT, but confined himself to a few questions on cross-examination. Little else was needed, for there was absolutely nothing even tending to show that KENT committed the deed, while there was more than a little that meant, if it meant anything, not only that Miss DINGLE has often threatened to take her own life, but that a double suicide was planned.
      The inquest was adjourned to be taken up again to-morrow afternoon. Only two witnesses remain to be examined. Yesterday the man who discovered the bodies, the hall boy whom he summoned, the clerks of the hotel, the physicians and policemen who were on the scene, a reporter who talked with KENT, the waiter who served him, his comrade and schoolmate, all told their stories, and little was learned from them except the establishment of the facts that occurred before the couple went to their room, and after they were found next morning.
     As to what happened in the interval, the testimony of Officer SELLINGER that KENT said in his presence, "Why didn't she do a good job of it?" and of Dr. ACHESON that while treating Miss DINGLE at St. Mary's Hospital the last week in August she repeatedly told him that she was going to kill herself, was of more interest that anything else.
                                                                 AGREED ON MAIN POINTS
    Mr. BOWMAN, who found the bodies, gave a simple account of what he heard and saw, as did the bell boy, McCARTHY. Officer SELLINGER followed, adding the statement as to what KENT said, which seemed to be of great importance to Mr. RAINES. Detective O'LAUGHLIN told his share of the incident, and Dr. PERRIN and Dr. SNODGRASS told what they witnessed when they arrived on the Homeopathic Hospital ambulance. Waiter VAUGHAN, of the Egglesten, who served the couple early Sunday morning, described their appearance and behavior there, and Dr. ACHESON gave his testimony as to treating Miss DINGLE and of her despondency. Clerks KLUT and KOHLMAN told their part in the affair, as did Special Officer SIENER. Dr. VILLIAUME, KENT's friend, told what he knew of KENT's intimacy with Miss DINGLE in Buffalo.
     The points on which all were agreed who spoke of them were chiefly that there was no blood on the front of Miss DINGLE's chemise; that there was little if any on her left hand, but that there was a pool of it under her left shoulder. The razor was in her left hand, which was relaxed. There were no spots or rash on her face until about the time when she was removed to the morgue, and the nature of those seen there puzzles the doctors. There is some dispute as to how fully KENT was clothed when entrance was forced into the room. A half dozen scraps of conversation he had with various people have been recorded.
                                                        LETTERS ANNOUNCED DOUBLE SUICIDE
     That a double suicide was planned seems probable from the letters which were found. There were half a dozen of them, and they are in the hands of the Coroner, who has not made them public. The note which accompanied them is as follows:
     To the Coroner of Rochester
     Please mail these letters and send our bodies to Buffalo to Be buried together at my expence at forest Lawn.
                   Yours,
                   Dr. KENT.
                   E. B. DINGLE.
     Accompanying this note was sixty cents in change. One of the letters was to Mr. KENT's father, A. Dorr KENT, and a portion of it read as follows:  "I die happy, for I am beside the girl I love, and who loves me and has been true to me through it all."
     Another, evidently to a friend, begins: "Dear Jack, it is all up, old boy." Another, written by Miss DINGLE, was to Dr. RANDALL, of the Riverside Hospital, Buffalo.
                                                                   JOHN BOWMAN'S STORY
    KENT'S father, A. Dorr KENT, was in the room during much of the inquest. The first witness was John A. BOWMAN, a lawyer, who occupied a room close to that of the unfortunate couple. His story was as follows:
     "My room was across a narrow hall from No. 147. Between 7:30 and 8 o'clock Sunday morning I heard moaning and groans coming from that room, and I went into the hall. There I met a hall boy I told him there was something wrong in the room, and he tried to open the door. He jumped up and looked into the transom. I got a chair and he climbed up, pushing the transom wider open. Then he sat on the chair while I climbed on its back and looked in. I saw two figures on the bed.
     "No. 147 is on he west side of the hallway, and the bed is on the north side of the room. The woman was on the east side of the bed. She was reclining on her back, with the bed clothing covering her to the waist, while she wore a small under-vest. Her left arm was by her side. I told the boy to break in the door, and we shoved it open a little way, enough to see that there was something blocking it. Finally we got it open and went in.
