River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-10-07
TRAGEDY IN A TENEMENT.
Strange Mystery surrounding the
Iserpetrator of the Deed---The Ius-
band and Stepfather. who Disap-
peared six Years Ago. Accused.


New York star.
A brutal and mysterious crime was
perpetrated in a tenement house, in
West Nineteenth street. Bridget Hig-
gins, poor, handwriting washerwoman
was found with her throat cut from ear
to ear, while her sixteen-year-old son,
who gave the information mt the adj
joining police station, had four fright
full gashes in his neck, from which the
blood flowed III streams. The person
who committed the crime is said by
both the injured people to have been a
former husband of the woman, who has
two husbands living and one dead
This, however, may or may not be true,
and thus far there is no cOrroborative
evidence that it is. Indeed, there are
many circumstances leading to the sup
position that it is not. The crime is
supposed to have been committed at
, o'clock on Monday morning. Mrs.
Higgins and her son, the latter bearing a
very bad character in the neighbor-
hood, lived together in two rooms on
the second floor of the tenement house
which is situated in the rear of No.
229 West Nineteenth street. Both
mother and son are said to have been
very hard drinkers, and the latter fire.
quently beat his mother.
Late on Sunday night and early yes
terday morning the other tenants of
the building overhead quarreling iii
Mrs. Higgins apartments. They rec
ognized the voices of the woman and
her son, but no others. The son was
finally elected from the room, and re
taliated by hurting bricks at the door
He managed to effect an entrance, and
again loud noises as of quarreling were
heard by the neighbors. Then all be-
came quiet, and few minutes after ,
a. m, John Hyde, the son, came from
the room and called out to the neigh
bors that his mother had tainted He
was, at the time covered with blood,
which came from wounds in his neck.
Within the room, in pool of blood ON
the floor, lay the washerwoman, with
her throat cut from ear to ear.
The son with neighbor went to the
Twentieth street station house. When
he reached the Twentieth Precinct sta
ton the blood was streaming from n
long and ugly wound in his neck. He
told Sergt. Longsdale, who was at the
desk, that his mother was lying with
her throat cut at No. 229 West Nine
teenth street.
"Who killed herr" asked the ser
geant, "and who wounded your
"A man whom | don't know" an
swered the lad, moaning with pain from
his wounds
An officer was at once sent back to
the house, and there he found the wo-
man in the condition already stated.
The walls around were bespattered, the
furniture broken, and everything indi-
Gated that struggle had taken place
The woman and her son were taken to
the New York hospital, where their
wounds were attended to.
Two years ago Mrs. Higgins, then
Mrs Hyde, came to live in the apart
ments in which the tragedy occurred.
She had been married twice-the first
time to a man named Hyde, by whom
she had son--her only living
child; and after his death
to jeremiah Dugan, who
six years ago deserted her Two
years since, ii is said, without knowing
whether he was alive or dead, she mar
ried John Higgins, blacksmith, who
used to be employed in West Twenty
fifth street Last February Higgins
abandoned his wife and left this city.
Mrs. Higgins and her son, lad of IL,
and well-grown for his age, lived to-
gether, she supporting both by taking
laundry work. The son had been ar
rested many times, and is known to
the police rs sneak thief. At present
he is under bail for trial for larceny.
Both mother and son are heavy drink
ers, and the neighbors say she is very
frequently beaten By him. On Sunday
night the two were heard quarreling
and pitchers of beer were seen to be
taken into their rooms. A family
named Webster, who live on the floor
above, say that they recognized the
voice of Mrs Higgins, and that of John
HYDE, the son, and no others engaged
in an alteration. About midnight
HYDE was elected violently from the
room. He tried to get back and bat
tered the door with bricks until he was
admitted, when the quarrel was re-
sumed. Then suddenly dead silence
prevailed, which was broken shortly
after by the voice of HYDE, who began
to ascend the steps to the floor on
which the Websters' lived.
''Say, somebody up there, " he called,
come down; my mother is in faint.
One of the boys of the Webster
family came down to him and saw that
he was covered with blood, which drop
ped from several wounds in his neck.
Within the room, stretched on the
floor, lay the mother. The Webster
boy asked Hyde how he got cut and
who cut his mother, but he would not
tell him He then advised going to the
station house. Hyde agreed to this
and they went there together.
The Webster family are positive i'll
saying that they heard no strange voice
in the rooms below them during the
quarrel Mrs. Webster, however, says
that during the cessation in the quarrel
she thought she heard the sound of
shutting feet going out of the alleyway.
None of the other neighbors heard this
nor had any of them had any visitors
who went away at that hour. Nobody
saw stranger in the apartments of
Mrs. Higgins or III the hallway adj
joining.
When Mrs. Higgins and her son ar
rived at the New York hospital the
woman was conscious but she could not
speak. Dr. +. II. Markoc, the attend
ing physician, says that she was sober,
while the lad was somewhat under she
influence of liquor. The iugular vein
was almost completely severed, and the
was almost exsanguinated. Her con-
dition was highly critical and will prob
able result fatally. The lad had four
wounds in his neck but they were
superficial, with the exception Of one in
the back of the neck, which was quite
deep. All had been made with a keen
edged instrument, and We're such as
razor or very sharp knife might infiict
They could have been made by him
self, or might have been inflicted by
another. There was no other wound
on his body. Mrs. Higgins left thumb
was badly gashed as though she had
attempt to ward off a blow of the weap-
on with it.
At o'clock yesterday afternoon Cor
oner Herman, accompanied by
Deputy Coroner Waterman called at
the hospital to take the statements of
the injured parties The boy Hyde's
statement of the tragedy is IS follows
II was in the house at II o'clock last
night when my stepfather, jeremiah
Dugan. came in and took up some
thing and struck me on the neck; it
was either an axe or a knife that he