The San Francisco call. [volume], July 13, 1913, Page 33, Image 37

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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PORTER CHARLTON
BECOMES EXPERT
NURSE IN PRISON
Wife Slayer, Who Will Be
Extradited to Italy This
Week, Favorite With
Hospital Staff
EXTRA GUARDS TO
PREVENT SUICIDE
Precautions Taken Because
Prisoner Had Access to
Poison Chests
fSpecial rtl.jNsifch to The Call)
NEW YORK, July 11.—Porter Charl
ton, the. young American -who killed
his bride In their villa at Lake Como.
Italy, in June,**l9lo, and who for three
years has successfully fought extra
dition, will be turned over to, the
Italian government early next week
and taken to Milan to be tried for his
crime.
In the Hudson county jail in Jersey
City Charlton is under espionage,
•which is relaxed neither day nor night,
In the fear that he may take his own
life rather than face a living death in
an Italian dungeon. He has no visit
ors save his devoted father, Paul
Charlton, former United States judge
-In Porto Rico; his mother and brother
and his counsel, R. Floyd Clarke.
Guards, shifted every eight y hours,
watch him even when his relatives are
present. c : ;7v
There has been talk of a government
examination Into Charlton's sanity.
Such an application would not be ob
jected to by Captain Henry Harrison
Scott. U. S. A., brother of the slain
woman, according to a statement made
by Emil E. Fucha, counsel for the.
officer during Charlton's repeated ef
forts to escape extradition.
"The Captain does not wish to be
vindictive." said Sir. Fuchs. "He feels
that he has fulfilled his duty to his
sister and that the matter now lies
with the king of Italy, If Charlton
Is suffering from incipient paralysis.
ns some of the physicians declare. Cap
tain Scott will be satisfied with any
disposition of the case the authorities
s<>e fit to make. He certainly will not
hound the prisoner. My understanding
is that an inquest will be asked for
end that it will be held. This will
not. however, prevent extradition, but
it might shorten the sentence. Charl
ton will probably get about three years
in the dungeon."
• 'II \-M.TOVs LIFE IN PHJSON
Many Interesting Incidents concern-
Ing the Imprisonment of Charlton in
the Hudson county jail were learned
today. So far as the public is con
cerned the facts are new.
When Charlton was arrested at the
instance of Captain Scott as he stepped
from the steamship Prinse.ss Irene on
her arrival June 23. 1910. and made a
written confession to Chief of Police
Hayes at Hoboken headquarters, he
was locked up In the Hudson county
jail pending extradition papers. There
he has remained during the long legal
battle in which his tether enlisted the
services of President Taft, his class
mate at Yale university, and later the
aid of Secretary of State Bryan, with
whom he has been on most Intimate
terms for years.
The young man was closely observed
for signs of insanity, and although he
was found by County Physician George
King to suffer from periodical fits of
depression, he was considered excep
tionally bright in many respects. As
a United States prisoner he was ac
corded privileges not given the county
ajid state wards and was* permitted to
do about as lie pleased, particularly
while In the prison hospital recovering
from Incipient tuberculosis.
Charlton had not been in the hospi
tal long before he bees me so proficient
in nursing that lie was allowed to as
sist the internes, keep records* of cases
and attend to -.riving the patients their
medicine. In six months he came to be
known as the most proficient pharma
cist in the institution.
DRESSED PATIENTS' WOUNDS ,
The prisoner was called upon to
dress wounds, take the temperature of
the patients and to report on their
condition after the manner of the
nurses themselves. Doctor King trust
ed him Implicitly and gave him a great
deal of responsibility except during the
periods of depression .which manifested
themselves on an average of every six
weeks.
During these spells Charlton, who at
other times was most charming In
manner, became abusive, upbraided his
friends and made himself exceedingly
obnoxious. The spasms, as the doctors
called them, would pass as suddenly
ns they appeared and for another six
weeks the prisoner would be docile
and considerate. All told he was, and
is. a favorite with the prison authori
ties.
