The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-01-08 00:00:00

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THE STOI:4I3Rr.DGE OBSERV-iIL

of "Take him down" and "Out the rope," but
fortunately there was no need of a double ..execa:
:tion. In his struggles the unhappy than - again
shifted the knot, and the noose suddenly closed
around his windpipe, and he was strangled to death. '
No such sight has been witnessed in the Tombs f.a.N
- many years-, if e'ver before,- an t
ant waq apparently-
general opinioh of all present that it could not have
occurred to-day if the "drop" had been adopted in-'1
stead of the weight system. The physicians at th e gallows
say that Weston died in six minutes, Thomp_s9n in
seven minttes, ant• Ellis in ttin minute's and a
The bodies were allowed to hang for about half
hour, and were then lowered into theiricoffi- Wh,
the execution was over the crowd in

FRIENDLY SOCIETIES.
•
Th,
, Min!

Le new Act to consolidate and amend the law re-

ig to friendly and certain other societies came into
operation on Saturday, the Ist inst. On the passing
of the statute on the 11th of August three provisions
came into force (10, 37, and 38), and the other sections,
38 In number, with the several schedules, will now
come into operation.. The provisions in operation
relate to the registry office and its regulations— Once
every year every registered society is bound to sub-
' its accounts to one of the public auditors appointed,
'in every_five years there is to be a valuation
nets andillabilities of each, society, and a
report of the valuer is to be sent to the registrar. The
mode and manner of the investment of funds are
pointed out in the statute. With respect to
payments on the death of children under ten
years of age, there are some special regulations—
no society is to insfre,or payrongthi dea4l of, ari:cl4ld,
under five years' titore- tlihn• -20, or under ten years
more than £lO. The money is to be paid to the patent
on a proper certigcate. The new law extends to
Great Ed in tlnd helaqd, tbe chsnuplß Isl Ands, m
ivr The ut
the Isle of an. e Treasury may appoint "public
auditors and valuers" for the purees of the Act, and
determine . the rate of remuneration. The first
schedule shows the repeal of the law, and the second
the matters Wbelorevided py The rules of the societies
registered unfter-the statute. —Annual returns are to
be made to the registrar of the receipts, fundkeffects,
and expenditure once in every year, adn the books are
to be open to the inspection of every person having
an interest in the •fUnds'of the society.
ss

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and. a I m—y-s.terioustiega

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te tastie-ids Absena astt

The Prussian Correspondent of The Times, Writing
froth *rifn, givekttle fOilo.king particulars respecting
,• ;
Thanks to the unwearied activity of the police andths
ready co-operation of every right-minded person, the pre-
liminary..eontriv,ances of the assassin Thomas are being com-
pletely unravelled. All the Workmen employed by him are
coming forward of their own accord. One of the most in-
teresting depositions has been made by one Herr Rhind, a
watchmaker at Vienna. This gentleman having exhibited
an eight day clock in April, 1874, received a visit from a
gentleman who gave himself ,out fopr -Russian, and cer-
tainlyispoke very indifferent (413rnittn. The Visitor, whom
Herr Rhind has had no difficulty in kicntifying as
Mr. Thomas since he has seen the phetograph, de-
sired Herr Rhind to construct the model of a 12 day clock
which should be noiseless, and at the end of the time fixed
give a single stroke. To indicate the force required, Thomas
took up a hammerand dealt a poWerful blow' en the table at
which the two were standfng. Herr Rhind declaring his
willingness to carry out the order, a price of 200 florins was
agreed upon. A few days later Thomas called again to
inspect the designs made by Herr Rhind, and, expressing
satisfactlou, paid 100 florins on account. After this the
designs were put into the hands of an operative named
Carl Gltickschaii, who constructed the model in five
months. Upon the delivery of the finished article, Herr
Rhind had the mOrtitication to find' that Thomas would
not take the clock unless a more powerful spring
was inserted. TWO nr three more • springs were tried'
before the fastidious 'customer Was suited. After three
months' experiments Thomas at last was content, and pald
80 florins extra for the trouble he had given. He, howexer,
was obliged to leave Vienna, as, he said, for St. Petersburg,
before the mechanism was ready to be delivered. Be, ',there-
fore, requested Herr Rhind to send the order to the
address of M. Petro Wiskoff, Poste Restante, Bodenbash,
leaving a printed card With this name on it. Herr Rhind
did as he was told, and about Christmas, 1874, despatched
the model to its destination. It was only called for in the
beginning of February, 1875, on which occasion the
100 florins remaining unpaid were liquidated. . Herr
Rhind, who has handed over the card as well as
some of the rejected springs to the Vienna police,
states that nothing could be more natural and un-
suspicious than the assassin's behaviour in the shop. He
played the part of a distinguished foreigner to perfection,
and, giving himself out for a Russian, assumed a Slavonic
. accent in speaking German He was a portly man with hair
' inclining to red, elegant manners, and a jovial countenance.
He would laugh and crack jokes ip giving his orders like a
warm-hearted, genial man of the' wbrld . The only thing
that seemed in the least to upset his equanimity were those
insufficient specimens of the mainspring he successively re-
jected and replaced. .
And well might his temper be ruffled by these refractory
spirals. After what has come to light the last few days, we
know that the ominous spring killed him and subverted his
design. Thomas, as your readers are aware, took his model
to one Herr Fuchs, a clockmaker at Bernburg, Duchy
of Anhalt, whom he desired to make a powerful clock after
this pattern. Herr Fuchs complied, and framed the
machine; but the Vienna model,rertudning .in his hands
was transferred by him to the
:Bremen police directly the
terrible news of the crime got abroad. Two days ago at a
scientific lecture given at Bremen by Dr. Hapke, this model
_ _ _ _ . . _
Co.
,achin4

