The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-07-12 00:00:00

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SATURDAY, JULY 12, 1873.

CURRENT TOPICS.

A rather " lively seene " was enacted at the
Brierley Hill Local Board meeting, on Monday
last. The question under consideration was the
propriety of the Board purchasing for the use of
the town the building which is known as the
"Public Hall." The parties for and against
seemed to be pretty equally divided, and in pro-
gress t,f the discussion personalities were freely
bandied about; until at length Mr. Wood en-
quired "Whetter they were men of business, or a
lot of old women who had come there to haggle ?"
me Chairman, in answer to a question from Mr.
Detheridge, emphatically denied that he had any
" interest" to serve in the matter, and eventually
it was decided to empower a committee to treat
with the present proprietors as to the purchase,
with this proviso that if the committee were not
unanimous as to the price to be paid for the build-
ing, the whole affair should be 'referred back to
the Board.

Another of those clerical scandals which have
cropped up so frequently of late, comes to us from
Wales. It IN a case in which one Elizabeth Jones,
spinster, of 13eaumaris, charged the Rev. John
Williams. vicar of Beaumaris, with being the
father of her illegitimate child. From the evidence
of complainant it appeared that she fast became
acquainted with defendant about five years ago,
on the occasion of her being " prepared".by him
for confirmation. On two occasions afterwards he
playfully indulged in familiarities with her, but
nothing improper took place at that time. The
intimacy afterwards grew stronger, and he offered
her marriage, but she declined, on the ground that
their positions in life were not equal. Subse-
quently the visits were repeated, and inJune 1872,
a child was burn, of which she alleged he was the
father. It was urged for the defunct% that so
serious and painful a charge, which was, if proved,
damaging in such an extraordinary degree to the
character of the defendant, ought to be substan-
tiated incontestably beforeicredence was given to
it. It was, also, alleged that the character of the
complainant was anything but'• spotless," as she
had herself admitted that she had been previously
seduced by a sailor. The Bench, however, unani-
mously decided in making an order upon the de-
fendant for the largest sum allowed by law.
The employes of Mr. Turney, parchment and
glue manufacturer, of this town, had their annual
" out " on Saturday last. The party wvre eonv eyed
in wagonettes, breaks, and vans, to the Lickey
Hills ; and were accompanied by Messrs. Synyer
and Oilmer's magnificent band, which discoursed
"sweet etrains " for their delectation on the way
to their destination. On their arrival they sat
down to an excellent dinner which had been pro-
vided for them, and spent the rest of the day in
various amusements. The weather in the early
part of the morning was very unpromising, but
towards afternoon it cleared up, and a very enjoy-
able day was passed.

Perhaps the most damaging evidence that has,
as yet been adduced against the Claimant in the
present Tichborne trial, is that wli has been
given this week by the eminent expert, H. Chabot.
He asserts that there are no less than nine peculi-
ariti.2s in Roger Tichborne's writing which never
appear in that of the defendant. He also adds
that there are nine peculiaritiesin the defendant's
writing which never appear in the genuine letters
of Roger Tichborne, but all of which appear in the
letters of Arthur Orton and Thomas Castro, as
well as in those of the Claimant. He pointed to
an immense number of instances in the respective
letters to prove his statements, and also called
attention to several orthographical errors both of
" Roger " and of the "Claimant," to show that
they were tomlly dissimilar, and such as would not
be likely to be made by one and the same person.
The witness stated that he had been engaged on
the letters prior to the trial in 1871, and that he
had been continuously engaged upon them this
year since April last.

We spend enormous sums annually in sending
out missionaries to convert the "poor heathen,"
and we talk glibly about giving education at
home until we are apt to fancy that we have, in a
manner, regenerated the human race, and that we
have at length reached a tolerably high pitch of
intellectual refinement and religious culture far
superior to that of our forefathers. But every
now and then some foul crime is brought to light,
which suddenly dispels the illusion which our
national vanity helped to throw over us; and we
awaken to the knowledge that we are congratula-
ting ourselves upon a general intellectual improve-
ment which is more fancied than real. Such a
crime as this was that brought before a Bench of
Magistrates at Halesowen, on Tuesday last. It
was a case where a father, who ought to have been
the natural protector of his child, and who should,
if necessary, have defended her honour with his
life, was himself charged with having seduced his
own daughter. From the evidence given by the
complainant, who is a good looking girl, not
quite 15 years of age, it seems that the adair has
been going on ever since she was twelve years
old. She has no mother, and slept in the same
room as her father, who, by threatening to kill
her, made her afraid to tell any one of his vile
conduct. She, however, alleges that, feeling that
she could not put up with it any longer, she sought
refuge with a grandmother,and made her acquainted
with the facts. The latter communicated with
the police, and hence the present prosecution.
After hearing the evidence, the Bench decided
that there was a prima fade case made out against
the prisoner, and committed him for trial at the
Assizes. When one comes to look into the case,
it really seems too horrible for belief. We, believe
that there are some children vile enough to invent
even such a base calumny as this against a man
for the sake of private pique or revenge, as in the
case of the Yorkshire clergyman, who was con-
victed and sentenced to two years' imprisonment a
few years back on the testimony of a little girl,
who was at a boarding school in his house; but
whose innocence was afterwards incontestably
proved. And, consequently, we would ask our
readers to suspend their judgment until such a
time as the whole facts of this case have been
proved. If the charge is brought home to the
pris .nor we sincerely hope that such punishment
will be meted out to him as will serve to deter
others from committing crimes of a similar nature.