June 12, the day the supreme court
decided that Charlton, must return to
Italy and throw himself upon the mercy
of " the king's tribunal, the young
man was called to the telephone by
his counsel and forbidden to discuss
his case with any person save his law
yer and his father. This was the first
intimation that Sheriff Weedon had
that the decision had been handed
down and was adverse.
Together with other county author
ities Sheriff Weedon had been confident
Charlton would be liberated and he
suddenly remembered that the prisoner
had been given access to a varied as
sortment of opiates and poisons and
could easily have secreted enough
about his person to kill a dozen men.
Not only had this opportunity been
given him, but he had acquired exact
knowledge; of their use.
GUARD AGAINST SUICIDE
Sheriff Weedon lost no time. Charl
ton was sent for, taken to a private
room and stripped to the skin. Every
stitch of clothing be had worn was ex
amined, the lining of his coat, shoes
and vest were inspected, covers were
pried from his books and the cracks in
the floor of the cell he occupied were
closely inspected.
Not a particle of poison was found,
but the sheriff confided to an officer of
the prison that he still feared Charlton
would "escape by the Dutch route" and
dared he wouldn't get the chance if
he could help it. So new clothing and
books were provided, and the prisoner
was placed in a room he had never be
fore set foot In. ' This • room ■is two
flights up at the extreme right as one
faces the jail and directly over the
guard's sleeping quarters. It is 12
by 20 feet and contains a roughly made
desk, bed and chairs. The window
looks out upon the main street and
the prisoner stands by it hours at a
time. ''-',";''. i
Judge Charlton, who arrived from
Porto Rico early in June, has obtained
quarters near the jail and visits his
son daily. Long conferences are held,
and when Mr. Clarke does not visit
his client he telephones.
Although Doctor King would not
discus's the case, it was learned upon,
iMil Mt*Sju i IJSlJlfi lllllliil Ilik'Ml'HSHS'WrilUrr i llli'illll
Handcuffed to His Bride
Spend First Night in Cell
* — —, •, * 1—— —«-
LONG UrCACH, July F2-—After
spending; the night In it , cell.
hackled and handcuffed "for hnv
lasac committed ntntrlmony, Ed
-tvtsrsl B. People*, n rallroml clerk,
wan given . his freedom (inlay.
lie went tit once to the home
of hi* bride, *>■ »»•« Bra Flo swell,
who shared , the cell vrltb I'eo
ple<«. ''S^s^s^S^BHHl
Immediately after the wedding
percmonj* practical jokers welled
the couple no* rnsibed them to
the police station, where they
Tvero handcuffed and thrust In «
cell- <AAA" '....-,-
Later they were forced to pa
rade haudcuffed along the ocean
front.
excellont authority that Charlton has
fully recovered his physical health and
Is normal mentally lave during the
periods depression. Since the su
preme court found against him he has
made a brave effort to appear uncon
corned' but he Is known to have wor
ried greatly,
SETS PItISOSEII'S ARM
Since the decision Charlton ban sel
dom left his new quarters. • On one
or two occasions he has hern out of
the room, the last time when, ha was
needed In th* hospital. One of tho
prisoners threw his shoulder out of
joint a few days ag*?. and after the
orderlies and nurses* had failed to re
place the bone some one suggested
that Charlton could do the job. lie
was taken to the hospital, felt the
man's shoulder, grasped his arm and
threw the ball into its socket with
skill and ease.
"I had rather have him help me In
such cases than most of the physicians
I know," Doctor Kin? is reported to
have paid In discussing the Incident.
"In first aid cases lie is as skillful and
proficient as most practitioners."
In all probability .Charlton will be
taken direct to Naples. He will be ac
companied by his father, but ills Amer
ican counsel will not go with him. On
arriving he will be defended by attor
neys* engaged abroad, Tt is a foregone
conclusion that every effort will be
made to obtain his freedom on the
ground that he was Insane at the time
he killed his wife, but is sane now.
His defense will not differ greatly
from that employed by Harry K. Thaw,
slayer of Stanford "White.
