Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 February 1874 — ASPHYXIATED. [ARTICLE]

ASPHYXIATED.

A Horrible Discovery in the Town of Lake, Cook County, Ill.—An Entire Family Poisoned by the Inhalation of Coal Gas—Three Children Dead, and the Mother Made Insane—A Terrible Case of Asphyxiation. A horrible discovery was made in the town of Lake, Cook Co.-, HL, on the afternoon of Feb.l4. In a small cottage on Forty-third street, near the Union Stock Yards, resided a Mr. Thompson, his wife and four children, one an infant about ten days old, and a German woman who had been hired to act in the capacity of nurse. For several days before Mr. Thompson had been absent, and it was the custom of some of the neighboring women to call in every day to see that the family lacked for none of the little attentions necessary to mother and babe. Those calls were usually made in the morning, but for some reason, on this day, the visit was deferred until the afternoon. When the woman tapped at the door there was no response at first, and it was only after repeated knockings that the nurse was aroused sufficiently to stagger to the entrance and let in the wondering visitor. The woman acted as if dazed and seemed to be wonderfully stupid, but this only excited momentary remark on the part of the good lady, and she pushed on into the inner apartment. On opening the door a scene of horror presented itself. Two little children were lying dead in different positions upon the floor, and a third was almost in the same condition. Mrs. Thompson was raving and raging in her bed, evidently a -maniac, and the baby too was apparently suffering from some deadly narcotic. She quickly ran to the windows, let in a little fresh air, and shouted for assistance. This was quickly forthcoming, and physicians were summoned to aid those who still were living. That same night the third child died. An investigation was made into the circumstances of the case, and it was discovered that souie time during the preceding night the nurse had lifted the top from the coal stove and set in a tin pan filled with water to heat for the use of the mother and her babe. The damper In the pipe was closed, and the conclusion was reached by the Coroner’s jury that the gas, escaping into the room, had worked all this mischief. Such was also the opinion of the physicians who made the post mortem examination. At last accounts the nurse had recovered, as also had the babe. Mrs. Thompson still remained insane, and did not know of the terrible bereavement which had befallen her.