The Express.
London, England, 1868-05-04 00:00:00

TEN lITRAORDINARY ATTEMPT TO MURDER

iii TEE CITY

[Our Sesoad Within ouSatur]day contained an account of
the shove extraordinary crime.
In the Minas of Friday night Mr,. Nunn
partly meowed eseasektuatess, and she was able to may
soresething to the effort that two boys had done it, and
this statement was partly borne out by the feat that
two boys distant relations of Mrs. Nunn, were seen in
the court by a little boy, the ton of • Mr. Hammond, who
resides in a home opposite to No. 2. These boys, whose
I names are Arthur Forresier Smith. aged 15, and Hector
Augustus Smith, aged 13, absconded from their parents'
home on the evening of Good Frid taking with them
41. belonging to their father, and on Friday evening last the
boy Hammond saw them godownthe basement stet:sof No.
2, Oatherine-court. The cap found on the premises was
afterwards identified as one which bad been bought on
the 21st of April from Kr. Davis, batter, Hieg's-road,
Okeless, who states that on that day three boys drove to
his shop in • cab, that one of them purchased the cap for
2s. 6d., and that they afterwards told the cabman to drive
to Hampstead-heath. On Saturday forma, ffir, Geri,
tho osiotoild-.11 so lila Lord ifq6P, went to Guy's Hos-
pital to take the deposition of the dying woman, but he
could not get any satisfactory statement, as she was
scarcely able to articulate. In the meantime Superinten-
dent Boller, Inspector Bailey, of the detective depart-
ment, Inspector Tillie*, and detective sergeant Moss,
were actively engaged in endeavouring to capture the
boys, and tab were sent to all the police stations and to the
seaport towns containing their description and offering a
reward of 201. for their apprehension. Negatives of •
carte de elute of the elder boy, taken about • year so,
were also distributed, and officers belonging to the
City police were yesterday sent all over London
to places where there was any probability of their being
seen or heard of, including the parks and places of recrea-
Hoe. These exertion, were not fruitless, u the boys were
apprehended about one o'clock yesterday by Defective
Sergeants Moss and Hayden in Deacon's coffee-house, in
the Strand. In reply to the officers the boys said their
name was Smith. They were then charged with having
committed the murderous assault on Mrs. Nunn, and
they acknowledged that they did it, and said they were
tempted, but did not know what tempted them. They
also stated that they were is her bedroom, and that she
found them there and began to scream. Had she not done
that, they said they would not have thought of striking
her. They likewise admitted that they had been there
before and taken the bank-notes of which Mr. Beerbohm
had been robbed. They had evidently washed the blood
off their clothes, although some stains still re-
mained ; and they told the officers that no one
was with them when they committed the assault.
They had in their possession a pistol, a quantity
of permeation cape, two powder flasks, two
pairs of boxing gloves soros foils, and • small monist of
money. Is appears that they have been staying in the
coffee-house setae they absconded from home, aid that it
was a son of the coffee-house keeper who itiompanied
them when they purchased the cap at Mr. Davis's.
At half-part two o'clock yesterday, Mrs. Nunn having
recovered consciousness, the Lord Mayor and Mr. Oke, the
chief clerk at the Mansion-honse, attended at the hospital
take her deposition. Shortly after their arrival the
Lord Mayor was informed that the boys had been arrested,
and in accordance with his directions they were taken to
the bedside of the dying woman by Superintendent
Foster, and identified be her as her assailants.
It may be mentioned that on the 13th of July last
fear, the prisoners were found concealed in the same cellar
rom which the mallet had been taken on the present oc-
casion. They were then taken to the police-station, and,
their parenta having been communicated with, they were
given up. Their father is a custom-house officer, resid-
ing at Albion-place, Old Ford-street, 011 Ford, and it
appears that he is a brother to a son-in-law of Mrs. Nunn,
living in Castle-street, Holborn.
The boys were yesterday, in the first instance, taken to
Seething-lane police station, and afterwards to the lock-
up at Bishopegate, and they will be brought up to-day at
the justice room of the Mansion-house for examination be-
fore the Lord Mayor.