The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-07-12
A PICTURE OF MISERY.
A SAD STORY OF DOMESTIC UNHAPPINE5s AND
MATERNAL AFFECTION,
TFrom the New York Herald. I

[From the New York Herald.
One Of those unfortunate cases Of matri-
monial misery which appeals to the sympathies
of the generous everywhere has recently ap-
peared in the social atmosphere Of this city
and neighborin9 village. An unhappy and
ill-advised marriage, the subsequent dissipa-
ton and jealousy of the husband and father,
of the child from its mother and her abandon
ment to restitution are the principal facts in
the sad narrative. Scarce seven summers since,
a quiet marriage ceremony was performed Ill
an inland town in this State. The young
couple began their dual life with every pro
mise of happiness. Hardly had the sound
of the wedding bells ceased to be heard in
the bright air castles which the young brides
devotion coniured into being, when she dis
covered that she was the wife of debauchee.
| The honeymoon days were not ended before
She was witness to his violent outbnrsts of
drunken rage and sufferer from his abuse.
| The offer Of position of trust in a large dry
goods house brought the husband to the me-
tropolis, where he and his wife took lodgings,
and for while, lived peacefully The general
effect Of city life upon the young man was
bad: and his weak and dissolute nature soon
| yielded to all its allurcments. There is every
evidence, without manltestin9 any undeserved
sympathy, that the wife was uniformly
| faithful and forSiving The return to his cups
soon brought financial ruin to the couple.
Discharged by his employer, the tears Of the
! faithful wife We're powerless to dissuade the
husband from his mad course. Little more
than year of such a life had passed when
their child was born. The mother was hope
full that the coming into life OF this girl
might work the reformation i'll the father
so ardently sought. Hopes and dreams
are seldom realized. The advent OF the tiny
girl con jured up i'll the brain Of the father
species of morbid impulses, alike inexpica-
bic by science or common sense. The father
became jealous of his own child. Through
one Of those strange freaks developed in futal
life the child soon evinced positive dislike
for its father. Jealousy made the fathers rage
something dreadful to witness. Never any
insinuation that he doubted the faithfulness Of
MS wife, never any evidence that he cared for
her love or respect, but always that rabid
paroxysm of temper whenever the innocent
little child crossed bis line Of vision. Aside
from any medical diagnosis of his bodily con-
dition, there is only one solution for his actions
during the long, dreary year which followed,
and that is the diseased state of his brain, in
duced by intemperance. The occasional par
oxysms of temper became in time a settled
manis, and the young mother was on several
occasions forcibly restrained from procuring
medicine for her sick chi d. During these
years the family had resided in Lockport and
Westchester county Early in this year they
removed to Setauket, on Long Island where
for time the husband seemed determined to
mend his ways. His manner suddenly changed
toward his family, and, gradually, as it would
seem, with one settled purpose in view, he
won back place in his wifes respect
On cold, bleak evening in March, after
few weeks of this passive existence, during
which the mother had striven by every means
in her power to prevent the rousing Of the |
dangerous temper which her husband dis
played toward their child, the demonlac .pirit |
suddenly re-entered the mans heart He |
sprung like maniac upon his wife, dragged |
her over the tioorto the dining room, where
he bound her tight and fast in IA heavy chair. |
Unmindtul OF her screams, the Infatuated man |
rushed to the bedside Of the little girl, caught |
the sleeping innocent in his arms and hurried |
out of the door into the darkness. Unable to |
extricate herself, the mother passed the night
IN mental agony indescribable. Two visitors
to the house in the morning released her.. A
pause at the side of the empty
bed, where on the previous nighttall she had
laid her child TO sleep, sutficed to awaken her
to full realization OF the dreadful state of at
fairs. Although a mother, she was utterly
childless Her own husband, the cause
Of SO much former misery, had now gone so
far as to carry off the only object dear to her
in this world. Leaving the house Just as it
STOOD hastily donning her wraps, without
means, friends, or counselors. this mother
walked out of that home to travel the country
over in search of her lost girl. For days and
weeks her search was truitless. She visited
villages in New Jersey, on Long
n |
every place in the metropolis where she
imagined the slightest chance existed Of find
ing her child. Almost penniless, she sought
the help of police and detectives in vain
The admonition of New York's chief of police
to one of the most experienced officers 'to
work up the case for humanity sake - met
with an Indifferent reception. Lawyers told
her that it would be kidnapping for her to
lake her child should she even find the little
,ne. Ignorant of the mysteries of the law,
she trembled at its majesty as laid down by
every claptrap barrister whom she consulted.
They all talked more of retainers and costs
han of the cause of her misery DAY after
lay, as | walked the streets or rode in the
cars, said the sorrowful mother to the writer
Il always imag ined that | would
ind my own little bright-taced girl at the turn
If the next corner or the crossing of the next
street Disheartened and despairing her
teps finally led the mother only little while
inee to Mamaroneck, in the county of West
hester where, for the first time since the dis
appearance Of the child in last March, she.
aw the little girl at the house of sister-in-
aw. She was allowed only few minutes
With her girl and was then forcibly separated
rom the crying child, to be only more
vretched than before.
This mother is now in New York She
acks the legal counsel necessary for her to
AXE the proper steps toward the recovery of
Ter offspring. The simple story of sorrow /,
ng woman's heart as told above, is condensed
rom long narrative as it came from her lips l
0 a reporter Of the Herald. The same Justice
hat protects the poor friendless orphan chill !
ren in our streets should be able to vouch-
ate some relief to this sad, grief-stricken
Mother. ....
INGENIOUS ELECTRICAL DEVICE. One of t
be most useful additions which have been =
lade recently to the machinery employed in i
Teaving has been the system of electrical de-
actorS designed to give instant notice when /