The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1867-06-14


/ within the house. Soon the door was
reached, little Gustavc running on be-
/ fore and opening ii for us. oh, horror
of horrors! The door Is opened, and
| right before our eyes, hanging from one
/ OF the low beam. that ram across the
room, was the dead, naked, mutlatcd
| body Of the precious little boy, the
| youngest Of Buthicrc's children. The
/ i!oor was covered with clots and pools
Of blood, still warm and streaming, and
horrible 70 relate, directly under the
hanging corpse were the bowels of the
little fellow in heap Just rs they had
! been torn from the still warm body
/ Tho mother, with frantic shrek,
sWoonrd on the threshold, the father
stood transiiXcd with horror. whilst /.
/ with a sirkcning feeling, leaned against
the doorpOst, and with my hands, tried
/ TO shade my eyes from the horrid sight.
some of the villagers who were passing
Mt the time, attracted by the shrieks of
/ Mrs. Buthiere, came to the house. Their
cNclamatiOns aroused all but the poor
mother to consciousness, and we soon be-
came sensible TO the frightful nature Of
the deed that had taken place The
/ boy Gustave, in the meantime, stood
near the centre of the room, with
wondering look on his youthful counte-
nance, and gazing up in the appalled,
| face of his agonized father. Let me
| draw II veil over the scene which fol
lowed, and merely recount the follow
/ ing facts which have been elected BY
an Inspection of the room and from the
confessions Of the young fratricide: 1t
would seem that, shortly after Mr. and
Mrs. Blthere had left their home for
the purpose of attending the lecture at
the chapel, Gustavc proposed to his
little brother. Adolph, that they should
play killing pig. In this request, it is
supposed chat the unfortunate little fell
low acluicsced. The youngest was to
/ be the pig, the eldest the butcher. Gus
tave eagerly assisted his brother to un-
dress for the tragedy; and, taking a
small rope, tied him down securely to
rough lounge that stood in the room
and then procured the butcher knife
/ that his father had used in slaughtcring
the pigs the day before and plunged it
into the throat of his passive and help
less brother. The wound was mortal
one, and it is supposed that death must
have Immediately resulted. After the
child had blcd his little life away, the
unnatural brother, with the most in
credible hcartlcssness, took the cord
/ which confined the body to the lounge,
and tying one end round the feet of the
corpse, threw the other over the beam,
and, lending his weight and strength,
/ hOisted the body to the position in
which it WAS found then, not satisfied
with the programme thus far carried
out, the little butcher must needs dis
cmbOWcl his dead brother almost in the
/ exact manner in which his father had
the pigs the day before. mention here
that the boy Gustavc has always been
considered aS possessing Il weak intel
lgct but was thought to be n good-heart
ed and tractablc child. What could
/ have induced him to commit this fear
ful crime is beyond our conjecture, eX-
ccpt it be from an unavoidable desire to
initiate his father in the killing of the
pigs. Since the tragedy he has seemed
to realize in certain degree the fear
ful nature of the deed, and cries bitter
ly when he sees how unhappy his father
and mother are. At present he is kept
in close custody, but what disposition
the authorities win make of him can
not say. -