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No. 397, October 31,1857.] THE LEAOB, 10...
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OUR CIVILIZATION
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THE MYSTERIOUS MURDER. The adjourned inq...
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CHARGE OF LIBEL. The trial of Thomas Dia...
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CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT. This court resum...
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.
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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.
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No. 397, October 31,1857.] The Leaob, 10...
No . 397 , October 31 , 1857 . ] THE LEAOB , 1041
Our Civilization
OUR CIVILIZATION
The Mysterious Murder. The Adjourned Inq...
THE MYSTERIOUS MURDER . The adjourned inquest on the remains found in the carpet-bag on Waterloo-bridge was resumed on Monday . A man named Samuel Ball was the first witness , and he testified to having seen the woman pass through the turnstile on the night of Thursday , the 8 tli inst ., and to hearing the remarks addressed to her by Errington . She was ' a short party , ' about five feet three inches in height ( this was the height mentioned by the toll-collector ) . She carried a bag and a parcel ; was of sallow complexion and rather sunken eyes , with a mark on the left
cheek , near the nose , like a mole . The hair was white , but did not look a natural colour . Ball distinctly noticed her features , but not her dress , or the character of the carpet-bag- she carried . He afterwards passed lier on the bridge , and , near the Surrey shore , observed a rather tall man , walking easily towards the Strand . Of this person he took no particular note , and could not identify him . Mr . Paynter , the Bow-street surgeon , then said he had made a further examination of the remains since the former sitting , and had discovered beyond doubt that they are those of a male .
The most important witness was Dr . Alfred Swaine Taylor , to whom the bones and clothes had been sent for examination , and who read an elaborate report , to which were appended two summings-up of facts and conclusions—the one relating to the human relics , the other to the garments . The former stated : — " 1 . That the remains are those of a person of the male sex , of adult age , and in stature of at least five feet nine inches 2 . That they present no physiological or pathological , peculiarities by which they can be identified . The only fact observable under this head is that the portions of skin remaining axe thickly covered with dark hairs on the wrist and right knee , and that the deceased was therefore probably a dark hairy man . 3 . That the remains
present no mark of disease or of violent injury inflicted daring life , with the exception of one stab i n the space between the third and fourth ribs on the left side of the chest . This stab was in a situation to penetrate the heart and to cause death . It presents the characters of a stab inflicted on a person either living or recently dead . 4 . That these remains have not been dissected or used for the purposes of anatomy . All those parts which are useful to the anatomist have been roughly severed and destroyed by a person or persons quite ignorant of the anatomical relations of parts . They have been cut and sawn before the rigidity of death " had ceased , i . e . in from eighteen to twenty-four hours after death , and in this state have been partially boiled and subsequently
salted . The body of the deceased has not been laid out or attended like that of a person dying from natural causes whose bo-dy might be lawfully used for anatomical purposes . 5 . That the person of whose body these remains are a part may have been dead for a period of three or four weeks prior to the date at which they were examined by me—namely , on the 21 st of October . " With respect to the clothes , the conclusions are thus set forth : — " The examination of these articles of clothing leads roe to the conclusion that the body of the person who wore them must have been subjected to great violence . The stab penetrating from beh ind the double collar of the overcoat must have been inflicted with great force , as it extends through the collar of the undercoat
and waistcoat . It is chiefly on the inside and on the left aide , towards the left armpit , that the principal stains of blood are met with in the overcoat , undercoat , and waistcoat . The , only wound found in the remains is a stab on the left side , which , by its situation , might have led to the effusion of blood . Assuming that the clothes belonged to the deceased , these facts appear to receive an explanation . The clothes have , however , been exposed to wet since they wore stained with blood , and this creates a difficulty in forming an opinion . The cutting and tearing of the coat , trousers , and drawers at the buck , and the cutting and tearing of the right sleeves of the overcoat , undercoat , and shirt , are consistent with the assumption that the body had become rigid after death in a distorted
position , and that tho clothes were violently torn from it . This position is indicated in the remains , especially on the right aide , by the flexed or bent condition of the hip and olbow joints . Some of the stnius of blood present the appearance of having flowed from a living persons , and tliis rendern it therefore probable that the clothes were on a living bodv when the wounds producing such « lluaion of blood were inflicted . While there is nothing to prove directly that these clothes were worn by the deceased , they have , in my opinion , beon worn by . some ono who has sustained serious personal injuries Iheir condition , however , iB consistent with tho supposition that they were actually worn b y the deceased individual with whoso remains they were found . " Dr . laylor acknowledged the great assistance ho hnd derived irom Mr . Payutor in making this report .
