Show A MANIAC MOTHERS DEED terrible sequel to the kansas mine disaster pittsburg ken kan nov 12 there was a terrible sequel last night to f ful al mine disaster of friday among the sixty victims who perished in the deadly shaft was louis bernhut Ben Ber hune a brawny frenchman sunday morning his remains were brought to the surface in the cage and as the rough rescuers were laying them on the ground his wife marle marie hurst burst through the line of spectators with a shriek andi fell prostrate beside the bleeding and mangled corpse tender hands bands bore her to the hut like home over the hill aud one of the physicians who has been on guard at the mouth of the shaft since saturday in the vain hope that some of the unfortunate miners may yet be living restored her to consciousness when she awoke she was sullen and silent kindly neighbors tried to solace her but their words fell on unappreciative ears she neither evinced sorrow nor made reply to anybody she was left in the hut with her five little children the latter all unconscious of the tragedy which had made them fatherless and wrecked their mothers mind were romping ramping over the rough liae floor their childish voices ringing gleefully through the hut hot the neighbors went back to the shaft of death to watch the progress of the rescuers mrs berthune sat for hours staring blankly at tile the floor her little ones tugged frantically at the skirt of her dress repeatedly calling her name and tried other childish experiments to attract her attention she did not seem to notice them her bereavement rea was SQ intense that she could think of nott nothing fing but the mangled body which was lying in the improvised pro morgue that was wah hastily erected saturday to shelter the victims of the mine toward dark however she seemed to recover from the trance jumping jumpie g from her chair she walked over to a rude bed and taking a sleeP sleeping ilig infant in her arms she pressed it closely to her breast the child awoke and screamed faintly as it frightened at the ma maternal terDal attention but when it its mothers face its tear fear seemed toran to it cooed coded joyfully and buried its lists in its mothers flowing air mrs berthune Bert bune then approached her other children and kissed them one by one and in return they caressed her fondly come with me she commanded breaking her self enforced silence tor for the first time she passed through the narrow door and the children followed behind up the side of et the hill bill they all clambered the younger ot of the four was helped by his mother and the elder sister a pretty miss of nine years when they reached the brow of the hill mrs bethune struck off to the right iol following lowing a path which led direct to the morgue the place was surrounded by grim looking miners who were carrying liged lanterns and weeping and hysterical women and children who were searching vainly tor for the remains of loved ones such a picture of human misery as was presented to the poor woman and her children was calculated to make the stoutest hearts beans falter but mrs bethune was apparently unmoved by it commanding her four oldest to near narrow entrance sue she went inside and picked her way cautiously among the lifeless bodies until she reached that ol of her husband she knelt kubit down beside it removed a gunny sack that covered the bloody be smeared face and then poised the infant so fist mat its innocent blue eyes could take in the revolting sight the baby cooed coded and waved its little arms delightedly then toe mother mather returned to her waiting children outside the dead house she led them in to the ghastly place one by one until all had bad seen the tae bloody form of their their father and then she led them home again the first thins thing she did after she had them into the hut was to put them to bed the next was waa to start a roaring fire in the stove the infant and the three others next old est eat tired by their exertions quickly went to sleep but the oldest girl could not sleep her mothers strange behavior f frightened right ened her and ina in a vague way she was sensible of the tact fact that the poor demented women woman bontem plated some fearful crime aside from her tear fear on that score however the sight she had bad witnessed at the morgue her dead fathers mangled body the rows of corpses that lay stretched in the mud on either we side of it and the heartrending heart rending anguish of the women and children had laft such an impression on her mind that sleep was wa Is out of the question so she lay very still and watched her mother who was close beside the stove mrs berthune scarcely moved for t bluee tv hours and only once during that lutfe oid diu she avert her eyes from the floor she passed her hand over her face in a dazed fashion the motion seemed to arouse her for she jumped to her feet and began to gesticulate wildly thearl the arl was alarmed but she remained perfectly quiet believing that her mothers alez frenzy e would suon soon pass away and that ake would relapse into her trancelike trance like condition again but the woman momentarily menta rily seemed to grow wilder and more uncontrollable and instead of ceasing the motion of her arms increased them she continued the pantomime for several minutes before she finally stopped and then she walked over to the corser corner nearest the stove and picked up a coal oil can part ol of the contents coo coa teats tents of which she deliberately poured over too tae skirt of her dress the remainder ol 01 the oil she emptied upon the bed where her h er children were sleeping peacefully unconscious ol of threatened harm barm or d danger a siger the oldest girl had bad v viewed these pre preparations parati ons with terror and was preparing to spring f from rom the oil soaked bed and fly for her lite life when her mother lighted a piece ol of paper and deliberately dellbe ratel applied the flame to co her dress and threw threw the blazing remnant upon the bed in an instant the whole interior of the hut but was the girl I 1 from the bed and bolted for the half open door her mother whose loose dress was burning fiercely caught her to prevent her escape the he girl fought like a tigress tor for freedom her struggles being strengthened by 6 the death shrieks of the ibe other children who were writhing in the named that were fast consuming t the e rapidly burning but mrs ber t thune one passed her arms armr around the struggling cirps body and unmindful ot of the fire that was slowly burning her up endeavored to hold her but her strength give gave way before the awful torture the girl finally made one more effort to tear herself away from the maniac and succeeded released from arms of the mother the girl staggered to the door and fell headlong into the ditch from chica she was rescued a few minutes later by a party part of miners who were attracted to the berthune berthune Bert bune thune house by abe flames the poor child was terribly burned and the doctors who first saw her sail said she could not survive the n but when they the began tol toft reat treat tier her wounds they expressed hopes of her recovery the miners made a great fight to save the hut but and inmates but the tire fire had gained so much headway that it was impossible to do anything and they had bad to give it up and stand by aid see it burn up when it was all coho consumed umed they raked through the glowing embers until they lound found the charred bodies of the four children and mrs berthune they were found huddled together to ether the bodies were carried to tae tug dead house bouse on the hill and laid beside the mangled corpse of the miner whose bloody face was hidden bidden under a gunny sack ceacer news |