The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1881-02-22 00:00:00

PETT Y SESSIONS.

TZORSDAY.
Before the Mayor (Ifr. G. Curtis), sod Mr. H. Farmer,
B4war3 White, of Caron, was charged with damaalas
trees, at Paths War. growing In a plantation. the property
of Mra St. Clair.--James White waa sommossi for •
Medlar offence, P.C. Holloway deposed that he maw the
two defendants hresslttoot awl damaging. and upon hia
ineskins to them they both ran away. Meg were Bood
At, each to Include costa, or seven dam

TEIE AMATEUR DRAMATIC COMPANY.

This company whose first appearance on the boards
we noticed a week or two moo gave two more
performances, on the 12th and 14th, when that good
old nautical drams, " Ben Bolt, or the Lae who
lowed a sailor," was presented. The company, since
we last wr se of them, has underg,no smile change.,
hut the " Amateurs" cannot be said to have suffered,
as the Stephens family are a hut in themselves. The
plot of the piece is vary simple, although plenty of
stirring incidents are introduced. Sweet Alice has
placed her affections upon honest Ben Bolt, but Ivan
Ironlink, the miller, and the villain of the piece has
fallen madly in love with her. To attain his end., he
tete tap to all sorts of disreputable tricks, burns Ben
Bolt's ship, and gets him carried away by a press gang.
Love and virtue however triumph in the end. and Ivan
meats with • well-deserved fate, a conclusion which
on each occasion brought down the house and drew
forth tremendous cheers from the •' gods." The follow.
log were the chara tug :—Christian Comfort (a school.
master, the master so kind and no true), Mr. W. Tingle;
Ivan Irnolink (a Miller, who kept time by the click of
th I Mr. J. Hart; Sparbolt (the Miller's man),
Mr. J. W. Seymour; Colin (• Rustic), Mr. S. Nswton ;
Ben Bolt (Muter of the Alice, Oh! d nit you
remember Ben Bolt), Mr. C. Stephen., jun. ; Reuben
R‘ge (si Wanderer, this is & man all tatter'd and torn),
Mr. C. Stephen.; Will Watch (of the Preventive
Buries), Mr. William'; Alice (Daughter of Christian
Comfort, oh! don't you remember sweet Alice), Mice
Step'ens ; Mary Muon,ight (Servant at the School,
this is • maiden all forlorn), Miss J. Stephens ;
Smugglers and Sailors by the rest of the Company.
Mr. C. Stephen, jun , made an admirable Ben -Bolt,
and Miss Stephens, se Alice, threw unwonted
animation into her part. Mr. J. Hart, as the miller,
made ur tuperfection, and look all the villain. As
Reuben Rai', Mr. C. Stephen created r 'ars of laughter,
sal the other chuactere were very well interpreted.
On Saturday the farce '' Tommy in the Coelho's," and
on Monday that of "The Village Lawyer," concluded
the entertainment, and each was well receivel. We
moat nut omit to mention that Mr. C. Stephen., jun.,
sang during rentracte comic songs is character, which
were vociferously encored. The reten lance WM not
large, the wretched state of the weather being
sufficient to account for this, but we believe this clever
company will shortly again make their bow before the
footlights, when it is to be hoped they well do so under
more favourable auspices.

BLeithooati, Tuesday.
The girl Frampton was brought up on remand at the
Mogiotrates' Clerk's Oflies to Icy, before Viscount Port.
man an I LiectoG nerd l Parke, C.B.
Mr. R. N. Howard now appeared for the prosecution,
and Mr. W. H. Atkinson Was main for the defence.
