Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-06-20 00:00:00

POLICE COURT.-YESTBRDAY.

LIVERPOOL.
HAMMEEINIP A BLACK,—JOIIII Reed, the keeper of a
boarding-hodse in Jorian-street, was charged with having
assaulted a'black man named George Saundi-rs. The police-
man who had charge of the case, t'xhibited.a "pig nole,"
with Which the complaini9t. was " hammered." The chi--f
portions of the case were elicited on cross-examination
of complainant by Mr. Bluck, and these appeared to ha as
fellows : The complainant lagged at the prisoner's house
and owed him some money. The prisoner got a ship for
complainant, who got £5, awl this he gave the prison r.
There was a b ;lance duo to complaioatit, but prisoner re-
fused to give it until the man shipped. it wasalleged that the
complaitiaa went io another boarding hou,e, th the
took a pair of-trousers from Reed's house, and wlrm the
latter went to look for him the assault was committed.
Mr. Block to the complainant: Would not the nriso;:er
lose if you did not go •in the ship? Yeq, hut I would
lose if I went in her.. (Laughter) Mr. Block predue; d
witnesses who negatived the story told by the complainant,
and the prisoner was discharged.
THE LIFE OF A CONvICT.--Joseph Williams, a well-dresssrd.
fellow, was charged for. haVing assaulted his wife in March
lest.. Mr. Bluek defended the.ptis, ower. The complain ant
made the following statam.mt. ThOwian was transported,
but he has comeback on a tieke,-of4eave. I kept a bro- be!
in Pall-mall, and saved up £334. When he canoe .I:ick, I
advised him to take•a shop, arkft give up the hi-whet basi-
noes; We took a shop in Hornhy -street, but he was not
satisfied with it, as he Fail be could make much :n-are
money by the brothel. We then left that place, an I went
back to Pall-mall. From that time be beat me most
awfully, and on the occasion for 'which he is charged, he
baat and kicked me very badly. He then made off to Bris-
tol, and has stopped there eversince. Oa his return be was
arrested on a warrant. Mr. Biaiec : Were you drunk when
he assaulted you ? Yes, but he very soon sobered trig wi; h
the pounding and kicking be ;rive me.. (Laughter.) Do
you know a man named Rigby? Yes. D:d he occupy the
place of your husband ? Witness Oh, certainly he dia
in my husband's absence. Mr. Block : Indeed. Witness :
Indeed he did, but rot since the prisoner came back.
Mr. Black: Wonderful Mrs. Williams; can you tell when
the assault took place ? No I can't. Mr. Blink : I
submit, your Worship, that this case fails in consequence.
Mr. Minsfield agreed, and the prisoner was discharged.

THE TRAGEDY ON BOARD THE MAR rHA. JANE.

COININIITTAL OF THE PRISONERS FOR WILFUL

MURDER.

The inquiry into this case was resumed yesterday at
two o'clock,-and, as usual, the court was. much crowded.
The prisoners having been put forward, the first witness
called was William Davidson. lam an able seaman, and
was on board the Martha Jane. Rove seemed to me to be
in good health when he came •on board, and was about
thirty years of age. He saw him at the wheel the day
they sailed. He saw the second mate " lick" the deceased,
the second day, by the captain's order. He was " licked"
with a whip. Saw the prisoners beat deceased several
times whilst he was in irons. He was nearly all the pas-
sage in irons, and he was beaten almost day and night.
He heard the deceased ask the mate to let him go to a
portion of the ship to obey a call of nature, but he would
not let him, as he was fastened to a ring bolt. He dirtied
the deck then, and they " licked" him as hard as they
could. The deceased asked what it was for ? and they
replied for having dirtied the deck, and then deceased said
he could not help it, as they- would not let him go from
where he was He corroborated the evidence about the
abominable treatment said to have been practiced by the.
captain, in putting the filth into deceased's mouth, and said
be raw that done twice. He corroborated the evidence
about the gagging of d; ceased, about the water cask, the
dog, and- other things. The prisoners :beat the deceased
nearly every hour, day and night, during the whole voyage.
The witness went on at much length and gave the came
evidence as the other wnress, which we have already pul.o.
fished in detail.. The deceased wry covered all over with
putrified sot s. Frorn -what witness saw of the body, he
thinks that it wasnhe ill-usage of the prisoners that. caused
such. Cross-.examined by Mr. Aspinall :I did not know
the man before he shipped. Don't know if he had been in
jail before that. To me he appeared in perfect health. I
doe's know if he had any internal disease at the time. The
cres3sexamination was continued at much length, but
nothing to shake his direct evidence was elicited. The
Captain, be said, never did anything harsh to others
of the crew.—Edward Clarke, the carpenter of the
ship examined : He said the deceased appeared to
be in good health when be came on board, but he
thought he wan insane. Saw the prisoners beat him. The
second mate came for a hammer and chisel to open the
water cask. The witness gave deceased a drink of water
while be was in the water cask. He corroborated generally
the evidence given by the previous witnesses, and in reply
to Mr. Aspinall the witness said he thought deceased was
not well at first. .He said the captain asked him for a
prayer-book before the deceased was buried, bat he had
not got one. Thomas Kennedy, a boy who WFS on board
,the ship, was next examined, also James 'Cahill, who was
sailor on board. These witnesses corroborated the
general statement made by the other witnesses.
Eliza Reberton, a cousin of deceased, and wife of
a captain now in port, said she resided a
Gosport. She said deceased was about 32 years of age,
and was married. -He was a healthy, robust man in his
constitution. For the last few years he used to have fits of
insanity. A brother of his, is in an asylum at present.
Mr. Wall: surgeon of' the Northern Hospital, said he had
heard the evidence, and assuming die evidence to be true,
that death was caused by exhaustion, much accelerated by
the treatmant he received. Mr. Aspinall asked the surgeon
a few questions, and he said, taking the evidence of the
lade, ho would say the deceased . was subject to fits of
insanity. The expesure to the weather, the confining hire
is a cask, the biting of the dog, and the hangitie
am up, would, of Course, accelfeate death. Dr.
Penningtou was also examined, and said undoubtedly
death was accelerated by the treatment he received. He
ould not conceive a case where such treatment would n tit
have accelerated death; with an affection of the brain Ihe
hanging was most dangerous, as it would congest the brain.
Mr. Mansfield said the only course left open to him was
to commit the prisoners for trial for murder. Probably
the grand jury might reduce it to mansteuglet Th
Prisoners were then fully committed. The case lasted I
to seven o'clock.