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    248 "" THE LEADER. [No. 312, Saturday ,

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    A MEETING OF TIGKET-QF-LEAVE MEN. A gath...

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    Garotte Robbery.—A man named Henry Thoma...

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    Body She Could Not Bear Touching, For, E...

    rather lean , to some accidental poisoning , knowing thai poison , was in the house . I fear some may have been spilled by accident among the food , and that was my reason for pressing upon you a post-mortem examination . ' Again he said , ' Can you suspect me ?' I said , ' How could I ? I do suspect an accident might have happened . ' He then said , ' Should I have done it openly if I meant to poison ? Should I have come to your Burgery for poison ? Should I have talked about it to others ?* naming , I think , his mother . Then the conversation closed with a repeated request that I would let Mm know the result . " Two months ago , Mr . Dove went to the house of Mr . Harrison , a dentist , and , having listened to a report of Palmer ' s case , which was read to him , said , " Could you get me , or make me , any strychnine ? " Mr . Harrison replied , " Not for the world . " Mr . Dove rejoined , " Well , I can get some . " After his wife ' s death , he said to Mr . Harrison , " Can they detect a grain and a-half of strychnine , or a grain ? " " What !" said Mr . Harrison , " have you really given your wife any ?* ' He answered , " N " o , but I got some of Mr . Moriey ' s man to poison a cat with , and some may have been spilt , and she may have got some . " Mrs . Fisher , on her examination on the third day ofTEne inquest , exhibited great hesitation in answering some of the questions , and attributed it to the number of people and the heat of the court confusing her . Mr . Barret , Dove ' s counsel , said it had been asserted that Mrs ; Fisher had been tampered with by the accused ; but he affirmed that this was impossible . The inquest wasadjourned till Monday .

    248 "" The Leader. [No. 312, Saturday ,

    248 "" THE LEADER . [ No . 312 , Saturday ,

    A Meeting Of Tigket-Qf-Leave Men. A Gath...

    A MEETING OF TIGKET-QF-LEAVE MEN . A gathering of a most remarkable and interesting character , as exhibiting one of the social evils from which " oxir civilisation '' is daily languishing , took place at the National Hall , Holborn , on Wednesday evening , when Mr . Henry Mayhew , author of" London Labour and the London Poor , " coriYeried a meeting of tickefcof-leave men , in order that the public might learn from their own lips the difficulties with which they r have to struggle in endeavouring to work their way back to ah honest mode of livelihood . About fifty members of the body were present . They were admitted on presenting their tickets-of-leave , and were required on entrance to fiU up the coluniHs of a . register / setting forth their ages , theii * occupations , the offences for which ; they were last convicted , their sentences , and the amount of instruction they had severally received . From the informati on thus collected , it appears that csly ttiree out of the fifty present were above the age of forty , the large majority ranging between eighteen and thirty-five , the highest age of all being sixty-eight ; that they consisted of labourers , hawkers , costermongers , blacksmiths , shoemakers , carpenters , and other handicraftsmen ; that their previous punishments varied . from two years to fourteen years' transportation ; and that more than one * half of them had been educated either at dayschools or Sunday-schools . Suspecting that the men would be unwilling to attend if the police presented themselves either in the hall or at its entrance , Mr . Mayhew took the precaution to apply beforehand to the Metropolitan Commissioners on the subject . The authorities at once acceded to the request thus made to them , and not a solitary constable was permitted to overawe the meeting . Mr . Mayhew introduced the proceedings by a speech , in which he said that he had trusted and . tried many ticket-of-leave men in various way * , and had never been wronged to the extent of a farthing by them . He thought the ticket-of-leave system on excellent one , but the men had many difficulties to contend with , and society ought to aid them . In this respect , he thought , street-trading would afford a good outlet for their industry , requiring no certificate of character from those who embarked in it , for all that they wanted was a little stock-mouey to Btart with . Mr . Mayhew , after a few more remarks , invited the xaen- ' io express their own ' opinions on the subject . The first to answer this summons waa a young man of neat and comparatively respectable appearance , who seemed to be known to the rest by the natne of " Peter . ' With great fluency and remarkable propriety of expression , he proceeded to narrate his own ¦ - " ^ Mat-career . Having , he said , been transported for seven years he was sent , to Millbtuik prison where he was put to the tailoring business . Being fond of books , he was enabled while there to improve his previous oducation , and even began to" tackle * ' algebra . After the lapse of fourteen months , he went to Portstoouth , where ho was employed jn wheeling barrows lrom . morning to night . During the whole of his confinement , hia perpetual source of anxiety was what waa to become of him when he should bo liberated . ^ f ^ P PWed for counsel and encouragement to the 5 ^ W' ^ thRt gentleman refused to do anything » wtt ^ * beca me a communicant , a thing wWch ^ . WA 8 , obJig ^ d ponsoientiously to decline . He Bucceeaod ; bet ^( , vyitUtho second clergyman of the SS ?' ^ wbo waa * man of more liberal ideas " than his £ 2 ? Sff * n i ftnueHUy expresBed to him hi * * e w » that no otUw resource Wa « open to him , on

