The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-01-27 00:00:00

SHOCKING DISCOVERY AT A PARCEL

OFFICE.

On the 11th of December last, a rough-looking,
common deal box, about two feet long, 18 inches high,
and about 18 or 20 inches in breadth, was received
at a general shop in the Cambridge-road, London,
which is a receiving-house of Messrs. Carter, Paterson,
and Co., railway and general carriers, and was in the
ordinary course forwarded to the chief office in Gos-
well-road, London, to be thence sent to its destina-
tion. It was addressed as follows :

"Miss Green, No, 24, Abbey-road, St, John's•wood,
N.W."

The carman in that neighbourhood not being able
to find "Miss Green," returned the box to the chief
office, where it remained in the care of Mr. Allen, the
manager, until Thursday evening. Noticing that a
disagreeable smell came from the package, he ordered
it to be opened, when he found it to contain a young
girl's body far advanced in decomposition. Mr. Allen
at once went to the police-station, where he saw
Acting Inspector William Davis, to whom he related
what had been discovered. Inspector Davis despatched
Sergeant Briars for Dr. Yarrow, the divisional sur-
geon, and the remains were taken to the mcrtuary.
Dr. Yarrow pronounced the body to be that of a girl
between 13 and 14 years of age. It measured four
feet in length, and was that of a fair-haired child,
good looking, and with excellent teeth, but rather
thin.

The body thus discovered is said to resemble in
many particulars that of the Finl who has been so long
missing from West Ham, and for whose recovery re-
wards have been offered.

On Saturday Sir John Humphreys opened an n-
quiry at the "Hope Tavern," Bannenstreet, St.
Luke's. The jury first proceeded to view the body of
the deceased which was in a terribly decomposed con-
dition. The mouth was wide open, displaying a fine
set of teeth, and there was an expression of pain on
the face. Astonishment was expressed at the small-
ness of the box into which the body had been forced.
Edward Smith stated that he was manager of 156,
Cambridge-road, Bethnal-green. It was a receiving
house for parcels for Messrs. Carter, Paterson and
Co., carriers. On the 11th of December last, he re-
membered a deal box, similar to a starch box, being
left there. The box was brought to the premises
about noon on that day, and witness was in the shop
at the time. The man who came in with it told
witness that it was a parcel for delivery. This
person placed the box on a soda cask, another man
had brought it to the shop door, and he at once walked
away. The other person came up to witness and said,
"This is for Abbey-road, No. 24." He was dressed,
as far as witness could remember, like a trades-
man, and he took him to be such. He had on a tall
hat. Witness could not tell how the other man was
dressed. The lid of the box appeared to be of a wood
different from that of the other portion. It had be-
longed to Messrs. Berger's, colour manufacturers, of
Bow, whose name was on one side of it. Witness did
not ask the man who came into the shop what his
name was, but he asked him what was the name of
the sender. He replied, "Smith," and witness did
not ask him the address, as that was not usual when
receiving parcels for delivery, The box was booked,
but not paid for. There was no fee for booking. The
man wore a moustache, but witness was unable to say
whether he had any beard or whiskers. He was
dressed in a dark coat, and was a slim man.
James Doughty stated that he was a carman in the
employ of Messrs. Carter Paterson, and Co, On the
11th of December last he called at 156, Cambridge-
road, and took from there a covered box, tied round
with a piece of cord, to the Mile-end road depot.
From that place it would be forwarded on to the chief
office in the usual way. The box was addressed to
"Miss Green." A few days after that a clerk from
the head office came to him and said there was no such

parson living ebt ther address given. He then went to
the last witness's place of business, to try and obtain
a better address, when he learnt the name of the
sender was "Smith."

Stephen Gee, 3, Hartland-road, Kentish-town, a
carman in the employ of the same firm, stated that
one Tuesday he received a box from the Chalk Farm
depot. It was addressed "Miss Green, 24, Abbey.
road, St. John's-wood." He took the box to that
address, and found that no such person lived there.
He then tried several more houses, but with the same
result. He afterwards took the box back to Chalk
Farm. The box had a ticket on it showing that it
came from the Mile-end depot.
Some other evidence having been given, Dr. Yarrow
stated that on Thursday afternoon he was called to
the Old-atreet Police-station, and was shown the body
of the dead child. The body was in a box 18in. in
length, 10in, in width, and 12iin. in depth. The
body had been forced into the box, the head and
back being downwards. The thighs were across the
body, making in shape a compressed letter "S." It
was the body of a female child, about fourteen years
of age, and it measured only 4ft. in length. The
body was much emaciated, weighing only 241 b. Just
above the ankle of the right leg was an ulcer, nearly
healed. The deceased was of fair complexion, and had
light brown hair. The eyes were hazel brown. There
was a good set of teeth, which were large and regular.
Four of the teeth had been removed, evidently to
make room for the others. This had been done by
a professional man. The ears were not pierced.
The body had on a chemise, but there was no nam
or mark on it. He had since made a post-mortem
examination of the tody. On opening the head he
found the brain softened through decompusition. He
could make other observations about that membrane,
but it would not be advisable to make them public at
present. The lungs were healthy and the heart
was natural. The gall bladder was empty. The
stomach contained a little dark matter, which had been
preserved. The intestines were empty and very thin.
The blood was also very watery, and there was no
trace of fat about the body. He was unable to find any
sufficient cause of death, which might have been due
to slow poisoning.
The Coroner said that that was as far as he could
carry the case that day.
Inspector Peel stated that as a porter or some one
might have been engaged to take the box to where it
was delivered in the first instance, the Criminal In-
vestigation Department would give a reward of £5
to any such person coming forward and giving evi-
dence,
The inquiry was then adjourned.