The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-12-18 00:00:00

°Ca AIL -I tri ei4

• THE CAREER OF AN ADVENTURESS.
A woman who was remanded last Friday a* the
Stourbridge Police Court. on a charge ef having
obtained money from the Rev. F. N. Lawson, vicar
of Clent, appears to have lad a rather strange
career. Her name is given as Alexandrine Alice
Moore, alias Olga Alexandrine Moore, alias Alex-
andrine alorgan and Madam Meyer. She says her
age is thirty, but she looks older, and is about sft.
lin. or sft. 2in. in hei2ht. She is of fresh com-
plexion, rather pale, with brown hair, now turning
gray. She states that she is a native if Melbourne,
Australia she is well dressed, and of ladylike ap.
p arance. It is said that she has been travelling
about the country obtaining money by false pre-
tences from clergymen of the Church of Englend
and from Roman.-Cetholic priests, to the form( r
representing herself as a Churehwoman and to the
latter as a Roman Catholic. She is in the habt
when she settles in a place of taking very respect-
able apartments, and then making inquirias with
the object of ascertaining the habits and disposi-
tions of the clergymen and priests in the neighboui.
hood. She then makes calls upon those she beams
she could impose upon, and teils a plausible story, •
generally to the effect that sixteen years ago she
made a runaway match with a drawing master in
Melbourne, and came to Europe with him, travel-
ling in Spain and Italy; and she opened letters
addressed to her husband and found he was a
bigamist and she was not his wife. In consequence
of this she left him eighteen moatbs ago and came
to England, bringing with her her son, a child of
the false marriage. This son was now at school,
and she was striving to obiaiii her livelihood as a
teacher of languages. She was unable to obtair,
employment, and in consequence hE d had to pawn
the whole. of her jewellery and the greater part of
her wearing apparel. On other occasions she re.
presented herself to be the discarded mistress of
gentleman, and that she wee trying to obtain a
living by giving lessons in drawing.;eThe police have
been making very searching inquiries about her 'since
her arrest, and she is believed to have been victim-
ising people in*other parts of the country. After
she had \been to Mr. Lawson and obtained ..t3 10s
born hied she wrote him a letter in a feigned name,
enclosing 10e for herself, ace, mpanying it with a
letter stating that he was in erestinle himself in her
case, end a-kieg him to let her (the prisoner) have
the suuement oned. in the case of a clergyman in
De: bp' .ite whom she is ale° said to have victimised
Bee adopted a timiler plan, signhig herself as
Madame Meyer, and stating that she was about
proceedieg to Holland, and forwarding I.oe. The
handwiitineef the two letters is said to be identical.
See obtained m..ney from this Derbyshire clergy-
man by her pitiable tale. bineularly enough,
shortly afterwards h had a notification as to her
character from one of the Jesuit Fathers at a college
where see had been plying her arts. This caused
the Derbyshire clergyman to have some corree.
peudence with the prisoner. The latter professed
penitence, and he being desirous to help h- r, save
her a ticket to L eelon and a letter to a lady th re,
to whemae weete asking her to try to get the
woman inhe a llouse of Refuge. The prisoner did
not avail herself f the ticket and the letter, the
fact le. ing that she had been to London previously.
A letter has been received from a charitable insti-
tution at Westminster, from which it appears that
the di ectore of the place had become a,vaxe of
her true character. She has appeared in different
counties in the M.diasals, and ins wet a ith more
or less suceesi in various lo2alaies, In the spring
of the year see appeared at Worcester, and erre
cl.,y presented herself at a local church, and asked
a clergyman if it would be a sin for her to destroy
herself. He, of cow-se. lie ue.,led her from the
act, and asked her to call upon him. She poured
forth one of her heartrending tales cf distress, evAli
the result that he was led to relieve her. On other
occasions she we ,t to a scheol in Woreester, 'Aare
ate ex ressed a desire to perfect herself in the Eng-
liah languaee, mild pal I £5 in advance., this being
dove, it is supposed, for tee ultimate object of profit,
like her i .vesinent.ei of t e half-sovereigas already
referred to. She has ty:en in Staffoidshire and
Shroplii.e as well, and is apparently m :king a
profeeei riot her alleee.i misfortit es. She has
beet ia the hab:t of travelling with ave y large
Itussiau teal .k, h oefug on it the ieitiale "A L M."
The trunk Las beau 'found to cantain a Liege
quantity of ladies clo:hinge most of wide., is of 'en
expansive sort, and also a 'geld demi hunting watch
of the value of £lO as well es other jeweliery.
Pcisenr was brought up at the Pace Court,
yesterday, and aft,r heatiae the evidence the Bench
committed her for trial. Mr. Cross, of Binning.
ham, defended.

