The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1869-05-20
MOST SHOCKING TRAGEDY.

CuiIcu az UnO idrul TcSucHcc Vi hcOuOTo Dur
mester, Esq. of Boise City. about six miles
below that city in Boise Valley, during the at.
ternoon of the day before, May 18th. Mr..
Burmester had gone to Payette Valley on pro-
fessional business that morning. At home were
Mrs. Burmester, and their two children, both
boys, aged respectively about seventeen months
and three years, and two hired men, Thomas
Bevans and another called John, were at work
in the field. After dinner the eldest of the
children, little Frank, went out to the field
with the men. Between three and four o'clock
of having badly cut his finger, and asked Mrs.
Burmester to dress the wound for him. She
proceeded to her bedroom to get salve and a
wrapping rag. The wretch followed her in,
quickly turned the key. and made most insult
ing proposals to the unsuspecting lady. With
indignation she babe him leave the place. At
this he violently assaulted her, threw her upon
the floor, and terribly bruised her face aud body
with blows and kicks After this he ran from
the room, and Mrs. Burmester arose, got her
husbands double barreled shot gun, and on
hearing the villain approach again attempted to
shoot him. Unfortunately the caps snapped.
He rushed out ran to o window which looked
into her room, aud fired SIX shots from revOl-
yer at her. One bali struck her in the right
side, entered the abdominal cavity, and made
painful, very dangerous wound. Sac fell to the
floor and tainted. Meantime the fiendish wretch,
perhaps fearing exposure of the probable muir
der and his own terrible punishment, and mad
dened by failure to accomplish his first nfa-
nous desire, set fire to the house, and then shot
himself Mrs. Burmester thinks she heard him
shoot twice while she lay wounded in her room.
He had. however, in the first place, put the
youngest child in wagon near the house.
Beyans saw the fire from the field and rushed
to the scene 1t is supposed that the accursed
himself on the porch, where he fell and his
body remained to th. last. After recovering
from the fanting fit Mrs. Burmester, with al
most superhuman resolve and exertion, crawl
ed from the room, out of the burning building,
to safe distance, where Bevans found her.
He quickly dispatched a messenger to Boise
City, and Drs Wagner, Bishop, Stevens, Thb-
ado, Gov Ballard, Judge Scaniker law part
ner Of Mr.. Burmcster and his Wife and sew
cral other friends Of the Burmesters, fastened
to the spot. Messengers were sent off to hur-
| 20. nd ha had
the place about midnight. The building was
consumed. On the porch was the body of the
vile wretch who had SO terribly crowded his
! four great crimes with such frightful and re-
voting etlect-of outrage, murder, arson and
suicide An informant who was present says
his arms and legs were burned to crisp, and
his brains and heart, both exposed, were liter
ally frying, on the evening Of the tragedy, as
the hated corpse laid upon the charred porch,
lust where the ficnd had fallen.
We are gratifed to be able to state, upon
authority of Boise City papers, that DIR. Wag-
ner, who is attending Mrs. Burmester, has
strong hopes of her recovery. God grant she
NAV live and entirely recover from the terrible
shock, as we'll 1t is gratifying further to know
that her children were saved And while the
loss of property and the memory of the shock
ing calamity must weigh heavily and most dis
tressingly on Mr.. Burmester, we trust and hope
that he will timely recover from the awful,
crushing blow to his acutely sensitive nature,
and that long years of contentment shall yet
flow to fill the measure of life to him and his.
=. s. BY stage of last evening we received
the mournfu intelligence that Mrs. Burmester
had finally died of her wounds. Sincerely do
we deplore the melancholy event, and offer our
condoements to her griefstricken, deeply be-
reaved husband. She was most estimable
lady, the daughter of Mr.. Hunsackcr, wealthy
farmer Of Clackamas county, Oregon.
OwYHEE ITEMs.-We extract the following
| from the Ardldnche and the Wdrc:
The Ida Gilmore, Golden Chariot, and Silver
Cord Mines are yielding as rich ore as ever
and the mills have resumed crushing and ex-
tracing processes.
A teamster named Sheldon slipped the
County Assessor of Owyhee. and got away
without paying his taxes. The officers had
started in pursuit OF HIM.
More seizures of liquor for violations of the
Internal Revenue law have been made in Owy