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Show m:MmmXm$ LOSE KANKAKEE, 111., May 3L At the close of a f onr hoars' search for her three youngest children, Mrs. Adelord Vanslette found them last night dead in a trunk in an upper chamber. All three were little lit-tle girls, the youngest a mere baby. One dead body was sitting upright, the others lay huddled together upon a pillow. - The lid of the big tunk was tightly closed uponlhem. , . ' It is eupposed.they had crawled into the trunk during their play and that the cover fell and latched and that they were suffocated. The tray of the trunk had been lifted out and lay upon a bed. : With their six ' boys and four girls, the Van-slettes Van-slettes moved 'here 'from afarm'atBeaverville, a year ago. Vanslette is a teamster and is in good circumstances. cir-cumstances. The whole family occupied a fire-room house. ; ' -1 - ; ' The younger children of the family had been playing out of doors much of the. day, listening to music and watching martial displays. - Late in the afternoon, the three youngest, Ida, 8 years old; Rosella, aged 6, and Pearl, aged 2, left, the others, going into the house to continue the romping. ' ' Supper time came and Mrs. Vanslette's calls through the house and yard failed to bring any re sponse. ' . , After supper was over Mrs. Vanslette, according to the story told by the family, turned her attention atten-tion to the house. She had gone through the rooms a dozen times and thought she had searched every nook and corner. . ; . ' ; At ' last the mother, in a sleeping-room, where there was a large old-fashioned rounding top trunk of .the "Saratoga" variety, observed something she had overlooked before. The light tray had been taken from the trunk and was lying on the bed. Mrs. Vanslette lifted the lid of the closed trunk and saw her two babies lying on a pillow in the bottom of the trunk. Ida, the. oldest of the three girls was sitting upright, her head dropping on her breast. The children were so still that Mrs. Vanslette stood in sympathetic stillness for an Instant. Then she put forth her hand and touched Ida and spoke. Contact with the girl's head and the lack of response re-sponse froze the woman with horror. The children were dead. The trunk is not self-locking, bnt it has clasps that easily might snap and hold it shut tight against the strength of children. An inquest will be held today. .- ' : , , ' ' " ' ' : ' " . - . |