The crime for which Charlton must
now stand trial created worldwide
attention because of its grewsome set
ting and the prominence of the slay
er's family. The fight against extra
dition has, too, occasioned international
interest, and at one time threatened
to embroil this country with Italy.
VICTIM WAS SAX FRANCISCAN
Charlton was a New York bank clerk
when he met Mrs. Neville H. Castle, a
divorcee and daughter of Henry H.
Scott, a San Francisco coal merchant.
The wooing of Charlton was ardent
and rapid, with the result that the
couple were secretly married in Wil
mington, Del., in April, 1910. A few
days later they sent announcements to
their friends, and then sailed for
Europe on their honeymoon. Detters
received by Captain Scott, attached to
the coast artillery at Fort Mayer, led
to the belief that the couple were hap
py and peaceably enjoying themselves.
HIS WIFE'S BOOT FOUND
On the morning of June 10 the body
of Mrs. Charlton was found by fisher
men In a trunk in Lake Como, not far
from the villa the pair had occupied.
An investigation was started by the
police of Cernobbio, ami a Russian,
Constantino Ispblatoff, was arrested.
| When the authorities searched for
I Charlton he had disappeared. .
It was at first believed Charlton had
met death defending his wife's honor
and the lake was searched for his body.
Then it was learned from the proprie
tor of the Hotel Suisse at Cernobbio
that a couple had frequently appeared
there and registered as Mr. and Mrs.
Porter. They had often quarreled and
on several occasions the woman had
been seen weeping. Once the guests
heard shrieks and the proprietor found
Mrs. Charlton, hidden In a closet. Eater
her husband dragged her to the street
and the proprietor asked the pair to
leave his hotel.
These stories turned suspicion upon
Charlton and the police of the entire
world were asked to arrest him on
sight. None of the detectives assigned
to the case was more indefatigable
than Captain Scott. He swore to be
revenged and obtained a leave of ab
sence. Scott thought his brother in
law might) be on the Deutschland and
was on hand when she docked.
No trace'of Charlton was found and
he strolled over to the Prlnzess Irene.
He had never seen the object of his
quest, but a man on the pier answered
his description and he caused his ar
rest, lie had arrived under an assumed
name, but admitted his Identity when
his own name was found stitched in
side his laundry bag. lie then seemed
glad that the strain was over.
MADE WRITTEN CONFESSION
At police headquarters he made a
written confession, in which he said
that while his wife was "the best
woman in the world" they often quar
reled over trivial matters and she
would call him foul names. \ The night
of the murder she went into a temper
and in a daze he struck her with a
mallet he had been using to straighten
out the leg of a couch. He then placed
the mallet and body In a trunk, dragged
the trunk from the villa, to a small
pier and threw it into Lake Como.,Two
days later, when the body was found,
he escaped to Genoa and took ship for
America. . TATA A
The fight to prevent Charlton-being
taken back to Italy, where murderers.
in lieu of death, are confined in black
dungeons for years and seldom come
out alive, or. if alive, sane, was begun
at once and continued until the last
hope was lost.'when the supreme court
decided against the prisoner. The case
was taken to the court of final resort
on an appeal. from the action of the
United States district court at Trenton,
N. J., in denying a writ of habeas cor
pus sued out by Judge Charlton.
The outcome of the case depended on,
whether the supremo court held that
the treaty between this country and
Italy, signed In ISGS, had been nullified
by the refusal of the latter country to
deliver to the American authorities
Italians who had committed . crimes
here and escaped to Italy. The court
held that the treaty was still in force.
A minor question at issue was
whether Judge Barlow of Hoboken had,
while sitting as a magistrate, erred in
refusing to allow Charlton's counsel
to try to prove the prisoner was' of
unsound mind at the time he con
fessed to the crime.
STUMBLES UPON CORPSE
OF A MURDERED MINER
Stranger Enters Dilapidated piling;
to sleep Off Debauch and Makes
Grensome Discovery
STOCKTON. July 12.—Entering a di
lapidated dwelling in the residential
section of the city at van early hour
this morning to sleep off the effects of
a debauch, R. Jones, a stranger in town,
stumbled across a corpse. Jones so
bered immediately and notified the po
lice.