     "The man's head was wrapped in a cloth, and he was moaning. I took off the cloth, and saw a gash in the left side of his neck. His body was covered by the bed clothing. I told him to be as calm as possible, and directed the boy to summon the clerk, telephone the police and send for a doctor. I had no conversation with the man. There was a razor in the woman's left hand. It lay diagonally in her hand, the fingers of which were somewhat relaxed. It was open with the blade toward the foot of the bed. Her right arm was under the bed clothes. There was blood on her left side. It settled in the hollow made by her body. To his left, on the pillow, was a large blood spot, and on a table at the foot of the bed were various articles. There was a small pitcher with blood water in it. I have no recollection of any other blood.
     "There was a small medicine case and what I judged to be a hypodermic syringe on the bureau. I saw no blood in the washbowl. There were several letters on the bureau. He asked for a doctor and for water. I told him the doctor would be there soon and asked for a glass. I filled it, but he could not drink. He asked for his hypodermic,' or some such word, and said 'nothing in it.'  I didn't see it in his possession. There was a man partly up the stairs when I met the bell boy. He was in the room, as was Clerk KOHMANN, Dr. COLLINS and an officer in uniform and several plain clothes men. He had absolutely nothing to say as to the cause of the deed. I saw him later standing on his feet, with his trousers and shirt on. I looked at one of the letters. I couldn't identify it now. I did not touch her to see if the body was cold.
     On cross-examination Mr. BOWMAN said it was some time before KENT got up, and that the doctor had come. His legs were under the bed clothes, and he lay about a foot from the edge of the bed.
                                                           KENT THOUGHT HE WAS DYING
     Bell Boy James McCARTHY was the next witness. He corroborated Mr. BOWMAN's story in every particular, and illustrated the position of the razor in the girl's hand by holding the weapon in his own hand. All of the witnesses who had seen it did the same. McCARTHY said he did not see KENT's face at all, and did not know whether he was clothed or not. He did not see his shirt or his trousers in the room. He saw no blood on his hands, and did not know if there was any.
      Officer SELLINGER, the next witness, said that he was at St. Paul street when he was called. He hurried to the hotel, and was taken to the room. BOWMAN and the night clerk were there. He started to notify headquarters and get a doctor, but was told that had been done, when he returned and cleared the room, afterward guarding the door.
      KENT was lying on his left side. He said to SELLINGER:  "Officer, come here. Get a doctor; hurry up. I'm dying. Call up on the Home 'phone Dr. Edgar L___." That was as far as he got, and SELLINGER, to humor him, stepped to the door and said, "Call Dr. ELLSWORTH."  KENT went on: "For God's sake give me that over there. I've got something that will do me good," referring to the medicine case. SELLINGER told him there was nothing there. Later, he said, KENT had the hypodermic syringe, which SEINER took away from him. He noticed blood on the girl's neck, on the bed clothes, and a big clot under her arm. He saw none on her chemise or on her body.
      On cross-examination Officer SELLINGER said that he heard KENT say, "Why didn't she make a good job of it?" while raving.
     "Why do you say 'raving?" queried Mr. RAINES.
     "Well, he was moaning," replied the officer, "he said, 'why didn't she do a good job of it>' I don't know whether he said 'do' or 'make.'"
                                                                SAID WATER WAS DOPED
      Detective O'LOUGHLIN described his experiences in the room. He came on the first summons to headquarters, and found Drs. PERRIN and SNODGRASS, from the Homeopathic Hospital, in the room. He took hold of KENT's right wrist, while PERRIN removed the razor from the girl's hand.
     "The crowd commenced to come in," said O'LOUGHLIN, "and he raves, and wanted them driven out. He dressed. His coat was on the lounge, a woman's jacket on top of it, and his hat at the top. He had on an outside shirt. I don't know whether he had his trousers on. They were taking him to the Homeopathic Hospital, but he wanted to go to the City Hospital, so they said. 'All right, we'll take you there.'
     "There were five letters, I think. I gave them all to Coroner KLEINDIENST. There was a big package of business letters to him, and a request to mail the letters and send the bodies to Buffalo. He asked for water, but he said, "I don't want that water on the table. It's doped.' Dr. SNODGRASS said, as they were going out, 'She's dead.'  He leaned over her and called her 'Ethel, Ethel,' and then went out, saying that she could not be dead.
