Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-08-31
NUNS TERRORIZED.
Outrageous Invasion of a New
York Convent.
RAIDED BY AN IMPUDsNT RASCAL

One of the Sisters Assaulted in Her Room
and Threatened with Death if She
Observation-Disclosures Sister Thrown to
the Floor by the Rutiian, Who shouts
Insults at Them He Escapes-The
Priest and His Gun Too Late.
New YORK, Aug. 3l.-SiX sisters in the
convent of the Mother of Sorrows, in Har-
rison place, near Morgan avenue, Will
iamsburg, had strange experience with
an unknown man at O'Clock yesterday
morning. The man seized one OF the sis
tiers, 10 years old, in her bedroom, and
frightened by her cries, attacked two 9TH
ers in the hall Father Zentgraf came too
late with his shotgun, and the man es-
capped. The convent is a braach of the
Dominican convent of the Most Holy Trim
ity Church, in Graham avenue. 1t is in
charge of six sisters, including a mother
Superior, and they have in their care eight
orphans.
The Scene of the Raid.
Father John Is. Zentgraf's residence is
beside his church. and the rear of the
priests house is distant from the rear of
the convent about fifty feet. The win
dows of the room on the first floor of the
convent are about five feet from the
ground The rooms overlooking the lawns
are the kitchen and the Kindergarten for
the orphans. The orphans sleep in rooms
on the first floor next 10 the kitchen, but
their rooms lead out to the corridor. The
sleeping apartments of the sisters are on
the second floor. Each sister has her own
room.
4 Struggle with a Nun
1t was about o clock yesterday morning
when one of the sisters was awakened by
some one passing his hands over her. The
intruder also caught hold of her arms.
who are yony Who are your Tell me
quick" exclaimed the sister. There was
no response and she began TO scream. The
man put his hands over her mouth TO pre-
vent her She struggled to get out of bed.
If you scream again I'll kill you"
shouted the man as he tried TO throw her
back. In the meantime the other sisters
were aroused, and they also began to
scream.
Chased Them All Down stairs.
All ran into the hallway with the ex-
ception of the mother superior, who
| looked around for IA match to light the
gas Fhe sister who was attacked freed
herself from her assailant and joined her
| associates in the hall. The man ran after
her and grabbed another sister. She
struggled, and just then the flash of light
from the mother superior's room partly
lit up the hall. The mother superiorsran
out of her room and the other sisters went
| toward her. Then all ran down the stairs
The man followed, shouting insults at
them all the way down.
\ Call for Help on the Priest.
At the foot of the stairs he caught hold
of another sister and threw her to the
floor. Scarcely three minutes had elapsed
from the time the first sister was at
tackled. No one outside had heard their
screams. Finally the mother superior
opened a window in the kindergarten and
shouted for the priest. The priest did not
hear her. She then picked up dish pan
and hurled it into the yard of the priests
| house. The noise awakened him and ne
| opened his window.
No Trace of the Scoundrel.
He soon understood the situation. He
| hurried on his trousers and arminC him
| self with a shotgun, ran over into the
| convent yard and fired shot into the air
to attract the police. When the police
| reached the convent they made a search of
| the house but, failed to find any trace of
| the man. He evidently made his escape
| through the kitchen window, through
which he had gained an entrance by fore
| ing back the window latch.