Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 13th February 1858, Edition 1 of 2, Page 153, Untitled Article

Page 153
Page 9
9 of 24

On this page

  • Text (4)
  • 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

      OUR CIVUJZATI . ON . A STRANGE STORY . The Rov . Samuel Smith , M . A ., master of the Collegiate School , Clifton , is the husband of a lady , who , in her unmarried days , had been courted by a Mr . Leach , contractor , of Croydon , Surrey . On the match being broken off , the lady married her proscnt husband , ¦ and Mr . Leach was united to another lady . Mr . Smith ' s marriage proved unhappy , and Mr . Leach soon became a widower . About two months back , he received a letter from Mrs . ( Smith , informing him that she wua a widow , and inviting him to renew , if he felt so disposed , the intimacy which formerly existed between them . Mr . Leach had sonic doubtas to the accuracy of the statement ; but , after some correspondence had pussed between the ¦ jw _ ° . i 4 ? L - , "ii oh ,. Mrja . Smifrh reiterated that ahe was ronlfy » " widow , the gentleman consented to moot Her " oii "" tlicT platform of the Bristol station of the Midland Ruilway . Ho accordingly did so , about seven o ' clock on the evening of Wednesday weak . Mrs . Smith appeared in deep mourning , and wearing a widow ' s cap . She said her husband had been dead about six weeks , and that she was staying at the house of one of hits relations at Waploy . While they woro talking , Mr . Leach fancied ho observed Mr . Smith on the platform ; but the lady again asnertod that ho really was dead . They then wont by the train to Yate . and , at the station there . Mr .

      Smith was again seen * . Nevertheless , Mr . Leach and Mrs . Smith started together across the common for their place of destination . The stationmaster , after vainly endeavouring to dissuade them from going that way in so dark a night , lighted them to the edge of the common , put them in the right path , and left them . Mrs . Smith then became the guide , but Mr . Leach , finding she did not make any satisfactory progress , suggested that they should go back and take the high road . Mrs . Smith , however , said that she was feeling for the hedge , and that as soon as she had found it they would be all right . Sbortly afterwards , Mr . Leach heard footsteps , as of a person tracking them , and he was turning round , -when Mrs . Smith called out , " I have lost my way . " A man ' s voice immediately rejoined , " And I have lost mine ; " and at the same moment Mr . Leach received a desperate blow across the forehead from some heavy instrument , followed by a second across the back of the head . Blood flowed copiously ; a struggle followed , and Mr . Leach brought down his assailant , who proved to be Mr . Smith . Some of the workmen at the railway hearing the conflict , assistance was soon on the spot , and the two gentlemen were separated . Mr . Smith , observing , " Oh , he ' s a villain , and I'll have no more to do with him , " walked off with his wife , and Mr . Leach was taken to the Railway Hotel , where his wounds were dressed . These were so extensive as to require sewing up . On the following day , Mr . and Mrs . Smith were arrested at Clifton on a charge of highway robbery and attempted murder . On their track from the common , a widow ' s cap and a six-barrel revolver pistol , loaded and capped , were picked up ; and at Mr . Smith ' s place of residence , a parcel containing some clothes belonging to Mr . Leach was found by the police . The prisoners were brought before the Clifton magistrate yesterday week ; but , as Mr . Leach was unable then to attend , the inquiry was adjourned to the following Thursday . In the meanwhile , bail was accepted . On Thursday morning , Mr . and Mrs . Smith surrendered to their bail , and were brought before the magistrates at Lawford ' s Gate , Bristol . Mr . Leach was well enough to attend ; but his head was bound up . From his evidence it appeared that he had been in the employ of Swan and Edgar ,, the silk-mercers of London , with whom Mrs . Smith , who was then unmarried , lived as domestic servant . Leach was originally her suitor , but was supplanted by Mr . Smith . Both the accused were ornmitted for trial , and bail w as refused . Attempted Murder and Suicide . —A horrible tragedy has occurred at the Clarendon Hotel , Birmingham . A man , between thirty and forty years of age , and a woman of about twenty , arrived about a fortnight ago at the hotel , having previously hired a sitting-room and bedroom . It was supposed by Mr . Harrison , the proprietor of the house , that the man was a commercial traveller and that the woman was his wife . On Friday week , a report of fire-arms was heard , followed by another , and accompanied by shrieks and cries of " Murder ! " The servants rushed up-stairs , and saw the woman , partially dressed , standing outside the bedroom door , with blood streaming from a wound in her neck . She exclaimed , " He has killed me ! " and several times repeated the word "jealousy . " The man was lying on the bed , grasping a pistol in his hand . A second pistol lay on the floor . Medical aid was called in , but the man was insensible and died in a few minutes . The woman was seriously wounded in the head ; but the ball was extracted at the hospital . According to her account , she was in the act of getting out of bed , when the man told her to lift up a handkerchief lying on the counterpane . She did so , and saw two pistols . In reply to her question as to what was meant by thom , he replied , " Oh , nothing ; but there ' s one for you , and one for mo , " adding that she need . not be afraid , anil that she might go to sleep again . She returned to bed , when he snatched up one of the pistols and shot her ; and , as she rushed wounded from the room , he discharged the second pistol at himself . The woman was not married to him ; but ho appears to have had cause for his jealousy . Execution . —Christian Sattler , the man who murdered the detective officer Thain , was hung in front of N " owgato on Monday morning . At the time of tho commission of the act , ho professed himself a Deist ; but during his imprisonment ho adopted the principles of Christianity , at the earnest exhortation of the gaol chaplain . Ho exhibited considerable religious forvour for some days before the fatal Monday , and ho died with groat firmness . On reaching the scaffold , ho bowed twice , to the right and to the loft ; and requested that he might bo allowed to die with his face uncovered . Tliit ) was so far granted that the drop was Buffered to Tall without the cap being pulled down ; but , immediately afterwards . Caloraft covered tho features of the ilyin ^ Tn ^ Tn 7 ^ Tho ' re " wa ' 6 ran' ' unusually' -Bninll ~ nttondancoof spectators to see tho execution . Tub Latis Bukolauy nkau Baknslky . —Five men Imvo been arrested and committed for triul on a charge of being concerned in tho recont burglary at tho farmhouse of Mr . Clarkson , an aged gentlcmun living near Barnaley , Yorkshire . Seven men woro employed in tho robbery . CituiciiTY to A Skuvant Gikl . —Mrs . Augusta Luigh , n lodging-house keeper , residing in Park-place , Livorrool-road , has boon examined at tho Clorkonwell

