The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-01-12

his mother told me that after bis birth her
ne ltn was 50 20 that she had been obliged
10 put him IN care of some Catholic Sister
hood in France until he was about IS
months OLD She sometimes said that some
body else's child lad been returned ID her,
and tha, heari was not really her own, bu
whatever she thought on the subject she
certainly treated him quite as well as any
OF the other llldren. | have group % =
ure OF the children taken lust before he
family returned TO France few moaths
ago, and you can see what a cl Sc and
II rked resemblance he bears 20 the o he 3.
Henri was excessively jealous of his baby
sister, and shortly after she was Dor said
that he wanted to kIll the baby His fa:h r
asked him what he would do with the baby
then, aud he said: 5. would dig a mole il the
backyard and put her in with the chicken
meaning his pet chicken that had died few
days before, and which the .lldren had
buried in the yard. We we're then nei III
bors on Ninth street. near Prospect park.
Several times subsequently, he did try TO
get rid OF the baby, aud the child came very
near dea b. On one occasion, think it
was in March, 1857, he took bottle of cor
rOsive snblimate that his mother had been
using on the beds and poured its contents
into pan of latter thai had been prepared
for cakes at tea time. His father saw him
with the bottle and took it away
from him, not thinking of the use
he had made Of it. That night the
whole family was taken III. The
doctor worked with them all night and they
recovered. When asked how the corrosive
suUlimate that had caused the trouble had
gotten into the food, Mr.. PoutaiI Iemem-
bered that he had taken the b title from
Henri, aud when questioned the child hor-
rlted us all by saying that he wanted to
XIII mamma because she loved baby So
After that they all watched him closely
About month afterward MS mother was
peeling potatoes and happened to remark
as size tire " some pieces in the bucket with
the skins that if anybody should eat those
1t would make tlem sick. She went in 0
the ont room to ate I'D to the baby, and
while she was gone Henri took some of the
spoiled pot toes and put them in the pot
with the vegetables that had been prepared
for soup. That night the family was taken
sick, and after searching about the kitchen
he doctor found some OF the spoiled pOUa-
toes In tie SOUP. He spoke sharply to the
child, who admitted that he had put them
there.
1T was a singular thing that whenever
any one was present Henri would hug the
baoy and make great fuss over it, but if
he was left alone with it, it would
at once begin to scream and cry, and its
face and neck would be- all scratched up.
<.
The boy was often punished, aid severely,
but it did no good.
Inc reporter asked DR.. William Moore of
No. l3o Berkeley place, VINO has been the
family physician, If he could give any ad-
dtional facts IN the startling story He
said: 81 can say that you have not more
than half the story. IL is contrary TO my
practice to talk about patients, but have
intended TO give the facts TO a medical asso-
citation RI ypbinb
Poutain gave his consent to my doing
so before he went back to France. You
have stolen my thund r, tnoug i. 1t is ie
most singular case | have ever met with
either IN this country or in Europe The
fac,s you state are generally correct, but
your informant has left out the most i'm
portant feature of it. The IN st remark
able thing noticed about the child in the
years attended the family was his endur-
ance of pain. Ihave seen him punished be-
yond what l thought any child could
endure, and he would only screw his mouth
up tight and not whimper-never tear or
cry. On one occaSi n he set fire to the
baby's bed clothes, and lis mother discov-
cred it about noon. That evening she
brought him here and | treated a large
burn in the palm of his hand, which lie said
had been done when he set fl 70 TO the bed [
que toned him, and found that he had
climbed up on a chair and taken matches
from the mantel, "Jo burn the baby up.n
lie had concealed that burn, notwiths and
ing the pain it must nave caused him, until
evening.
ION Oct. 6, 1887, he had stuffe II
some sunfower seed in the baby's
mouth, a d l brought her out of
the trouble with some difficulty. On
May 8, 1887, l was suddenly called to
treat the baby, and found that he had
secured a piece of green paint from his
brothers palnt-box, and forced it down the
baby's throat. Ga the 9th of the same
month he stuffed a lot of grass INTO her
mouth, and she was made sick in conse-
quence.
son the 10th he went to the butcher with
penny, and said his mother had sent him
for cents worth of bad meat for the cat.
The butcher gave him spoiled liver, which
he cut into small pieces, and fed to the baby.
The result was that the child had three
convulsio1S that night. l tried to get him
into some asylum, but without success, and
just before she went away, Mrs. POutaiu
placed hira in charge Of their washerwoman.
SO as to separate him from the baby"
What explanation can you give of this
is it insanityw the doctor was asked.
II cannot explain it pathologlcally. I
believe the child is of sound MUD. Indeed,
| have rarely seen so brigh1 a child: ne was
certainly treated well, but he seems to be
filed with an ABNORMAL jealou Of that
infant, and he has shown wonderful en-
durance of physical pain, besides power
Of reasoning far beyond his years. | ana
unable TO explain it, but l am convinced
that Mrs. Poutain has adopted the wisest
C urse."
The washerwoman could not he found.
she having lately removed, and no one in
the house where she had lived knew her
al lraSS