The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-09-08 00:00:00

THE ALLEGED CONSPIRACY AT
LIMERICK.

The adjourned investigation into the charge of con-
spiracy to murder alleged against Dr. William Patrick
Connolly and his brother Thomas Connolly, of Bruff,
was resumed on Aug. 30. The prisoners' sister, Kate
Connolly, who is implicated by the evidence given by
the informer Michael Dineen, was arrested at her house
in Bruff on Aug. 30, and was put forward with her
brothers at the sitting of the Court.
As on the last occasion, the prosecution was con-
du3ted by Sub. Inspector Joyce, of Ballinasloe, while
the prisoners were defended by Mr. Mathew Burke,
barrister. As already reported, the prisoners are in-
dicted for having conspired to murder their cousin,
John Carroll, and for having actually attempted to
administer poison to him and his sister, Mary Ann
Carroll,
Dineen, who gave evidence on the previous occasion,
was examined at length; but his evidence only more
strongly defined the characteristics of this conspiracy.
He said that he had no objection whatever to shooting
Carroll, but he despised the men who would stoop to
poison. He said that when he and Tom Connolly
went out half drunk and armed at night, "they were,"
an he phrased it, prepared to defy God and man."
On re•examination he swore that the female prisoner
was present at nearly all the plottings of the murder
of Carroll and his sister, and was the most daring of
all, frevently abusing them and calling them cowards
for being so long about shooting Carroll. She ap-
proved the plans for poisoning the Carrolls, and helped
to put them into execution.
Michael Carrol was then examined, and he deposed
that the doctor in the early part of the year was
forcing intimacy upon him, and on one occasion pressed
him to take champagne, which, on tasting, he found
to contain whiskey, or to be drugged in some way. On
expressing his opinion the doctor threw his arms about
him, kisseci him on the cheek, and said, "Surely,
Johnr you don't think that I would poison you ? " To
which the witness replied, "I will take good care that
you don't." He also deposed to efforts made by the
doctor to take him walking in the direction of the
places in which, according to Dineen'e evidence, Tom
Connolly and Dineen were at the time lying ambush.
His evidence also agreed with the informer's as to the
circumstances of an alleged attempt made by Dineen
with the aid of Dr. Oonolly and the female prisoners
to shoot him while sitting in his own parlour.
The case was adjourned till next day.

The direct examination of Carroll was resumed on
Aug. 31, and lasted for over three hours. He detailed
the manner in which Dr. Connolly used almost force
to induce him to go out to walk with him in the even-
ing, and to try to get him to walk further than he
intended in certain directi.fics, where, according to
Dineen's evidence, he (Dineen) and Thomas Connolly
were lying in wait to murder him. He described
how, on one or two occasions, the doctor induced
him to walk further than the usual limits, and his
very peculiar behaviour on those occasions, coughing
in a manner calculated to attract attention. The
informer had sworn that thia was the signal to notify
the approach of the doctor and the intended victim.
He was allowed also to give evidence of Dr. Connolly's
conversations in the course of their walk, indicating
that the doctor was a firm believer in atheistic doc-
trines. On one occasion he received a letter signed
"A Policeman," advising him to get Tom Connolly
out of the country, as the authorities had as much
information against him as would hang a thousand
men. He showed this letter to Dr. Connolly and to
Tom, who admitted his guilt, and stated that he had
had a hand in all the burnings and moonlighting
crimes of the district for some time back, He gave
Tom £ll to pay his passage to America, and Tpal
went as far as Cork, when the doctor followed him
and brought him hack, On %ery many occasions in
the early part of the year the doctor asked witness to
he allowed to accompany him to Kilkee, a watering
place to which he was going for the season, and sug-
gested that they should occupy the same lodging while
there. Witness was near yielding sometimes to his
requests, but he generally gave him to understand that
he did not care for his company and preferred to be
left alone.

Carroll was examined at same length by Mr. Burke,
counsel for the pisoners, with a view to show that
there was no effort at intimacy on the part of Dr.
Connolly, that, in fact, Carroll was the person seek-
ing companionship; and, further, that he did not pos.
[Klee such wealth as to make his death desirable to
Dr. Connolly, even though he had made a will in
the doctor's favour (it was alleged that Connolly had
forged such a will). _

The further hearing of the case was then adjourned.
The female prisoner was admitted to bail, and the
other two prisoners were remanded to Limerick Gaol,

REFORMARORY AND INDUSTRIAL

SCHOOLS.
The 26th annual report of the inspector appointed
under the provisions of the 5 and 6 William V., c.
38, to visit the certified reformatory and industrial
schools of Great Britain which has been presented
to both Houses of Parliament, has just been pub-
lished.

The report, which is for the year ending December
31, 1882, shows that the number of schools under in•
spection is 211—namely, 61 reformatory schools and
150 industrial schools, of which six are specially certi-
fied as truant schools and twelve as day industrial
schools. The total number of juveniles under sentence
of detention in' reformatory and industrial schools at
the close of the year was 24,215, of whom 19,521
were boys and 4,87 girls, showing an increase of 522
as compared with last year. There were 6,314 ad-
missions durirg the year, and the figures showed that
in proportion to the population, Scotland makes much
more use of the Industrial Schaols Act than England.
The schools for the reception of educational cases
show a tendency to increase, though slowly. The
truant and day industrial schools have only been in
existence a few years, and may he said to be still upon
their trials, their action being watched by the School
Boards generally. The results have hitherto been
encouraging, and a large increase may be expected in
the number of applications for permission to provide
schools for the admission of educational cases.

A Royal Commission has been sitting since the early
part of last year for the purpose of considering the
entire question of re ormatoly nmi industrial schools
and the legislation affecting them, a fresh departure
being deemed advisable, not because the system.
which had been in operation since the establishment
)f this class of schools had broken down, but because
he increased number of children and the additi,nal
clitssee to be dealt with called for a new policy and new
principles of action. The schools have done and are
doing good work, but there is a general feeling that
some better classification is necessary, and that the
financial part of the question requires consideration
and possibly readjustment. In the opinion of the
inspector, distinct lines should be laid down for the
assistance and guidance of magistrates in dealing with
juvenile criminals and petty offences, and care should
be taken that the schools are not flooded with chil-
dren whose cases can he dealt with without a length-
ened removal from their homes.

,
Ebb
brs,
'rim

The inspector urges that very young children should
not be sett to reformatories except in special cages, to
be at once reported to the Home Office. For hopeless
cases he suggests that small penal reformatories should
be established, to which iocorrigibles should be com-
mitted at the request of the Illanzgers, where they
should be retained until they showed signs of amend-
ment. He furthq recommends that the obstacles
should be removed which at present exists in the way
of a reformatory boy entering the Navy, and that the
schools should retain control over the children after
they left the establishments.

The decrease in the National Debt of the United
States in August amounted to 6,000,000 doll,