      pollcocourt on a charge of cruelly ill-using her servant-girl , whom she had had from the Islington workhouse . Th « poor girl had on several occasions been brutally struck with a poker and a chopper ; and the injuries received were so serious that she has been for several weeks past in the hospital , and is still very feeble . During this time , Mrs . Laigh has been out on bail ; and the recognizances have been renewed on her being committed for trial . Killing a Wife . —Francis Henry Law was on Tuesday finally examined at Westminster on the charge , already related in these columns , of causing the death of his wife . ' He was committed for trial .

      A Fierce Contest . —A quarrel of a very desperate and sanguinary nature , which had nearly terminated fatally , arose a few days ^ ago at Reading , between two men named Robert Clark and Thomas Sellwood , in the service of Mr . Wheble , a gentleman living in that city . Frequent scufflings took place between the men , the first of whom was Mr . Wheble ' s coachman , while the other assisted him in the stable . One day Sellwood complained bitterly of the indignities which Clark had repeatedly heaped upon him , and offered to fight the latter , upon which Clark seized a prong from a corner of the saddle-room and made a thrust with it at Sell wood's breast . Sellwood however ran away , but returned to the saddle-room some time afterwards , and sat down to his dinner , when Clark , who was still there , made some

      sarcastic remarks about his ' stuffing . ' Sellwood nevertheless continued hi 3 meal , and lit a fire , which the other man said he would put out . Sellwood stood in front of the chimney-piece to prevent his doing so , and a violent quarrel and fight soon afterwards arose between the two men , in the course of which they both fell to the ground , when Clark inflicted two dangerous wounds on his adversary ' s breast and temple , and a third near his left ear . An alarm being raised , the men were parted by the gardener , when Sellwood sprang to his feet , and stabbed Clark in the breast , close to his heart , with a prong . Sellwood was afterwards removed to the hospital , and is progressing towards recovery . Clark was examined before the Reading magistrates , and committed for trial .

      Untitled Article

      GATHERINGS FROM THE LAW AND POLICE COURTS . An action , arising out of the injuries received by a boy , last October , from a tiger which had broken loose in Ratcliff Highway , has been tried in the . Court of Queen ' s Bench . The lad was for a long time in the hospital ; but the most serious part of the business was the terrible effect which the accident had had upon the boy ' a nervous system . He is afraid of going about the house at night , and , when asleep , frequently calls but to his father and mother , in tones of the utmost terror , "Save me , save me ! The tiger is coming ! " On returning home from the hospital , he was put into the same bed with his younger brother ; but it was soon found necessary to remove him , as he bit the other boy under the impression that he was some savage animal . He was then removed into his mother ' s bed , but acted in the same way towards her , exclaiming " The tiger ! the tiger ! " The defendant ( a person named Jamracli , who owned the tiger ) paid 10 / . into court ; but the jury , in giving a verdict for the plaintiff , assessed the damages at GO / .

