The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1878-03-05 00:00:00

SHOCKING SUICIDE.

An inquest was held on Friday afternoon at the
Kingsland Tavern, South Front, Southampton, by the
borough coroner, Mr. K Coxwell, on the body of
Thomas Harding, aged 31, of 80, Bevois-street, when
Honour Hurding. wife ,d deceased (who was very
much affected), said her husband was an engine-driver
on the Soutb-Weetern Railway. A fortnisht ago he
came out of • siding at Dorchester where they were
making up • train for goods and passengers, and met
with an accident, by mashing some trucks, for
which be had now been suspended for a week. He
had been under the impressi m that he would be
prosecuted, and had kept he door fastened the last
two days. He would not let witness go to the door
without seeing there was not • policeman. He was
very low and dispirited, and as had tried the day
before to cheer him up a bit. He went to the engine
shed to try if he could hear anything, and asked Mr.
ilunter about it. The previous day deceased had a
razot, and said rather than be imprisoned and laughed
at he would do what he had now done. It was an
hour and twenty minutes before she could get him to
sive up the razor. He said be would not do anything
with it, but he gave it up at last. It was about 20
minutes to six the previous night when she got it
away. After six o'clock he went to the abed to get
his money. He would not go at the proper time as he
was afraid there would be a policeman there to take
him. He came back shortly afterwards, and sat down
and would not speak. She 'eked him why he was so
dull, and be then went out and was absent about an
hour. When he came back he eat down with witness.
She wanted him to poet • letter, but be would not get
up to go. Rerenialnedwithberalithe evening, not
saying anything, and seeming low in spirits. They
went upstate' to go to bed just before 11 o'clock.
Then he took the light and went down stairs, leaving
bar in the dark. She heard a noise, and thinking he
was sick she called out "Tom," but he did not
answer. She then went downstairs, and found him
leaning over the sink bleeding from the throat. She
did not see the knife at drat, but pulled him back and
laid him down, and then called the neighbours. She
held him till almost his last breath. He died about
ten minutes or • quarter of an hour afterwards,—By
the jury: They sent for several doctors, but only Dr.
Benslt came, and death had taken place. Decoked
had not been threatened with prosecution, but had the
idea that he would be prosecuted, though she begged
him not to think of it and tried to dissuade him from
the thought.
Eliza Cl., wife of William Henry Cole, of 81,
Bevok-street, said that about 11 o'clock on Thursday
night, as she and her daughter were sitting indoors.
they beard • noise, and witness went out to the door,
and heard Mrs. Harding say "Oh dear, Tom, bow
came you to do this! I never thought it would come
to his." Witness went in to deceased's honse, and
found Mrs. Hurding holding him, lie was bleeding
very much from the throat, and witness handed a
towel to Mrs. Harding. Deceased died in a few
minutes, and before a doctor came. Witness saw a
knife cl..wn by the sink. (The knife was produced.
It was an ordinary small table knife, with a black
handle). The brother of deceased, who was present,
asked if he might be allowed to ask some queetiona of
this witness, and the Coroner having answered in the
affirmative, he interrogated Ma. Cole, who said, in
reply to his enquiries, that she did not remember
deoeseed going by her house on Wednesday. She was
• next door neighbour. When she saw him in the
week be seemed low spirited, and to take no notice at
all. She had seen deceased in the heck yard. and he
always rppeared to be cheerful till last week. She
had not seen him over the wall to speak to him daring
the last week.

liain—Early, sip:airman in the employ of the
Railway Company, said he knew deceased. He last
saw him alive on Wednesday. He MU then very low.
They talked together, and he seamed lost on account
of his having been suspended. He told witness that
he thought the Company would prosecute hint.
Witness asked demised if he had heard from London
about, going to work again, but he said he had not.
He had always 'been • cheerful and quiet man.
Witness had only heard of what he had done.—By the
jury: He had not heard on the previous evening
whether deceased had been finally discharged from the
Company'. employ.
P.C. Willism Smith (80) said shouts quarter-put
eleven o'clock the previous night he was on duty in
Bevois-street, and was called to No. 80. He there saw
%le& Hording holding the head of decease' in her
lap. He moaned twice. Witness felt his pulse, but
there was DO action. He then went for Dr. Bencraft.
He examined the throat, and found it WM very badly
cut. He enquired of Sirs. Hurding what deceased had
dons it with, and she said "With that old knife."
Ha tome' it us the mantelpiece, covered with blot:4—
°IU Ooroner addressed the jury, pointing out that
-et first say from the evidence they had heard,
they M - glided by his OWD hand only, aad
whether deco. - sound state of turnl :it the
then whether he wee • a,
g.
vas
timn—The inn% of wilt,- • doused coutmi
foreman, returned • verdict tha.
suicide while in an unsound state of
lune a wife and three young children.

