The Express.
London, England, 1863-06-25 00:00:00

REMARKABLE TRIAL FOR POISONING.

A remarkable trial for murder by poison has just I
been held in Berlin. The accused were the widow Keoghs, l
aged 47, and a working mason, named Steinmann, 27 years '
old ; the victim wee Knothe's husband, a colour-maker, in '
comfortable circumstances. The poisoning had been carried
on for a long time before death ensued, and the cirettm-
stanoes of the case showed atrocious deliberation sad •
most determined purpose, on the part especially of the I
woman, who appears to have been infatuated by her passion
for her accomplice, with whom she had for some time car-
ried on an adulterous intimacy, and front whom she had
obtained a promise to marry her should she become a
widow. The appearance of the criminals made an unfa-
vourable impression upon the persons present in the court.
The woman ie • little, thin paean, with a pallid counte-
nance, prominent cheek bones, and • hoarse voice. Stein-
mann has rather regular features, but his countenance,
bearing, and answers all betrayed great stupidity. The
death of Koothe took place in November last year, and
although the symptoms, as described upon the trial, cer-
tainly seem to have been of • suspicious nature. the doctor
in attendance suspected nothing, was misled by the
wife, who described her husband as having been
addicted to the abuse of ardent spirits, and gave an
ordinary certificate of death. Two days later, =anonymous
letter which he received, sad at once handed to the police,
led to an examination of the body, in which a quantity of
arsenic was found. Is the judicial investigation that
ensued it transpired that tiswarda of • year„ during
which time Steinmann had f io the Knothes' house,
there had been frequent quarre between the husband and
wife, the former suspecting her intimacy with the mason,
and insisting that he should quit the house. When ar-
rested, the accused at first denied their guilt, but, it having
been proved that shortly before her husband's death the
woman had bought • pound of arsenic, Steinmann made •
confession, which she afterwards in all eseential points con-
firmed. It appeared that they had tried various kinds of
poison, and that the attempts were for • long time unsuc-
cessful. "If I had but hemlock or nightahade !” the
woman often exclaimed. Nut haring them, she tried aqua-
fortis for about three weeks, in such doses to she could
venture to give, mixed in her husband's drink, but she
succeeded only in making him ill. She then thought of
quicksilver, sod scraped it off • looking-glass, mixing it
with sour kraut. As this did not suffice, ahe took Stein-
mann with her to Frederick'eheath, in the neighbourhood
of Berlin, to pluck hemlock, which she next day put
iu her husband's soup. Nightshade was sought for
but could not be found, and at last she thought of
arsenic, which finally proved effectuaL In the course
of his confession, Steinmann declared that he had never
loved Knothe, and had no intention of marrying her, but,
as ber husband had a good business, he reckoned on profit-
ing by it after his death. The woman, on the other hand,
said that from the first moment she had seen her paramour
she bad conceived • violent passion for him, and that she
loved him more than ever now that they were shortly to
die together. Nevertheless, she endeavoured to nuke it
appear that it was not abe but Steinmann who administered
tolier husband the dose that determined his death. The
two wretches were found guilty of murder, and condemned
to the scaffold. Decapitation is the mode in which capital
punishment is still carried out in Prussia. It takes place
within the precincts of the gaol, in presence of a certain
number of persons invited as witnesses.

It is satisfactory tc be able to state that the
General Idouravieff at present in Poland is not the gallant
Mouiavieff of Kars.
The Prince de Windischgraetz, who has just been
murdered in his bed by his servant, wu quite a young mark.
His father was killed at Solferino, and he came to Paris
after the peace. About fire weeks back he was at Bathe, in
Algeria, with Chairing, the lion hunter, whom he accom-
panied on one of bin expeditions. Chasse* was then
obliged to return to France, but engaged to meet the Prince
next year.
Rival companies of Americans and Italians have
settled on Farralone Island, in the Pacific, thirty miles west
of San Francisco, for the purpose
of collecting valuable
birds eggs there. A desperate fight recently took place be-
tween the rival companies in which many individuals were
mortally wounded.
There are now about 30,000 coloured troops in
the Federal army, and 5,000 coloured men in the Federal

navy.
Canada is just now convulsed by the elections
for members to the new parliament. The different parties
are classified as reformers, liberals, eonservatirse, dear grits,
sod ootruptioaista—Canadian paper.