The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1862-11-04 00:00:00

OFFENCES.

Otiose futinorMritrY OF AN tNDERTAKER.—An act
of the most gross impropriety, to say the least of it,
was exposed at a coroner's inquest on Tuesday, as hav-
ing been committed by an undertaker named France.
He had been employed to make the coffin for a Mrs.
Norton who was dead, and when he brought it to the
house he wished to screw the body down immediately.
The friends of the dead woman resisted this, and no-
ticing that the head tlf the Cotpse was Much raised, an
examination was made, which resulted in the finding
the body of a still-born child hidden behind the lining
of the coffin. The undertaker in excuse said he had
had the body of the child to bury for a fortnight, and
that everybody in "the trade" knew how difficult it
was to get still-born babes buried except in other
coffins. The coroner very properly strongly condemned
the. practiech
NiaaówESnAtlt OF A JUDGE.—At the Tipperary
quarter sessions, on Friday, a young man named
Richard Carey was convicted of the larceny of two
shirts. Serjeant Howley, the presiding judge, sen-
tenced him to three months' imprisonment and hard
labour. No sooner was this sentence uttered than
with a rapidity almost inconceivable, and while unper-
ceived by perhaps not more than three persons In
court, Carey drew back in the dOck, and drawing hit
arm around flung a stone of nearly one pOund weight,
with hit fun strength, direet at the learned serjeantt
It passed as if out of a sling, so rapidly did it go from
the hand of the prisoner to the place where his worship
was sitting, in the centre of a full bench of magistrates.
The serjeant had not taken his eye off the prisoner
after sentencing him, and to this might be attributed,
under Providence, his escape for he perceived the
sudden movement, and, seated on a light chair with
castoria he moved habit and threw himself off the chair.
So rapidly did the whole thing take place that the
stone passed across the spot that the chairman had left,
and struck the panelling behind the chair. The vio-
lence of the blow smashed the atone, end a small por-
tion of it remained itribedird firmly in the woodwork.
A consultation of magistrates took place, and it was de-
cided that information of the outrageous attempt
should be returned against the prisoner to next assizes,
the quarter sessions grand jury having been then dis-
charged. The occurrence of this dreadful outrage
created a deep sensation.
ROBBERY OF BANK OF FINGLAND ?TOTE PAE.EIL—A
be clue has been obtained to the rob iery of Bank of
England note paper from Messrs. Portal's mills, at
Laverstoke. Two men were brought up at the
Mansion House last week charged with being con-
cerned in the robbery. No evidence was given as to
their share in the matter, but it was stated that on the
previons day a man had been taken into custody at
Birmingham while in the act of printing forged Bank
of England notes from some of the stolen paper. From
information which had been obtained, the prisoners
were taken into custody in London; and subsequently
another man was apprehended at Birmingham. Mr.
Freshfield, the solicitor to the Bank, Who appeared
against the prisoners at the Mansion House, asked for
a remand in order that he might perfect the case. The
application *as acceded to,
ATTEMPT TO POISON Tile MY E CAPTA ANb MAI'S OF
A SHIP—At the Liverpool Police-court, on Tuesday, a
man named William Pick was committed for trial at
the &SMEAR' on a charge of having attempted to poison
Captain Napton and the mate f the barque Palatine,
of Liverpool, on the homeward voyage from Akyab. It
appeared that the captain aroused the animosity of the
prisoner by remonstrating with him when he either
did his work in a careless and indifferent manner, or
would not work at all, and that in consequence of this
ill.feeling the prisoner put a quantity of blueatone into
some tea which the captain and mate drank, for the
purpose of poisoning them. Fortunately the poison
had no other effect than that of making the captain
and mate vomit considerably and feel very unwell for
long time.

SUSPECTED MURDER.—On Tuesday morning, the
dead body of a man was taken out of the river Tame,
near the old mill at Dukinfield, Cheshire, and removed
to the Tame Valley Hotel, to await an inquest. On
examining the head of the deceased it was found to be
cut in many places ; and, as the body was without
shoes, hat, coat, or handkerchief, the police from the
first suspected that a murder had been committed. In
consequence of this suspicion a post-mortem examina-
tion of the body was held on Wednesday. The opinion
of Mr: John Brierley, surgeon, Stalybridge, who made
the examination, was that the deceased was dead before
the body got into the water. There were no fewer
than nine wounds on the head, which were fresh and
bleeding, and many of which appear to have been
inflicted with some sharp instrument. The arms of the
deceased are bruised, apparently as if he had been
holding them up in defence of his head; and, ass still
further indication that a foul murder had been com-
mitted, and the body disposed of afterwards, the skin
of the back of both hands and the front of both feet is
scarified, and particularly the flesh and the nails of
both big toes are torn off, as if the body had been
dragged a considerable distance after death. On Thurs-
day afternoon the body was identified by one of the
deceased's sons as that of Janina Farrand, woollen

weaver, Horsefall Know, eaddleworth, who stated ha
was about fifty years of age. The deceased, it seems,
left the hcerbonse of James Wood, PriturortAtill,
Saddle-worth, about 11 o'clock on the previous Monday
night,