The Vinton record. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1866-1891, 1867-06-20
astisrfllantoas.
A Horrible StOry---An EXtraOrdi-
nary Crime by Child.

nary Crime by u Child.
A PRIVATE letter, written by a
resident of Fort Pitt, a small set
tlement in the valley Of the Sas-
katchawan, Prince Rupert's Land,
contains the following account of a
most terrible occurrence which
took place there on the 18th of
March:
A dreadful affair happened here
the other day; such singular and
out-of-the-way crime, if it can so
be called, that it is almost without
the bounds of credibility. You
know what quiet little village
ours is; here, hedged in by the for
est primeval, and subject only tC
the wants that attend man in his
primitive state, we rely mainly on
our traps and guns as a means of
gaining a livelihood; we are as hap
py, even IN our isolation from the
busy haunts of men, as were the
tabled dwellers in the Utopian Ar
cadia. The name of the last new
conner is Martin Buthlere. He is
habitan from Lower Canada. He
came here last fall, accompanied
by his wife and five children. 1t is
IN this family that the dreadful
tragedy which | am about to re-
late took place. On Saturday, -
inst, Buthiere killed three pigs,
slaughtering them in the usual
manner-that is, after stabbing the
animals and allowing them to bleed
to death while walking around, he
disemboweled them, and plunged
their carcasses into vat of boiling
water, and then scraped the briS-
ties clean from the skin. The three
pigs were then hoisted by the hind
legs to an overhanging beam. The
butchering operations of Martin
were witnessed by his two younger
children, boys, of the respective
ages OF six and eight years. The
eldest, Gustavesit was observed at
the time, seemed delighted, not
only by the stupid actions of the
pigs after receiving their death
wounds, but also excited and inter
ested in the after processes of the
butchering, g,clapping his little hands
and muttering, in the pat0ts OF
these people, childlike observations
of joy.
The butchering, as I have before
observed, took place on Saturday
In the morning members of the
different households assembled in
the little chapel at the east corner
of the fort, and heard mass cele-
brated by our good father Guoreau
He invited us to attend in the eve
ming, when he intended to lecture
upon some subject suitable to this
season of the church year. In com
pliance with his invitation the
chapel in the evening was filled
with the usual number of worship.
pers, with the exception of some OF
the younger members of the COM
munity who had been left at home.
Among these latter were the boys
of Martin Buthiere. 1t was pretty
late when the meeting broke up
| accompanied Buthiere and his
wife toward their house, which was
but a short distance from the chap
ell. When within few yards Of
the doorstep we were all startled
by observing the little Gustave
running toward us holding up his
hands all red and bloody, his eyes
glistening with a wild, but a child
like sort of glee, and crying out in
broken French to the effect that he
had "killed little piggy; come and
see." The mother, startled at the
appearance of the boy, interrogat.
ed HIM quickly as to the cause ol
the blood, but he only clapped his
hands as before, mutte1ing about
"piggy," and said, "come and see.'
My first thought was that the child
had been playing with the carcass
! of the pigs. and that this account