St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-07-22
CRUELTY TO A CHILD.
Charges of Brutal Treatment Made
Against "a Foster Mother.


Special to the Globe.
DETROIT, Mich, July 21.-An extraor-
binary case of fendishness was developed
here to-day affecting the wife of Col, Charles
I. Hudson. a well known officer of the Gus
toms here for twenty years. Mr.. and Mrs.
Hudson have a foster son, aged years, and
the woman is accused of malignant and
most unparalleled cruelty to the child. To-
day neighbor, Mrs. j. j. England, filed a
petition in the probate court asking that G.
NJ. Stocking, agent Of the local society for
the prevention of cruelty to children be ap-
pointed guardian of the little Hud-
son boy. The story of the childs
i'll treatment as related by various persons,
including girl formerly employed by Mrs.
Hudson, is horrible. The girl says that
Mrs Hudson was in the habit of swearing
at the child and calling it the vilest of
names. Mr.. Hudson expressed his disap-
proval of this and often requested the do
nestle to remain i'll during the evening"
feeling, as he said. that the inhuman foster
mother would not be as harsh with the
child when some one was present as she
would left alone. On one occasion the lit
tie fellow was asleep in bed and Mrs. Hud-
son went to his room and told him that
SHE WAS THE DEVIL
and had come to kill him. ''AlI right"
replied the boy. The servant girl was not
a witness to this but says that the next
day Mrs. Hudson told her about it. The
latter, she declared, often made him stand
up in front of her for hours at time when
she was at work. The lad made no COM
plant. On one occasion, after he had
stood there for two or three hours, she
said: ''Y OH hate me. don't you?" No,
- rnn1ip1 tho how sSThottC
screamed the woman, 'fand 1 will whip
you for it." and then she gave him terri
BILE beating with piece of barrel stave
that she kept for that purpose. The
boy made no cutlery. In fact he
never whimpered or cried when she
was inflicting the severest kind of punish
ment upon him. One of the favorite modes
OF punishment, the domestic says, was to
double him up with his head between his
legs, tie him in that position, place him in
the bath tub, and then tnrn the water upon
him. Ii he kicked or squirmed she would
take him out and beat him until his back
was black and blue. Another method of
punishment. the domestic says, was to tie
his hands behind his head and place him in
the dark cellar, where she would keep him
for hours. If the boy told Mr. Hudson
when he came home of what had occurred
Mrs. Hudson would
GIVE HIM A WORSE PUNISHMENT
the next day. The boy was, on several
occasion, made TO stand in the corner of
the room with his face pushed up against
the wall for hours at time Mrs Hudson
would sit where she could see him, and
every once in awhile would call out: Push
harder. l can tell when you are not push
ing hard" and the suffering child would
push so hard that his nose would be almost
fiattened out. Another method of torture
was to make the boy bite his own tongue.
and Mrs Hudson would compel him to do
this until his tongue would swell to
double its natural size. Requir-
ing the boy to sleep upon the bare
floor was such a frequent occurrence
that it was not looked upon as much of
hardship. 1t seemed, the domestic says, as
| if the woman was continually racking her
brain to find some new and fendiSh mode of
punishment. The boy is described as a
bright, active little fellow, who learns
easily and remembers what he learns. He
has kind disposition. and does all he can
to please his tormentor, and manifests no
hatred toward her. Mr.. Stocking says that
Mr.. Hudson disapproyes of the inhuman
treatment, but seemed to be powerless to
prevent it. when he learned that [ was
going to take steps to stop it, he expressed
himself as glad of it, said Mr..
Stocking, land said it was high time. He
told me he had paid servants extra
to mitigate as much as possible the lads
hard lot. He said he had been forced to
| whip the child himself after his wife had
already whipped him. Mrs. Hudson is in
Chicago and has the child with her. No
further steps can be taken in the probate
court until her return.