The Untimely Death of a Spiritualist's Patient
A coroner investigates a woman's death after she was treated by a spiritualist practicing in the Kline & Rosenberg building.
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A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Coroner Horton, assisted by three local physicians, performed an autopsy on the body of Miss Larson, who died Tuesday at 400 Fourth Street. The examination determined she died of edema of the lungs, caused by purpura hemorrhagica and general anasarca. The investigation was prompted because the girl had been under the care of a 'Dr. Day'—a spiritualist who deals in herb medicines and works out of the Kline & Rosenberg building—rather than a regular physician. Dr. Day had refused to sign a death certificate, sparking concerns of potential malpractice. The Coroner ultimately ruled that no one was to blame for the death, as the woman had been suffering from chronic illness for three and a half years.
“The case was then put in Coroner Horton's hands to investigate. The coroner said last night that he was satisfied that no one was to blame.”
This story captures the era’s 'Wild West' of medicine, where spiritualists and herbalists often served the poor where traditional, expensive medicine would not. It echoes contemporary anxieties about the divide between mainstream medical science and unregulated alternative health practices.
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