An investigation showed the man's
throat had been cut from ear to ear
and that he had been dead at bast two
days. The pockets had been rifled.and
nothing was left to give the officers a
clew.
The m.-iii was evidently a miner,
judging from his clothes, and about 10
years of age. - ,
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, JULY 13. 1913.
Famous Scientist Here Finds Cure for Baldness
Bacteriologist Destroys Germs That Attack Hair
Scientific World Notified
That Men and Women
Need No Longer Fear
Hair Troubles
-A - ■■" <
j :-A r N anouncement fraught .with stu
/. pendous interest to almost every
loua interest to almost •
man and woman in the world
was made yesterday by Frederick
Migge, the famous bacteriologist
from the - University of Berlin, who
maintains a private laboratory in San
Francisco. In a short, concise state
ment, pregnant with the realization of
a hope that has stirred scientists 'of
every nation for generations, Professor
Migge, who formerly was associated
with Stanford university, the Parke-
Davis laboratories, Belleview hospital
and European laboratories, notified the
scientific world that experiments he had
been conducting for more than 12 years,
in various parts of the United States
and Europe, had culminated in the dis
covery of a chemical solution that kills
the bacteria responsible for death and
disease of the human hair. V ~
This announcement, for which scien
tists who have been taken into Pro
fessor Mlgge'a confidence have been
waiting for many years, means, in ef
fect, that at last there j has been per
fected a scientific method of not only
preventing the loss of hair in the hu
man head, but of restoring .to all its
healthy luxuriousne-s hair that has
fallen or died out and left behind the
baldness so dreaded by the average
man or woman. '
BOTH WOMEN AM)
MEN TO BENEFIT
The scope of the discovery that has"
been announced by the San. Francisco
bacteriologist embraces every j disease
of the hair, from the brittleness that
presages the more serious troubles of
advancing age to the final falling out
which leaves In its wake the constantly
widening white spot that ends eventu
ally in whole or partial baldness. A
result of Professor Mlgge's announce-:
ment, which was accompanied in his
laboratory .hers by a demonstration of
his methods to a group of scientists and
medical men gathered from the 1 cities
and universities of the Pacific i coast,
will be, his associates declare, not only,
a restoration of hair for those who have
lost it. but an effectual relief for the
present and future generations from
every unhealthy condition of the scalp
and hair as fast as the new treatment
can be taken advantage of. 7
In the Migge laboratories, which are
housed in The Call building, scores of
men and women, many, .of * them . per
sonal friends of the eminent bacteriol
ogist, many of them subjects who have
been hired by the scientist to remain
under his observation for months at a
time, 7 have been gathering dally, for
many weeks to reap the benefits of the
treatment for shortcomings of the hair
and scalp that Miggo: has perfected.
Not until the last, of these had »■ \j..••,-i
--enced the pleasurable sensation of see
ing luxurious wealths-of hair return
ing to the places on their heads, where
only barren places had. been, has the
bacteriologist consented ;to .consider
his new treatments scientifically/ per
fect and 'qualified for adoption by the
world at large. *.
j 7;..: Incidentally - friends and associates
iof Professor Migge, who is responsi-
I ble for many,; laboratory; discoveries of
, worldwide importance,- have placed- : at
' his : disposal a fund 7of approximately
, $100,000 for the purpose of "putting the
iwhole of?the United States'and'Europe*
'-: -- - ■_..--• <v. .-,'^-rf
In touch with his laboratories here,
that the fruits of his discovery may be
spread immediately Into every quarter
of the globe. "* '-
"1 began my experiments on the
human hair 12 years ago,"said Pro
fessor Migge yesterday when his* lab
oratory had been freed of visitors, "in
spired by no greater reason than the
fact that "my own hair had * began to
fall out. The best information I could
gather from every published source aa
to the reasons lor hair diseases was
the barren pronouncement that 'falling
hair, brittle hair and baldness is due t< ,
unclassified bacteria that thrives ir
the hair follicles. In the roots and thi
interior of the hair Itself., Nowhere
could I! find a method; for the eradica
tion of these bacteria,: nor.could I find
that any of ny contempararies were
even making - Inteligent search for!
such a : method, it having apparently
been gives up as a hopeless task, as all
agencies then known for the killing of
the organisms that thrive 7in the
human body Were of a too poisonous
nature to be applied to the delicate
hair roots and their nourishing glands.