Clmn'e? Albeit Baxter, corn merchant, of Stour-
bri Igo, was examined at the Stourbridga Coutt
Boise, an Monday, before Mr Registrar Collis. The
pto2eedings lmted nearly four hours Mr. Jobson
('ill ial receiver) conducted the cxatninatien, and
Mr. J. Walker appeared for tie debtor.—The latter,
replyiag to the questions ;ut to him, stated he
es‘im Ited his gross liabilities at £16,283 16.1. 7tts-;
am-1 he expec'ed to rank against the estati for
divi :end £12,612. 4;. 81. 'Vita estimated assets
were £3, 500. He ha I been in business &Ica the
year 1874. taking ~ver the business of his uncle.
He had £2OO. of his own. He purchased the basin ss
for £6, 700. He was to pity a much dewn and the
remainder at interval, The Sti-iurbeidgo and Kid•ler-
minster Bank advance; hint £5,000, and they held
sha es of is as aeaur:ty, and there was a guarantee
by two of id- relatives The valuation if the :•tock
i'self was £6,353. 3s. 23, lie gave £6OO for the
go .dwill, p!yitig £O.OO a yi.a.r f•rr six 'years. His
pirchaees in the year 1874 amolnted to £67,001,
and his expense wer•:, upward of £7OO His profit
for that vear was £1,900. li.btor afterwards said
v+ere shiruld have been sAna deducions froat
that sum, bringing it doNn to £1,400 In 1875 he
Umgl,t it to the amount of £71.000, : his er.penees
were .21,10, end his pr.,ti!s £712 , accoi•ding to ha
bot ks. Prom 1875 he did not tali,: out an exact
account, his accourrant being ill, but he knew he
was &dog fairly well. Uitimattly he Lad a new
- accountant at the end of 1879 or 1850, BaIWC3II
1875 aid 1880 was estimated he made a 'proet of
£2,000. In March, 1881, thete were (Ibs owing to
h:m ainos;nt ing to upwards of £lO,OOO, but there
should be a leNentage written off that f( r tad
debts. Ttie-ewitriated profit of that year was £1.70.
He considered his capital in farch, 1881, w-uld be
clefs.; u?on £5.000., th At being the profit he h.,d made
since he flist started ,ith £2OO. He lost money
from Marcb, 1883. The bank cares ran up to
f:600 a year, and in tns year were £BOO., and the
wofising expenses of his bu,:iness increased from
ma.ile to it. Up to 1832 he made his
business pay, but afterwaida there were losses,
some of :hem c unect d with investments in shares
The alteration in ihe malt tax in 1832 caused him
great losses. He continued to do as mirth business
in hulk but Cie' vato, .grea,'ly decreased front tha'
large depr.'cintion in grain --Debtor was questioned
as to borrowed moneys, losses by bad debts, and a
number of oth r points, and eventually the examin-
ation was adjourned i.ll ten 10th January.
THE WAY TIIE CAT JUMPS." At the C
lunty
Court, on Wednesday, befrre Sir Rupert Kettle, an
adjourned case came on, in which William Pardue,
of the Lye, was plaintiff and Joseph. Ceilings the
defendant. The case was one in which plaintiff
sued for Gs, the value of some pigeons he allcgect
had been killed by plaintiff's cat. When the case
was first 1, •.,re his Honour defendant denied the
cat was h. and it was asserted that it belonged to
his son, v lived under anot!Jer roof. The case
was adjc.a.rned with a view to some fAidenee as tl
the o nersiaip of the cat.—Sergeant Cope on Wed-
nesday said that on Friday night he went to de
fendant's son's house and found the cat there lie
took the cat away, and loosed it half-way between
defendant's house and his son's house. The cat
betook itself to the defendant's house; and he had
also seen the cat sitting outside the house. Hits
Honour said he was satisfied with that evidence,
and he gave a verdict for the plaintiff, and directed
the sergeant's expenses be paid before tic money
was taken out of court.
DETENTION OF A BARMAID'S Box,—At the same
Court in the case of Bache is. J. 11. 111,1, of. the
Delphi plaintiff sued for £s(l2s 6d, the value of
goods detained by defendant, and £5 damages.
Mr. C. H. Collis was for plaintiff, and Mr. Wald:on
for the thfendant.—Plaintiff used to be barmaid at
a house kept by Mrs. Hill, defendant's mother,
There was some bother, and she left, and defendant
refused to let her have her box.—For the defence it
was stated Mrs. Hill had been responsible for some
goods obtained by plainiff, and she declined to give
up plaintiff's things until the money was paid.—
The Court held that the defendant had no right to
detain the goods, and gave a verdict for £5 12s 6d
the value of the box and its contents, ,•nd £1
damages. If the goods were given ue, the verdict
was to be reduced to .41.

