On this page

• Text (2)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    294 TH 1 . LBA D > B . , . 314 > Satordat , ¦ "" ¦ ¦ « B ^ i ^ B > ««^ ¦¦¦¦^ ¦ W ¦¦¦¦ ¦ »«»^^^ ^ ' ^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^ ¦ ^^"'¦ ^ ¦¦¦^ ¦ ^ ' ¦ ¦ •^"""^^^ i ^ iMB ^^^ . MKM , ^___ - ^— - —

    Untitled Article

    IRELAND . Mr . Ediuond O' . Fx . ahehxy . —A curious circumstance relative to tho forgerios of Mr . Edinond O'Flahorty was mentioned incidentally at tho half-yearly meeting of tho Midland Groat Western Railway ( Irolaud ) on Thursday week , that being tho firrtt occasion on which it obtained publicity . Lord Castlemaine , ono of tho shareholders , askocl tho chairman to explain an item which appeared in the accounts under the howl of "forged transfors . " Tho Chairman , in reply , said that fifteen shares ware dispdWl of under a forged powor of attorney , by a . gentleman who had left tUo country . That transfer had all tho appearance of

    being genuino , ho much so that ho understood that tho gentleman whoso nanio appeared an that of tho witness was not at all oatiafiod that ho himnolf had not written it . Tho party to whom tho shares belonged naturally applied to tho board to havo thorn roinatnto < l . Tho matter was carried to u tribunul at Gnhvay , tho ease wan triad , and tho company wero dof ' oatod , aud they wore obliged to rostoro tho aharois that had boea fraudulently transferred in hia name . Lord Oiifitlomaine : "I wish to know who that person who . " Chairman : " I havo no difficulty iu Baying it waa Mr . Eclmond O'Flahorty . " A voioo ; " I waw thinking it was . " Tho amount of the forgery was £ WC ) .

    Auohbibhoj . ' Cutunix ami ) Tim l ' nj « 8 B . —Tho Nation , tho Tablet , and tho Weekly Tdogru ^ h , havo boon expollod , by oi-dor of Archbishop Cullon , from tho roading rooms of the Catholio Youug Moh ' h Society , ou

    Untitled Article

    ferocious assault upon a police superintendent at Wenloek races in July , 1849 , after committing which , he escaped , and was not seen again until last October , when he was arrested , after a desperate struggle , by the successor of the injured man , who was so disabled as to be obliged to retire from the police force . The desperado was sentenced to six years' penal servitude . Three Rebellious Stomachs . —Three men , named Buckingham , Fleming-, and Burtonshaw , were charged at Bow-street with stealing a railway rug . A . policeman related Fleming ' s previous acts of theft , which lad included on one occasion fourteen pounds -of hacon , and expressed his opinion that he wus

    deter-SSSSLfyreS aware of SheTact . —The Judge accordingly directed' a verdict in favour of the defendant ; and 33 t £ s was given . A -Wilt , Case . —Considerable interest has been excited at the Swansea Assizes by the trial of a disputed will case . The action was in the form of an ¦ is sue directed "by the Master of the Bolls , for the purpose of ascertaining the opinion of the jury as to the validity of two wills bearing date respectively the 8 th of February , 1854 , and the 12 th of July of the same year , made by Mr . Thomas Thomas , of Werngaiach , Glamorganshire . The plaintiff was the widow of this gentlemau , and tho defendant was his brother . The late Mr . Thomas had inherited his property from

    his father , who died intestate . The other members of the family were therefore excluded from participation ; and Mr . Thomas seems , when making his will in February , to have desired to remedy this state of things , and to consider the claims of each member of the family . The widow asserted that he afterwards expressed his dissatisfaction -svith the will ; but of this there was no proof s and on the other side it was stated * hai Mr . Thomas expressed a hope that , af ter his death , his brother would take care of the document , to prevent his wife and her brother

    getting hold of it . In July , 1854 , he was taken seriously ill . It then appeared that he was desirous to make another will : at least , Mr . Price ( a friend and medical adviser of the family , and a very eccentric man , who has previousl y figured in trials in this part of the country ) wrote to a lawyer , Mr . Overton , to come and draw out a will . Mi \ Overton went , and found the testator in a state of great physical depression . The lawyer objected to mate the will ; on which Mr . Price said , " If you won t do it , I will undertake it . " - Mr . Overton then made the draft of

    a will ; " but , not understanding Welsh , he made it partly through the interpretation of Mr . Price . The trill ; 'was read over to the testator ; he assented to it , and affixed his mark , being-too weak to sign his name . In order further to authenticate hi 3 mark , he placed his pen on the seal , and repeated the words , "I deliver this as my aefc and deed . " This transaction took place in the dead of the night ; and a girl , living in the souse , Tvho usually went to bed after ten , had been sent at seven , and had gone reluctantly . A few hours afterwards , Mr . Thomas died . It was con tended that his brain was paralysed at the time he signed the will , and that he was not competent to perform such an act . The latter will bequeathed all the

    testator ' s property to his three brothers and his three pephews , leaving his wife a life interest in it . The jury declared that it was nat valid ; and a verdict ¦ was therefore given for the defendant . In the coui-se of the trial , Mr . Price , who dresses a fter the ancient Wfetsh feshion , and who wore a pistol stuck in his giriile , said , in answer to the cro ss examination of Sit" Frederick Thesiger , counsel for the defendant , that he had conducted a post-mortem examination of hia ¦; father . He added " : — "In our profession , the sam&aa in yours , when we are called upon to discharge our duty , we look upon people not as fathers , or mothers , or sisters , or brothers , but as sticks and stones , When I determine to do anything , I do do it : I am not half-and-half . "

