The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1891-12-31
A MOTHERS ANGUISH
Her Terrible Discovery While
Seeking Her Boy.
HELD ON A CHARGE OF MURDER.

| by Sensational Literature.
PHILADELPHIA. Dec. 81.-The youth
full safebreaker who en- Tuesday night
shot and killed Policeman Elmer e.
Findley, Of the Fourth district, and shot
and wounded Policeman John ]. Mes
per, Of the same district, as previously
reported in these dispatches, has been
identified. He Is Robert J. Cascaden,
aged IS years, and resided at 1908 Par
IRISH street He was well dressed, and
/ when arraigned before Magistrate Glenn
ent i'll the city hall he did not seem to
he at all alarmed over the position he
was in.
When locked up in the station house
| the defendant refused to say anything
about the shooting, and positively re-
4 fused to tell who he was. After Lieu
tenant Burke had given his testimony
at the hearing Magistrate Clement said
to the prisoner: "You do not have to
answer any questions that will crimi.
| nate yourself or that can beused against
! you in the future. Have you anything
I to say with those restrictionsro
Admits His Crime.
eyes," said the defendant, with
Ntto W btb sGiilb
went to this place, and when l came
out | noticed policeman coming out of
an alley opposite the store. He called
to me and asked me if had been in the
store l said no. He asked me again,
| and gave him the same reply. He then
said We will go back and see, and he
caught hold OF me. AS we were walk
4 ing back turned around to see if had
chance to get away, when he struck
me with his club.
| got up on my feet and noticed the
| policeman put his hand into his pocket.
/ did not know what he was taking out,
and pulled out my revolver and shot
him twice. / found out afterward that
he had only pulled his whistle out. l
did not know that before. That is all
can say"
"Fll commit you to prison without
bail" !" said the magistrate, to await the
action of the coroner"
A Mothers Anxiety.
The circumstances under which the
Identification took place were extremely
agonizing to the boy murderers mother,
who was brought face to face with her
son in the cell at the station-house on
| Fifth street. Mrs. Cascaden is woman
of refinement and intelligence, and the
crime committed by her son was ter
Ilule DlOW 10 nef.
The young man left his home with the
intention, he stated, to go the church at
| Tenth and Green streets. When he did
not return after the closing of the church
| Mrs. Cascaden became worried, and as
midnight approached the fear that some-
thing was wrong took possession OF her,
and she decided to go in search of him.
Hastily putting on her street garb,
she left her home alone, and commenced
fruitless search of the almost deserted
streets. After wandering around for
an hour she decided to go TO the Eighth
district station house. Lieutenant Smith
had just finished calling the midnight
roll, and when Mrs. Caseaden asked him
If he had any tidings of her son, it oc-
CURED to him that probably the un-
known prisoner at the Fourth district
station house was the one she was in
search of. After Mrs. Cascaden had de-
scribed her missing boy he was so sure
of the boys identity that he had not
the heart to tell the agonized mother the
charge against her son. and she started
to hunt up Lieutenant Burke, totally ig-
norant of the awful charge against her
wayward boy.
Her Terrible Discovery.
When she reached the station house
and made her errand known she was
conducted to the cell room, where she at
once recognized the prisoner as her son.
Upon seeing him in broken voice she
sald,- And is this the place [ find you
imp She was then told of the crime of
which he was accused, and she at once
gave way to uncomfortable grief. Dur
ing the entire time the boy sat in the
cell, to all appearances unmoved by his
mothers anguish He did not utter o
word all the time she was there, and by
no sign or expression admitted his rela-
tionship to the grief stricken woman.
After SOME little time Mrs. Cascaden
was led away from the cell and escorted
TO Lieutenant Burke's room, where be-
tween her sobs she told of her sons pre-
vious life.
She said that he was only 1s years of
age, and that for a long time he has
been acting queerlY, He had been a
close reader of the sensational literature
of the day, and to this she attributed
his morbid condition, although she had
never thought that he would commit
crime.
Her husband died about year ago in
Beverly, N. j., and she moved to this
city with her son shortly after his
death. Young Robert received good
school education, and was naturally
bright previous to passing his time in
reading dime novels.
The family is well connected, Frank
Cascaden, of the rope and twine firm of
John T. Bailey 8 Co., being an uncle of
the youthful murderer. His father, un-
til his death, was member of the firm
of Boyer, Evans, Cascaden So Co., which
conducted Il rope and twine business at
b02 Commerce street.
The only extenuating circumstances
about the cold blooded murder is the
fact that young Caseaden did not con-
template its commission, and that fright,
and not lawlessness, led him to pull the
fatal trigger.