Democrat & Chronicle Rochester, NY Monroe Co. February 6, 1921 page 1 FRENZIED MOTHER TAKES LIVES OF HER 2 CHILDREN Neighborhood Gossips Cause Tragedy in Peruville Ithaca--Feb. 6. Crazed by neighborhood gossip questioning her fidelity to her husband, Mrs. Daisy Pearl DURYEA of Peruville, eight miles north of this city, this morning shot her two children, Ruth, aged 13 and Gerald, aged 10, a boy and a girl, killing the girl instantly and mortally wounding the boy. She then attempted to shoot herself but her husband who had been attracted by the shots succeeded in preventing the suicide. Mrs. DURYEA will be arraigned on a murder charge before Justice of the Peace, Rexford CHATTERTON, in the village of Groton on Monday, but because of her mental condition, a Lunacy Commission will be appointed to examine her and it may be that the case will never come to trial, if the mother is adjudged insane. The tragic shooting occurred at six o'clock this morning. Mrs. DURYEA had called her husband, an employee of the Corona Typewriter works at Groton, announcing that breakfast was ready. When Mr. DURYEA appeared in the kitchen, Mrs. DURYEA left the room. While eating his breakfast, Mr. DURYEA heard a shot but mistook it for a window breaking. A second later he heard another shot and running up stairs found his wife with a .32 calibre revolver pointed at her own head. As he rushed into the room she fired two shots at herself but both went wild. Mr. DURYEA succeeded in wrestling the revolver from his wife and then took her to a neighbor's home where he told what had happened. Accompanied by the neighbor, Fred MERRILL, DURYEA and his wife went back in the house. Deputy Sheriff Leo PACKARD of Groton was notified and with two doctors hurried to the house. The girl was pronounced dead, but the boy who was still alive was rushed to the Ithaca City Hospital in an ambulance which had been sent from this city. He died two hours after his arrival here. Recently there have been neighborhood stories of an affinity and Mrs. DURYEA had become distracted by these reports but talked the matter over with her husband who took no notice of them. Apparently, however, they weighed on her mind and are believed to have been the cause of the shooting. Just before being brought to the County Jail here, Mrs. DURYEA insisted on seeing the two children and exclaimed when take to the bedroom where the double shooting had occurred "my God, what have I done." She then relapsed into a daze and apparently was unmindful of what was going on around her. Both Mrs. and Mrs. DURYEA were musicians, she having taught in the Cortland _______. Last night they had played a number (didn't get the rest). WADSWORTH HAS NEW PROPOSAL ON CAPITAL SMOKING Washington. Feb. 5 Senator SMOOT's proposal to prohibit smoking in most government buildings in Washington met sudden death today in the Senate, but out of it grew a substitute by Senator WADSWORTH requiring department heads to prohibit smoking when it would endanger public property. DEATH OF CHARLES H. HART Septic Poisoning Causes Death of Young Draftsman. Charles Henry HART, son of Henry HART, died on Thursday afternoon in the Homeopathic Hospital of septic poisoning. Mr. HART was born in Rochester on October 28, 1891, and received his early education in St. Joseph's parochial school. He also was a graduate of Mechanics Institute and attended the University of Rochester. At the time of the war he was drafted and sent to Camp Dix. He later was transferred to the Ford plant in Detroit after an investigation of his personal record. At the time of his death he was employed in the drafting department of the Eastman Kodak Company. He leaves his father, one brother, Edward HART; two sisters, Mrs. Charles RELCHERT and Miss Teresa HART. The funeral will be held at 8:00 o'clock to-morrow morning from the family home and from St. Joseph's Church. Interment will be made in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. Mrs. Marcella GRAHAM died yesterday morning at the home of her son, Edwin J. MYERS. She leaves also two sisters, Mrs. Mary PARMELEE and Mrs. Alvira COLLISTER and one brother John MONROE of Erie, Pa. Michael HOHOE died last evening at his home, No. 107 Myrtle street, aged 68 years. He leaves two sons, Joseph F. and John C. HOHOE. Henry MEIER, formerly of this city died on January 11th in Edelburg, Germany Bernard John, infant son of Bernard J. and Isabel MATTERN HEBERLE, died at the Hahnemann Hospital. Submitted by: Patricia Stillwell Mims Rochester, NY