I ho Coroner , in summing up , Hpoke with much confidence us to the probability of the murderer or murderers being discovered—an event ho thought all but certain-« nd tho jury , after a brief retirement , found a verdict of Wilful Murder against uomu person or persons unknown lno bones will be retained at the police-office ) for the proflont .
The excitement with respect to this obscure tragedy , which has agitated the public mind from the first discovery of the bag to the present moment , has found its vent , as usual on these occasions , in street ballads , originating in some Seven Dials or Whitechapel poet , and sung to a doleful air by wandering minstrels of the Jem Baggs order . Of one of these Tve have possessed ourselves , and find that some stanzas of it ought to be preserved in a more permanent form . Lord Macaulay sets such value on these exponents of popular feeling , that he once journeyed all the way to the east end of London to make a collection for some literary purpose ; touching which expedition a grotesque story is to 2 d , to the effect
that the boys of whom the historian made the purchase followed him all the way back to the Albany , and , being then perceived , and required to explain their motive for such suspicious conduct , replied , referring to the ballads , "We was only a-waiting , guvnor , to hear yer sing'em . " However this may be , a street ballad is a veritable bit of ' Our Civilisation ; ' and we therefore make a selection from ' The Waterloo Tragedy , or the London Mysterious Murder , ' retaining all its felicities of grammar , spelling , punctuation , and versification : — " Oh such a year for dreadful murders As this before was never seen , In England , Ireland , Britain over ,
Such horrid crimes has never been But this which now has been discovered Very far exceeds the whole , The very thought makes man to shudder , How horrible for to unfold . " See and read in every paper , This dreadful crime , this mystery , Worse far worse , than James Greenacre ' s Is the London mystery . " His body it was cut to pieces Oh , how dreadful was his fate , Then placed in brine and hid in secret Horrible for to relate , The head and limbs had been divided
Where parts was taken no one knows In a Carpet bag they packed the body Over Waterloo bridge they did it throw " It is supposed a female monster Her victims body onward dragged With no companion to assist her All packed within a Carpet bag . Justice determined is to take her When without doubt she'll punished be , The attrocious female Greenacre Of the Waterloo Bridge Tragedy . "
There being a space at the bottom . of the second column of this ditty , which the poet has lacked invention to fill up , a picture of a rose is inserted , which the reader may , if he please , consider as a portrait of the flower in the pattern of the memorable carpet-bag .
Charge Of Libel. The Trial Of Thomas Dia...
CHARGE OF LIBEL . The trial of Thomas Diamond Evans and Captain Henry Thorne for misdemeanour in having published a libel on tho Hon . Frederick William Cadogan , deputychairman of the Submarine Telegraph Company , and in endeavouring to extort money from him by offering to suppress it , has taken place this week in the Central Criminal Court before tho Recorder , Mr . Russell Gurney , and has occupied two days . On the 5 th of August , Evans made some statements to Mr . Sampson , the City editor of the Times , with respect to the management of the Submarine Telegraph Company , with which he had formerly been connected . He was requested to embody his allegations in a letter , which he did three days
afterwards , when he again appeared at the City office , accompanied by Captain Thome , and delivered in the written communication . Mr . Cadogan was hero charged with visiting tho instrument room , reading the despntches , and using the knowledge thus obtained in unfairly influencing the Stock Exchange to his own advantage ; with causing the contents of public despatches to be forwarded to his private residence ; and' with directing Evans , on one specific occasion , to give precedence to a message of Baron Rothschild ' s over several others . Mr . Sampson declined the responsibility of inserting this letter in the Times on his own authority , and therefore referred Evans and Thorno to Mr . Mowbray Morria , tho nmnager-in-chief of tho paper . At seven o'clock the same evening , Captain Thorno called on Mr . Cadogan in fulfilment of an appointment inudc
between two and three in tho afternoon . He referred to the letter ; gave Mr . Cadogan a copy at a subsequent visit tho same night ; said ' it was a pity it should bo published ; ' and mado certain hints with respect to pecuniary nfmirs . It appeared all through that hq was acting as tho agent of Evans . Mr . Oadogan refused to enter into any terms , and the letter was sent to tho Times on the 10 th of August , hut was not inserted . On cross-examination at tho trial , Mr . Oadogan mndo some singular admissions . For several years past , he has speculated a good dctil in funds and nhnre . s , and be Btated , in answer to questions : " I am the director of four other companies in tho mimic office and promises . Ono i . s tho Railway Signals Company , nnd another a Steam Ferry Company . These companies are both in embryo . At time * I was constantly in the room where
