The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-11-13

i!ilfocle, mas not yet received more
than local ecclesiastical confirmation
and is unstampcd by Rome us u true
miracle wrought by God for the cdiii.
cation of tho people, it is nevertheless
treated with tho greatest reverence by
large numbers OF Catholics, who re.
gard it as supernatural phenomenon
intended TO increase their devotion.
--.-sse-.----
| WOM4N'S BLOODY DEED.
Sho Cutstho ThrontB OF IIbr Five Children
Sots Ftre to Her Own Clothing nud is
Burned to Death.
From tho Charlotte Obscryer.1
From perfectly trustworthy sources
from letter received from across
the border and from gentleman who
arrived in this city yesterday afternoon
particulars are gathered of orc OF
| the most shocking transactions that
was ever heard of. The story of the
crime and end of Mrs. James Adams,
late of Lancaster, S. c., has, happily
but few parallels in all the annals
of crime, and it will. in all likelihood,
stand out conspicuously for MANY
years to come, as one Of the celebrated
| cases.
Mrs. Adams, with her husband and
five children-thrcc boys and two girls
lived eight or ten miles below Ian
caster village, the husband and father
farmer, working on the lands of Mr..
A. j. Kiblcr. Near them lived n
ncighbor, q Mr.. Crcnshaw, and last
Saturday night about twelve O'Clock,
tho Crcnsaws were aroused from
sleep by the cries Of Mrs. Adams, who
appeared ut thcir door, begging for m
axe, but insisting that no iir!ht be
brought. Going out, Mr.. Crcnshaw
discovered that the clothing was en-
tircly burned from the body of the
woman and that she was suffering in
tcnscly from the fire which had cnycl-
opcd her. 1lc asked her where her
baby was, to which she replied, "In
fleaVcn," and proposed to answer any
other questions on condition that She
should be Knocked in the head. Jude-
ing from Mrs. Adams condition that
her house had been burned down.
and thinking it likely that the children
had been burned with it, Mr.. Creu-
shaw ran thitlcr, but finding no fire
upon tho premises except upon the
hearth in one of tic rooms of the
dwelling, he returned to his own home
without entering.
Other persons were by this time
gathered at Crcnshaw's house, and
Mrs. Creishaw suggesting that
Mrs. Adams be taken hack
to her own homo, she wa wrapped
in a sheet and carried thitIcr.
An hour and u half after being placed
in her bed, death kindly came to her
relief, and she passed away without
IN thncn l.
the terrible picture which was soon to
be opened up to them.
Some of the ncighbors, Of whom
therc had by this time gathered quite
number, having occasion to go into
a little shed room connected with the
house, encountered there a spectacle
which, once looked upon, is never to
DC forgotten. In one bed lay all five
OF tho children, each wcltcring in it's
blood, and all dead. All resting in
natural positions-tllrcc of the chill
drcn's heads ut the head of the bed
and the heads of the other two at the
foot-so much Of rcsposc was there
IN the scene, and SO little suggestion of
violence of any kind, that tic chance
spectator would have said they were
enjoying natural sleep. The bodies
were still warm, but the blood was
there to tell where the knife had
been. Lights were brought, and ex-
animation revealed that not one little
life had been spared by tho distracted
mother. In every case tho jugnlar
vein had becn cut by some sharp in
strumcnt, and SO painless was the
death that not one child had moved.
The eldest of the clildrcn-aged about
eleven years-had been stabbed in two
places and the infant in three, but
only upon the eldest was there
scratch, and except upon the necks,
from which the life blood had run out,
there was no sign Of blood until the
cover Was removed and tho bodies
turned over.
There was no difficulty in finding
theory for the presence of these six
corpses in tho house. The mother,
known by the neighbors to have been
an utterly wretched woman, in q mo-
mont Of sudden frenzy had taken the
lives of her five childrcn and then set
fire to her own clothing to finish her
work. How we'll she did it has al
ready been told. That she was insane
when she did it does not admit Of tho
slightest doubt. AS to tho cause of
her insanity there are conflicting sto-
rics. The most generally accepted is
that ofjcalousy, and this is all the
moro plausible since there are no allie
cations in tho netghborhood of person.
al violence on the part Of tho husband.
She had been heard to say that she
would rather SEQ her children dead
than to have them living as they were. /.
but tho full force Of this remark does
not appear in tho absence of proofs Of
degrading poverty.
Tho husband and father was not at
homo at the time Of tho occurrence
which must over bo to him tho black
est Of dark memories. He had Uonc
to tho house of a brother to spond tho
night, expecting to go tho next lay
from there to church; and in tho fact
that his going had been urged by his
wifc is found proof that her purpose
Of murder and suicide was not sud-
den freak but prcmeditatcd pur-
pose.
Tho tragic affair has, as a matter of
course, created a profound sensation
in the immediate section whore 1t oc-