The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1868-02-18 00:00:00

TRH REV. MB. SPRIER

Up to • late hoar on &today night the police had no
satitdaotory information with regard to Mr. Speke.
Many hundreds of ingestions have been received, all of
which, as far as desirable and practicable, have been
promptly acted upon.
The Morning Post of Saturday contained the follow-
ing para./reels :—" We believe we are correct in
announcing that all fears as to Mr. Seeks having been
murdered, or having committed suicide , may now be
dispelled. There is little doubt of the rev. gentleman's
cristeoce. and that information his been received of his
present wherabouts." The Globe deeply meets to have
to Age, upon authority, that this Mot:nation is in-
correct. No information or trace of any kind has been
obtained by the police respecting the rev. gentleman.
The Leeds Mercury, says the Speke mystery is said
to be solved, and in a very curious way. Any of oar
readers who have perused Mr. Chad.. Reads'. story
"Herd Cash" will remember how tbe hero of the tale
was captured and incarcerated in a madhouse on the eve
of his naarrisge. Ills said that this is the real el:plans-
of Mr. Sphe's fate, and "the clue" which the Toms of
Friday alludes is the Folio-mug paragraph : " We
believe we are justified In stating that the polies
are now in possession of information which promises to
=MAY • sort of doe to the mystery of Mr. npeke's
absence, though, of sauna, thispromin may be dis-
til:anointed."
The Observer says it has been currently reported that
Mr. Speke has been discovered in Germany shut op In
a madhouse. We rive the report an it has reaehed on,
without in any way vouching for its authenticity. The
same paper also states that on inquiring at the polioe-
oMoe, Scotland-yard, on Saturday night, it was Neer.
Wood that no other information had been received sets
the diseovery of Mr. npeke.
" C.T.M." says, "The family of Kr. Sprite, I regret
to say, are entirely without further informetinn than
what has already been made public, and this sad
and wearing suspense is pressing with great severity
upon his parents, who have already last two sons by
violent deaths—one in India, and the other more
recently, as is well known."
11. T. writes : I am in • position to affirm that
nothing like a thorough search has yet been made in
the house of Mr. Speke's sister in Westminster.
Mr. Dorineton rernsrks that Mr. Seeks knew that
his sister was not in London ; but it is easy to weedye
retains for his calling there nevertheless. Mr. Doting.
ton tells us that Mr. Speke had "no book or parcel to
receive or deliver" there; but it is impossible for him
to he sure of the latter alternative, and there are many
other posaible ruppositime. Re remarks in contradic-
tion to a statement that has been made, that " the
house is not left in charge of only one servant." The
feet is, I believe, that on the Bth of January it was in
charge of one female servant and a little girl—a dis-
tinction of little importance. The housekeeper, he
says, "was not out of the house after L3O, nor was she
alone in the house any part of the day." I reply by
asking bow he knows that? Not of his own ksowladge,
certainly, for he was in Gloucestershire. The acme
answer applies to the remark that the gate rod entrance
door in Birdeage-walk are "kept ...tatty looked"
during the absence of the family from town. The
housekeeper is no doubt a tried aad trusted servant,
and above suspi, ion of conoealing anything bat in an
inquiry of this kind nothing ought to be assumed
which elan be tested, and the question still remain;
why Is not the bouse thoroughly esarebed. and *veer
hearth-stole and fore of ground beneath which a body
might be deposited elosely merntlnieed by the polies?
C. T. II," gives the following answers to the
inquiries of numerous correspondents refering to the
disappearance of Mr. Spike:— It having been stated
that there has been insanity in Mr. Spake's family,
I can most confidently declare that such is aot
the mae. There has not been • mingle case of insanity
in the present or in former generations. The only
money in Mr. Spoke's possession was about £l5; the
Last cheque drawn by him was for £9O, December 91,
the proceeds of which he received in gold, and at is ,
reasonable to suppose that from wages to his gardener,
journey to London, and other anmil payments, not more
than about £l5 would be remaining on January & With
respect to the house of his sister in Queen's-square, it is
most improbable that, knowing his sister was in
Gloucestershire. be should have gone to the bonze, and
as to the suggestion that he might have gone into the
garden adjacent to the Birdcage-walk, the gate is always
locked night and day during the absence of the family,
and evideratly has not been opened for • ooniddershie
tame. I may here mention that inquiries have already
bum made at the home b., the yahoo, and that the
replies it. perfectly ostioMetory. I. mum to