    Ingenious RABCALFrY . — James Metcalfe was charged at Worship-street ¦¦ •• with fraud . For a long time past , the prisoner and a number of other persona ; "who'suFe manifestly acting in concert , have been in tneliabit of going rotind to the shops of tradesmen , and / ' after selecting some trifling article , worth a penny or twopence , tender in payment for it a coin so closely l-e&embling a sixpence that in nine coseB out of ten the fraud iB undiscovered , 'and the spurious coin token . Upon , closer inspection , however , the coin will ' fee found to be slightly defective on the reverse , and 1 tins is intentionally cast so , as the effeot , upon a

    prosecution , is to take the coin altogether out of the class of spurious imitations of the ourront coin , and reduce it to a mere medal ; and tho utterer , of course , getB discharged without punishment . In the present case , the man went jauntily to the station , anticipating a favourable result j but tho inspector on duty , knowing the fruitlessnesa of detaining him for uttering , entered the chargo on the ( sheet as for fraudulently obtaining goods by offering a medal which ; he well kuevv to be perfeobly val ueleas . This Buoeoeded ; and tho ingenious rogue has been committed for trial .

    Bioamy . — -A man named David Williams , alias Daniel Wilson , a stockbroker , has been comtnittod for trial ; on a oharge of bigamy . Some time ago , ho was brought up at Worship-street on a warrant by the office * of St . ' Luke ' s pariah , ohai'ged with refusing to support hja Wife and two ohildren , who were thrown on the workhouse . Ho do tended himself by Haying that'thewonianwas not liin wife , and had no claim on him 1 ; and he was discharged . Ho was then arrested for bigamy , of whiob , ho appears to bo guilty . When betwo- Miv D'Eyncourt , he orosa-exumiued th « Vrt , Wv 9 BBe 8 ^ xtla rude m <\ insulting manner , oven i © am&g ; p V © T the bar and pushing somo of them asido ; loxMrtlHQhhG was severely reproved by the magistrate . T gownuKmsm AJfxmk Six , Yu / vrs' Escape . — A rutflw has just been tried < and ! found guilty of- a

    mined not to starve . On this , Fleming said : « ' That ' s right ; I don't intend to do so when I come out of prison next time . I can get no clothes , or else I could get ¦ work . I have not tasted anything , with the exception of a little bit of bread and cheese , since Thursday . " ( It was then Saturday . ) Mr . Henry : " What are you ?" Fleming : "A groom . I came from Jersey last November to try to get a job , as I was told I could get good work in London . What am I to do ? I can ' t get work ; I can ' t get any relief ; I won't starve . I ' ve got a character that would get me work ; bub look at the state I ' m in . Who'd employ me ? " Mi * . Henry ( to Buckingham ) : " What have you been doing for the 3 t few monthB

    game , and spent a great deal of money on a woman with whom , he contracted an intimacy , though he was a married man . On the police going to Bowman ' s house to arrest him , Barker was observed to listen at the outer door , and he also was taken into custod v Previously to this , he gave forty sovereigns to his wife , that ; she might take care of them . Twentv of these were put by the wife into a bag , thrus t into her little girl ' s bosom ; the other twenty she asked a female friend to keep , as " she did not know what the police were hovering about for . " The friend acceptedthis charge , and thus became particeps crimints . Subsequently , the sovereigns were found on the little and

    girl ; they were all of the George and the Dragon die . Several other sovereigns with the same device had been spent by Barker , [ as it was afterwards ascertained , in purchasing a pony and gig . The woman charged as an a ccomplice was acquitted ; but Bowman and Barker were found Guilty , and sentence of death was recorded . The reporters give a picture of Bowman , from which it would seem that he rivals { the Bravo of Venice in hideoumiess . He has an immense protuberance on one side uf his face , which is partly black and nearly obscui'es one of his eyes ; his mouth is drawn completely on one side ; and , aware of the horridness of his aspect , his chief delight has been to thrust his face against ladies and children , to frighten them .