Was prodl
14tderMaly

uced with the Consent of the authorities. Con-
smaller and .more simply formed than the machine
made from it. it yet displays all the characteristic features
of the latter, and allows scientific • -judges to .form
an exact opinion of the merits and deficiencies of
the work. Dr. Haplie, therefore, was enabled to
demonstrate that the spring, though strong enPugh
for the comolicated wheels attached to it, while the hine
was stationary, could not withstand the strain consequent
upon violent and sudden motion. This opinion was: con-
firmed by Herr Bruns, a clock-makes, at, Bremen, to whom
the esssssin gave his machine for a Mull brush up before
constning it to the murderous chest. It is likewise stated
to bathe view taken by Herr Fuchs at Bernburg and 'Herr
Rhincl at Vienna. All agree that it they had been told that
the mechanism was likely to to rudely handled and thSown
about tvhen wolind: up, they would have' either inserted a dif-
ferent sort of spring or.anadified the wheel-work connected
with it. But this was the yery point the assassin would
not reveal. Giving out his 'eternal Machine sometimes as
a contrivance_ for, breaking silk threads, sometimes as a
pecaliar description of clock for controlling workmett, he
nevr WaS in a positidn to betray that its allotted task would
have to be done while travelling. Knowing his own secret
designs, he certainly had an idea that the spring ought to be
more powerful than any presented to him by the unsuspect-
ing mechanicians; :but though he rejected several in succes-
sion, he failed to secure the strength required to prevent ac-
cidents on the road. He came to grief on the very point
where his hellish secret began.
Viewing the explosion in the light of these facts, there can
be no manner of doubt that the hammer fell when the chest
was thrown on the pavement, and that the dangerous liquid
. was set ablaze by the regtqar action of the igniting epee-
riitus, not by the there • concussion consequent upon the
sudden crash The machine as we now know, was about
30lb. in weight, 35 centimetres long, and 23 centimetres
broad. It contained two springs, the one somewhat stronger
than the other, from eight to nine centimetres in width and
three-quarters of a centimetre in diameter. The springs were
enclosed in brass cases provided with teeth fitting into she re-
csolving shaft Of the main wheel, to which ix minor wheels
Were attached. The hammer, which was to come into
action after a
.wsek or ten days, fell with a force of tOlb.
Llmagine a machine Of this size and latent energy devised on
the supposition that it would not be disturbed when at
work, and it is easy to comprehend that it did not answer
when precipitated from a waggon in the hurry-scurry of a
departure for America after the second bell had rung. .
The question whether capital punishment could have
been pronounced against Thomas under the German code
had he survived is snaking a stir in the legal world. Your
recent leader on the subject, having called forth many
approving remarks, has given a fresh impetus to the discus-
sion. A day or two ago the official Berlin Gazette joined in
the controversy, giving it as the opinion of the Crown
leavyers that the assassin, in the present state of the code,
cd'uld not have been held responsible for murder, but only
for attempt at murder. Had he been found guilty on this
count, the punishment awarded would Imre been hard labour
from three to fifteen years. Such a sentence, however,
could only have been passed on the Supposition that the
mechanism was wound up and everything prepared for
the explosion of the ship when the chest was about to
be carried on board. Had this been denied'by Thomas, and
had the jury, in the absence of any tangible proof, failed to
satisfy themselves that the mechanism was actually at work,
It is probable that the crime to be brought home to the
assassin would have been only arson, or as the crime was not
actually completed, attempt at arson. in this case, bard
labour for something like fourteen years would lave been
the severest penalty that could have been inflicted. Con-
sidering the universal abhorrence testified at the crime, it is
only natural the Gazette should doubt whether these provi-
sions would have satisfied the public had Thomas appeared
in the dock.
• '