BOARD OF GUARDIANS.—The usual weekly meet-
ing was held yesterday. Mr. Haskew in the chair;
there were also present Messrs. Pargeter, Hingley.
Griffin, Tl,ompson, McMillan, Robinson, Dawes,
Bryce, Webb, Guy. Crump, Brooks Rhodes,
Stringer, Worthington, Yardley. and Hill, The
master of the House reported as follows . Ad-
mitted 20. Discharged 8. Born 1, Dead 1. Re-
maining in the House 566. Corresponding week
last year 584. Out-door relief, Kingswinford £46
Od, Stourbridge £32 16s 61d, Halesowen £29
Os 31d, non-resident paupers D. 19s sd, total Zll.O
12s 3d, corresponding week last year £lO4 19s 64d.
—The thanks of the Boas d wet e tendered to Mr.
and Mrs. H. Billingha,m for their kindness in pro-
viding the treat for she chlldren on Tuesday last.—
The reports of the Removal, School Attendance,
Sanitary Committees were adopted. The •hool
Attendance Committee received and acci-pt the
resignation' of Mr. Chance as School Atten awe
Officer for Oldswinford_

STOURBRIDGE STOCK SALE.—This sale and show
of Christmas beef aod mutton took place on Tuesday
when there was a good supply of prime fat stock.
About 300 sheep, 70 head of cattle, and 80 pigs
were sold. The pr:ze of ..t5 for the three best beasts
in the yard was taken by tbe Countess of Stamford
and Warrington, with three remarkably neat and
ripe short-born oxen. The ptize for a single beast
was taken by Mr. Johnn Whitehouse, of Bobbing-
ton, with a well-fed short-horn ox. Mr. James
Yardley, of Stapenhill, took the prize for the ten
best wethers. The stock was so!d at full market
quotations, though unremunerative to breeders and
feeders. Ihe highest figures realised were:—For
oxen, -225 10s; heifers, £24; cows, £22; bulls, £22
15s; sheep, wethers, 758 6d' and bacon pigs, £9
15s. Mr, H. Sing officiated as auctioneer.

