The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1885-11-12
A TRAGEDY IN THE TOMBs.

Suggest. lnerc IS IN THIS CITY prison
and courthouse called the Tombs, be-
cause its architecture is drawn from a
mausoleum in the land Of Egypt. It is
gloomy on the outside, gloomier within.
Duty sometimes, curiosity oftener, has
led me within its wall, even into its
cells, as when I was shut in with Babe,
q pirate Of renown who was hung on
an island in the Bay. have been in
the courtroom when very distinguished
prisoners have been sentenced. 1t is q
curious study. It must be q morbid
state that can find enjoyment in it.
There are educated persons who attend
every execution to which they can gain
admission. And there is q fascination
in the horrible that irresistably attracts
some unfortunate minds.
The sorrows of the lowly and poor,
the struggles of the wretched with sin
and misery, the wages of vice and the
tragedies of broken hearts and wasted
lives are displayed as on stage every
day in the court-rOoms. Last week
one was brought out having in it ele.
ments of great dramatic interest, but
the more simply and naturally the story
is told, the better will the terrible
moral of it be seen.
Some fourteen years ago an Irishman
came from his native isle to this city,
bringing with him his wife and four
aughters, all quite young. He found
employment at first and got on com.
fortably. They must have been q
family of more intelligence than many
of the poor immigrants who find q
refuge in this country when hunger
drives them from their own. But when
the burden of his family became too
heavy for the unprincipled wretch to
bear, coward as he was, he deserted
them, fled to parts unknown, and they
have never heard word from him
since. Then the mother succeeded In
getting the children into various
asylums and she went back to Ireland.
It is not unusual for Irish parents ia
impose their children in this way on
charity. They get them well cared fol-
in the winter at these homes and take
them out in the spring sometimes. OF
when they are able to earn something.
The asylum is allowed a certain sum
per week for the childrcn's board, and
as this sum is more than the cost, the
more they have the more money they
make.
Several years went on and these
children were growing up without any
knowledge of the whereabouts of their
mother. When the oldest daughter left
the asylum, she managed by dint Of
industry, energy and courage to gel
knowledge enough to enable her to be.
come q teacher. Then with noble
spirit, she took room and gathered
into it her sisters, and finding work fol
them to do they lived comfortbly,
There is something very fine in the he
roic conduct of this oldest girl. It il
strange that two such sneaks as the
father and mother could be the parent!
Of such family of daughters. Nov
they were all earning more than theil
daily food, and they sent to Ireland TO-
their mother to come back and set up {
home once more. This was q sad mis-
take, but it was nature and filial affec
ton. The mother came, and became ,
drnnkard. There is the bane of lif,
among the lowly. A mother and ,
drunkard among these four poor girl
struggling to make home for them
selves and her. OF course drunken
mother is living monster. There i
no terror like it in this world of sin ant
misery. She would have the none,
the girls earned and spend it for liquor
She went to the school where the old
est daughter was an able and respected
teacher, and made q scene that covered
the teacher with confusion and shame
This was repeated SO often that the no
BILE young woman was obliged TO re
sign her place, driven out OF it BY thu
beastly conduct of her own mother
Then want added its terrors to thi
wretched household. But for the on,
dreadful vice Of the mother. they Nigh
have been happy, in their humble way
with industry, health and peace. Nov
the furniture had to be sold, one piec,
after another, which the girls hat
bought with their hard-earned money
The walls and floor were stripped ant
the mother drank it all, except wha
little was spent to keep them from
starving. Can there be deeper distress
than this?
At last. when all hope had persisted
anu II had become impossible to bear j
any longer, the daughters were com
PEELED to seek the protection Of Law
against their own mother. They lai,
the case before one of the justices
The mother was arrested and br0ugh
into court in the Tombs. The heart
broken daughters told their sad stor,
Of suffering, cruelty and shame. TIL
mother turned upon them and de
nOunced them as vile women. thus 70
ing down one step lower in imam,
than we had thought it possible before
Their character was investigated, an,
it was easily proved by their neigh
b0rs they were excellent young women
worthy Of all respect and confidence
whose young lives had been blighte,
by their own mother. She was sent {,
prison for six months. At the end o
that time, perhaps before, she vii
come out to renew course of vice ant
wretchedness which will bring thes
daughters into sorrow and suffering
unspeakable.
In this sad story ! see specimen o
parental meanness and baseness rarely
equalled even among the people .
which these parents arc type. Can
mother fOresake her own childp Her,
first the father, then the mother fore
sake four daughters, leaving! hem +
| the cold charity Of the world. Tn
father is probably q drunkard. Ger
tainly the mother is, therefore the las
drop Of parental love is expelled from
the heart, and even mother become
. wolf, destroying the children sh,
would otherwise cherish and protect
Take out this vice and here in thi
humble family were all the elements 0
comfort and enjoyment. With thi
vice, the home is the abode Of woe to,
grievous to be borne.
But there Is meaner and . base