    regaining his liberty , than to return to London , where he had been first transported , and where , being a marked man and well known to the police , and having no character to offer as a security to any employer , he * would , never find work , but must go back to thieving to sav « himself from starvation . ( Applause . ) When released he had £ 6 12 s . in bis pocket , and when he got to Southampton the officer of the penal establishment , in whose company he was , kindly offered him a drop of brandy . He took a little , which , as he had not tasted spirits for four years before , immediately got into his bead , so that , with the help of a glass or two more afterwards , he became quite intoxicated , and spent all his money the same night , and not oaly so , but got locked up into the bargain . ( Laughter . ) At least , if he did not spend it all himselfj somebody else assisted him to spend it . ( Renewed laughter ?) Arriving in London without a farthing , and without a friend in the world , with no prospect of employment , and with no one , if he wanted a meal , to say , " Here it is for you , " what was a man to do ? Before he could bring himself to thieve ^ he walked the streets hi a vain search for work for three months , until he wore out two pairs of shoes , and grew emaciated from having nothing better to eat than a bit of bread and a herring . In this desperate state of things , he met with his old associates , and for- a period of two months he did ' very well as far as money went , for he made £ 5 or £ 6 ; a-week . This , however , was earned by practices which he sincerely disliked ; but then , if the public would not allow him to make £ 1 by honester means , what was a man to do ? The dislike to religious ceremonials was exhibited by another speaker , a dwarfish young : costeimonger , who , while in prison at Portsmouth , was pressed to take the Sacrement ; " but , not liking to play the hypocrite , he refused , " He had been / married rather more than a year ; but his trade for the last six weeks had been" very low , and he had only just managed to " crack a crust ; . ' ¦ ' . but , " please God , he would never go back again to thieving . " This announcement was received with cheers . An . elderly man , who described himself as a docklabourer , said he had been convicted of robbery at the Old Bailey , and sentenced to fourteen years' transportation , although entirely innocent . He had been sent to Millbank , to Wool ^ yich , and to Gibraltar , and at the latter place was subjected to tbe harshest treatment . Flogging went on there from before dawn till late at night . £ 2 10 s . out of thesum of £ 414 s . 6 d . allowed him on leaving Gibraltar was stopped to pay his , passage home , He had worked for fifteen or sixteen memths at the docks , but , he was now out of work , and did not know how co get a living . No man in London had seen more trouble than he had . The next speaker , a blacksmith , afflicted with lameness , then narrated his experience , bitterly inveighing against brutalities which , he alleged , were practised at the Dartmoor Penal Establishment , where , he added , the rankling sense of injustice rendered , the reformation of the inmates impossible . Mr . Mayhew closed the proceedings by informing the men that he would endeavour to form a committee of philanthropic gentlemen with the view of establishing a society and raising a fund for their encouragement . This singular meeting , which was of the most orderly character , then quietly dispersed .

    Garotte Robbery.—A Man Named Henry Thoma...

    Garotte Robbery . —A man named Henry Thomas has been charged at the Marylebone police-office with an attack on Mr . William Paltridge , in the Edgwareroad between eleven and twelve o ' clock . Mr . Paltridge was nearly strangled by two men , one of whom has escaped . An attempt was made to rob him , but he only lost a few halfpence and a pill-box he was carrying . The timely arrival of a gentleman , who attacked the ruffians with his stick , causing them to fly , saved the life of the victim . Thomas , who was stopped by a policeman , was remanded . —Another highway robbery , accompanied by murderous violence , has been committed on the person of Mr . Thomas Gougee , in North-temxco , on the borders of the Victoria-park , about half past twelve at night , The prisoner , who is a ticket-of-leave man , was committed for trial . * Legality of Card-Sharping on Board Steamers . —It appears that the Woolwich steamers have been recently infested by several card-sharpers , who intrude upon the passengers on dock and in the cabins , and induce them to make bets , which of course they lose , A French gentleman , on publie grounds , gaveone of these rasoals into oustody a few days since : but tlie magistrate before whom ho was brought said the practice was only illegal iu publics houses or public places , and ho did not think a steamer could bo called either . The accused was therefore discharged . A ^ Defaulter in Tnn Bristol Corporation . —A serious defalcation has been discovered in tho accounts of Mr . Thomas Garrard , who for half a century has filled the offices of chamberlain and treasurer to the Bristol Corporation . Tho discovery of this fact was purely accidental . Mr . Garrard being 111 , it was found necessary during hia absence to make * somo inquiries at the bank at which he kept his ocoouuto .