SUN PRINIING IN OIL COLOURS.
(Prow do "AM Journal.")

During the present separation there has been no dis-
covery that has done more to menet and popularise Art
than anneephy. and it still to be in its infancy.much" hin'brem said against photography, lithography,
and kindred devices, as destroling and not
artists. Bat is not the primary object of ail toy= t1:1
teachers of Art to disseminate it, in order to educate and
train the eye of the skilled ertiams so that he MAY produce
the best and most beautiful (unmet Were it not for
ingenious reproductive processes of printing books,
multi-
plying woodcuts and engravings all the great stendard
work@ could alill have bee* written upon vellum, and
the meat pictures have existed only in cathedrals mad
meantime of the nobility. The defect urged eg•inet
t since the
uts. west& unstable nature of the prOductt
by Mr. Patna. MSC that objection has been withdrspnoosee was discovered and pertecen.
Our attention has been called to some regrodections of
ancient end modern all pelntiap by • proems of an
printing is all colour. They vary in size from • locket
miniature to • °denial picture by Ruben* The inven-
tion being at present • secret, we cannot publish the
different processes each picture undergoes, hut we are
assured by the inventor that there is no nitrate of silver.
Thim chemical is the principal ineredient used in phone.
I graphy, and In supposed to be the mugs caws of their
fading. In this nee process DO chemical is used other
than the ordinary ingredients which coastlines the ell
colour, and there 11 001 one likely to produce • cbaaplo
colour or detonation by the action of light or time. The
productions have been subjected to analysis by one of an
Let chetniels, and prosouaood pormoosat In the earlier
stops photography is had mono to forth. purpose of

reducing or enlarging, but it plays no Part in the sub-
sequent procesam, although the m •• of detail not
delicacy of drawing would le 1,1 our to supwee it had.
Copies from ...mks of A.rt by ancieut or tievieru .artiets
CO he produced opus wood. -too,. Or upon or.:lnorr
preparatd cones& or any witable material t.w decorative
purpmes, and could be wed moot app-opriatele in the
form of panel or c.i.inet deeorstioa. We lave h.fe.re us
a cop, on wood bf the " Wappin flif‘ig." IT law Ira. I.
Ii every rmpeet like • hewitiful meta drawing and Aar
• Ittiemien on canoso Of the fume subject, of will+,
perhaps, we c moot no better than the artist's
opinion, who sio : " After to .ture and cordial con .idero-
bon of the priuctple aad ro.olio 1 i ir larroti.Ol.
.orlude that 5 our fowaioniles or, the most perfe,t repro-
duction hitherto seen : I therefore •liall have much plea-
sure in inspecting and signing the copies of mg original
work.—Jonx Fins." . .

