The Osceola times., 1876-02-26
A CHILD'S AGONY.
AnectiWR Incident Of the tainstrOphe In
Cincinnati.

An.c'i"s Inc,ae.. er me s.'n.,roph. Ia
| Cincinnati.
Decidedly the most affecting after.
scenes which the catastrophe gave rise TO-
were to be witnessed in the ante-rooms
of the second floor of the opera-house, to
which the bodies Of four Of the dead had
been removed. In the first of these
rooms, at the southwest corner Of the
building. were stretched on the floor the
bodies of Annie Nay Runzi and Freder-
lex Loech, while in the next roonr lay
the corpses of Harry White and Hattie
! Leslie. In the front room there were
none but curiosity-seekers present to
view the melancholy sight, but in the
rear room, half an hour after the panic, a
scene was enacted that brought tears to
the eyes of every man in the room.
Mr.. Leslie, the father of the dead girl,
had been hastily summoned from his
place of business at the corner Of Fourth
and Race streets, and when he entered the
room the first person he encountered was
his little eight-yelr-old son, who was
wringing his hands In an agony of grief
by the side of his sisters corpse. One
look at the remains sufiiced to prove to
the trembling father that it was indeed
his child, and then with fervently ut
tered "My God" that betokened the
overwhelming grief with which the sight
had inspired him, he began weeping and
fell into chair, as helpless as the boy
that stood beside him. As the little fell
low noticed the terrible effect the sight
produced upon his father, he burst into
fresh fit of weeping, and fell upon his
knees before his parent, with the excla-
nation, "Oh, father, was always good
to her, wasn't II"
"You was, my son." was all the pa
rent could reply for an instant, and then
the boy said:
Father, tried to save her. pull
ed two little girls out of the crowd my
self, and then got Hattie in my arms,
when big, heavy man came along and
knocked her away IRON me and tr,impIeo
on her."
Then followed another deluge of tears
and the parent upon recovering said
my son, she was the only oncw
"Yes, father" replied the boy, "but
she is in heaven. She was so good that
U kIloW FnC IlluNl lutlt. ttu-dllu--
oh, | can never be happy again without
her."
"Yes, my son." answered the father
with desperate attempt to appear re-
signed, "she has gone to another and a
better place"
"Oh, father" then cried the boy,
what will mother say when she hears
of this?"
This question caused the parent such
anguish as to again throw him into n
paroxysm Of grief, during which he
walked the floor with his hands clasped
to his forehead, and never dared to
glance at the spot where, in plain attire,
with muff and gloves resting upon her
bosom and an expression of peace on her
countcnance, lay the child who but an
hour before had been rejoicing at the
treat which she owed TO his affection.
The boy meanwhile, with an earnestness
that was pitiable in its fervency, piled
the bystanders with questions rs TO how
his sister had looked when they found her
body; whether she had worn an express
sion of pain, or whether the position IN
which she was found indicated that
she had expired speedily and without
suffering
Mr.. Leslie, unable longer TO bear the
scene, and deeply affected by his sons
conduct, said: :" Come, my boy, We will
90. Thank God that you, at least. are
spared TO me-" As they started from
the room the boy broke away from his
father, and, rushing through the crowd,
81 har a.ra,s, at
me see my sister" Then, as room was
made for him, he knelt at the side OF
his dead playmate, and looked long and
earnestly in her face, as if he could not
realize II was death he saw imprinted
there. He was weeping violently now,
and as the tears rolled forth they
fell upon the pallid face that never more
could brighten in recognition of his af-
fectionate tenderness. Suddenly he
cried: "Let me kiss her." then knelt
lower, and pressed his lips to those
of the dead dozen times, while he
chokingly murmurcd; "Oh! Hattie,
Hattie !"
Mr.. Leslie at last took the boy gently
by the arm and led him unresistingly
away. As he did this the son between
his sobs cried, "Oh, father, when kissed
her, her lips were 50 cold" Just at thi,
time Mr.. White, the father of the dead
boy, whose body was lying in the room
also, came in and as he pressed forward
TO gaze on the remains, the crowd in the
room interviewed between Leslie and hi
son and the form of her they held sc
dear. Instantly the boy was on his feet
and rushing forward, arranged his sister
clothes so as to cover her completely ant
then cried out, Father, have you got
handkerchief TO put over sisters face !?
The handkerchief was handed him, HI
adjusted it carefully and was then lifte'
upon his fathers knee, where he wcpt a
if his heart was broken.
| A VALUABLE manuscript has been dir
covered in the Azores, referring to tn
colonization, in the year 1900, Of tn
northern part of this continent, by en-