New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-03-02
ANNIE SMITHS STRANGE WOUND.
A STATEN ISLAND MYSTERY THAT HAS NOT BEEN
SOLVED


The caae of Annie Smith the girl of thirteen who
was wounded on Tuesday afternoon at her nome,
the Barton Farm on the Richmond roau' ola trg
Island s exciting great deal OF attentl?nI an
ante-morem statement Of the gir,, brose is not
generally believed and there are rumOrs III I %
ton with regard to family troubles that tehg 70
Intensity the %Kssry and living With his second
wife, He had four children by MS ntst VIII, o W.
youngest of whom Is Annie. while by Dis present
wife he has also had four children. the youngest De-
ing baby RIBUNE reporter visited the mouse tse
yesterday and talked with Mr.. Snlth, VINO, aI.el
some hesitation, consented to tell the following
cit was about 8 o'clock on Tuesday afternoon
that the accident happened. Annie and the baby
down stairs, and the rest OF US were up stuirs
when our attention was attracted by the screamlng
of the baby. We rushed down and found AnnIe
lying at the foot of the stairs UNCONSCIOUS; -
threw water in her face and revived neI' anu Cn
she complained of pain IN the side. me hau Piss
yiously suffered from pneumonia, ana my wiz
thought that perhaps she was going TO nave t
renee of 1T so she proposed TO put ner 81 49, ~
When we began to undress her some hIteeh VI
twenty minutes after we were surpilsse eu
to find the wound in her side. She then
explained that while she was putting some S Mfoq herr c
We sent for DR.. ODea, and, after examining hoi
he was of the opinion that the wound was causou
BY bullet Whatever the missile was II t un%
the body until it had nearly come out at the PACK.
| could not then, nor can | now, understand now
II possible Tor SuCD n WOunu 10 Dc lnduo
manner, but the child persists in saving that IL
was something that came out Of the fire. About two
weeks ago my man cleaned my reyolyerS
and reloaded them. Upon e1amina tbpas
however find that Of them contains three
empty shells, and presume that he pqt Inon IA -
mistake. Captain Blake has been here anu ITO
thinks it possible that bullet may sve peeL I'M
bedded IN the wood IN such way as 10 bha
cause the wound but | hardly think that poSsioio'
Ii is mysterious case" so
Coroner Ambrose says that when the girl maze
her statement 10 him be was alone with her. and she
told straight story, although it seemed IKE some
thing she had learned by heart. but he has serious
doubts as TO its credibillty. The MISSILE ne
says, entered the body on the lett
side in the region OF the heart, per,
forated the lett lung, fractured a RIB ana
almost came out of the girls back. In his opinion
such a ound could not have been made ID the way
described.
". 81 Mullen, a lawyer, at No III Nassau-st,
who lives at StapletOD and is the gris uncle, saq
" do not believe the story told about the way III
which Annie received her wound. She has come TO
me often and complained of bad treatment AT the
hands of her stcp-mother She IL very much AFRAID OF
the woman aud could be persuaded 10 say alno, 81
anything by her. Ii "A loose cartridge had been ia
the fire and had exploded, the bullet
could not have had sufficient force TO
penetrate the chids body as it did. No, her story
Is impossible we must lind some other explanation
of the mystery. | heard to-day that the enid has
three wounds on the head that seem to have been
inflicted BY stick or poker. The woman says
that she got them by falling down the cellar the
day. To say the least, It is strange that Doth
accidents should happen together"
Two OF the sons by the first marriage are now
young men who are earning their living IN tins city
AS soon as they learned OF the accident to their
sister they tried to her, bnt were prevented AT
first from even entering the house. BY insisting
however that privilege was granted them, ana later
one brother saw his sister, but not alone-Mrs
Smith remained in the room. Captain BAKE, OF tne
StaplctOn police, has been very active IN lnVcstgd
ING the matter but all he can be induced to say
about It is, There Is nothing in it but very sad
accident"