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Story
January 3, 1892
Wheeling Sunday Register
Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia
What is this article about?
In Pittsburg on Jan. 2., Mrs. Mary Murcaski, crazed by religious excitement, hurled her eight-month-old baby down church steps, fatally injuring it, and repeated the act before police took them to the hospital.
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CRAZED BY RELIGION
A Mother Hurls Her Baby Down a Church's Steps and Kills It While in a Frenzy of Religious Excitement.
PITTSBURG, Jan. 2.—"As a sacrifice I offer thee!"
An eight-months'-old babe was hurled from the church steps to the pavement below, a distance of 10 feet, and fatally hurt, by an insane mother this morning.
The neighborhood of Twenty-first and Smallman streets was thrown into a state of intense excitement about 2 o'clock by the loud screaming of a female. Officer Hughes, who was passing up Penn avenue at the time, hastened in the direction from whence the sounds came.
Immediately in front of the new Polish church, at the corner of Twenty-first and Smallman streets, he ran upon a white object lying upon the pavement.
A closer examination revealed a little babe covered with blood from head to foot.
The officer mounted the steps, and crouched down in a corner beside one of the pillars he discovered a kneeling female figure.
The officer attempted to arouse her but to all appearances she was engaged in prayer. All attempts to attract her attention proved fruitless. The officer then used force, and after a hard struggle succeeded in getting her to the pavement. As soon as she saw the form of the little child laying on the ground she broke from the policeman and rushed frantically to its side. She clutched the child in her arms and would doubtless have suffocated it had not the officer interfered. The officer tried to induce the mother to give the child up, but did not succeed.
When near the patrol box, when the officer was off his guard, the mother raised the child high in the air and hurled it to the pavement again with terrific force.
The patrol wagon was finally summoned and the mother and child were removed to the Twelfth Ward Police Station.
Immediately upon their arrival Dr. Steinpicker was summoned. A glance at the child showed that it had sustained fatal injuries.
The mother and the little one were placed in No. 3 patrol wagon and taken to the West Penn Hospital.
The mother's name is recorded on the docket as Mrs. Mary Murcaski. She is the wife of a foreman in Carnegie's Twenty-Fourth street mill.
She was a very intelligent woman and an earnest Church worker. She has shown a mental weakness since early in the spring, when she contracted a cold which seriously impaired her health. The child's condition is critical.
A Mother Hurls Her Baby Down a Church's Steps and Kills It While in a Frenzy of Religious Excitement.
PITTSBURG, Jan. 2.—"As a sacrifice I offer thee!"
An eight-months'-old babe was hurled from the church steps to the pavement below, a distance of 10 feet, and fatally hurt, by an insane mother this morning.
The neighborhood of Twenty-first and Smallman streets was thrown into a state of intense excitement about 2 o'clock by the loud screaming of a female. Officer Hughes, who was passing up Penn avenue at the time, hastened in the direction from whence the sounds came.
Immediately in front of the new Polish church, at the corner of Twenty-first and Smallman streets, he ran upon a white object lying upon the pavement.
A closer examination revealed a little babe covered with blood from head to foot.
The officer mounted the steps, and crouched down in a corner beside one of the pillars he discovered a kneeling female figure.
The officer attempted to arouse her but to all appearances she was engaged in prayer. All attempts to attract her attention proved fruitless. The officer then used force, and after a hard struggle succeeded in getting her to the pavement. As soon as she saw the form of the little child laying on the ground she broke from the policeman and rushed frantically to its side. She clutched the child in her arms and would doubtless have suffocated it had not the officer interfered. The officer tried to induce the mother to give the child up, but did not succeed.
When near the patrol box, when the officer was off his guard, the mother raised the child high in the air and hurled it to the pavement again with terrific force.
The patrol wagon was finally summoned and the mother and child were removed to the Twelfth Ward Police Station.
Immediately upon their arrival Dr. Steinpicker was summoned. A glance at the child showed that it had sustained fatal injuries.
The mother and the little one were placed in No. 3 patrol wagon and taken to the West Penn Hospital.
The mother's name is recorded on the docket as Mrs. Mary Murcaski. She is the wife of a foreman in Carnegie's Twenty-Fourth street mill.
She was a very intelligent woman and an earnest Church worker. She has shown a mental weakness since early in the spring, when she contracted a cold which seriously impaired her health. The child's condition is critical.
What sub-type of article is it?
Tragedy
Extraordinary Event
What themes does it cover?
Madness
Tragedy
Misfortune
What keywords are associated?
Religious Frenzy
Infant Fatality
Insane Mother
Church Steps
Police Intervention
What entities or persons were involved?
Mrs. Mary Murcaski
Officer Hughes
Dr. Steinpicker
Where did it happen?
Pittsburg, Corner Of Twenty First And Smallman Streets, New Polish Church
Story Details
Key Persons
Mrs. Mary Murcaski
Officer Hughes
Dr. Steinpicker
Location
Pittsburg, Corner Of Twenty First And Smallman Streets, New Polish Church
Event Date
Jan. 2.
Story Details
An insane mother in a religious frenzy hurled her eight-month-old baby from the church steps, fatally injuring it, and repeated the act despite police intervention before both were taken to the hospital.