The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-01-11 00:00:00

THE BELFAST MURDER.

The Northern Whit, gives the fooowing deemiption of the
cottage railed The Croft," in which lived Miss Kerr and
her servant at the time of their murder

" This picturesque cottage on the Victoria-road, in-
side the walls of which the dreadful murder was per-
petrated, is no doubt the chief place of interest in con-
nexion with the tragedy. The Victoria-road commences
at the end of the town in High street, and is a junction
from the Bangor-road. It is narrow, winding, and as-
cending, and at the top, near the residence of the late
Miss Kerr—the murdered lady—it commands a
beautiful view of Belfast Lough and the Antrim coast.
The cottage is built of brick, and is designedly
irregular in form, A tiny flower-plot, a few yards
in width, separates it from the road. Ivy and jessamine
climb half-way up the walls, and at the east end flowers
are in bloom both summer and winter. Surrounding
the dwelling there are several flower plots, and behind
there is a large garden, where the deceased took pride
in cultivating the plants. Each room in the dwelling
contain suites of furniture of the best description, and
valuab:e pictures decorate the walls. Nothing seemed
to have been left undone by Miss Kerr to provide for
her personal comfort, and 'The Croft' had the reputa-
tion of being not only one of the nicest structures in
the neighbourhood, but one complete, in every respect,
in its internal furnishing and adornment. The house
since the interment of the bodies has remained closed ;
but the little window in front, which the milk.
girl looked through to ascertain the cause of the delay
of the opening of the door, and through which she saw
the body of the servant lying on the hall floor near the
dour, was eagerly scanned by the visitors, as was also
the window in the end gable looking into the room
where the murde[ers are believed to have caroused and
slept after the commission of the horrible deed, and
also the window in the tear looking into the kitchen,
into which they dragged the body of Miss Kerr, and
terminated her existence by blows, after which they
place I her in the scullery, and rolled her up in the
blanket and quilt in the extraordinary manner that has
already been described."

THE LAST HOURS OF FORTUNE!
The Rheinischtr Kurier cf the let iostan& says :
the Gaming Rooms of Wiesbsden were not re-opened
to-day, se that the crowd of playen who, up to the last re-
sorted to them, were met by closed doors and compelled to
turn back. In this way has been brought to an end one of
our specialities, the continuance of which we could no
longer expect, although of late years people had come
to be less harsh in their condemnation of gaming since it
had been contrasted with recent mercantile speculations.
Now, so far as Germany IS concerned, gaming has be-
come a thing of the past, and the inhabitants of Wiesbaden
will not be judged severely If they recollect that it was in a
great measure to the gaming tables that they owe the gigan-
tic growth of their town. Its prosperity has been so extra-
ordinary, and during the last few jean has to much exceeded
the anticipations of its inhabitants, that they have good
reason to suppose that even without the gaming tables it
will remain as before a watering place of the first rank.
Indeed, when its resources and advantages are contrasted
with those of other watering-places of similar pretensions.
we think we may safely say that it has no competition to
dread. The closing of the gaming bank will prow severely
for a time on many families and many occupations and
there should be no seltdenption on this point, but we
can assert that our town anticipates the future with confi-
dence, and we accordingly hail the new year In the hope
that Vs inbaden will continue to flourish and spread, as
heretofore, its long rows of streets further and further among
the green fields of it, picturesque neighbourhood_ The last
two concerts of the year In the Great Ilan were more nume-
rously attended than they were even in the height of the
summer. The orchestral piece by lien Keler ben, 'The
Lest !lours of Fortune,' and 'The Goddess of Fortune,' a
polka by the same composer, prepared especially for the
close of the bank, had an enthusiastic reception, and an
encore was demanded. At the close the director, Herr Kele'.
Inn, was several times called for, and three cheers were
given for him and his band.-