The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1875-07-17

with stone.
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THE nOY FIEND.
The readers OF The HERALD will
doubtless remember reading the
newspaper accounts Of two eXtraor-
binary murders, committed in the
moral and pious city of Boston, by
II boy Of fourteen or fifteen, named
Jesse Poneroy. The victims ofthis
young tiend's murderous propen-
siLy ere two little girls, whom he
cnticcd into cellar, and there, in
the most deliberate and cold blooded
manner, cut to pieces, with Il large
knife carefully sharpened for the
purpose. There seemed to have
been, in neither case, not the least
provocation for the commission of
the crime, and ~ contradictory rs
the assertion may sound, he seemed
to have had no malace towards his
victims, but to have been impelled
to these crimes by an irresistible
impulse to kill somothing-to shed
blood. Except as to this strange
propensity, which in mildcr form
crops out ordinarily in boys of Il
more tender age, ina propensity to
torture flies, put turpentine on
dogs, or to pour scaldng water in
20 rat holes, Jesse Pomeroy
seems to have been good boy
enough; attended Sunday School,
and was rs dutiful and affection.
ate to his mother as boys usually
are. In II word, his ordinary con
duct give no sort of indication Of
his being the fearful demon he is.
Altogether, this boy presents one
Of the strangest cases of mate de.
pravity ever recorded. His wick
edness is something marvellous and
phenomenal. 1t has been stated in
paiation of his crime, that his IA
Their was Il butcher, and that before
his birth his mother was in the hab-
1t o. assisting her husband in cut.
ting meat into pieces suited to the
wants of their customers,
and seemed to take the ut.
most pleasure in this occupation.
Those Of our readers who remcm-
Dor IL strange novel by Dr.. Oliver
Wcndall Holmes, called Elsie YER
ner, will understand orr alIusion.
There is good physiological author
ity for believing that mental ten
denotes Of offspring are greatly in
tinenced by accidents of the kind re-
lated of Elsie Verners and Jesse
Pomeroy's mothers.
II this be so, how far is Jesse
Pomeroy II free neral aget' fthe
tendency to commit murder is
hereditary and irresistible, should
he be hold accountable for his acts?
These are questions which have ag-
itatcd the whole of Massachusetts,
for weeks past; and there has been
an imn.ense amount OF inge-
Nous argument used pro and
con. The pres say the
boy is clearly not accountable for
his acts, and should not be hanged in
accordance with the sentence OF the |
court which tried him but, TO pre-.
vent his njuring Othors, should be |
safely imprisoned for life, and eve
nv means taken to cast out the devil !
which possesses him. The cons, on
tic other side, contend for his NOR
al responsibility for his crimes, be-
ing quite as intelligent as other
boys of his age. Besides, they con-
tend, if, from brrcdI tary tendencies,
he il the irreclaimpble murderer
he seems TO be, the first duty |
Of the law Is To protest society BY
his execution. This seems to be
Governor Gaston's view of the case,
and he hus refused TO either pardon
or commute the sentence of death |
pronounced by the court. We think
he is right.