- .
Tere-are ..ther specimens of paintings by Miss Thorn,-
son., 8 duty Cooper, George korland. and in my poctrtits,
which have all the rigour and truth of the .m.iusls. The
reproductions we have seen posaus all the truth, reline-
went, and characteristic touches of the work, they repre-
sent. In souse instances the paint is thick and uneven, as
though put on with the palette knife, thus avoiding that
objectionable smoothness which prevails in chrome.
lithographs and oleogreisha Being almost • mechanical
production, these copies are improved by a few tonenes
from the artist's brush, awl are thus considerahly
enhanced in value. Tutu not in colour require no
retouching, no matter how minute and delicate the
drawing and charounro may be, as every touch of the
brush is faithfully represented, so as to make thus
invaluable as entirely truthful reproductions of the
. manner of the artist. They are executed in a law days
Instead of years, as is the case with the best engravings,
which do not always convey the most important feeling
of the artist- the metraffer frequently introducinz his own
Idea of light and shade. Mr. Poultry, of Dorchester,
whom we have before stated was the first to introduce the
permanent photo.rapbs known as the carbon pr,cesa, has
gone on steadily working in the tame direction for the
last twenty years, in hope of Improving the stability of
the carbon proceee. Wiehing to introduce colour into
them, lee has sucvaled in discovering tue method to
which we call attention, of producing oil colour photo-
erts_Ph.
yes person who has not seen specimens of paintings
reproduced by the proems in question, Con have no
adequate idea of the wondrous fidelity of the copy to the
original N human copyist, of whatever skill uoseemed,
could prodisoe a work of such unerring eccurary, and such
perfect fidelity of form and colour, light and shade, with-
out variation of tint or tone, or rildiest effect of the
original painter's skill. The manner of the pigment
observed in the original is found in the copy. The
chromolithograph, the oleograph, marvellous as they are
Al mechanical productions., present only a general imita-
tion of the picture copied; the common eye knows them
to be copies, since they are entirely wanting in individu-
ality and force, while the lac-similes by this process are
exactly what the term implies They are not merely Inc.
similes of general effects, they are facsimiles of actual
effect, and of every effect, evert inure completely than if
the copy had been borne of the origins! picture. For
purposes of pleasure, or education, or connoisseurship,
they ars complete. A small gallery of such pictures
would he as adequate for the education of taste, or the
education in th.- characteriatics of the masters, u a
gallery of the originals would be. The invention is the
most marvellous addition to imitative Art which has ever
been made known, sod seems the beginning of discoveries
yet more astonishing.