 Downstairs he asked for a Democrat and Chronicle, and was taken to the hospital. Later, in the hospital, he said to his father and to Dr. VILLIAUME, 'I made a statement to the coroners yesterday, and it was correct. Dr. VILLIAUME said, 'you've said enough.'  He had a letter, torn to pieces and clotted with blood in his trousers pocket."
     An adjournment was taken at this point until 2 o'clock in the afternoon.
                                                            BUFFALO PAWN TICKETS FOUND
     Two pawn tickets, on the Buffalo Main street shop of George PRATT, were in possession of the Coroner, and were shown at the opening of the afternoon session. They were dated September 11th, and were for a gold watch and chain. Dr. William PERRIN took the stand at the beginning of the afternoon session. He said:
      "We received the call at the Homeopathic Hospital at about 8:30 o'clock, and were at the hotel at 8:35. I went directly to the room, and saw the woman's body on the bed. I was struck by the absence of blood on her body. The blood had run from her shoulder down under the body, and was clotted an inch thick on the sheet. He was sitting on the bed with his trousers and undershirt on. He did not have on an outside shirt or socks. At first he didn't want to go to the hospital, but finally he said he would. Dr. SNODGRASS put on his socks, and he put on his shoes and his white shirt. He had his hypodermic syringe. He said, 'the gun's no good."
     At this point a medicine case with empty vials was shown to Dr. PERRIN, and he identified it, and said that the vials had contained hypodermic tablets.
                                                            SHOWED SYMPTOMS OF DRUGS
    "He staggered," said the physician, "and kneeled over her, calling 'Ethel.' He had the symptoms of drugs. His pupils were dilated, he was excitable, and his skin was dry, pointing to the use of atropine. His pulse was 120, and his temperature 97 4-5. His face and hands and chest were bloody, and he wanted to wash his hands. I saw no marks of any skin disease on the woman's face. I smelled no ether in the room. His wound severed only the superficial vessels, and we will remove the stitches to-day. It might have bled a great deal.
     "There were no indications that she had moved after receiving her wound. The blood was coagulated when I arrived. I saw several letters on the bureau, and I caught the words 'Please mail these' on one of them. His wound has healed now. He asked for a reporter, and was told there was none there. He seemed to want to give out a statement, but I do not think he did so. Their heads were about a foot and a half apart. Both the cuts were on the left side.
     Dr. SNODGRASS sustained Dr. PERRIN'S story in every particular and added a number of details. He wouldn't say whether there was any blood on the front of the girl's body. If she had turned over it would have run over her chest. Apparently, it had soaked under to the right side. There were clots of blood on the floor.
                                                                 SHOOK HANDS WITH WAITER
     John VAUGHAN, the waiter at the Hotel Eggleston who waited on the couple on their arrival in the city Saturday night, was next called. They entered the Eggleston some time after 1 o'clock, how late he could not say. Smith EGGLESTON had known KENT's father, and when KENT introduced himself Mr. EGGLESTON ordered that he be served a cold lunch, everyone having gone home. VAUGHAN served them lobster, with a bottle of claret and several Scotch highballs. He did not observe the woman's features, but both of them shook hands with him, and said good-by when they left. KENT asked for more drinks, but was refused by VAUGHAN, who told Mr. WARREN that it was because he wanted to go home, and not because he thought they were intoxicated. They walked out, he said, as steadily and as unconcernedly as they entered.
     DR. John H. ACHESON came next with the feature testimony of the day. He said that he had Ethel DINGLE as a patient at St. Mary's Hospital from August 26th to September 2d. On August 26th he was telephoned to by Dr. KENT from the Whitcomb House that he had a patient for him there. He went to the hotel, where he met KENT, who was a freshman in college when he was a senior, and he was introduced to Miss DINGLE, who gave her name as Miss CROSBY. He advised her to go to St. Mary's Hospital, and he went there, engaged a room for her and awaited their coming. He diagnosed her trouble and prescribed for her. He advised her on September 2d that the only way to completely cure her was by means of ovariotomy, but she would not hear of an operation. He assured her that she would have a recurrence of pains from time to time, and she replied. "That's all right, doctor; just do the best you can for me medically." So she left the hospital.
                                                             MISS DINGLE THREATENED SUICIDE
     On the third day of her stay there, he found her crying when he entered the room. He asked what was the trouble and she said that she had so many troubles, that she was worried, that she was homesick and that she wanted to be in Buffalo. She was afraid her sister would find out she was in Rochester, and she had so much worry altogether, she said, that she often thought of taking her own life.
