The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1876-03-02
4 CHUD,S AGONY.
Affecting Incident Of the f'sstastrdr,i1s a.,
E1heinnafFz


Affecting Incident Of the Catastrophe la
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 May Runz and Freder-
lex Boech, while in the next room lay
the corpses Of Harry White and Hattle
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,
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-year-old son, who was
wringing his hands lii an agony Of grief
by the side Of his sisters corpse. One
look at the remains sufficed to prove to
the trembling father thatit 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 a chair, as helpless as the boy
that stood beside MIN. As the little fell
low noticed the terrible effect the sight
produced upon his father, he burst into
a 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 t?''
- You was my son." was all the pa
rent could reply for an instant, and then
the boy said;
Father, I tried to save her. I pull
ed two little girls out of the crowd my
self, and then / got Hattie in my arms.
whom big, heavy man came along and
knocked her away from me and trampled
on her"
Then followed another deluge of tears,
and the parent upon recovering said,
My son, she was the only OneP'
Eyes, father" replied the boy, "but
she Is in heaven. She was SO good that
know she must be there, and-and-
oh, | can never be happy again without
her"
eyes, my son." answered the father
with a desperate attempt to appear re-
olElA5tAg BIC lbs SOllC " dllOILlGI anu Il
better place"
ooh, father" then cried the boy,
''what will mother say when she hears
of this2''
This question caused the parent such
anguish as to again throw him into a
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
countenance, 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 pitiablc in its fervency, piled
the bystanders with questions as 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: g Come, my boy, we will
go. 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,
! cried out: "Let me see her again; let
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 it 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-
teCtionate tenderness. Suddenly he
cried Let me kiss her." then knelt
lower, and pressed his lips to those
of the dead a dozen times, while he
chokingly murmUred: "Ohl Hattie,
Hattie p
Mr. Leslie at last took the boy gently
by the arm and led him INCREASINGLY
away. As he did this the son between
his sobs cried, Oh, father, when | kissed
her, her lips were so cold" Just at this
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 his
son and the form of her they held so
dear. Instantly the boy was on his feet,
and rushing forward, arranged his sisters
clothes 50 as to cover her completely and
then cried out, Father, have you got a
handkerchief to put over sisters face ?'
The handkerchief was handed him, he
adjusted it carefully and was then lifted
upon his fathers knee, where he wept as
if his heart was broken.