THE REV. HENRY MOCLE ON THE DRY
EARTH SYSTEM NOT IMPRACTICABLE
EVEN FOR THE LARGEST CITIES.
TO tke Editor of the Hereford Tiaga.
811,—In a leader in The Tina (Dec. 15, 1877), the
ect of which is the failure of the Main
Scheme there 00CUril the following passage
with respect to the Earth System The plain truth
is that the problem of disposing of the sewage of large
cities (the writer might have added, and of the smallest
town) is as yet unsolvsa. Various approximations
have been made towards solving it, one of the most
advocated being the earth system. But the applica-
tion of this system has an yet been found impracticable,
and every other method has in turn been rejected as
Insufficient," Now if any will take ths pains to
inquire by whom, and by what method this imprac-
ticability has been ascertained, they will Swot find
that the discovery cannot have been the result of
experiment or use since no mode of application of the
system to a city has ever yet been attempted Instead
of this it is rather the result of a misapprehension of
the system and of calculations based upon the
misapprehension.
This is dearly stated by Dr. Corfield in a letter in
rig Tiers (Jan. 8, 1878), in which he replies to a letter
of Mr. George With, of Hereford (The Tines, Jan. 4,
1878), both letters being also publishe I in the Hereford
Tian. His statement there is that this impractica.
Willy of the Earth System was "a conclusion"
arrived at by • committee appointed to consider the
treatment and utilisation of sewage; whose sittings
were held for five successive years (1871-1873).
th Mr. With, towards e close of a very remarkable
letter, writes thus:—" Indeed upon this principle the
; system might be applied to the largest towns, and even
to London Resit" In iontradiction, I suppose, to this
opinion Dr. Cor6eld, from the relorte of the above.
mentioned committee, writes thus :—" Al to the
general utility of the plan (Earth System) they (the
committee) came to the conclusion that while quite
inapplicable for large populations on account of the
large amount of earth that would require to be carted
In and out daily, and of the fact that the manure pro-
duced wee little better than a good garden soil, it may
easily be admitted that it would be a great advantage
In a sanitary point of view in the cams of sick rooms,
detached houses, or even villages ; and that it might
be even economical where the earth for preparation
and absorption, and the land for utilisation are in
does proximity." Thus clearly. from Dr. Corfield's
own allowing, the aserbon that the Earth System has
been fund impracticable is the assertion, not of a fact
or experiment, tmt of • conclusion. Moreover this
conclusion itself is drawn from calculation bailed on an
entire misapprehension of the system as in any way
applicable to large cities.
For its two essential principles—two properties of
dry earth which, during now 20 years since the dis-
covery, have been brought by me again and again
before the public —have been wholly &sre,ratd..d.
They are :—First, the continuous 'action of the
deodorising power of dry earth when applied to
putrefying matter, which is so great that even in a
close shed or cella it may lie for weeks or months
after use without emitting any offensive smell.
Secondly, its capability of repeated action, which is
such that the same earthmay, when dried, be used
again, and has been used again and again, at lead as
many as twenty times, and with equal effect the last
time as the first
The opinion on these two points of Mr. With, a
well known chemist, will have greater weight than
my own, and I will therefore reproduce it from the
before-mentioned letter (Tows, Jan. 4, 1878). "But
to go further. This specific destroying power of dry
earth is so persistent that the very same earth may be
' used over and over again for years with as perfect
, result seat first. All that is required is just to throw
, it aside in a dry place for • few weeks after each time of
using and its power will be fully restored. Treated
, thus the most searching eye, the most acute sense
, of smell will fail to detect the slightest evidence of
, the purposes to which the earth hoe been applied,
even after the 20th times of using. In short the power
of dry earth to deodorise and disinfect is practically
unlimited"
Now it will be well to inquire what the Earth
System would be for Loodon, first without any regard,
and then with due regarJ to these, its essential
properthe—andespecially as to the amount of dry
earth to be carted in and out daily.
In the former case we will reckon the number of
families at 800,000, with an average of five individuals
to • family, and we will allow a half hundredweight of
dry earth daily for each family. This would require
20,000 tons to lie carted in and out daily, or 7,200,000
tons annually. Well might the Committee of the
British Association, as they looked at this, and am they
pondered on the sources of such a supply, have
pronounced the plan impracticable. Now let as
consider the second came, when the earth is used again
and again. Ceder them conditions one ton of earth,
an ample allowance month per family for once using
would by bringing Into action the two special
properties before referred to. led the family for twelve
months; and, thus used, 800,000 tons of earth would
be sufficient for the whole of Loud it for • year.
The carting in, then, of that quantity would, for the
several wake or districts, be animal instead of daily,
and distributed over the whole year it would amount to
no more than from 2,000 to 3,000 tons daily.
The carting out might, under certain circumstance',
be twice in the conne of the year. Let it be here
observed that in all this it is taken for granted that
dry earth must he brought into London from without
It is, however, with me, a certain conviction that with
a very little exercise of "scientific genius"—or even of
common sense—all, cr the greater part of the material
for the closets may be supplied from within. Where,
then, is the impracticability "on account of the great
amount of forth it would require to be carted in and
out daily r And then as to the value of these 800,000
tons of earth thus used again and again for a ylsar.
After the complete destruction and dissipation of the
organic manurial matter by the action of the dry
earth there will still remain In it the mineral matters
of the excreta, itc., SAI phosphoric acid, potash and
nitrates; all of which are very valuable as fertilisers.
Surely at the end of the year the twelve times used
earth would realise 20s. • ton. If so, then there would
accrue from this source an annual income of nearly
one million. But reckon it at half, or even a quarter ,
of • million, and what has the sewage system to offer
In comparison'
What, however, is of far greater moment is this.
Ought not our Local Government Boards, sal other
public bodice, with even a faint hope of this and other
advantages, to give themselves with thorough earnest
ees,eaj- energy to inquire carefully into a eystem
promising snob results, to study its first principles,
and themselves to experiment on it? Why leave such
National concerns to chance inventors, or speculating
companies, or even disinterested societies like the
Hereford Society for Aiding the Industrious ? If th • ey
will do this I can promise them, and that on very
saificiaat avoyuds, that much more than the use of
earth closets is practicable for London, and for eve 7
oity, town, and Tillage through the adoption of tins ,
comeinstance litLoordnd:.k.Wprhevenentiest
the time coiiitiug
up
For" smut—taut the sewage must be withal
afromtbete,ermani.d".7-„,.- therrt.. an_d clatyyoaf
,Lofirstn..
den, a difficulty will present its, wn:r
sight indeed ire impracticable. . that of rit-
straining the y flow of thousands of tons mere
from the 800, kitchens of the Metropolis, Is any
restraint to be put on this' If so how Is it to be
done? Let the various medic bodies I have mentioned
try, and thief erfil find that the means of doing it are
within their reach--that t may be done with sass,
with several great advantage" atteading it, and if I,
am not very greatly mistaken, Mai large profit. I
Another particular shall be given to assist ths.4.o rho, I
oammiag from the vain attempts to relieve the show-
dimes and impossibilities of the Water &Wage system,
mill enter on the investigalon I hare propoesd, In
carrying out the so-styled 'lmpracticable plan" the
coal ashes, the contents of dust-bins, and the sweep-
ings of the pavan:tents in front of 800,000 families may
be utilised, so that, together with some little amount
of loam within the Metropaie they shall supply the
greater portion, if not the whole Of the dryurrli
not only for the closets, but for the oistireorkiao
clamming CM Metropolis. In doing this, morsels,

