The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1880-04-29

Tuesday the shocking news reach
ed the city, thst Mrs. Houston, wife OF
L. P. Houston, who lives shout five
miles below the city, had killed her
little two-year-old boy. The facts as
assertaine1 by the reporter yesterday,
are as follows: Mrs. Houston rs the
wife OF L. 2. Houston, we'll to do
farmer who is well and fsvOTably know
to many Of our cluZens. She is the
mother of five children, and ia a wo-
man OF more than ordinary intelligence.
but for nearly year has shown decii-
ed symptoms
OF INSANITY
induced by disease. Al times the pa
roxism would he intensified and con-
tnue for several days. but for month
or two past she has been under the
medical treatment of Drs. Burt sAd
Stovall, and her health has greatly In
proved aud the symptoms of insanity
had almost entirely disappeared, and
her husband and family and their many
friends were rejoicing at her improved
condition, ana were confident she
would soon be entirely well. For the
past ten or fifteen days she seemed TO
be in better spirits than usual and at
tended to her household duties, and in
no way indicated the slightest mental
disorder. During the time she has
been affected, and particularly at the
periods when her insanity assumed
violent form, she has been inbued with
the idea Of killing her husband and
children and then to take her own life.
Some time ago she says she got mp
during the night and procuring razor,
stood over her husband for qui'e
awhile, debating whether she would
cut his throat or not, but she says her
courage failed her, and she put away
the razor and went back to bed deter
mining TO carry out her plan at some
future time, but q careful watch over
her movements has prevented it. Mon
day morning her husband had business
in town and was preparing to leave
home when she approached him and
requested that he bring home small
quantity
OF sTRYCHNINE
to poison rats and pole cats that had
been troubling her chickens. He
promised, aud on returning home gave
his wife a small vial of the deadly poi
son which she carefully stored away in
a large chest, and continued her house
hold duties and soon had supper ready.
The family consisting of Mr.. and Mrs.
Houston, their five children and Mrs.
Benson, the mother OF Mrs. Houston,
sat down at the table and the children
given milk for supper, but on tasting
refused to drink IT, because 1t was so
bitter. Mr.. Houston swallowed small
quantity and detecting the presence of
poison immediately got up from the
table and yomited forth the contents
of his stomach. An examination was
then made, and it was discovered that
Mrs. Houston had deliberately put
strychnine into the
COFFEE, SUGAR,
milk and bread. One OF the neigh bors,
in the habit OF getting milk from Mr..
Houston, came near having himself and
family poisoned. They were just in
the act OF drinking the milk, and the
gentleman actually had a quantity in
his mouth, when Mr.. Houston's little
son hurried IN and informed them that
it contained strychnine. Mr.. Houston,
after discovering that poison had been
put into the victuals, searched around
for the vial, and found it with part of
the contents gone. AS he was exam
lining it his wife rushed up to him and
lerked it out OF his hand and threw it
into the fire. She then Gained down
and the family retired for the night,
and about 3 O'clock yesterday morning
Mr.. Houston was awakened by hearing
his little children, who were sleeping
in an adjoining room, screaming ut the
top Of their voice. He hurried into
their room and found his wife crying
and in apparent distress. He asked
''what's the matter2" She replied that
the children were
HAVING sPAaMs
from the effects of strychnine taken at
supper. He at once, without waiting
even to put on his shoes, went over to
Mr.. D. Wallace's for assistance. On
returning nome he found his wife in
the yard in a perfect frenzy, trying to
kill her little five year old girl, and would
have done so had not Mr.. Benson held
her off and prevented her getting close
enough to deal a fatal blow. Mr..
Houston at once secured her, and Mr..
Wallace at once entered the house to
look for the little two year old boy,
and found him In bed dead, but his
body still warm. 1t seems that Mre.
Houston at 3 o'clock yesterday morn
ing, with that GOODNESS and delibera-
ton peculiar to maniacs, determined
TO carry out her plan, long cherished
in her disordered mind, of killing her
children She got up from her bed
and proceeded to where her little two
year old boy was asleep, and from EVIL
dences placed one hand firmly oyer the
child's mouth and nose, and with the
other strsngled II to death. She then,
to make sure of her work, took large
KNITTING NEEDLE
and thrust it into the child's ear, after
which she procured an iron wagon
hammer and several knitting needles
and went to the room where her three
elder children were sleeping aud en-
deavored to drive into their
ears the knitting needles. This
woke them up and their screams
attracted their father as MENTION
ed above. These children were old
enough to get up and keep out of the
reach of their maniac mother, and
while Mr.. Houston was off after Mr..
Wallace, she went to the room occu-
pied by her mother, with whom her
fve-year-old daughter was sleeping,
and endeavored to kill her by driving
into her ears knitting needle, and
was striving to do this when Mr.. Hous-
ton and Wallace appeared. The four
children that escaped death were in
jured by having the needles thrust into
their ears, and two of them quite seri-
ously. After the paroxysm, which
lasted several hours, wore OFF, Mrs.
Houston fell into a comstose state, and
yesterday evening was not conscious.
Should she recover by this morning
she will De brought in aud placed in
the asylum. The above tragedy is one
of the most horrible that the STATES.
MAN has ever been called upon to
chronicle, and could only have been
conceived in the whirling brain of
maniac. The STATESMAN and the
community at large deeply sympathize
with Mr.. Houston and his family.
WILL the extension OF the Interna-
tional and the building of the Santa Fe
TO Bolton, cut of our retail trade and
prevent the usual amount of cotton be-
ing brought to this market, are ques-
tons that should engage the attention