Mr. Howard drew attention to some of the salient
points of the case. He pointed out that the first cup of
tm Mr. Norton drank was pure, and the theory of the
prosecution was that the prisoner tampered with the
eecond cup when her muter left it on the kitchen tahle
whilet be went into the yard, as the tea had • hitter nada
on his return, although a half cup of tea he then took from
the teapot to wash out his mouth tasted all right. With
regard to the parrot he should show that neither Mr. or
Mrs. Norton fed the bird that morning, and that it died
from strychnine within half-an-hoar of the prisoner
having had it in the kitchen. A very strong incidental
point was that when Me Norton tested the tea in the
breakfast-room, bent ewes " It tastes like the con I
bad in the kiteneq. and Mrs Norton also spoke of the
bitter tees of Vie Cm. If either of them had wanted to
poison the other they woul I most certainly not have called
altintion Li the tOtoer taste of the tea, and their it ring so
completely cleared them both. The strychnine i.e not in
the t mpot bet in the milk jug, and the question was who
poured the milk from the large jag in the kitchen into
the milk jog ant carried it into Ow parlour. Thsre were
only three persona in the house, and one of them must
have done it. The question for the Bench to decide
would be whether the prosecution bad proved such • case
of suspicion as to justify them in putting the person on
her trial, and he maintained there WY such a case of
enspicion that the magistret-s must lend her for trial.
Various reports lood been circulated in the case, and from
• source from which they ought to have come.
Lord Portman remarked that poison was generally
1at.1114 such as a caution, but in the present case it may
have done the mischief by making known what the bottle
containe4.
Mr. Norton's evidence, as given above, was then read
over, and some ad litions made ti
In reply to his lordship, Mr. Norton said he never told
his wile until after he was poisoned About the strychnine
being in the atone corner. Nione else but himself knew
shout its being there to his knowledge.
In examination by Ilte Howard. witness said he pur-
chased the strythnine to kill rats, as tbe house was over-
run with them. It was crystal strychnine, and he had
need about half of what toe bottle contained. The stone
earner was open, and anyone could have got at the strict.
alas.
Lord Portman alibi it was the most careleis thing he
bad ever heard t i leave &deadly potion accessible to any-
one.
Witness continued that anyone dusting the mantel shelf
might have seen the poison.
His 1. mashie sail she prosecution assumed that Olio
particular strychisine out of tho putiztalar butte Deis mot
Kr. Norton. Now this wail a very wide assumption, the
bottle not having been seen for over twelvemonth..
Ile Howard said the proiecutien could not pro,* any-
thing except the fact that Mr. Norton had strytthnino ;
they could not prove where tbe stiyonnine eorn foot.
He could not prove 13301, than that Mr. Nor on vow
poisoned by strychnine, and th it the strychnine which we.
in the stone corner bad not since 14340 Wen.
Witness continued that the boy Dornitiy did not cone
back to the house from the time he received to jug of inilk
of him till be vomited. He did notice the boy again till the
afternoon. When he came downstairs in the morniug th
nerrot was in the breakfast room, and it said to Itiru
"Good moraine, sir; how are you this morning, cit
Qiita well, thank you, Polly." The bird's cage was
covered over with a er &Kyr then. When he came back
from the lambing yard the bird was on tbe kitchen title,
whistliqg and chatmeing. Hs did not give it anything.
While hews, making the kettle boil the servont took the
bird hack to the breakfatt room. 113 did nit go into the
bre ,itfast room at all until his wife WWI there. lii wfts
just sting to give the bod a bit of bread and butter when
his wife remarked that th, t a WAS bitter, 'sod he then
dropped it and t astol hio own tea. Whon be accused
prisoner of poisoning bum he did wit h arbor make any
reply. 11, was t nly about dee yards off, mid if she hot
made any reply he thought he shotil I hive board it.
About six or seven weeke before thio he hod seem id her
of making work with hio cup of tea which hed left itn
the kitchen table. There was • nutty dead fl wour with
that tea, and he thre eit into the her. Ile aeciisol her .4
tamperine with the tea, and on her oenying having doe,
so he called her altar. i,made that CUP ~1 tea and left
it on the ki•chen table, whilst he went into the earl in
Ohs same way as he di lon the present arra ion. When he
left the cup of tea on the kitchen table tin tic morninx of
the sth instant he only went int the lett in yard, an 4 he
could have seen if movb ely had come tithe Louse, as the
front deer wan locked.