      The appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council from the decree of the Court of Arches , pronounced on the 23 rd of April , 1857 , reversing a sentence of deprivation against Archdeacon Donison passed by the Diocesan Court of Bath and Wells , was heard last Saturday . Owing to proceedings instigated by tho Rev . Mr . Ditcher , the Diocesan Court , presided over by tho Archbishop of Canterbury , assisted by Dr . Lushiugton , required the Archdeacon to recant certain doctrines which were held to be heretical , and , on his refusing to do so , a sentence of deprivation was pronounced . This sentence was reversed by the Court of Arches , on the

      ground that Mr . Ditcher was barred by the 20 th section of the Church Discipline Act , in accordance with which the proceedings had not been commenced within the requisite time after the commission of the alleged offence . The only question now raised was whether the construction put by tho Court of Arches on the section was correct . The Lord Justice Knight Bruce , in giving judgment , said it was their Lordships' intention to report to her Majesty that , in their opinion , tho present appeal should bo dismissed , but without costs . In so doing , their Lordships refrained from expressing imy opinion on the matter of doctrine .

      Some applications have been made during tho week to tho metropolitan magistrates for passports to tho Continent under tho now system . At the Southwark police-court , Mr . Coombo told a gentleman that ho could not grant him the required permit , because ho did

      not ~ know * him * personally»— -i- .- > , —) -. — , —«—In the Court of Bankruptcy last Saturday , Mr . Commissioner ISvunu waa occupied for aome time in hearing two petitions under tho bankruptcy of Mr . Edward Baldwin , formerly the proprietor of tho Morning Herald , Standard , and St . James ' s Chronicle newspapers . It oppoured that a mortgage waa made in February , 1858 , to a Mr . Foes , for 7000 / ., with tho usual clauses for redemption . Baldwin wna in default ; tho petitioner did not promptly enforce his rights ; and tho question waa whether tho aoaignqofl woro entitled to the 16 , 000 / . for

      Untitled Article

      among those engaged in out-door trades in towns . As it has been attempted to explain the mortality by the amount of night duty performed by sentries , a com-, parison with night printers is made , and it is found that military mortality is still vastly in excess . The police night duty is much more severe than that of soldiers , and vet the mortality in the Line is twice and the mortality in the Guards 2 2-10 that in the police . In comparison even with miners who work underground , and by shifts through day and night , our troops are a most unhealthy body . " The prevalence of pulmonary complaints in the Army is described as most distressing . ' It appears that ¦ while in civil life at the soldiers' ages the deaths by pulmonary diseases are 6 . 3 per 1000 , they amount in the Cavalry to 7 . 3 , in the Infantry of the Line to 10 . 2 , and in the Guards € o 13 . 8 ; and that of the entire number of deaths from all causes in the Army diseases of the lungs constitute the following proportion—namely , in the Cavalry , 53 . 9 per cent . ; in the Infantry of the Line , 57 . 277 per cent . ; in the Guards , 67 . 683 . ' These revelations seem almost incredible , and they point to but one conclusion—that the barracks , and especially the barracks of the Foot Guards , must be frightfully unhealthy . The ravages caused by pulmonary diseases , says the Report , ' are to be traced in a great degree to the vitiated atmosphere generated by overcrowding and deficient ventilation , and the absence of proper sewerage in barracks . ' " Of the health of London during the week ending last Saturday , we read in the Registrar-General ' s Weekly Return : — " The total number of deaths in London , which in the previous week was 1363 , was in the week that ended February 6 th , 1314 . In the ten years 1848-57 , the average number of deaths in the weeks corresponding with last week was 1211 . Nine nonogenarians died last week , all of whom were women except two : one was 91 years of age , one 92 , four were 95 , one 96 , one 97 , and one 98 . Last week , the births of 910 boys and 932 girls , in all 1842 children , were registered in London . In the ten corresponding weeks of the years 1848-57 , the average number was 1598 .

      Untitled Article

      ACCIDENTS AND SUDDEN DEATHS . An explosion has taken place in a manufactory for fireworks at Sheffield . The building was greatly shattered , and the parts which remained whole were set on fire . Three persons were burnt to death , and one seriously injured . The origin of the explosion is unknown . An inquest has been held x > n the body of Henry Bird , aged thirty-seven , lately a pantaloon at the Standard Theatre . A few nights after ' boxing night , ' he fell through a trap-door , and the men below neglected to catch him . On the 26 th ult ., on returning from the theatre , he complained of severe pain in the abdomen , and he therefore relinquished his engagement . On the 29 th , he was seized with a fit , and he remained insensible till his death , which took place last Saturday . The white paint which he put on his face had a detrimental effect . The post mortem examination showed congestion of the brain ; and that organ was found to be very large and flattened on the surface . The jury returned an open verdict . An inquest has been held at Guy ' s Hospital on the body of Jonathan Trutt . He was a fireman to the engine attached to the six o'clock down train on the Brighton Railway , on Monday morning , and was fearfully scalded by an explosion of the boiler , which took place at the Caterham junction . He died the same day . Tho locomotive foreman stated that the explosion was caused by the stay heads of the boiler having given way , and let the water into tho fire-box . The jury returned a verdict of ' Accidental death , ' at the same time expressing a hope that the engines would in future bo carefully examined previous to their running .

      Untitled Article

      No . 412 , February 13 , 1858 . ] THE LEADER . ^ 153

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 13, 1858, page 153, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2230/page/9/