    A Desibable Villa . —An action has been brought at the Kingston Assizes by a Mr . Cattermole against a man named Hodgson . The former had saved about £ 500 . One day , Hodgson asked him if he had not some money lying idle ; to which Cattermole anwered that he had some at the Londou and Westminster Bank . Hodgson then said that he was a fool to keep his money there for one and a half per cent , when he . might get five per cent . by . advancing money to a person named Dumford on the mortgage of a villa residence in Loughborough Park . Cattermole subsequently handed over £ 400 —nearly Ms all—on the mortgage in . question , and for . eighteen months received the interest regularly

    but Dumford then told him he should pay no moi > e and shortly afterwards absconded . The plaintiff who represented that he had acted entirely-xipon the representations of Hodgson , and had never even seen , the property thab was th , e subject of the mortgage , instituted inquiries , and found that the " splendid villa" was a very badly constructed office ; that the " lawn , " which had also been spoken of , was merely apiece of grass plot before the houso , a few feet square ; and that the " coach house and stabling , " which the defendant had likewise put foward . as an additional enhancement of the property , were merely

    a miserable shed , and a stall only fit for a pony , made out of old tea chests . The premises were finally put up to auction under the mortgage aud realised £ 250 , and , after the costs and expenses had been deducted , all that remained was the sum of £ 160 . The present action was brought to recover the difference between that sum and the aniouut that had been advanced by Mr . Cattermole , It further appeared that Dumford was heavily indebted to Hodgson , and it seemed that some of tho notes paid by Mr . Cattermole to Durnford were afterwards seen iu possession of Hodgson . A verdict "was given for the plaintiff : damages , £ 150 . Sweepings fboji Holtwel ^ -btbeet . — -Five of the Jow booksellers who infest Holy well-street-. —including the notorious John Dugdale , and a woman , Mary Elliott—have been apprehended duel committed for trial , at tho instance of the Society for tho Suppression of Vice , for vending prints of a , corrupt nature .

    Ia V Buckingham ( pointing to the rug ) : " That ' s what I ' ve been doing for the last two years " Mr . Hemy : " And never got apprehended ?" Buckingham : " Never . I ' m willing to work , but I can ' t get any . " Mr . Henry : " What are yon ? " Buckingham : " My father wa 3 an actor ; so I suj > pose , as I have followed that profession , I must say it ' s mine ; but I have been working at the Pimlico wheel-works , where I lost two of my fingers . " Mr . Henry : "Well , can't you get your living honestly ?" ' . Buckingham : " No ; honesty and myself appear to have fallen out of late . There ' s but two ways of living in Londoneither honestly or dishonestly ; and if you can't live oneway you must the other . I ' m determined not to

    starve while I m in the land of the living . " Burtonshaw stated that he Taad been starving about for some time , and in a prison he should get something to eat , which he couldn't out . Mr . Henry : " Have you been to the relieving officer ? " . Burtonshaw : " Yes ; but he wouldn't give us anything . He told us to go to our parish . I should like to knoAv where that i 3 . " Mr . Henry : " Well , you all seem determined to . steal , so I shall remand all three of you till Tuesday next ; to gain some information about you , on which day I shall commit you to the sessions . " Fleming : " Thank ye . I hope you'll order us a , bit of something to eat ; we re all starving . " Mr . Henry gave directions accordingly to the gaoler .

    EXECXTTION OF THOMAS JONES , THE MuilDBREU OF Dr . Hope . —This man , who was a convict at Portsmouth , and who murdered the medical attendant while he was examining his cheat , was executed on Saturday morning . He . was vezy repentant for some time before his death ; took the Sacrament on the Friday , and , on the previous Tuesday , addressed . the annexed letter to the friends and relatives of the murdered man : —" It . is impossible for me to express the feelings of deep sorrow and shame with which I reflect on the wicked deed of mine which has

    deprived you of one so near and dear to you . I feel I cannot depart this life without this expi'ession of my sorrow , even though it may be suspeoted ov spurned , as I deserve it should be ; but as it will be too late when this reaches you to ask you to forgive me , I can only entertain the hope that your Christian charity would have afforded me that comfort if there had been an opportunity . May you be found on the Day of Judgment amongst those who t » hall be saved . — Thomas Jonjss . " Trriti Hazard op tiih Die . —A burglary was committed at the latter end of last June at tho house of a Mr . Samuel Howard at Hauxtou in Cambridgeshire . The old man was severely ill-treated , and his wife

    was so frightened that her nervous system has uot yot recovered the shock . Between eight and nine hundred sovereigns were stolen from tho houso ; but those sovereigns were for the most part stampod with the figures of St . ^ George and the Dragon , whioli were oomuionly used in tho reign of George IV . Hero , therefore , the police had a clue . About tho middle of October , a policeman was told by n friend of a birdaatchor named Bowman that the latter had been robbed of £ 190 . Inquirioa having been mado , Bowman was taken into ouutody . It npponred that ho had been concerned in the robbory at Mr . Howard ' s ,

    toget-hor with a man named Barkor , and ono Robson , an ex-policoman . A fow days nfhor tho robbery , Robson had called on his friend Bowman , and oxprossed a hope that ho had found a safe plaoo to hide his gold ; to whioh Bowman replied , ' * Thank you , yes ; I have placed it behind a birdcage in my bodroom . " Tho ex-poliooman availed himnelf of this knowledge , gainod acoess to Bowman ' s bodroom , and stole the eovoroignH ; then called upon Howard , oxpressed commieoration for his loss , hopod the rascals would be found out , took an all ' eotionato leavoof him , loft tho country , and has not ninoo been hoard of . Barker , in tho moanwhilo , lived with groat oxtrava-

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 29, 1856, page 294, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2134/page/6/