In crow-examination by Mr. Atkingenor Ones' st ated teat
when he took the jug of milk from the b.), he bail two
ether )up of milk, and the servant trot there and poured
the with ten, • white bowl, and carried it into the pantry.
He toli,ved a portion of that milk muscat for an analyaie
When he was celled by his wife he came from the yerd,
sad went int • the pantry and alt two bloat 're and cooked
Ibsen. The large whit, jug of milk was On the ki:7hen
woos whilst he was prep ding the fish, but be did not
know .h re the little glue jug was.
The former evOlence of Mrs. Norton we. Cleo read over.
In reply to an olwervation from the Bench,
Mr. Howard admitted there was an uto r absence of
motive which he could not supply.
In eaamioation by Mr. Howard, Mrs. N nton said she
noticed that *the teapot was not on ills lweakfait table
when she came downetairso hut she did not notice whether
the milk jog was there or not. be always wood the milk
Jug, and it was generally on the t stile aihen the breakfast
was laid. Ste should coy that, to the beat of her belief,
the jog was not on the table when she (mine d owuotairs
She should think that it was half-an-hour after she Mattel
the bitter tea that Mr. Lewis asked her whether the
parret was i 4 at. Sie then looked at the eat.% and saw
the lair I althe le4 tom dead, with its cla • clasped round
one of the wires. She was in and out of the room from
the time she complainid of the tea, being bitter until she
saw that the parrot was dead. She hid net given the
parrot any food that morning. The wooden iter, were
kept in the back kitchen, where the sow .nor lied free
access. Prisoner used the steps sometimes. She notic
that the tip and under steps wete dirty, and that toe
middle ones hail been acrubbed. This wee the reason she
spoke to prig ,ner al, itit the ceps boring lien '<Tolle., on
the Saturdey afteruooo. She believed lotion.er generally
used a chair In cleaning the mantel shelf. She wee sup'
posed to clean the mantel shelf every week.
Ijobert Dominy, the farts boy, sold he had worked for
Mr. Noel in ;bout Leo years. On Saturday mornie, the
sth of Falruary, he went to work about seven o'clock.
He milked • jiist full of reith from the cow, and took it to
the "intent, who emptied it into a bowl, agil gave him
the jug back. 14 filled
1 the jog i second ti from the
cow and took it to the girl, who put it on Go table, and
gave him another jug. Ile filled this jug .also from the
cow and took it to the house, where Mr. Norton received
it from him. Ile then went home, and afterwards went
on the Down, and did not 0•143111 10 Oft farmhouse till
three o'clock in the afternoon.
In reply to his Lordship, wltarse said he bad never
heard about anything being poisoned at Mr. Norton's.
He he'd never heard anything 'dolt poi.onine rat..
By Mr. Atkinson : He bad heard about any foxes
being poisoned on the Down. (Laughter.)
Mr. John 0 nurna-Ussah. of Sturminster Newton. the
Cavity analyst, stated that on the Bth of February he
received from Supt. Underwood six articles for analysis.
The superinthodent numbered them front one to six in his
pretienes.• No_l was • pickle bottle, securely
and lab-Mei 'dither vomited by M. N krton after break.
fact, February ste. about 30 am." It contained
of vomit, which on analysis yielded an
itabppournnt
tsaibelso
.cTuesltity of strychnine. No. was • gator'
apirit bottle, seal.). and !shelled 'Cape of tea which Mr.
anwhen
d tie. Nr4.toNnorwt.onts.keareualboll
auntat.)
