The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-09-05 00:00:00

A SMUGGLER'S PENALTY:

Herman Lewis, a tailor's presser, has been charged
at Leeds with, n Ili he pleaded guilty to, having been
concerned in importing into Hull, from Hamburg, on
the 14th ult. large quantities of tobacco, &c., without
paying the Customs duties. There were found
3471b5. of manufactured 4avendish, 463ilbs. of other
tobacco, besides 2591b5. of cigars, and some snuff and
spirits, valued at £470. Mr. Beverley, solicitor to
the Customs in London, prosecuted, and asked for
the full pecuniary penalty, which was £1406 13s. 9d.
or treble the ordinary value of the contraband
articles, all of which had been shipped from Ham-
burg in what appeared to be solid logs of timber, but
were found to be hollowed out, and crammed full of
tobacco, &c. • A letter in Hebrew had been found on
the prisoner, which showed that the goods had been
consigned to him, and in a stable which he occupied
In Leeds were found the remains of other timber,
which it was evident had been the means of smug-
gling on previous occasions. The prisoner's solicitor
said up to last Whitsuntide his client had worked
honestly at his trade, but then gave it up for what he
thought would be the more lucrative one ofdefrauding
her Majesty's Customs. The stipendiary inflicted the
full penalty, with the alternative of four months' im•
prisonment.

A York shoemaker wenthome drunk the other night,
and made a terrible onslaught upon his paramour with
a sharp cobbler's knife. The woman is in the hospital,
frightfully injured.
Seven detectives who had been set to watch the
Trieste branch of the Austrian Oredit Ansalt, have
made discoveries that have led to the arrest of two of
the clerks, in whose possession, compromising papers
have been found. '
iou than sus. fiphinfliaLthis_ stason,bmu,, pap
Scaland. -In the Tay so
great have been the hauls that difficulty has been expe-
rienced in disposing of the fish. In the Dee many
hundred tons have been caueb'

aTh

FALL OF A CLIFF AT DAWLISH.
THREE PERSONS KILLED.

A shocking accident happened on Saturday at
Dawlish, South Devon, which resulted in the death of '
three persons and occasioning very serious injuries to
three or four others. A few days ago tha family of
Colonel and Mrs. Watson—who are now in India
and the grandchildren of Lady Saul, of Honiton,
arrived at Dawlish and took lodgings there. On
Saturday morning the family, consisting of Miss
Violet Watson. aged nine years, her brother aged
between 10 and 11 years, and a younger brother, a
baby, accompanied by their aunt, Miss Watts, a lady's
maid, named Elizabeth Radford, a nurse named
Elizabeth Keen, and a Miss Matthews, visited the
gentlemen's bathing cove, which is directly at the
foot of Lea Mount pleasure grounds. The cliffs
here are about 50ft. to 60ft. above the level of the
beach, and half way down they project very abruptly,
receding in an equally abrupt manner towards
the base, where there are a series of nooks. It
was in one of these nooks that the persons above-
mentioned were resting themselves, when, without the
slightest warning, about 150 tons of the projecting
portion of the cliff gave way, and fell upon the party
beneath, completely burying Miss Violet Mary Wat-
son, Elizabeth Radford, and Elizabeth Keen. The
rest of the party were further away from the foot of
the cliff, although not sufficiently far to escape the
falling mass of sand and rock. Miss Watts, the aunt,
who is about 25 years of age, was partially embedded,
as was also the elder boy, Johnny Watson, and Miss
Matthews, who had charge of the baby. They were,
however, soon extricated, but were so seriously injured
that they were removed to their lodgings in a semi-
conscious state. News of the accident soon reached
the town, and very quickly a number of men with
picks and shovels arrived and set to work to recover
the bodies of those buried in the debris. Some hesi-
tation to go near the cliff, which seemed to threaten a
further fall, was at first evinced, but the workmen were
encouraged by Police-constable Frood, who, pick in
hand, led the way in removing the fallen rock. The
constable soon came across the boots of a child, and then
a book, and after working for about an hour he re-
covered the body of Elizabeth Keen. Her head was
terribly fractured, and her body was in a stooping po-
sition. Life was, of course, extinct. A little to the
left of the body he also discovered that of Miss Violet
Watson with her face downwards and blood oozing
from her mouth and nose. Death in her case, also,
must have been instantaneous, the injuries about her
head being most severe. In the course of another
half hour the body of Elizabeth Radford was re-
covered; it was lying near the foot of the cliff, and
was scarcely recognisable. The tons of debris that had
fallen on her had completely flattened the back of her
head, and her body was also crushed in a frightful
manner. An impression prevailingthat a boy named
White had also been buried beneath the di'bris the
search was continued for another honr,when intelligence
was received that the lad had returned to his home in
safety. Drs. Cann, Webb, Baker, and Cockburn were
in attendance, and rendered the injured every possible
assistance. Miss Watts had her leg broken and the
back of her head injured, and sustained some in-
ternal injuries. Johnny Watson had a thigh, leg,
and arm broken, and was also injured about this
head. The young woman Matthews was more fortu-
nate, escaping with some injuries to the head, whilst
the baby, of which she had charge, had only a slight
abrasion of the face.
On Sunday Dr. Cann reported the sufferers to be
progressing favourably, with the exception of Miss
Watts, who was in a very critical state. During the
day large numbers of persons from Exeter, Telgn-
month, Newton Abbott, Torquay, and the neighbour-
hood 'visited the scene of the fatality. It would seem
that the cliffs in the vicinity of the cove had been
regarded as dangerous for some time past, notice
boards cautioning the public not to go too near having
been affixed to them. Of late, however, these notices
have been destroyed. Dr. Macaulay, of Honiton
(Colonel Watson's physician) is in attendance on the
injured persons.