mae

# -)
'LIiftEPDI R IN SWITZERLAND.'
. • ••• r
P /
The Aufnal des Debats publishes the following par-
ticulars of the frightful accident at a Christmas festi-
val in Switzerland. The scene of the catastrophe was
the schoolhouse of, the village of Helliken, containing
abont7oo Inhabitants; and one of the many villages in
the fruitful valley of the Frickthal, in the parish of
Wegetetten, district of Rheinfelden, near the Swiss
-salt pits. It has always been the custom in most of
the Swiss villages to collect subscriptions amongst the
well-to-do inhabitants for distribution amongst the
• school children as Christmas gifts. Everything had
been prepared on this occasion in the usual way, and
the children had assembled at six o'clock in the even- '
ing of Christmas Day outside the school house' in
the company of their friends and parents, waiting im-
patiently for admittance to see the Christmas tree in
order that they might receive their several gifts. At a
little after six o'clock the schoolmaster commenced
lighting the Christmas tree. }laving accomplished this,
he opened the doors, when, the crowd waiting outside
rushed in one dense mass up the staircase leading to the
room prepared upstairs for their reception. On their
reaching the top of the second staircase the beams sup-
porting the flooring suddenly-gave way,- precipitating
everything below, and by the 'violence of the flock
causing the lower , storey to break down too.
-Th4 interior of the edifice presented a horrible scene
of confusion, human beings, beams, school desks,
chairs, mortar, and stones being heaped up together.
It was nearly seven o'clock when this occurred, and
everything was in darkness, when the reniaining popu-
lation of the village hearing the cries of the unfortunate
children and their Lends, hurried to the spot,' some of
them subsequently running off for assistance to the
neighbouring villages of Zusgen and Wagstetten the
women and children of which were,asserubled for a
similar purpose in their respectivp village iid.hboi-houses.
They set to work busdy to clear the interior as soon as
assistance arrived, extracting from the debris seventy-
two corpses—those of fifty-six children, fourteen
mothers of families, and two men—besides about forty
injured persons and children, some of them very
seriously hurt. It is said that in many families only
the father or the grandparents are left alive. The pro-
prietor of the village inn lost his wife and three daugh-
ters by this frightful disaster. Two little schoolboys,
by creeping along the wall after the accident, got hold
of die rope of the school-house bell, and pulling at it
with all their might, brought more neighbours to their
assistance. The schoolmaster and the wife of the pre-
sident of the village commune, the latter ,holding a
child tightly in her arms, were discovered perchedsi
qpozi the wall on the projecting remains of the pulpit, 'I
and were rescued uninjured after remaining three
'hours in their perilous position.

• ,ti,t4ta
EARTHQUAKE IN :AMERICA?
•At twenty minutes to twelve on'llienight. of' the
22nd ult. the people at Richmond, Vic, were startled
from their dlumber e by -a violent ' coin Motion bf the
earth, which shook the entire city. Houses were
shaken in much a manner he to resemble the motion of
a carriage, and so bit 'did 'the shake '94:ihtinue that
'people rushed to their doors and windows in disitay.
The glasses on the cohnters 'and fihelVei of saloons
• which had not vet closed jingled and moved- viMbly,
• and theinniates ratt en ritasseto the soe#Fifdaspertain
the cause of the plibndinenon..'"At..firer'it''waSi
Hove& to be the shock of some distant tertilie'efebsion
at the coal pits in the adjoining, county of ChesterAeid,
bait 'tlie) duration, of ihelduible)and the distinctness
with which it was felt left no doubt that it was a vio-
lent shock of earthquake: • " The noise made' by the
shock was heard in every part Of the 'city, Mid many
persons state that there were tvi'd'dietihet tqipablings-
It is estimated that they lasted froni`iiirtity` to fitty
seconds, and were accompanied by a rushing sound
through the air like a current of wind, some distance
above the earth. The motion came from south to
' north. At one o'clock a.m. the people were walking
about the streets, talking and wondering at the strange-
nees of the midnight visitation.