    The result was that a deficiency to the amount of £ 4 , 000 was discovered . This amount will not be lost to the city , as there are ample sureties , who will be responsible . The salary of Mr . Garrard was £ 700 per annum , and up to the present time he has borne an unsullied character for integrity . Some financial difficulties in which one of bis sons has lately been involved are currently spoken of as the cause of the misappropriation of the city funds . "The Sinkin g Fund" and the National Debt . William West , an elderly man , is now under remand at the Southwark police-office , charged with obtaining money from various persons under pretence of being an officer of the Cpurt of Chancery and the Crown Office , and of offering to recover certain estates , See . The victims belonged for the most pai * tto the working classes ; and in several instances the man said that , unless the property were recovered within a few days , it would go to " the sinking fund , " or to pay off the national debt . At one place , he said that he was sent by " Lord Clarendon , the High Chancellor of the Exchequer ; " at another house he got his tea , as well as five-and-sixpence . —A similar case of imposture has been brought before the Clerkenwell magistrate , where a man has been committed for trial , charged with obtaining money under pretences of being a police inspector , appointed to inquire into the condition of water-closets . Charge op Perjury . —Mr . * Nolduritt , a Customhouse agent , has been examined before the Lambeth police-magistrate on a charge of wilful and corrupt perjury . The charge arose from the denial on tie part ' of Mr . Nolduritt , in an action brought against him in August laBt by the London and County Bank on a bill of exchange for £ 500 , that the endorsement on the bill was in his handwriting , and the assertion that the endorsement was therefore a forgery . A verdict was in consequence given for Mr . Nolduritt . On the same trial , Mr . George Brooke swore that , on presenting the bill to the plaintiffs , discount was refused for it ;; until another name was added to the endorser ' s , and he went to Mr .-Nolduritt , and in his presence that gentleman wrote the endorsement to the bill which he now repudiates . The evidence of competent persons has been taken before the magistrate , to show that the signature is identical with that of the accused , and the case has been remanded . A Religious Thief . — -James Monkford , a shopman in the service of a cheesemonger at Walworth , has been sentenced to three months at the treadmill in Wandsvvortli House of Correction , for plundering his master of a considerable amount of cash . It appeared that the young man Was of a " pious" turn , having a . high character for morality and religion , to the extent of being considered a perfect saint among his devout acquaintance . He was a constant attendant at chapel , and was a teacher in a Sunday-school . The Inquest on Mb . Sadleir , M . P . <— The adjourned inquest was resumed on Tuesday , when noadditional evidence waa brought ; forward , with the exception of a statement made by Mr . Manning , Coroner of the Queen ' s Household , that , after having made inquiries , he could not ascertain that there were any documents forged by the deceased , besides that which was mentioned on the previous occasion . After an elaborate charge from the Coroner , Mr . Wakley , the jury retired for about half an hour , and then brought in a verdict of felo de ee . The . body had already beea buried in Highgate Cemetery , the service being performed by a Roman Catholic clergyman . Alleged Forgery ov a Diploma . —Henry yFrederiek Hodson , of Cradley Heath , who has beeifc for some time practising as a surgeon , has been committed for trial on a charge of forging a diploma of th 6 College of Surgeons . A Fight in the Dark , —Several robberies of lead and other fittings having recently taken p ^ ace in gardens of houses in Chelsea , a policeman in plain , clothes was set to watch . About half-past three o ' clock in the monajng , while everything ai'ound was very still and quiet , he heard a cough . He went to the top of the street , scaled a wall four feet high , and walked quietly through a number of gardens , until , from ono of the walls , he saw a man in a yard standing close to a water-butt . The policeman . took out hia truncheon , and , jumping over tho wall into tho yard * seized the man by the collar , and asked him what he was doing there ,. The other replied , " I am right enough , " when tho oflioer observed , he would see about that , and , thrusting his hand into the stranger ' s breast pockofc , drew out a brass tap , and told him that he had boon there to get that , and must g ° with him to tho station . The constable then removed him from the yard , and had to olimb ° ^ «• wall with him , upon the top of wluoh tb « wo were some railings . Ho had succeeded in placing— hxtn . on the wall , and wa » making a upring to got up himself , when ho was suddenly checked by a clothes-line , which ho hud not observed , and the man , availing hiniBolf of tho circumstance , seized him at tho moment , and they both fell on a dustheap . A desperate struggle ensued , and the policeman was bo severely injured that ho was went on the following day to the hospital . By tho aid of another policeman , tho ruffian waa scoured , and hius now been committed for trial .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 15, 1856, page 8, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_15031856/page/8/