The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-10-07
AFFAIR AT CLEVELAND. IL
Remarkable Case OF Cruelty-A Father
aIAd Mother Lock their Son in a Barn,
aid Leave Him, Without Food or Cloth
ing, 10 Die Beside MRnger. Il

my ACCOUNT OF ciSt VI pdIcHtdl CIucltl y
almost without parallel. Yesterday
forenoon Superintendent Schmidt, Of
the Police Department, received infor-
nation that q man named Kanen, living
J on Gaylord Street, was keeping secreteG
| in his barn boy IL OF. IS years old
who was being slowly starved to death
After brief consultation, Roundsmar
Keegan, started for theEighth Precinct
Station House, where he arrived a lid le
| after noon. He took Pitroln1au lODay
and started out with a determination tC
go to the bottom of the affair. These
officers then. proceeded along Gaylord
Street; passing the premises in question,
which are on Gaylord, near Way Street.
But shortly after getting by them they
entered lot and came to the place OF
investigation unobserved by any of the
inmates of the house. On reaching the
barn which they were anxious to enter,
it was found to be fastened with a pad
lock. Observing a window in the build
ing Officer Keegan went to it and
looked in, but could see nothing. But
as he was in the act of turning away
from it he heard asmostsad moan, which
sounded to him as if it came from hu-
man being in great misery. Listening
few minutes, he heard the sound sew
eral times. This was sufficient toprompt
him TO open the fastened door, to which
he then returned. Finding that it was
impossible to effect an entrance without
a key or drawing the staple he started
toward the house for the purpose of
getting the former. When near the
dwelling he was met by woman who
gave her name as Mrs. Kanen and her
husbands name as Patrick Kanen. On
being asked by the officer for the key to
the barn, she demanded to know what
he wanted of it and asked what business
he had there. Being told that he wish
ed to get into the barn, she said she did
not know where the key was, but
thought it was lost. ROundSman kee-
gan said in reply to this, '"fhat being
the case | shall have to break open the
door, for | must see what is inside.
The woman now seeing that the police
man meant business, said that perhaps
her husband, who was then asleep up
stairs, might have one. At this he en-
tered the house and ascended the stair
way leading to the mans room. Here he
ag;in asked for thelzey, ,lbatwas told this
time that the wife had it. Concluding
that he could not get it, he then went
down stairs and to the barn, thinking
to draw the staple, but Officer O'Day,
who had been standing, on watch ther,,
had by this time become impatient and
drawn it from the post, and was in the
act of opening the door when his supe-
rior returned. This was then done,
when they looked upon most horrible
sight. r.r-.-
About eight feet from the entrance,
in a stall which had been occupied by a
COW, and by the side of a manger, lay
the form of human being whose life
was then ending. The sight, the groans,
and the stencil almost drove the officers
from the place. The body was fearful
to behold. 1t lay upon its left side with
the hands near the face, and the arms
drawn closely to the breast. The legs
above the knees were near to the body,
while the feet were drawn back to tn,
thighs. The entire body was naked.
Not thread touched any part of it,
though few pieces of old clothing were
in the stall. The head was covered by
the usual quantity of hair which nature
gives to persons of IA or Is years of age
But every other part of the corpse fOl
life ceased to exist in few minutes af-
ter the officers entered) showed unmis,
taxable signs Of starvation by inches
The eyes were sunken deep in then
sockets; the face was nothing but skin
and bones, with the teeth protruding be,
yOnd the lips; it was colorless. The
neck had withered away to almost moth
ing, while the trunk presented plainly
the form of every bone of which it was
composed. The ribs and joints in the
backbone could be seen plainly as fal
as the body was visible to the human
eve. The abdomen was much hattened
showing the almost total absence ot
every thing from the intestines. The
, arms and the hands were nothing but
bone withtheiskin drawn closely ovel
> it. The legs and feet were the same
To look at these was most Sickening
The muscles of the legs and arms haC
shrunk to nothing. In short, a harder
sight has not been seen in Cleveland fol
many a day. e E-g-a
As soon as the officers opened the
| door the mother appeared upon the
scene, and begged of them not to expose
/ her and her husband, the father of the
, boy. But = Officer Keegan told hel
: promptly there was no use in that, fol
r the truth would have to be known anC
, told. She then went to the house anC
got shirt, which she brought to the
: bain, and'woiild have put on the corps,
had she not been prevented by the po
: icemen, who wished TO keep the body
as death found it till the Coroner cOulC
= view it. ROundsman Keegan left pa
Z trolman OiDay in charged the building
: and proceeded to the precinct station
5 house, where he telegraphed to the Su
= periutendent, at the Central, the reSul
e of his investigation. On receiving this
? the Chief, accompanied by Detectiv,
\ Holzworth, started for the Eighteenth
: Ward. On reaching the premises the!
t viewed the body, when the Superin
!. tendent ordered the father and mother
1 placed under arrest and taken to th
4 station house. But just before they wer
e escorted away,.a conversation was haI
d with them concerning the starved child
e and the reason why they had treate'
|. him so. They said that his name wa
e Patrick; that he was born in Irelan'
0 about fourteen years ago, and that h
5 lived there always till about two year
s ago, when he was brought to this cOun
e try. They further said that he was fOol
a ish from the day of his birth, and tina
$ en- account of this, they did not desir
1t to have him-with the rest of their chi
: dren. When asked why they put him il
5 the barn, they replied that they had n
/, room in he,house for him. But thi
is could hardly be received as true, becaus
e the dwelling is a new one, complete
"a about two months ago, and contains tie
Z rooms, part of which have never bee
J. used, They said, also, that when the
n left the old house about the first of Al
{. gust and moved into the new one, tn
a boy, who had previously been kept4
lie the upper part of the former building
n was put in the barn, where he was fe
|. once or twice each day bread and te
+ and occasionally afew crackers. Ate
orix-iOCr his nfo,,n, flor, fbav- ,,-oa 1o1 pp