CATCHING.—As a clergyman was burying a corpse,
a woman came and pulled him by the sleeve, in the
middle of the service. " Sir, I must speak to you
immediately."—" Well, what is the matter ?"—" Why
sir, you are going to bury a man who died of the
smallpox near my poor husband, who never had it."

;41°71111tilp

I,fteeB

- -
THE SPELLING BEE.
-
(rersicte by, ft Gentleman who didn't win)
HOWE dath the littel Spellin Bee
Impproove each shyning our, JiTE ,
And gather hunny on She day
•:'l-(1 From evry pritty flour.—Punch.

culties arose, which ended in the company's agent in-
forming him that if he liked to take the box.at his own WHAT GAMEKEEPERS MAY DO TO
I -
risk, no charge would be made upon it."rg Whether . TRESPASSERS.
Thomassen took the boxer boxes with MA on board Land and Water remarks:—" Gamekeepers, if they
is not known, as he was careful to aIIOVI no one to find a man trespassing by day in search either of game,
enter his cabia-whill? heoccupied it; -but•it. isecertpin,.-fr of, worlgov,ks, snipes quails, landrc.ils, ca. coni,s,
that what he took, he took athialbwn riO., without their wayiNdlrehimjorthwith to quit the premises, and
chance of gaining by' anything he might lose, -That' to glva.As his name and address. If he attempts to
this upset his calculations would seem to be proved by palm off a false name and address, or will not leave
his speedy return from New York. The vi ego was when desired, the gamekeeper may arrest him; but
but so much lost time; and I lie-Y must then—Convey ihe offender before a magis-
short as possible. It was only on the 14th of October trate without a moment's delay. The important point
that he sailed from Liverpool, and on the 7th of to be observed here is that the gamekeeper must both
'November we find him again back at Plymouth. A ask the man for his name, &c. and desire him to lerie.
.mysteriousners chaWcterises many --of his- &WS at . The follovving would be an illegality: Gamekeeper A.
Liverpool. Though he represented to Mr. Sternthat he • B trespassing and demands his name and reel-
had no acquaintances in the town, it is known that he • dene. Blives an 'evasive answer, and A thereupon
slept two nights out of his hotel; and a still more sin- I arrests him. Ais wrong, for observe A never said to B
gular circumstance is that he never once took h weak! hat-he ought- by law to have,first said, viz :--"-` Quit
in the hotel. Ile is also understood to have been. de'e)oi 1 'isi lend." 'lr then trips Aup and makes his mane
in damixay i'vitli arnother person at the Whterloo'l from custody. Nothing could be done to Bat all, for
Dock, after having inspected the Celtip, so that the I though he broke from the arrest by assaulting the
police are led to the conclusion that he was not a° ilowner,-,ilt was not an-assault_at law, but-only such
entirel , unknown in loivereolas 'shed to reprea6rft, 'Vfolisrfee as NVII s absolutelrilecessaiy CO set hihiself free
4
at • e had aecoMplias aft t ort, who niay yet from illsgal detention. So the gamekeeper gets de-
be in • • -session of his appliances. ! 'I bidedlY the wbrstlif it, and all hecaniele did not say
these three words at the right moment. 'Quit this
land.f q a-ming—that is, five-or more—of day poachers,
one atleast q them aimed With a gun, shall by violence,
intimidation, or "
menace, endeavour to prevent a game-
keeper frothapProaching them to do his duty, every
One of the party is separately liable to a penalty of £5,
and costs. Of course, if in any such case the game,
keeper were greviously hurt or killed, the offenders
could be punished independent of the Game Act, under
the -ordinary criminal law.

