The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1908-02-29


Brockton. Mass.-T opened my
cloak and took the children under it
one on each side. From that time till
woke up everything is a blank"
Twenty-Five trembling words, spok
en- by disheveled, shaking woman
yet behind them lies the tragedy of
a wrecked home, the remarkable dis
appearance Of two human beings as II
the ground had opened to swallow
them, and mystery which has baf-
fled the keenest detective minds of
New England
A mother calling at the schoolhouse
door for her boy and girl, three fig
ures disappearing into the woods, a
great storm cloak flung open to shelter
two small forms-a blank of "a hours.
and then a disheveled, quivering
mother-form being hurried to an In
sane asylum.
What happened during that period
of mental death?
And where are the children?
On Monday. December 2, soon after
nine o'clock, Mrs. Mary r. c. Ball.
wife of John Ball, left her home at.
26 Holbrook avenue, and walked hur-
riedly to the Winthrop school. where
her children were engaged in their
studies. Mary Grace Ball, aged nine,
and Thomas Ball, aged seven, were ex-
cused by their teachers at the request
of their mother, who was apparently
quite composed and natural in her
bearing. They put on their warm
coats and toques and mittens and trot-
ted down the schoolyard path, one on
either side of the tall, cloaked figure.
Children Went JoyfuIIy
Joyous anticipations were aroused
in their childish minds. Christmas
was at hand. Perhaps they were go
ing shopping! Perhaps they were go
ing to the woods to gather evergreens!
As to where they really went, directly
from the schoolhouse. opinions differ
This may have been because Brockton
had something else to think about
during the next few hours. The Ball
home on Holbrook avenue was In
flames. There was fire to be put out
and to be discussed. and it was so un.
fortunate that 1t happened while Mrs.
Ball was away shopping.
However. since the tragedy has be-
come the sole topic of conversation
in the little manufacturing city of
Brockton, one man recalls that he
saw the mother and her children to-
gether about 2:30 o'clock that after
noon. Two children. who knew the
Ball family well, claim to have seen
the mother without the children on
Brockton street at 4:30 of that event |
full Monday afternoon
But the one tangible piece of eyi. |
dence is that Mrs. Ball, unaccompanied |
by her children, stopped at lunch |
cart for mouthful of food at Avon. |
a little town Just north of Brookton.
on Tuesday evening. December 8.
Later that night she was found by a
nearby farmer A. l.. Pinto, in his barn
and was ordered away. The children
were not with her. Pinto did not
know who she was and took her for
some poor, drunken wretch.
Instinct Led Woman Home.
Two nights later. on Thursday. De
cember 5, Mrs. Ball staggered into the
home of Mrs. Baxter, who lived d.
rectly opposite the Ball home in
Brockton. The Bakers were terrified
by the figure which stumbled across
heir threshold. Her clothes were in
disorder. Her fingers were grimy and
.orn as though she had been digging
n the frozen earth. Across her {,
hroat were great bloody scratches.
MI reason had fed. Her eyes were |
Wild. her speech incoherent
The next morning raving maniac,
Nary, Ball was taken to the asylum
or the insane at Taunton. Mass. S
But where were the children?
The distracted father asked it. The
xcited neighbors echoed his question. {
The county officials considered it I
heir duty to find out Detectives