Ellis ' official medical records indicate that not long before his death , he was admitted to a naval hospital for treatment of '' delirium tremens '' and hallucinations . Ellis researcher and author Dirk Anthony Ballendorf noted that tremors and hallucinations like the ones Ellis experienced are often attributable to depression and alcoholism : That the Japanese would have placed poison in his whiskey is unlikely since , for Ellis whiskey itself was poison enough . Question also arose because the agent sent to investigate the circumstances of Ellis ' death , who was the only one known to have seen Ellis 's body and its condition before it was cremated , died before he could provide a report of his findings . Chief Pharmacist Lawrence Zembsch — who had treated Ellis during his hospitalization — traveled on a Japanese steamer to Palau , where he stayed at the Japanese officer 's barracks . After talking to Japanese authorities who had dealings with Ellis ( including the medical officer ) , Zembsch witnessed and photographed the exhumation of Ellis 's body and its cremation , taking custody of the remains when this was completed . Zembsch became ill and suffered a nervous breakdown on the return voyage , and was admitted to a hospital in Yokohama , which was soon after buried by falling rubble in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake . The urn containing Ellis 's remains was found in the rubble , and returned to the United States ; they were interred at Arlington National Cemetery , Section 54 Site 3082
1923 Great Kantō earthquake
1923 Great Kantō earthquake
Earl Hancock Ellis