HAIR MIOROHES
DEFY CULTURES
"I began In my own laboratories a
study of ; hair. I found evidence that
there were more tnan one kind of,
bacetria common 7to the hair. And I
found, too,'■; that: while almost every
other species of bacteria science A had
experimented with had been submit
ted to the culture, the microbes of the
hair so far defied this necessary man
ner -of studying them. I. then began
to ; develop a method,of submitting the
hair bacteria to culture, which,7 for the
benefit' of those who do not know the
term, is a method of transplanting the
microscopical organisms to; a medium
in which they can be mad" multiply
fast enough for study under the micro
scope. ' \i'v" '7,"*;:.
"1/ gathered ;.about; me-ias many
human subjects as I could, find—men!
and women complaining of different
classifications of hair trouble.. : Some
of these subjects * complained merely
of drandruff;' others reported that they"
noticed their hair beginning, to fall
out; still others could report "only a
brittlcnesn that caused tire hair to
break off, while some ; were in the vari
ous stages of partial or complete bald
ness. 7*,\hen I had satisfied myself that
1 had b rough t under observation every
known disease lof the scalp and hair, I
learned. with little off 6rt,7 that there
were at least 39 different kinds of bac
teria that had no other cause for being
than the destruction of human hair.
THIRTV-NIXE KINDS of
GERMS ARE FOUND
; "Up-to this time the results *of; my
Investigations 7; were essentially this:
ThlrtyVnlne-dlfferent* kinds of bacteria
had been found to 'thrive in the human
hair. . - Some first 7 fastened their spore
In - the hair follicles, the 7 little A tube
' through which. the r hair penetrates the
scalp, others began7;their 'devastation
directly at 7the hair root;, still 7others
inhabited the nourishing glands -which
are attachedVto7every, hair; some de
veloped? from 1 bacillus inside the hair
itself, in the hollow canal/which , runs
from the • root to the tip of ; every hair.
The different!bacteria proceeded about
their work of ! destroying the hair !in
different ways, but all finally achieved
the same end—-death to the * root; and
baldness, % that, despite '; the ! thousand
and one 7nostrums ; palmed ; off on an
ever susceptible public, could never be
remedied, for it is easily understood
that when i once"" the root of the : hair
is : dead 'no ! hair can grow.
.-'.■ "The action of some of; these ! bac
teria caused the hair to| become brit
tle.through! the loss of its nourishment
cut off by. the deadly, parasitical ■ eat
ing of 'the; living organism; others
caused tho hair to; die near the roots,
yet Heaving; sufficient '■: life ingthe root
Itself to nourish the two" additional
hairs which' invariably spring [through
tho scalp when one has died; others
the scalp in such an * unhealthy condi
tion that the hair itself became '-af
fected at the follicles,', while the more
deadly,*7 ones ,-'.; worked directly*. on the
root itself, gradually killing it.
"In the culture medium I found that
these bacteria some "of them at least—■'
multiplied at the rate of 7 25,000 times
in five minutes. All were of .'the dip
lococcus variety, ! separating* in one unit
from their spore, then dividing and re
dividing, each .organism [dividing; into
two, and each so small that the micro
scope must 7 enlarge [ them ;2,500 r times
before one can even be detected by the
human eye. It was a method of killing
these infinitesimal germs that I found
I must discover before; I could restore
the lost hair of others who were grad
ually [ losing [.the; covering nature had
given their heads. ! ~.-■. , '■ ""
According to my laboratory ■;records.*
I tried something, more than 11.000
chemical -solutions, [using 'moreV; than
400 human subjects in the -tests.[before
It, admitted [to myself that I had com
pletely, i learned the way 7to completely
rid'the ■ human • head of apy [and■ all the
germ 7 life [that infects", it for no other
purpose than 'to rob it of [one[of the
most t cherished [possessions 'of 'man and
woman—healthy, luxurious; hair. 7When"
I<? had.-thus*; succeeded;!; I resolved 7to
experiment still further ;. and, dismiss
ing the army of subjects, some of whom
I had accompanied into almost I every
kind of climate in the United States
Europe to ; assure myself that cli
m.it leal conditions would not Interfere
with the chemical [perfection of my
treatments, I came to San, Francisco to
gather around me a[ new group of sub
jects;-for experimental purposes.
