Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1871-09-13
CASE OF INFANTICIDE.
An Infants Body Discovered in - Pine
Thicket.
The corpse Carried off by Strange wo.
man.

Yesterday afternoon about ten minutes mast
five o'clock, Martha Steel, IA well known hnbi.
tue oil the demi-monde, arrived in breathless
haste at police headquarters and made a state.
ment to the effect that she had seen the BODY OF
| anewly born infant lying in the thicket beyond
Gray Cemetery, to the left of the Jacksboro'
pike, and requested that officer should ac-
! company her to the scene
After questioning her closely. and heinz
SATISFIED OF THE TRUTH
of her story officers Cole and RYAN. occomno.
med by a CHRoNIcLE reporter, repaired to the
spot designated, and found a considerable num-
Der OF people present, chiefly colored women
and children, in the liveest state of excitement,
.h ne s1atement OF Miss Martha was to the effect
that about half past four oclock p. NJ. while
taking stroll through the pines she discovered
a pile of clothing under bush. which attracted
her attention, and proceeding thither was horri-
ned on lifting piece of wearing apparel to find
DEAD BODY OF CHILD,
apparently but few hours old. with n cord
tled tightly around its neck. She called TO n
companion, who told her to pick it up and take
IL away. But she was averse to doing So and
named Mary Burns, and told her of the fact
and ran as fast as possible to inform the authori
ties of the fact as before stated
Arriving on the ground, tho police were
Cfiagrlheu 10 learn that during the short absence
OF the messenger from the spot, a woman had
suddenly appeared and
CARRIED THE CORPSE OFF,
There being only children watching it at the
time, though several women were in spht and
witnessed the abduction. She, however, had
not removed anything else, and where the child
was lying were seen mans shirt and drawers
Il woman nlght-gown, of coarse material an
envelope filled with letter paper written on. n
package OF Ayers pills and loose box of the
same, a bottle of hair oil, an empty bottle and
several bottles of liquors and bitters, vial of
lndcihble ink, package of lead pencils, per-
FUMES, soap, matches, several boxes of caps, and
miscellaneous articles, looking like the spoils
OF drug store The police took charge of the
articles and Mr. Ryan mounted horse, which
ne borrowed from one of the spectators, and
STARTED IN PURSUIT,
accompanied by officer Cole on foot, in different
ulrectlons Three persons saw the BODY Mar
tina Steele white, Nancy Alexander and So
phronla Jones, colored, who all testified to hay-
ing seen the string around the infants neck and
expressed their belief that it had been murdered
by an unnatural parent The woman who APP
peared so suddenly and mysteriously and made
on with the body was described by the children
as being good looking with long black hair"
put they had never seen her before and of course
did not know who she was
THE MYSTERY UNEXPLAINED
After long and fatiguing hunt the officers
were compelled to abandon the search as fruit
less. and returned to the city. Who the I'M
natural mother Is cannot even be coniectared
put from the quantity of druggists supplies
found, 1t is probable that she was attended in
her sylvan accouchment by a lover us depraved
as she was W no perhaps tied the fatal moose that
hurried soul to eternity, which, living, would
nave been source of shame to them.
Since the above was in type on Tuesday NOR
ming the police arrested suspicious character,
who claims thatthe medicines found came from
Charleston, Tennessee.