      "If I thought I would die under the anaesthetic," she declared, "I would say go ahead with the operation."
      Dr. ATCHESON assured her that there was no danger of her dying under the anaesthetic, and several days passed, when he again found her worried and homesick, and talking of taking her own life. He spent about forty-five minutes each time trying to talk her out of it, telling her that lots of people had troubles and got over them, but he made no great impression.
     At 10 A. M., September 2d she was greatly depressed. Dr. KENT came while Dr. ACHESON was talking to her, and the latter asked him to endeavor to get her to submit to the operation. He also told him that it would be impossible for her to be treated in Rochester unless KENT would stay in this city, for she was continually homesick for him. At 2 o'clock that afternoon KENT telephoned to ACHESON, saying that they had decided to go to Buffalo at 3:25, that Ethel was going into the country, and, that he was wanted at the station. He went down and saw them off. On September 13th he received a letter from KENT, saying "Ethel is O. K. Has no pain is feeling fine as a lark." He had never been intimate with KENT. He saw no rash on Miss DINGLE's face. It was perfectly clear on September 2d. He never saw anything like the blotches on her face after death.
      George H. KLUT, night clerk at the Whitcomb House, told of the couple's entering the hotel shortly after 1 o'clock last Sunday morning. They registered as L. D. KENT and wife, and asked for lodgings, without breakfast. They went out to the Eggleston for lunch, and returned at 3:45 o'clock. They were not intoxicated, but he thought Miss DINGLE had been drinking, on account of her eyes. He saw no rash on her face. Fifteen minutes after retiring they sent down for writing paper, and an hour later for a teaspoon. They did not get the latter, and he heard nothing more from them, until the day clerk came in for breakfast at 8:15 o'clock. He heard some one say then that there was trouble in No. 147. That finished his knowledge of the affair.
                                                                 RESULT OF THE AUTOPSY
     Dr. A. M. JOHNSON, Coroner's physician presented the following notes of his autopsy:
     "Name, Ethel DINGLE. Examination of body: Rigor mortis fairly well marked, black hair, eyebrows; pupils dilated; eyes dark brown. First lateral incisor, left side, gold filling; first upper molar on right side missing. Scar on left leg, outer side, two inches below and three inches to the left of the lower margin of the left patella, size of silver-ten-cent piece. Small ante-mortem mark to left of anterior median line in middle of tibia, two inches in length. Post mortem discoloration over entire posterior surface of back and chest. Numerous small eruptions of rusty appearance around nose, size of small pea.
     "Measurements: Right side, biceps, 10 1-2; forearm, 9 1-4; thigh, 19; calf, 13, Left side, biceps, 9 3-4; forearm, 9; thigh, 19; calf, 13.
     "Gaping incised wound, external, along upper margin of left clavicle, 3 1-2 inches long and one inch wide. Slight amount of blood exuding from wound. Wound 1 1-4 inches deep in median line, and gradually rising from that point to the left, ending two inches above and slightly to the left of middle of left clavicle, severing the common carotid artery and the sternocleido muscle about one-half inch above left clavicle. Wound ends abruptly at the internal end of the right clavicle. Wound deepest in the median line.
     "Median incision. Extremely well nourished body. Small amount of pleuritic adhesions on right side. Lungs eodermatous; pericardium somewhat thickened, normal amount of pericardial fluid; left side of heart firm, right side partially so; left ventricle wall normal, empty; right side, empty; left auricle, filled with post-mortem clot; kidneys, normal; spleen, empty; stomach contains 1-2 pint of viscid fluid, no odor; both right and left ovaries cystic; uterus, bleached out appearance; had never been pregnant.
     "Cause of death: Hemorrhage from severance of common carotid artery."
     Dr. JOHNSON explained that a severance of the common carotid artery would mean death in five minutes surely, since one-fifth of the blood of the body is contained in those arteries. He also was mystified by the skin lesions on the girl's face, and suggested that they might be a form of acne.
                                                            MIGHT HAVE BEEN CHLOROFORM
     Officer Frank SEINER, a plain clothes man who was on the scene, was the next witness. He said he saw no blood on the girl's hand when he looked at it for a wedding ring. KENT pointed out a bottle to him, which he said contained "dope," and said, "That's what she was feeding me on all night."  This bottle was passed around for the doctors present to smell of, and several of them thought they detected the odor of chloroform. SEINER said he found fresh blood on the upper sheet after KENT left the room.
