Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1854-03-16
From the Philadelphia Bulletin, Feb IA
Il ORR IBLE CRUELTY TOA CHILD.

HORRIBLE CRUELTY T0A CHILD.
A case was heard before Judges Thorn
son and Allston this morning, on habeas
corpus, which stands without parallel in
the annals of cruelty We had supposed
that the benign doctrines of Christianity
| had redeemed mankind from the barbar-
Gus feelings of Pagan era but we have
discovered that there are still exceptions
IN this city-few it is hoped-but sut1i-
clently numerous to show that there is
yet much to be done before human nature
can be elevated to its proper dignity
The cruelty that we are about to relate
proves that even the maternal feelings
can be lost or stifed, and that cold and
calculating cruelty may usurp their place.
From the testimony before the court, it
appeared that G. b. Hammer and wife
were the parents Of a sprlghtly little boy
( OF about years of age, named Charles
John Hammer He was born out of wed
lock, and at the age of few months was
abandoned by his parents and placed in
the almshouse. From this institution be
was taken by family in Berks county,
total strangers to the child, and kept un-
| til last Christmas The parents of the
| little boy married a short time after his
birth, but made no attempts to reclaim
| their offspring until a few weeks ago,
when they obtained him from the family
who had thus far nurtured and supported
| him
| AS soon as the parents obtained his
custody, systematical sort of torture was
commenced, which makes every feeling
! OF humanity within our nature shudder.
be was starved to such degree although
his parents were in easy circumstances, that
| lie picked up the crumbs of bread and
! the seeds from apples that fell upon the
floor while the girls who worked for Mrs
Hammer were eating their dinners. He
would eat the hard crusts found in the
yard and when spoken to about it would
reply that he could eat anything He was
whipped SO numerically that black stripes
as thick as the forefinger were seen all over
his body"
| For an accident that will sometimes
| happen to children, he was taken into
shed, stripped naked in the coldest wealth
er of the season and soused with cold wa
ter from hydrant, until he was almost
perishing, and then whipped severely and
I
sheet for hours His mother struck him
over the head with clapboard with such
a force as to raise a lump as large as
walnut. His father took him ou: of bed
while asleep, and fogged him severely
with a shoe; as a mother told one of the
witnesses for five minutes. The childs
cries were heard by the witnesses and his
artless appeals, "Oh father, don't whip
me any more and | will be a good boy !"
were totally disregarded
| HIS mother would take him by the head,
| spin nim around like top, until he be-
came giddy, then permit him to fall with
| his head against the wall, and strike him
| first on one side of the face and then on
| the other for crying. This same mother
| has put him out of doors in the severest
weather, but thinly clad, and compelled
him to stay in the yard for an hour and
a half at a time, until he became so colo
as to be unable to walk She would
| threaten to beat him to death for calling
her mother, and would frequently knock
him down
But the greatest torture, and that which
aroused the indignant feelings of the young
ladies who worked for Mrs Hammer, was
the resort of that mother to hot irons. with
which she scared and burnt the face of her
child. According to the testimony, Mrs.
Hammer picked up a hot fat-iron, and
said "Come here, Johnny, till L iron you
out" The child replied, "Oh, no, mother,
it will burn me-" She then placed the
| iron first against one cheek and then the
other, put it against his hand, ran it up
and down his legs and concluded by open
ing his pantaloons, and holding it against
his naked flesh until it burnt the skin off
In this condition he was found when tax
en- out of their possession BY good Sa-
maritan named Mary Ann Lewis, wo-
man of middle age, who had heard of the
parents cruelty, and took measures to re-
! lleve the child from their barbarity-
Mrs. Lewis stated to the Court that af
ter she heard of the child's tortures she
could not sleep at night, and felt it to be
her duty to rescue him She and another
| lady hunted up the young ladies who work
ed for Mrs Hammer. They did not wish
to testify against Mr.. and Mrs. Hammer,
as they would lose their places as tailor
esses, and one OF them said that she would
be out of work Mrs Lewis replied. .'nev-
cr fear, God is merciful God. aud he will
provide for your wants" The young la
dies at length agreed to testify, and they
did so with tears in their eyes.
Wm r Dickerson, for Mr.. and Mrs
Hammer after the testimony was heard
remarked to the Court that be had just
told his clients that they were not fit to
have the care of child. and he would not
ask that the child should be returned to
them. He had not suspected that such