New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1879-11-12
Crine s. Franoa

CRIME seems terribly on the increase
In France, and not 3 day goes by With
out some new deed Of savaeery exciting
the public. The latest specimen 10 the
story Of . little monster named Marie
Anne Gaubert. aged eleven, who. In the
absence Of her mother, deliberately
burnt her baby brother 70 death. The
means adopted for accomplishing her
ferocious and unnatural purpose arc
proofs OF the most base and cunning
instincts. Her victim Was but two
years and four months old. She waited
till the house she lived in (near Cahors)
was perfectly quiet, and then, tying
her brother 70 stool, ct fire to some
straw underneath Il, and went Of
first taking the precaution to lock tho
door behind her TO prevent Ill chance
OF the unfortunate child's escape.
When tho case came on for trial, how
ever, the jury brought IN verdict vir-
tually acquttting the juvenile murderer,
who gets OF With sentence Of nine
years free board and lodging ct : Fe-
male ReformaAory. The mother, who
appears to have originally suggested
the murder 70 her daughter, haG been
condemned to five Year, imprison.
ment. It was proved that, on several
occasions, she had told Marie Anne 70
strangle little Jean. .sn You would
only ftrangle him. she said one day,
Eve should be III tho quieter, and
you would get praised y every onel"
When the youthful murderer, however,
was cross-examined, she resolutely de.
MED that any suggestion Of tho mothers
had led her to the crime. II Was %
sick Of hearing him cryl'' was the ex-
traordinary and revolving explanation
Aar1e-Anne gave Of the affair.
Barbarous - this murder n. Il II
nothing compared to tho one read Of
few years ago. Here tho victim was
. mother. and the murderers her two
children-a boy and girl Of sixteen
or seventeen each. The family lived
somewhere in the Provinces, in : lone
y country-house. Il il supposed that
the children grew impatient at having
70 wait for some tridinE property that
WaS to come to th. N on the death Of
their mother. Be this % It may, the
murder was determined, on, and the
infamous pair set to work. First they
tried to poison tho poor creature BY
putting sulphurous matches in her
soup, when che lay III In bed. This
did not succeed the first time; and they
tried again with . stronger dose. But
the invalid's stomach rejected the poi
son. Upon that they altered their
plans entirely how, / shall tell you.
In many old French oountry.houses
there are great beams running across
the kitchen ceilings. One day, g
their mother was sitting before the fire
on chair, they put their devi1ish and
accursed scheme into execution. One
whether the boy or girl I do not re.
member-tied her tightly to the chair.
The other threw rope over the beam,
made . running moose, and clipped It
round the victims neck. Then, both
uniting their efforts, they strung her
up, chair and Ill, to the ceiling, and
held her till the last convulsive strug-
gle was over. Incredible and shame
full to relate, the jury that tried those
two fends admitted their plea of sex
tenuating circumstanoes.' They were
not logged to death, or torn to pieces
by wild horses, as they deserved to be.
No. A good, generous and humane
French jury took an after-dinner view
OF the case, and they were only sent to
prison for term Of years. There are
still hopes that they may yet have op.
portunities Of strangling, shooting or
poisoning the rest Of the family before
they themselves quit this world for
hotter and more congenial one, not
named in polite society.-Paris Coz.
Chicago Tribune.