na"."'s Inquiries, beg to Awes that Kr. Spoke had
no travelling cep with him, awl that we have asesetained
that no hatter sold a bat that evening to anyone with-
out a hat- and the water in St. J•10411'S Park has been
btlr,ro.
I..tietythdaroragged,nedysited.tithed.t she gardener,. zsitilgelftnoltuosuaz:
writint to the Pell Mall Gana., says there is not the
slightest foundatioe for the report that Mr. Spoke was
absent from bons* o •previous occasion for about three
Weeks. It is true that some leek years ago a marriage
was tontemplated by Alr. Spoke, bat for family mesons
this littatidea marriage was broken off, and broken
off without auxin his shames from his duty for a
Mr ,
single day.
Moy Thomas writes to the Telegraph is follows :
—,16,..has moaned to me that the fact of Kr. Spoke's
1"."'" himitur for an entire moath withheld informa-
tion from the police of great importance 11 .0 remarkable
that I ought to make known my authority for my miser-
"Pa, k?ltether with mine other particulars in connection
.nth is. On Friday morning last I celled on Chief
ten:Pect4d.yard.r Williamson of of the detective police, at Scot-
Great Coorge.rtnst, lend-yard,
ginert
dfriinenthd
et.ullnejono,roaf
conversation on the subject of Seek* 01", inired
whether be OIL Williamson), who has charge of the to tion, was aware of the fast of Mr. Spoke having
a aisler whom home was close to the spot where the hat
wee &woven& Kr. Williamson replied that be wee
not, and that be doubted the eftstenumt, on the ground
that be had been in daily imennianieseloo with the
family, who had never informed him of it. He then
rang a bell for his two damn who have been inquiring
into the case, and when they mitered he asked them
whether they were aware of the feat. To this one of
them replied that he was not, and the weer remarked
that if it had been true he must have heard el le, ash.
had actually been in the street in whisk ttwas stated
that Mr. fineke's sister lived, in company with members
of the family, only a few days before, dissoluble with
them the &master of the imams in that beauty, ama
that
nothing of
toftiiatheel
vr...4.....kildnlddhadeo..t.d.d;mrerthat.b.beewsLik,ili.tmeh7t.istivis.onehtedtesti
which
bsrblill'itior.egtbianwiiidnr,B"nd,iyn tianaredopunildbyw-it
nysnlqtdhouta.::tiliemsebare;set.Wtolhiliveuretbsod.:en.t.
sister
In
and t amonlyinfaormdidued that,
romon.lhe had.ao
I was
on this 0008410 D secompanied by my friend, Mr. Dutton
Cook, the well-imoira somalleft, who took note of the ,
000vereatios, and who was alsitLient when I gave Mr.
Williamson some further sabebentiation
of my statement that the co.e7sTa.-Queen-square, not-
withetanding this °Asia denial, wee really the residence
of a sister. Since then Mr. Spoke's relatives have ad-
mitted the fact, bat they have neither dolled nor ex-
plained the cirmanstance that, even up to Saturday last,
this Information was withheld from the polies. It is, of
course, difficult to suppose soy motive for their silence,
except a conviction in their own minds that the house
in natation had nothing to do with the mystery bates
It cannot be denied that there has been conoesi;ment of
some kind in the matter, the public have a right to
demand that Mr. Spoke's relatives shall not prescribe to
the police either the method or the limits of inquiry:
and that the mane at the holm shall not be confined
to mere questions sad :elitism