Daily Republican., 1883-06-25
THIRD EDIT 10 \, ,
A THRILLING INCIDENT.

"A !" - AlAlANU u ANNADENA H
An lnfant Slips out = Third story
window and Hangs Suspended
~ . Nail.
About o'clock yesterday morning a
bl0od-curdling incident occurred on the
third floor of the premises in the rear
Of No. 506 Market street. The low er
6oOr and the upper stories in the front
part are occupied with Walshs Install
ment house, while the upper stories in
the rear building filled with tenants,
each having there own apartments or
Eats.
Several of the rooms on the third
tlOOr are occupied by family named
Pierce, consisting ola man, his wife and
two children, named Lizzie, years of
age, and Harry, the baby, aged 10
months. At present Mr.. Pierce is alb.
sent from the city, and yesterday morn
ing while Mrs. Pierce was attending to
her household duties, she noticed the
children on chair playing by the win
dow, but as the venitian shutters were
close d and fastened, she did not appre-
hsnd any danger.
She turned her back for a moment,
and when she again looked, saw to her
horror that they had managed to un-
fasten the shutters, and that Harry had
slipped out, with his little sister holding
with all her might and main to his
skirts.
All she could see of her darling boy
was his little feet, and with scream of
torrOr, scarcely knowing what she was
doing, she bounded down the stairs and
out in the yard. With one glance at
her child struggling in the air, so feet
above her head, she flew back up
the stairs TO her room, and to the win
dow, and upon finding that the child was
no longer there, fell in a swoon.
In the meantime, while she was on
the way up stairs, Mrs. Wheeler and an
other tenant hearing the commotion in
Mrs. Pierce's apartments hurried in to
ascertain the cause, and although terri
fed so that they We're almost powerless,
succeeded in pulling the child in, and
when the frantic mother rushed in the
room she failed to see him and thought
he had fellen. The affair happened lust
about the time the police officers were
assembled for rolls call, and one of the
officers who happened to be coming
across the yard from King street saw the
child hanging from the window and
gave the alarm.
The officers rushed out and over the
side fence, and while some climbed up
ON the one story buildings back, others
secured ladders, which they were about
placing against the wall in the hope of
xN<asu al To oh H.. l;&4
one from its dangerous position.
Officer Adams hurried to the yard
and took position Immediately under
the child, with the hope of catching it
when it should fall, while officer Tib-
bott, thinking it was alone held by the
little girl, kept calling to her in encour-
aging tones to hold on. The relief they
experienced when they saw friendly
hands reach out and draw the little one
in, can be better imagined than describ-
I'd.
1t seems wonderful how the little
girl had strength enough to hold on to
the CHILD, who is quite large and heavy
for his age, and an examination showed
that she was greatly assisted by stout
nail in the window sill, which had at
some time been placed there to hold
bird cage and had caught his clothes.
Still,th nail itself would not have held
him, and had it not been for the won
derful presence Of mind Of this bright
little girl, who seems gifted with an in
teiligence beyond her years, the mother
would to-day be weeping over the life
less body of her infant sou.
This morning the little fellow. all un.
conscious of the terrible danger through
which he had 50 recently passed, tried
to pull the reporter pencil away while
he was taking notes of the affair." and
little Lizzie, modest AS heroines always
are, seemed to want to keep out Of sight.
Mrs. Pierce $ pale face shows the fright
ful ordeal through which sh- PASSED,
and as she embraced her bon and
thanked God for his preservation, the
unDldden tears COurSed down her
cheeks.