Evans was engaged during the year * 1852 and 1854 and , of course , I should have an opportunity of seeing the top message on each file , if I did not look further . C . 4 laugh . } I might , if I pleased , have looked at every one of the messages on the file . I should not imagine that any one but the officials of the Government could read the cypher made use of by them . Private individuals are not allowed to send ' messages in cypher . I do not believe that during t"he war I ever had more than six messages sent from the office to my private house . During the war I frequently had occasion to examine the messages that were received , because there were difficult questions relating ; to the tariff for messages delivered over foreign lines that arose , and which it was necessary I should' settle . This duty was not cast upon
me , but , as I was one of the promoters of the company , and took a great interest in it , I felt it my duty to interfere in these matters . IN ~ o complaints were ever made to me of my being too frequently in the instrument room . I do not recollect a Mr . Brett saying so . To the best of my belief , nothing of the sort was ever stated to me . You are taking me quite by surprise by such a suggestion . From 1852 to 1854 , I was constantly making these examinations of the messages in the exe - cution of my duty . I may have gone out of the office immediately after I examined the messages ; but I should say that I have not done this frequently . I may have done so three or four times a week . I may have carefully read some particular message that I was seeking , and then have left the office . I did once authorize a
message of Baron Rothschild s to have precedence . I cannot recollect what it was about . This only happened once , but a second application was made to me to do so . I did not consider that I gave an unfair advantage to Baron Rothschild , though it was certainly giving an advantage . On the second occasion , the message contained the price of the funds , and I therefore refused to give it priority . I swear that the message to which I gave precedence was one of a purely private nature , which required an answer from some distant place , and , as the wires were out of order , that answer could not have been received unless it left England by a certain time ; but the message was one of a purely private character , and had nothing to do with any Stock Exchange operations . I amvery intimate with Baron Rothschild . I once sent
a message to his residence at Gunnersbury-park on a Sunday , after I had been to the office . It was not my regular practice to be at the office on a Sunday . I may have gone to the office of my stock-broker two or three times a day ; but I swear it was not in consequence of what I saw in any of the messages . The Daily Neios made a complaint with reference to the transmission of telegraphic messages ; but I know nothing of a rumour that that paper instructed its correspondents not to send Stock Exchange information through the Submarine Telegraph Company . " This line of evidence was overruled . On the cross-examination being resumed , Mr . Cadogan further admitted that he had once apologized to Mr . Mowbray Morris on account a despatch belonging to the Times being made public .
Evans and Thorne were found Guilty of both charges , the jury adding that the libel was not justified , a 3 the whole of the statements had not been proved . The Recorder then condemned each of the accused to a year ' s hard labour—a sentence which appeared greatly to startle them .
Central Criminal Court. This Court Resum...
CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT . This court resumed its sittings on Monday , when two cases of cruelty at sea ^ vere tried . The first of these was a charge against Mr . Johnson William Doyle , the master of the ship John Sugars , of having committed a series of aggravated assaults upon Robert Eastwick , an apprentice on board the same vessel . The case was fully proved , and Doyle was sentenced to imprisonment for three months . The other trial was that of John Green , who was indicted for an assault on Mohcooddecn , a Lascar seaman , on the high seas . A great deal of counter testimony was brought forward in this case , and the jury , after a consultation , returned a verdict of Not Guilty .
Bridget Kavanngh has been found guilty of the manslaughter of her infant by administering laudanum to it . The defence was that she merely administered the laudanum with the design of setting the child to sleep . Judgmont was deferred . John Ryan , n private in the Middlesex Militia , ha 9 been condemned to penal servitude for four ycar 3 , for a ferocious assault on a policeman near Brentford . Charles Stewart Mills , a genteel-looking lad of seventeen , luis been convicted of uttering , with a guilty knowledge , a forged cheque for 250 ^ ., with intent to defraud Messrs . llankey nnd Co . Sentence was deferred . The Grand Jury has ignored the bill preferred against Thomas Plant Rose for misdemeanour . It will bo remembered that the charge wn 3 that of having endeavoured to extort money from Sir R . W . Canlcn , tlio Lord Mayor elect , by threatening to publish u libellous placardwith a view to oppose hia election to ( hut office .
, Several persons have been tried for uttering forged note * , tho prosecution in somo ensas boing successful and in others not . Henry Welsh has boon Acquitted on tho charge of causing the death of his wife , the particulars of which havo already . appeared in this journal . Tho Judgo leant towards the supposition that tho woman had come
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 31, 1857, page 1041, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/ldr_31101857/page/9/
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