Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-06-05
A Little Negro Girl, in Order to Muir
der a Whole Family so as to
Come Into Possession Of
its Wealth and Fs-
tates, Plays
Vampire After the Most Approved FASH
iOn-She Tries to Smother Her
BenefactOrs An Incident
Which Seems to Justify
an OId-Time Super
stitiOn,

New York Herald, June 1st: I'm the story
of Eugene Burton's unnatural acts, which
was told yesterday in the Fifty-seventh street
police court, is reviewed the old fiction OF the
vampire which runs through SO many tales of
romance and mysticism, and the belief in the
dreaded Broucolacque, which haunts the
gloomy superstitions OF the Breton peasants,
receives IN it an illustration. The narrative
canes from the mouth Of Mile. Elfrida de
Vaily, a professor of the French language at
the Normal college, and it received conhrma-
ton in the confession of the child VINO figures
in it. To give an idea of the latter's history,
the following statement was made to Justice
Kibreth: In the eaIly part of the present
century the De Vaily family were large pro-
prietors in the West Indies. They had plan
tations in Jamaica and carried on other en-
terprlses with profit in the nelghborlng
islands. Much of their wealth consisted
of slaves, and the latter were widely scat
tered through the territory. Mismanage-
ment and other rtverses due to government
al changes greatly reduced the family,
and when Mile. Eilrida and her sister were
Young girls in Paris, the remnants of the
fortune dwindled away with the last OF the
West Indian estates. Among their slaves OF
years before was tawpy little fellow called
Alfred Burton, for whom they conceived
hiking and whom they had attached to the
family. They were not forgetiul OF him In
their reduced condition, and the young mu-
latto received an excellent training. On at
tanning manhood, however, he longed for
early scenes, left them, and went back to the
Indies, where ne married native woman
who had received some such educational ad-
vantages as himself. He kept the De Vailys
familiar with his career, and when little
girl was born him he called the child Dora,
in honor of some of his patrons, and ac-
qualnted them with it. Soon after came
word that Burton had expired and lett the
lNrtro rtrr
The De Vailys, still willing to be of service,
offered to take the little child and adopt it,
and opened correspondence with the
mother to that end. She eagerly
accepted the proposition, and little
Dora was sent to New York, where
the family had in the meanwhile set
tied. She became their care at once, and has
grown up to be "a very amiable little girl OF
twelve. After the expiration OF many years
the De Nailys were surprised to hear from
the chid's mother again. She was still IA
the Indies, and again mother. Inns time
she wrote her daughter was lovely little
girl, so light IN color that she was marvel
In that region, and she asked that the little
girl be taken in charge by the family as the
other had been. Her proposal was cody re-
ceived, but she was not to be satisfied with
DENIAL Letter after letter came from her,
describing the little creatures projections
and her fitness for better fate than she could
locks of reddish hai- to attest the llghtness
of the child's complexion, and IN
other ways strove to win her reception In
New York. To get rid of the woman's impor-
tunities the De Vailys yielded at last, and
thirty five dollars IN gold was sent to her to
pay the little ones passage to this city. In
March, 1877, they went to the vessel to re-
were triie taken back at what awaited
them. A child of seven years was there-a
puny little creature, with a pretty face,
strange black eyes and dark hair which re-
tanned in its ripples marked trace of the
ancestral kirk. 1t was quadroon, differing
in 10 respect from other mongrel children
except in It's extreme dltfidenCe. Not word
could be got out of the little stranger by
questions or ca:esses, except a fixed brooding
look and an occasional pout OF the lips. it
took some time for them to assure them
selves that she was not actually dumb.
OAce at home they set about training her,
and In some things Eugene Eliza Burton was
an apt pupil. She learned to read and write,
and proved herself cunning enough at tunes.
But there her good qualities ceased and the
De Vailys came to understand that they had
introduced a veritable enfdnt terrible to their
hearth Eugene was sullen, she was self
wileG, she was mlschlevoUS as kitten, she
could storm like termagant, scratch and
bite like little tgress, and deal blow with
W,
there was one thing that she could use with
better advantage than another II was her
teeth That little semicircle of nolars was
imprinted in all sorts OF improbable places
about the house In chairbacks, fancy stands,
and even less susceptible material 1t lett Its
mark and that tiny row OF worries would rend
| bedquilt, tear piece of mating and dig
big holes In a mattress with ease. She was
restiye one night, and they put a couple of
chairs beside the bed to keep her in. She bit
| through the cushions and tore the coverlet to
tatters. Another time they chlded her and
she put the end of an embroidered piano
cover IN her mouth, and had 1t IN twain In a
fifty. She was interrupted while coDsum-
| ing a potful Of rhubarb and then recaptured
the vessel and smeared herself with the con-
tents from top to toe. When discovered In
any mischief she would either fatty deny it
or as fatty admit, and sullenly admit to the
consequences. Nile. de Vaily caught her
| tearing to pieces a ffty-dollar floral present
she mad received from her pupils, and when
| she interfered the little vexen scattered them
| before her eyes. These little pecullarltIes
| the family would longer have endured, but
within the last month they made discovery
which revealed what a strange little monster
| they had beneath their roof. The De Vally s
are residing on fat at No. 343 East Fiftieth
| street, and Eugene and her half-sister,
| Dora. slept in rooms close to Mile. Elfrida s.
|
at night by strange sensation IN her throat
and an oppression on the lungs, which she
could not account for. One night she awoke
| to discover Eugene moving about and
| she sent her to sleep with the other
| little girl. Some time passed and then Mile.
| De Vaily was aroused by the creaking of the
| bed in the children room. She turned about
and saw reflected In the mirror there sight
| that for a while puzzled her. Eugene was
crouch1ng on the other chiid's bed, her fin.
| gers were pressed about her throat and her
| own lips, touching the mouth, were suckiD G
| in Dora's breath In way that seemed to
| cause her painful effort. The little creature
was trying to smother her sister. When Mile.
| De Vally appeared she stoutly denied she had
| been doing anything, and maintained this so
persistently that they lost sight of it. A short
| time since, however, Mile. Eltrlda, who has,
| by fits and starts, awakened with the same
| unaccountabe sensation as before, opened her
| eyes in the middle of the night to find Eu-
| genie cooled like serpent over her, her fin
| gers squeezing her windpipe and engaged in
| blowing into her throat. When she moved,
| the child, with peevish pinch, relinquished
| her hold, bounded to the floor, and made of
| to bed. They aroused her there, and ques-
1 toned her for long time in vain. But at
| last this girl of seven yielded and told them
| that her purpose was to kill them all.
| She thought that by pressing their
| windpipes and blowing into their Threats she
could choke them or else she could suck their
breath away. When they chided her she
pondercd for a while and then broke out
with, oh, what fool l Was If l had
thought of carving knife how easily l could
have done it, On being further catechised
| she told the story which yesterday she re-
| peated to Justice Kilbreth In court. In her
! home in the West Indies her mother had
| brought her up to understand that she would
one day 60 away to come ladies who had a
| great deal of wealth and property, and was
told that when they would die it would all
belong to her. When she saw the flowers
and ornaments in her New York abode she
made up her mind to act on her mother g
| hint and gain possession at once by taking
! the lives of her benefactors. Something
suggested the breath as the principle of life,
| or else, acting upon some monstrou1
instinct, she set to destroy them
by consuming it herself, and by turns pinch
ing their threats and blowing in them as
she puts it. Once she had disposed O. them,
L l. L II