• Ow " Nadowal Health sod Wooltki by th• Labor.
W. Pools. Pabsugstor Now.
I 800 Maio Jos to Alban "Notkwal Bag& owl Wool*"
by Big kaßlor. W. TWA Patorombor Bow.

the street traffic will not only not be increesed; but to
a great extent diminiahal.
Once more. Let the principles of the system] he
thoroughly understood, and a mode of operation
organised, and there need be no delay in ita applica-
tion. There will be no need for vending hundreds of
thousands, or millions on Public Works. Without any
alterations in the drains and sewers, anyone who
should understand the system might commence at
ones. But I hare 11.4100 in the ehteeet, deeke, and
almost expectation that, in the present manifest
at the Water System, the Government at
1.44 will take up so important a matter with the
enemy and spirit it deaervea
HENRY MOITLE.
Fordington Vicarage, Dorset, Feb. 21st, 1878.
WXYXOI7TH.

P•111.1•11WITART HOUSI OCCUPIILL—An Act of Parlia-
ment lust received the litayal salient which will prove
of considerable Onnertanoe to many residents who let
their houses during the season. It provides that hence-
forth "every man shall he entitled to be registered and to
vote enter the provisions of the said section (3rd section
of the Reform Act. MCI notwithstanding that during a
part of the qualifying Period, not exceeding four months
to the whole, be shall by letting or otherwise have
permitted the qualifying mamae, to be 0000piod 51
furnished house by some other person."
DEATH OF a TOWNSMAN'S SOW IT • FALL—More haa
littely been held an enquiry at the Royal Naval Hospital,
Eitonebouse, into the circumstances attending the death
of Alfred White, cabinet maker, of Weymouth. Kr.
William Eastlake, Admiralty law agent, watched the
case on behalf of the Admiralty. The dm:timed and
another man were engaged aloft on the previous Thursday
afternoon in covering the spanker, and, after the peak
was finished, hePri to "work" down the mast. Instead
of coming down by means of the rings around the mast,
dog osed caught hold of the distant lines but. being too
thin to bear his weight, they gave way, and he was thrown
to the deck, a distance of over 47ft. The inquest was
adjourned from Prias, in order that testimony might he
given ss to roles Or CU40111.1110( the 11101.909 respecUny the
.vering of the spank,. On Saturday Limit Joseph
Calwell, serving on board the Valorous, now lying in
Baropookatated that be was on deck on duty at the time
of the accident. Deceseed had frequently been employed
In covering the spanker, and was thoroughly oomepetent
to to the work. Stools were kept on board vessels, to be
tim,d in such work for convenience sake: but it was
en' irely optional on the part of the man to take them.—
By the Jury: It was not usual for seaman to use stools in
,ivering the sail, and deceased did not apply for one.
Thera was a petty officer in chine of the men on the
afternoon in question. Rickard Hoyle, gunner's mate.
said be had never seen stools used in mach wash when
ships were in harbour. Deceased ought to have come
down by the brads. Witness had never seen any one,
during Um time be had .been in service, hold on by the
distant line. By Lieut. Calwell : Men are constantly
being cautioned not to run unneccary risks in working
aloft and in other parts of the ship. The Coroner
remarked the deceased could have obtained a stool if he
had cared to apply for it, and as he did not no one could
be blamed for the accident. The jury returned a verdict
of "Accidental death." The deceased was buried on Mon-
day afternoon, with nevil honours, at the naval burial
ground. Plymouth.