TREAT TO THE WORKHOUcE CHILDREN.—On
Tuesday last 120 of the Workhouse children sat
down to a tea provided by Mr, H. Billingham, a
Member of the Board of. Guardians, to celerate the
Jubilee of the Board They were regaled with tea,
cake, and buns. which they heartily enjoyed. The
tables were tastefully arranged and presided over
by officers of the establishment. After tea an
entertainment was given in the Boys' Schoolroom.
In the absence of Mr. Billingham the Rev. Birt oc-
cupied the chair. He briefly alluded to the Jubilee of
the Board, and expressed his disappointment at not
having Mr. Billingham amongst them, who was, he
regretted to say, kept away through illness. Songs
and glees were given by the boys and girls, 2 piano-
forte solos, selections from Patience, Miss Newey ;
songs "A Ride in a Denkey Cart," and "Merry
Maid of Dee," Miss Steele ; all of which met with
well-earned praise. A vote of thanks to the donor ot
the feast was proposed by the Chairman; also a vote
of thanks to the "Chaiman, who, in respondieg,
said how delighted he had been at the singing of
the children. He was sure they must have given
great attention to have so pleasantly repaid those
who had spent their time in training them. He
should have pleasure in proposing a vote of thanks
to the Ma ron (Mrs. Rollaison), and Scheolnaaster
(Mr Slater), fer the very pleasant evening they
had been instrumental in giving them. God save
the Queen, sung by the children, brought a very
enjoyable evening to a close.
A YCUNG BEGINNER.—At the Police Court, yes-
terday. before Colonel Fletcher, Messrs. F. Evers,
T. D. Thomas, and A. Freer, William Nibbett (14),
o:dswin'ord, was committed for trial at the Sessions
on a charge of obtaining provisions from Messrs.
Hill and Reading.
AN ALLEGED NUISANCE, William Lewis was
summoned for allowing an offensive insanitary
water closet, the flushing being defective, and the
stench atiiing fr .m the same . being injurious to
health, on premises at No. 2, Ma!ket Street, owned
by him,—Mr. H. Williams, Town Inspector, gave
evidence in support of the charge.—Mr. G. Sheridan
Plant, who defended, raised the objection that the
instructions under which the town officer acted were
merely general and invalid. They ought, he urged,
to be more specific.—Mr. King (magistrates' clerk)
remarked that the point arose as to whether the
notice ouglA not to have been given by the Com-
missioners, and he quoted a case bearieg on the
app: ars that Mr. Williams had no, uteri
specially instructed to • ake the proceedings, and the
case was dismissed.

SPO in ING NOTES.
(By our own. (lorre•pondent.)
A LOOK A-11E A.).

It certainly is not a far cry from " the winter cf
our discontent," as in my next notes the Christmas
programme for Kenipton Park and Manchester will
receive attention. Slid, du: lug this past week
attempts have been made to introduce a winter
favorite for the Epsom Derby in the Baron, an own
brother to that erratic member, Peter, and those of
his infatuated supp:nters who are rashly taking 5
to 1 about the son of Xenophon ad Tantrum may
have the pleasure between now ant May 25th of
seeing Mat. Dawson's representative quoted at
double his present rice. mole sp:m'aqy as the colt
does not hold an engagement in he 2,000 guineas.
Grandison, who it will be rememberd made a dead
heat of it with Panzerchiff in the Doncaster Cham-
pagne Stake, also finds favour at 12 to 1, although
many metallicians who Ilavo up3ned books oi the
chief .‘ classical " event decline to stretch a point
more than 100 to 9. Mr. Manton's Timothy would
have found supporters at a price, but it no.. being
for,hcouning the recognised commissioner of the
stable silently closed his volume. As regards the
Duchess of Montruse's representative lam prepared
to see him sport sik in the 2000, Guineas prior to
the Epsom Derby.

Royal Colonization Lottery

DOMINION OF CANADA,

AIIIHORIZED BY ACT OF PARLItMENT.

I Grand Chance t) Seeurl a Fortune.

£50,000 TO BE GIVEN AWAY.

Over 2,200, Prizes Rang ng from
£5,000 uownwards.

IT WILL C)ST BUT 3 SIIILLINGS T) Te.Y Y.)UR LUCK.

And it may bring you £5,030.

Baakera7-The Bank of Montreal, Macau:. !,

fir,t grottt drawing of the Loyal Colonizasion Lot
tery IdJinuiion C.:nad3, will Wk.) plaze in the City
of :tioncrettl. Caeada,

ON THURSDAY, DEC. 16, 1886,

when fifty thousand pounds worth of rell estate and
other valuab.e i,ro,ceriy v,i,l be distributtd. ihe folbw.
ingiB thu

GRAND PRIZE LIST.

Value
One Capi.al Prize, Real Esttte,.... £s,otiO
One do do 3,1100

One do do ............. '2 003
Two F pleudid 1.),.t5, do £1,0(.10 each 2 000
Four do d) 500 „ 2OOO,
100 llnmest,ad Farms at 200 „ 20.000
50 lown Lots at 100 „
100 do t' E 5.3 I, .
100 Pr;z:!3 at 4 „
1000 l'iif.€s at 2 „ .... „ 2000,