New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-07-11
A JUVENILE ASSASSIN.


Massachusetts presents the extraordinary
spectacle of child of only ten years in prison
and charged with malicious murder. The
whole affair is infantile to degree, for the
victim was only about three years old. The
scene of the tragedy was West Acton, Mass.
George Edward Curtain, the older lad, went
with MOrriss A. Lane into the woods for
strawberries. Curtains story is that little
Lane offended him by trampling upon the ber-
ries, and that he clicked him because he
continued the offense, and because he broke
I" his (Curtain's) toys so that he was about
tired of it." The nature of this punishment
may be inferred from the wounds inflicted
upon the child. There was a wound across
the bridge Of the nose which had cut to the
bone; another on the side of the forehead two
inches long, which peeled the flesh to the
skull and wound on the back part of the
skull about three inches long which reached
the bone, and which probably caused death.
Both arms were black and blue and there was
bruise over the eye. We beg pardon for
recOunting these frightful particulars, but 1t
is necessary to do so in order to show what
intense passions must have urged boy of ten
to infiict such cruelties upon a mere babe.
After doing his dreadful work, Curtain left
the bruised and bleeding child in the woods
to die. He Joined in the search which fol-
lowed apparently with great reluctance.
When Lane was asked who had hurt him he
answered Eddie Apart from his own con-
fession, this is the only evidence against the
prisoner of q direct character, and this not
being in the nature of dying declaration,
can hardly be used in court. Indeed, the
whole case is Of peculiar and unprecedented
character.
A boy of ten who could do deed like
this is psychological curiosity, and we read
with interest the slight details which are
given of his character. AT school he had the
credit of being the best scholar in his class"
He is most unnaturally cool and not In the
least alarmed by the predicament in which he
finds himself During his examination, which
he appeared to find somewhat wearisOme, he
held The Hreside Companion in his hand, and
occasionally solaced himself by reading it. lie
also read other newspapers, and now and then
cut slips from them relating to his case, one
of which he handed to person near him To
read There is something fascinating In the
spectacle of such small assassin. We figure
him like a short fiend in fairy tale. We are
not surprised to be informed that ." his face Is
covered with large freckles" But on the
other hand, we are told that he was not only
"the best scholar in his class" but that he
"seemed to think q deal of the baby" as his
victim is called by all the witnesses.
Considered calmly and apart from the emo
tons which such a case naturally excites, the
murder seems to have been merely the result
of a childish rage venting itself with the
strength of ten years opposed to the weak
ness and helplessness of three. Legally, of
course. there can be no homicide in the affair,
the older boy not having attained the age OF
discretion, and being clearly irresponsible for
such an act. To be sure, his unusual precoclty
somewhat modifies such a view of the case,
but even this does not imply reflection, the
least power of self control, or fair appre-
citation of the consequences of such violence.
The extraordinary point is the diabOlical pas
sion, hot and strong enough for giant, which
took possession of this puny frame, and
gave a kind of pugilistic force to the
blows of mere boy. We are simply
tempted to ask how he came by This
gusty and virile rage. For what sins of his
forefathers were his little teeth 80 set on
edgei To what long buried ancestor, quiet
and peaceful enough perhaps for five genera
tions, must the shame of the killing OF the
baby in Acton woods on that pleasant Summer
day be assigned7 Who knowsR We fondle
our beloved children as yet all innocent and
pure, aud can never tell what fearful legacy
of a bad heart ora feeble conscience or an I'M
comfortable appetite they may have received
from some grandfather five or six times great,
whose very name perhaps is unknown to us.
Such is the entail of human infirmity, dOcked
and dormant sometimes for longer or shorter
period, to be revived long after its origin is
buried in oblivion.