     The reporter who was called in, when KENT asked for a newspaper man while he was dressing, was called to the stand. He said that before he was called in, he saw KENT working with the hypodermic syringe, and heard him say, "The damned gun won't work." When he came in KENT said to him: "We came down from Buffalo on the 11:20 train. The dining room was closed at the Whitcomb, so we went to Smithy EGGLESTON's." Then he commenced scraping his shoe with a pen. "Don't I know?" he said. The reporter handed him a pencil he continued hitting his shoe. No one else could see anything on it, and the reporter thought him either drunk or drugged. There was a tiny cut on the first joint on the girl's left forefinger, with a smear of blood. He picked up an opal stickpin on the floor. It is now in the Coroner's possession. KENT said to him: "Be careful not to lose that pawn ticket. There'll be a hell of a time over this affair."
     Fred W. KOHLMANN, clerk of the Whitcomb House, testified to learning of the trouble as soon as he arrived at the hotel. He went to the room. He noticed the slight scratch on the woman's hand, and saw no blood on her breast or arms. He asked the chambermaid to go up and remove the bed clothing, but she refused. With the aid of the engineer he did it himself.
                                                                 DR. VILLIAUME'S TESTIMONY
     Dr. Edward P. VILLIAUME, the Buffalo chum of Dr. KENT, was the last witness of the day. He is an interne at the Erie County Penitentiary. He protested that he knew very little of the affair, and said that he only met Miss DINGLE twice. The first time was two months ago. In company with KENT he was taking charge of the practice of a physician who was out of the city. There were many telephone messages in a feminine voice for Dr. KENT, and a letter every day for the three weeks they were together. Once KENT told him he was going away. He thought nothing of it, although he knew that KENT's wife was sick in Palmyra.
     In three or four days he returned, bringing Miss DINGLE with him. They had evidently been to Toronto. That was the first time he ever saw her or knew of her. They prepared to stay all night at the house. VILLIAUME was somewhat surprised, and would not remain there himself, but went to his office at the penitentiary. When he returned next morning they were leaving. He told KENT that it was hardly the proper thing to do, and supposed that would be sufficient, as KENT was most impressionable. KENT told him that she was going to Dundas, Can., to live soon, and gave him to understand that there was nothing between them, except that they were giving each other a good time while she remained in the city.
    He did not see her again until they went together to his office at the penitentiary, where he showed them around the grounds. After that he did not see her again. He never heard about her or from her, and never asked KENT about her. In regard to KENT's being a "dope fiend." VILLIAUME said that he had never known him to take "dope," meaning a preparation of opium, but that when students together they had taken nux vomica, and strychnine in 3-30ths does, to keep them awake when preparing for their annual examinations. The hypodermic syringe is carried by every doctor, he said.
     The inquest was adjourned until Friday afternoon to give the District-Attorney time to look up more witnesses. Only two of the first installment remained to be examined.
                                                   ANOTHER DOCTOR ADMIRER OF MISS DINGLE
     That one of Ethel DINGLE's worries at the time she came to this city for an operation was a disappointment over a love affair with Dr. George H. GRANT, of Buffalo, seems to be a fact. She had been engaged to the young and talented Scotch doctor, but the engagement was broken, for what reason is not known.
    It was while Miss DINGLE was at the Riverside Hospital last spring that she met the young physician. He graduated with high honors and opened an office at No. 393 William street, Buffalo, where he acquired a good practice in a short time.
     Miss DINGLE remained at the Riverside Hospital and chafed under the restrictions placed about her there. It is said several stormy scenes occurred when Dr. RANDALL reproved her.
    According to reports from Buffalo, Dr. GRANT disappeared from his office last Thursday and has not been seen since. It was said there that he had left the city. It is rumored that he is in this city.
     When the clothing of Miss DINGLE was taken to the morgue and examined Sunday morning the letters "L. C." were found on some of the articles. Their presence seems now to be explained by the discovery in Buffalo that KENT and Miss DINGLE lived as husband and wife for two weeks at a boarding house kept at No. 485 Niagara street by Mrs. John W. HUTCHINSON. They went under the name of CROSBY there. It was under the name of Lucy CROSBY that Miss DINGLE entered St. Mary's Hospital in this city as a patient.
     KENT left a letter at the