M. DE LESSEPS AND THE KHEDIVE:.
The report that M. de Lesseps has proposed to lend
r 2,000,000 to the Khedive on his interest in the profits
of the Suez Canal is true, we believe (says the Pall
Mall Gazette). The arrangement is for two years at 9
per cent. Nine per cent, is not a remarkably high
rate.in Egypt, and it is not to be expected—the money
being wante4 at once for the further reduction of the.
floatizig debt—that better toting could be ivot. Nor is
it fair erTeasonable to, 4oubt that the motley will be
forthwith applied to the good and necessary purpose
for which it was raised. The Khedive has done foolish
and wasteful things—not in a spirit of selfish indul-
gence, but in ignorance that "enterprise" for the good
of the country may be pushed to ruinous extremes;
but we may rely upon it that he has a perfect appreci-
ation of his own mistakes, and is bent on remedying
them to the best of his power. The £2,000,000 which
he may now add to the £4,000,000 paid by the British
Government will be applied to that purpose, and
though it is true that for the De Lesseps loan the
Khedive would have to pay for a time 9 per cent.,
more onerous debt will be extinguished, and at the end
of the two years (if not before that time) what is an
advance of security of certain property will become a
sale. Whether i,hese interests will pass to the British
Government is more than we know about. It may or
may not be so; that must be left in doubt. But it is
property; and if it is not soldr,to the English it will
probably be sold outright to the French; unless mean-
while the question is solved in the way sometimes dis-
cussed—namely, by the disposal of the whole of the.
Canal Property among the various European Govern-
ments. Not that we regard that as a probable
solution, or as one at all desirable for England to
engage in. However that may be, the De Lesseps
transaction is certainly not of an untoward character,
as in some quarters it is made to appear. The existence)
of a large unmanageable floating debt is not a new dis-
covery. What was to be arranged is a means of dis-
posing of it in the wisest and most economic fashion;
and the sale of the. Khedive's remaining in-
terests—at present in the stage of an advance on their
security—is the readiest, as it is obviously the cheapest,
means of reducing that debt. Meanwhile, trust-
worthy advices from Egypt assure us that Mr. Cave
has already entered upon his task with vigour and
thoroughness—as might have been expected from an
English man of business ; and although we cannot sup-
pose that the Kheclive enjoys the process of a
complete ovethauling of his accounts, and though an
Eastern Prince may naturally be expected to shrink
from such radiosl reforms as he may foresee will be
pressed' upon him, yet we are assured that, so far,' the
Khedive has placed inquiry fully enough in the hinds
of the English Commissioner. .
MARRIAGE- 'SETTLEMENTS.
Vanity Fair remarks :—" The object of a marriage
settlement is to secure a ohm of money' or other pro-
perty of which the income shall belong to the husband
and wife for their lives, and the capital after their
deaths to the children or other issue of the marriage.
By the wife's family a settlement is insisted upon for a
further reason';' to defeat the operation of the common
law, by which all_a woman's personal property upon
her, marriage becomes the property of her husband.
The method in Which these objects are effected is
shortly as follows :-,-The property to be settled is,
upon the execution of the deed, handed over to and
legally 'vested in one or more persons who are called
trustees of the settlement, to be invested or other-
wise dealt with by them as the settlement directs.
Supposing, for simplicity's sake, a sum of money
to be the property to be settled, shortly before
the execubion of the deed the money is handed
over to or invested in the names of the trustees in the
securities named by the intended husband, wife, or
their parents, or whoever had brought it into settle-
ment. Once invested in the names of the trustees, the
settlement funds are in a sense their property—to this
extent at least, that it is in the absolute power of
fraudulent trustees to convert them into cash and
wake off with the proceeds. Honesty, thefefore, is the
first vinue for trustees to possess, and judging by the
reported proceedings of our Chancery courts, it is by
no means universal with them. Few, if any, coin
panics or corporate bodies in whose securities settle-
ment funds are invested recognise any owners but the.
persons whose name the stock or shares are inscribed
in their books; to trustees, therefore, and their
nominees alone are dividends and income of settlement
funds payable. Who is entitled to receive it from
the trustees depends upon the terms of the setttlei-
ment ; but it is only from the trustees, and not from
the company, or persons from whom it is due in the
first instance, that the real owners of the income can
enforce payment in a court of law. Where, as is
usually the case, income of trust funds is received
by the husband's or wife's or other owner's banker, it
is virtue of an authority given by the trustee to
the - to receive and hold it on account of the real

4101" Th,
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