Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1867-06-05
AN EXTRAORDINARY CRIME BY
A CHILD.

of Fort Pitt, small settlement in the
valley of the Saskatchewan, Prince Ru
pert's Land, contains the following ac-
count of 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 be so called,
that it is almost without the bounds of
credibility. You know what quiet little
village ours Isl here, hedged in by the
forest primeval, and subject only to the
wants that attend man in his primitive
state, we rely mainly on eur traps and
guns as a means of gaining livelihood
we are as happy, even in our busy
haunts of men, as were the tabled
dwellers in the Utopian Arcadia. The
name of the last newcomer is Martin
Buthiere. He is a native of Lower
Canada. He came here last fall, ac
companied by his wife and five children.
1t is in this family the dreadful tragedy
which am about to relate took place
On Saturday, II inst, Buthiere killed
three pigs, slaughtering them in the usual
manner-that is, after stabbing the ami
mails 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
their bristles 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, Gustave, it 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 interested in the after
processes of the butchering clapping his
little hands and muttering in the pGtOis
of these people, childlike observations
Of Joy.
The butchering, as l have before OBJ
served, 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 celebrated by our good father
Goureau. He invited US TO attend in
the evening, when he intended to lecture
upon some subject suitable to this season
of the church year. In compliance with
his invitation the chapel in the evening
was filled with the usual number of
worshipers, with the exception Of some
of the younger members of the commu-
nity 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 Bu-
There and his wife toward their house,
which was but a short distance from the
chapel. When within few yards of
the door steps we were all startled by
observing the little Gustave running
toward us holding up his hands all red
and bloody his eyes glistening with
wild, but childlike sort of glee, and
crying out in broken French to the effect
that he had killed little piggie; come
and see" The mother, startled at the
appearance of the boy, interrogated him
as TO the cause of the blood, but he only
clapped his hands as before, muttering
about piggy" and said "come and
see." NY first thought was that the
child had been playing with the carcass
of the pigs, and that this accounted for
the blood. The father and mother also
seemed of the same opinion, and ehided
the boy for what they considered his
mischisvousness.
Little did we imagine the fearful spec
tacle that awaited us in the house. Soon
the door was reached, little Gustave run
ming on before and opening it for us.
oh, horror of horrors The door is
opened and right before our eyes, hang
ing from one of the low beams that ran
across the room, was the dead, naked,
mutiated body of the precious little boy,
the Youngest of Buthiere's children.
The floor was covered with clots and
pools of blood still warm and steaming,
and, horrible to relate, directly under the
hanging corpse were the bowels Of the
little fellow in heap, just as they had
been torn from the still warm body The
mother, with frantic shrek, swooned
on the threshhold the father stood trans
fixed, while /, with a sickening feel
ing. leaned against the door post, with
my hands raised TO shade my eyes from
the horrid sight Some Of the villagers,
who were passing at the time, attracted
by the shrieks of Mrs. Buthiere, came to
the house. Their exclamations aroused
all but the poor mother to conscious
ness. and we soon became sensible to the
frirhtful nature Of the deed that had
taken place. The boy, Gustave, in the
meantime, stood near the center OF the
room, with a wondering look on his
youthful countenance, and gazing up IN
the appalled, face Of his agonized father.
Let me draw a veil over the scene which