Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 220, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 September 1913 — Chicago Woman Arraigned for Slaying a Parrot [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Chicago Woman Arraigned for Slaying a Parrot

CHICAGO. —The first murder trial in the history of the South Chicago municipal court was held the other day when Mrs. Catherine SolinBkl 9218 Drexel avenue, was arraigned on a charge .of murdering a parrot. It also is the first case in the history of the state in which a person has been charged with the murder of a member of the feathered tribe. Mrs. Solihski was fined |l. The warrant was sworh to before Municipal Judge Sullivan by Mrs. Mary Nogi, owner of the parrot, who lives above the flat occupied by the Sollnskis. She testified that Mrs. 80llnski had killed the bird because she was afraid her husband would hear it

swearing and that she could produce witnesses to testify to the “murder.” “I want a warrant charging Mrs. S.ollnski with the murder of my Polly,” demanded Mrs. Nogi tearfully as she laid the green “corpse” before the court. Judge Sullivan rubbed his puzzled brow and consulted the city ordinances. Then he delved into the state statutes from bigamy to arson. No law could be found to apply to the case. Several attorneys in the courtroom were consulted. They were puzzled over the case. It was finally decided that the case was clearly one of plain murder of a parrot, and the warrant was issued to that effect. . “Yes, I killed it,” said Mrs. Solinski, when arraigned. “I wrung its neck Because it swore too much. Besides, I sold it to Mrs. Mary Nogi, a neighbor, a year ago for $lO, and she never paid me. We quarreled many times because of the transaction, and as I thought it was still' as much my bird as hers I killed it, so there wouldn’t be any further trouble over it."