The patients who have been treated
"in tho Migge , laboratory; in The Call
building have included men and women
from all walks of life in San Francisco
and the . bay region. Although the
bacteriologist has made jno;public an
nouncements, other " than those? neces
sary to 7 bring him sufferers from hair
troubles sufficiently to thoroughly test
his 7 methods to his own satisfaction,
the laboratories have been -crowded
day after day. The results he has ac
complished In a few months have been
little less j than marvelous, ; although he
has refused ■to discuss the details* of
any [one of .these preliminary
-7 "It must not 7 become understood,"
said [the! scientist, "that I have dis
covered a 'cure all,' or some mysteri
ous chemical compound that will re
store dead hair. This is impossible,
even ; though the manufacturers of
countless '■ "hair tonics' have been claim
ing it 7 for years. When the root [of
the hair jis dead, 'it is dead, and " that is
all there, is to it. But in 99 cases of
baldness out %of 100 there 'still, is left
life in either all the roots of the hair
or sufficient of them to cover the bald
places with": at least a thin "•:' covering
of [hair. If unattended to these roots
.will,*; in the end.- die completely. 7 Bui
lfjthe' bacteria is eradicated [in 'time
the loots i will .become healthy and
'two hairs " grow where | one ' grew,; be
fore,' taking the statement .literally,
for- when one hair dies always' two
grow, in its place if there is life in the
rootthe two hairs being weaker, of
course.but yet k strong enough to servo
their purpose.
FALLING HAIR A
SIGN OF DANGER ••7,V^\
"It is when the hair begins to fall or
break that the now treatment is most
needed, for it Is'then that the eradi
cation of the microbes at work will
mean complete 7 and luxurious resto
ration. Or when the'coating of dan
druff become troublesome it should be
time to get -.after.; the infinitesimal
microbes that dandruff is the danger
signal: otA'iA'i • ■■■"■'■". ; "7 .'. -J.-V- .-*«7.
"The treatment ordinarily covers from
three to six weeks, except in excep
tional cases. An examination is neces
sary in each case, and,- therefore, there
can be no distribution of the treat
ment without the attention of the
bacteriologist preparing "it. Jlt Is j from
one of the infected hairs that the specie
of bacteria 7is determined, and 'that
treatment designed to kill that partic
ular l kind of germ must then be com
pounded and applied to the sufferers
head. For this examination and Indi
vidual 7 treatment laboratories * will
have ■to be ■" maintained in many, parts
of the world, and to these laboratories
those who wish to take advantage of
the treatment . and rid themselves of
hair troubles must send specimens of
their hair* for examination and direc
tions as to treatment. I think I may
be justified in saying that "*- there ,\ are
few cases! of baldness or falling hair
that! can 7 not be completely cured 'In
from three to! five weeks by the proper
application of the agencies that will
kill !: the hair bacteria." "-*
Professor Mlggo has extended an In
vitation" 1 ' to air physicians in San' Fran
cisco and the state to visit his labor
atories In The Call building and wit
ness; his demonstrations with living
bacteria 7 and familiarize - .themselves*
with * the new, method of treatment.
The same .." Invitation' is most; gener-'
ously extended by the i bacteriologist ,to
those who are,* or believe themselves to
be.* in need of science's new method of *
removing; troubles*' of the hair..7 "My
discovery is open -to the .world," de
dared 7 Doctor ,Migge_ yesterday,, "and
the doors of my offices 'and laboratories
are always [open."—Adv&
33