The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1907-06-19

LII IIlS dICSIllOOII SI4S was CohSH
suddenly i'll. Her mother wished to
give her ipecac, the drug which the
doctor had recommended in such
emergencies and asked Madame
Weber if she would go to the drug
gist, but she insisted that the mother
should go out while she stayed and
looked after the child.
The mother was absent about lG
minutes, and when she returned she
found her daughter dying in great
agony. with the ogress bending over
her.
Then a terrible scene occurred.
The mother. recalling all the other
deaths of her children accused
Madame Weber of being a muir
deress. The latter replied that 1t
was wicked, cruel lie, that she
loved the children better than their
own mothers and that they died pc
cause their parents did not take
nroner care of them. Meanwhile
little Alice Weber. was dying in
great pain and in two hours passed
away.
That night Madame Weber was
arrested. The body Of Alice Weber
was retained by the public authori-
ties and the bodies Of the three
other dead children were exhumed.
Nothing was found on any Of them
to show how they had met death.
An examination Of Alice Webers body
indicated that she had recovered
fromher gastro-enJeritis, but still she
was liable to an attack Of accute IN
digestion. The police and prosecu-
ting officers searched for every scrap
of evidence that would make a case
against the ogress, because they
wished to satisfy the public clamor,
but they accomplised little IN their
four months of work.
There were plenty of witnesses
convinced that she had murdered the
children and anxious to testify
against her. The belief that she
was really an ogress who spent her
life destroying children had spread
through Montnartre and caused I'M
mense popular excitement.
The fact that Madame Weber was
frequently seen placing her hand
upon the breast Of the dead children
was mentioned by several witnesses.
One of them declared that "She
pinched the heart" (pincait le coeur)
of the children to kill them, and
this belief gained general credence
among the neighbors, although the
act is apparently an impossible one.
Another witness declared that she
had seen Madame Weber leaning
over Maurice Weber's face, as if she
were sucking his breath. This seem.
ed a more feasible act than that OF
pinching the heart. but in every case
a doctor had examined the dead body
and found no indication Of death by
sufocation.
At the trial Drs. Brouardel and
Thoinon. two Of the most eminent
physicians in France, who appeared
on behalf of the state, declared that
there was not shadow Of medica
evidence against Madame Weber.
DR.. Brouardei spent several hour;
explaining thai the death of little
is child frequently due to some slight
cause, and that it was not necessary
to look for grave disease, such as
was to be expected in the case Of ar
a6,1lS He suggested that the deaths
were due to the habits of life pre-
vailing among these families. H
dwelt strongly upon the meal o.
vegetable soup, pork chops, salad
coffee, vine, ETC., as responsible 70,
the loss Of little Alice Weber.
The public prosecutor, NJ. Sellg
mann, declared that there was nc
case against Madame Weber. Coun'
sci for the defence made very
brief address. in which he spoke OF
the accusation as ridiculous, and the
jury returned a sverdict Of mot
guilty" in three minutes.
This verdict was greeted with bit.
ter disapproval among the people ir
court and outside and there were
loud cries Of:
"a bas l'ogressen'
The woman needed the protection
of the police when she went away
from the court. She was forced tt
leave Montmartre and went tx
another quarter Of Paris, concealine
her address as we'll as possible from
her former neighbors.
Now after an interval Of two
years Nine. Jeanne Weber has beer
arrested on suspicion of causing the
death Of a neigtbor's child, who per.
ished exactly the same manner as al
the other children. The last victim
is little Alphonse Poirier. living at
"A rue des Boulets, in the quarter OF
Charonne. 1t does not seem credi.
bic that six occurrences Of this char.
acter, with Nine. Weber taking the
same part in all of them, are all ac-
cidental and disconnected This is
not in accord with the calculus Of
probabilities as Poe would have ex-
pressed it.
The people are more than ever
convinced that Nine. Weber is q
dreadful ogress, and the scientific
men are being converted to the same
belief. 1t is pointed out that there
is a hideous form Of mental perver-
sion, in which a person takes delight
in watching the dying agonies OF
children, and that several cases Of
this character have occurred in re-
cent and in earlier times.
What's The Use.
The adult masculine of the Dun
kard religious sect is having a hard
time fighting against neckties. The