Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 15th March 1856, Edition 1 of 2, Page 248

Page 248
Page 8
8 of 24

On this page

  • Text (3)

      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

    • Untitled Article

      Untitled Article

    • 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

      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 , wMcn was read to ftfnT , said , " Could you get me , or make me , any strychnine f 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 . Morley ' 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 mquest was adjourned tilL Monday .

      Untitled Article

      regaining liberty , man co jLonaon , wnere 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 wouljl never find work , but must go back to thieving to save himself from starvation . ( Applause . ) When released he had £ 6 12 s . in his 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 head , 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 only so , but got locked up into the bargain ( Laughter . ) At least , if he did not spend it all himself , 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 in a vain search for work for three months , until he wore out two pairs of shoes , and grew emaciated Jrom 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 ot- £ 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 ?

      A MEETINGS OF TICKET-QF-LEAVE MEN . A gathering of a most remarkable and interesting character , as exhibiting one ofthe social evils from . which " our 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 ticketof-leave men , m ^ that the public might learn from their own lips the difficulties with which they have to struggle in endeavouring to work their way back to an honest mode of livelihood . About fifty meinhers of the body were present . They were admitted on presenting their tickets-of-leave , and were required on entrance to fill up the columns of a register / setting forth their ages , their occupations , the offences for which they were last convicted , their sentences , and the amount of instruction they had

      severally received . From the information thus collected , it appears that only tliree 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 an 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-money to Btart ¦ with . Mr . Mayhew , after a few more remarks , invited the men-ibo express their own ' opinions on the subject .

      1 d 6 Iirfit to flTlHOTAT * -Kliia anmrviAna nmn n « i < min » . »« ... « Xhe 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 name of " Peter . ' With great fluency and remarkable proprwty of expression , ho proceeded to narrate his own Tpttst career . Having , he said , been transported for seven years he was sent , to Millbaulc prison where he was put to the tailoring business . Being fond of books , he was enabled while there to improve his previous oducatiou , and even began to" tackle " algebra . After the lapse of fourteen months , he went to Portstooutb

      , where ho was employed jn wheeling barrows fr o ^ x ' morning to night . During the whole of his confinement , his perpetual source of anxiety was what was to become of him when he Bhould bo liberated . flf ^ P PWed for counsel cmd encouragement to the o ^ pia ^ i , Jbut that gentleman refused to do anything Whi vjS ^ J he beca me a communicant ) , a thing 3 * # ^ conscientiously to decline . He n « S ^ ^^^ ° « eoond olwgyman of the SST £ S ° *» *{?«<* «* ore liberal ideas than his £ 2 tK L ™^* ^ uently expresBea to him hi » fe w * that , no othw reaource wa « open to him , on

      The dislike to religious ceremonials was exhibited by another speaker , a dwarfish young , costeimbnger , 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 Woolwich , and to Gibraltar , and at the latter place was subjected to the harshest treatment . Flogging went on there from before dawn till late at night . £ 2 10 s . out of the sum of £ 414 s . 6 d . allowed "him on leaving Gibraltar waa stopped to pay his . passage home , He had worked for fifteen , or sixteen months 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 .

      Untitled Article

      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 his sons has lately beea involved ai-e 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 Court of Chancery and the Crown

      Office , and of offering to recover certain estates , Sec 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 the 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 in

      was 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 Us 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

      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 appeals 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 muke bets , which of course they lose , A French gentleman , on public grounds , gave ono of those rasoala into oustody a few days since : but tlie magistrate before whom ho waa brought said the pmctico was only illegal in public houses or public places , and he did not think a steamer could bo called either . The accused was therefore discharged . A Defaulter in Tnn Bristol Gorpoiiation . —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 . The discovery of this fact was purely accidental . Mr . Garrard being ill , it was found necessary during hia absence to muko aomo inquirica at tho bonk at which he kept his aeoouuta

      adjourned inquest was resumed on Tuesday , when noadditional evidence was 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 se . The . body had already been buried in Highgate Cemetery , the service being performed by a Roman Catholic clergyman .

      Alleged Forgery of a Diploma . —HenryyFred erick Hodson , of Cradley Heath , who has been for some time practising as a surgeon , bos been committed for trial on a charge of forging a diploma of tb . 6 College of Surgeons . A Fight in the Dark , —Several robberies of lead an d other fittings having recently taken ^ lace in gardens of houses in Chelsea , a policeman in plain clothes was set to watch . About half-past three o ' clock in the mox * njng , 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 one of the walls , he saw ft man in a yard standing close to a water-butt . The policeman . took out hia truncheon , and , jumping over tho wall into the yard * seized the man by the collar , and asked him what he there The other

      was doing ,. replied , " I am right enough , " when the officer observed , he would soo about that , and , thrusting his hand into the stranger ' s breast pocket , drew out a brass tap , and told him that he had been there to get that , and must g ° with him to the station . The constable then removed him from the yard , and had to climb over a wall with him , upon the top of wliioh thwo were some railings . Ho had succeeded in placing-him on the wall , and wasmaking a upring to got up himself , when ho was auddouly checked by a clothes-line , which ho had not observed , and tho man , availing himself of tho circumstance , seized him at tho moment , and they both fell on ft dustheap . A desperate struggle ensued , and the policeman was bo severely injured that ho was sent on the following day to tho hospital . By tho aid of another policeman , tho ruffian waa secured , and hoa now beea committed for trial .

      Untitled Article

      248 ^_ THE L E A PER . [ No . 312 , Saturday

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), March 15, 1856, page 248, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2132/page/8/