et: noult t•t
inbtor st
hkaf as. tr
fll trY sth. 1881, 9 30 a.m " It contained about eiehtounces
or a liquid resembling tea with milk in it. It ad an
intensely bitter mete, and on analysis babout two
--
Residea, there is really no excise for assaulting grain. of strychnioe. igo. II was a quart grakirit.ebobt.tlue,
these people. If mores /sees gain the aseendency there waldeded,wmudrll.aahn'ell'lN out ut Irt jug nt
Mr.. orton's tea in the brie rash room,
are other means, squall efficacious and not half as February sth, 1931." There were about three cowrie' of
disagreeably attended in their results, of letting off milk in this bottle, and on analysis it yield." a perceptiftl7
eaperfluous animal spirits. When, for the small charge amount of strychnine sufficient to supply all they,
of 20e. and coats, it is possible to attack a constable, 4 was •qu tit spirit bottle, Pealed. and `bell'i "Milk
bite his leg, kick his jaws, and break one of his teeth from whit, pan, Irought in lw boy hefore_the. milk
.t.nwhenichn.
off, any rough most indoed be hard to satisfy if he is was put into jug. Fehroery. 5:11, 1881."
.Ttatt n
tained about our ounces of milk, in which there was no
driven to fall foul of them, eccentrics, trace of Ntrycbnine or any other poison. No. 5 was •
(inset spirit bottle, sealed, and labelled " Milk from which
At the sans time it does 400131 hard that the. Re Norton poured milk into his tee which tasted all
respectable inhabitants of a town should have their right alter coining from lambing yard, and from which
day of rest disturbed by these howling fanatics. Just he aided 00010 to tea taken op to Mrs. Norton before.
Imams, a CRUllling old with and a garrulous old woman hesskrest. sad front which also milk was added to cap of
ohoas to sena '• orders from the Whitechapel
biwndtte:;l,lltekde
t:o:nt, and from which also
181110 4100 kitchen, and which when drank
" headquarters" that thew parades are to continue in
other half cup of Mo.
spite of rangistratee, police, and public Awl one• sx4,tlastiedtrivteFil
net, tsar to remove bitter taste frontnouth. Febru-
cannot kelp regarding it as a strange anomaly that, ary sth, 1881' This bottle coutained about 30 ounces of
although the Mayor can put his veto upon Christmas milk, and he found on analysis an appre :table amouot of
carol-singing, yet that when a legal gentleman is strychnine. Mill was a mold paper parcel c int ainiae •
Instructed by a body of ratepayers to complain of this dead parro t.
street-singiug—" not the most polished " use Mr iiimarA liver, htlesorOribuartalovq,edanfdmeentnetlbtinoper. roThetsehecircgraonsp,
to and their co afooton &pairs', yielded abundant
.evid.entuce
or strychnine. BeH found what appeared to be Pe see
Budge's expressive words—his Worships is obliged
confess the magistrates are powerless. -The remedy , of hemmed in the crop and eau& but be dii net see
however, very simple. Councillor Balaton has only any traces of milk. On Satorday last he received from
to get a bye-law dealing with the matter, and Dr. Blear • mall medicine bottle containing • portion of
the cause oi com t would be put an end to. And the congeals if tlo, teapot from which the coos of tea No.
this, if they feel t essential to their comfort, the bur- (had originally been poured. This on analysis yielded no
I trace of strychnine.
games have • right to demand. I In reply to Lied Portman. Dr. Leash geld sir. Norton
was most prob 61,:Y poisoned by the late vp of a, Thera
Needy individuals who are haunted with the few of
Were OASIS in which the affects came on almost imme-
diately.
Sheriff's officer msy derive some slight consolation
from the words of Judge Tindal-Atkinson at the lire. N trton. 14141 tiled, said she beliored she unlocked
Winalowne County Court on Tuesday. Hu was asked the front do ir to let in If,. Lewis, It was pore tea, with-
to commit a defaulting debtor be prison and refused, out milk eat sugar, that she gees the pH toner to tats.
He said he beleived the legislature wore of opinion the and the said it was bitter. That was the tea she sent for
lodges had been too facile in granting orders of analysis
Imprisonment, and ths whole question he understood I Mt. Atkinson said his OHMS told him the tie was
Weald shortly woe before the Bowe. posted Into the ease cup as she dreak the milk out of.