The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-02-17 00:00:00

THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S
BELGIAN ESTATE.

The Brussels Correspondent of The Times says :
A statement that, on the "near" extinction of the
dukedom of Wellington, a property in Belgium, of
the value of 8,000,000 f., bestowed on the Iron
Duke in 1815, with the title of Prince of Waterloo,
by King William I. of the Netherlands, wculd
revert to the Belgian State, is going the rounds of
the Belgian and French papers. The Royal decree
bestowing the property, which I read to.day, is
dated September 29th, 1815, and witnesses that in
recognition of the great services to the Nether.
lands rendered by the Prince of Waterloo, on the
days of the 16th, 17th, and 18th of June, an annuity
of about 20,0001, attached to the princedom and to
be possessed in perpetuity by the Prince of Waterloo
and his legitimate descendants, is bestowed onahim
by the King, with the consent of the States-General.
This annuity is to be furnished by the produce of three
estates, called in the Royal decree " woods," situate
between Nivellos and Quatre•Bras, on the two sides of
the road from Nivelles to Namur, and having alto-
gether an extent of 1,083 hectares.

SYMPATHY.—Young plunger (is about to post Valen-
tine at 10.30 p.m., on the eve of the 14th, and dis-
covers it is too large to go in the aperture) : Doosed
nuisance to be sure ! I particularly wanted her to get
it by the first post in the morning. Whatever shall I
do ?—Young Urchin (guessing what is the matter :
Me and my mate 'll leave it at your gal's 'owe for
you, Gov'nor, if you like. Tell us where she lives.—
Judy.

THE SHOCKING DISCOVERY AT A
LONDON PARCEL OFFICE.

In London, on Tuesday, at the Hope Musio Hall,
Banner-street, St. Luke's, Sir John Humphreys, the
Coroner for East Middlesex, concluded the adjourned
inquiry into the cause of death of a girl unknown,
whose body was found packed in a deal starch box at
the office of Carter, Paterson, and Co., the carriers,
in the Goswell-road, London, on the 18th of last
month. It will be remembered that the box
was addressed "Miss Green, No. 24, Abbey-road,
St. John's-wood, N.W.," and was handed in on
Dec. 11th at the Cambridge Heath-road re-
ceiving-house, from which it was forwarded for
delivery, but no such person being known it
was returned to the central office, and placed amongst
the undelivered goods. Here it remained for over a
month, until the disagreeable smell coming from it
caused the foreman to open it, with the result of die.
covering the body of a child apparently about fourteen
years of age, but fearfully emaciated, twice doubled
inside it. The police have since been instituting
inquiries, but have not yet succeeded in tracing the
sender. The inquest had been adjourned for the pur-
pose of having the contents of the stomach analysed
by Dr. Tidy.
Inspector Peel and Sergeant Briers watched the
inquiry on behalf of the police.

Mary Jane Green was the first witness called. She
said: I am an unmarried woman, and live at 3, Abbey.
road, St. John's-wood. I have lived there for three
years. I do not know anything about the box. I
know of no circumstance that could lead me to think
of any one who had sent the box.
Mrs. Susannah Bentley said: I live at 24, Abbey.
road, St. John's-wood. I have lived in the house since
March, 1876. Seventeen or eighteen years ago I had a
servant named Green. I have never kept up any cor-
respondence with her.
The husband of tbis witness said that they lived ki
Cavendish-road when the servant named Green was
with them. He did not know what had become of her,
and he could offer no explanation as to the sending of
the box.

Blip Green, 71, Cannon-street-road, St. George's-
in-the-East, said: My husband is a carman in the
service of Messrs. Fairclough. On Monday evening,
the 11th of December, about six o'clock in the evening,
I saw two men carrying a box in Watney-street. I
had to wait to let the two men pass. I again saw the
two men three weeks ago in the Back-road, Shadwell.
They are perfect strangers to me, but I should know
them again. The men were going towards the Com-
mercial-road when I saw them on the first occasion;
and when they saw I was noticing them one made
some remark to the other. When I saw them on the
last occasion they were dressed differently, and they
then appeared to recognise me.

Professor Charles Meymott Tidy was next called.
He said he made an analysis of the contents of the
stomach. The vessel containing the same was duly
received. Supposing it to have been (as stated) the
stomach of a child of twelve or thirteen years old, I
should wish to remark that it presented an unusually
contracted appearance. I should myself have judged
it to have been the stomach of a child not more than
eight or nine at most. I submitted the stomach and
its contents to a most careful examination for both
mineral and organic poisons. I found on analysis
minute but definite traces of morphia, the active
principle of opium. Failing, however, to find
the conic acid (another constituent of opium) I
am unable to state positively whebher the
drug was given as morphia or as opium. Having
been informed of the post-mortem appearances re-
corded by Dr. Yarrow, and taking into consideration
the condition of the stomach, I am of opinion that the
child could have taken but very little nourishment for
some time before her death ; but whether this de-
pended upon her inability to take food or on her
inability to get food I have no facts to guide me.
That a dose of morphia taken either as morphia, or as
laudanum, or in the form of one or other of the many
soothing syrups or medicines largely sold it had been
administered to the child within a comparatively
short period of her death, I have no doubt, but, con-
sidering the small quantity found on analysis, a quan-
tity that per se would probably be insufficient to kill—
although on this I speak with reserve, considering the
condition of the child. lam unable to say whether
the morphia was administered with criminal intent or
with a proper object for medicinal purposes. Never-
theless, unless it can be shown that the appearances of
the stomach were the results of disease, which either
prevented proper nourishment from being taken or
prevented its nourishing the body when taken (of
which conditions there is nothing observed at the
post-mortem to indicate), and that morphia in some
form had been administered medicinally, the facts,
in my judgment, indicate that death was due to one
of three causes—namely (1), deprivation of food; (2),
poisoning by morphia; (3), a combination of both
causes.

Dr. Yarrow stated: From the evidence of the
analyist I am of opinion that death was due to pri-
vation, probably accelerated by a dose of morphia.
There was no sufficient organic disease to account for
death.

The coroner having summed up, the jury returned a
verdict to the followirg effect .—" That the was
found dead in a box; that the death was due to priva-
tion, combined with having taken and swallowed down
a dose of morphia; but under what circumstances the
said privation was brought about, and under what
circumstances the morphia was administered, there is
no evidence to prove."

GALLANT LIFEBOAT SERVICE.
During the recent gale the brig Marnhull, of Ply.
mouth, bound from London for Middlesborough, with
a cargo of scrap iron, drove on the north end of
the Barnard Sand. On her signals of distress being
observed, two lifeboats belonging to the National
Lifeboat Institution put off to her assistance—
viz., those at Kesslngland and Pakefield. The
ormer boat, which is named the St. Michael's, Pad-
dington, was the first to reach her, and found that
she had sunk on the sands, and that the crew of six
men had taken to the rigging; one had fallen down
and was drowned. There was such a heavy sea run-
ning at the time that it was only after eight attempts
that the lifeboatmen succeeded in effecting a commu-
nication with the wreck. At last they were successful
in passing the end of their tow-rope to toe brig's mast,
they then made a sling, and by means of a small line
hauled it backwards and forwards, the men all being
saved in this manner.