The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-19 00:00:00

Th Alleged Child Murder at Limehouse,

COMMITTAL OF THE I%IOTIIEIt.

Yeateroay forenoon H. Raffles Walthew, the
!loputy coroner, resumed, at the Victoria Tevern,
Three Colt-lane, Limehonee, the iLquiry respecting
the death of the male child of Rebacca Porter, said
to have been murdered on Christmas-day.

The prisoner, Rebecca Porter, a respectable look-
ing middle-aged woman, was brought up in the cus-
tody of Inspector Beare, under a warrant obtained
from the Secretary of State
It will be remembered that the accused had been
for a period of five months in the service of the
keeper of an eating-house in Hales-terrace, Lime-
house, and that, as she wore an immense crinoline,
the suspicions of her mistress were at one time ex-
cited. The accused, however, indignantly denied
the imputation, and gave notice that she would leave
rather than leave off wearing crinoline. On Christ-
mas-day, while playing cards with the other ser-
vants, she was noticed to be ill, and, though she
denied having given birth to a child, the deceased
was found in a box.

Mrs. S. Harris, 2, Hales-terrace, West India-
road, was re-called, and she stated that she did not
know that the accused Lad prepared any baby -linen.
Witness never saw any. Rebecca Porter used to sit
at work in her room in the evenings for nearly the
whole time. She was in service ; bat witness saw
her make no preparation for a child. She worked

for herself as well as for witness. When, on Christ-
mas-day, witness taxed her with having given birth
to a child, she denied it for half an hour. She after-
wards showed the child to witness in her box, which
was under her bad. She asked witness to allow her

to bury the child, and to take her again into her
service, but that could not be done.

George Cronk, 330 K, said that on Christmas-day
he was sent for by Mr. Harris. By the inspector's
orders he then accompanied Mr. Brownfield, the
divisional surgeon, to Mr. Harris's house. Ho saw
the child in the box of the accused. There was a
hassock in the box, and one or two other things,
but no baby clothes.

The prisoner said she had no questions to put to
:he witnesses.

The coroner then cautioned the accused in the
usual manner, and asked her if sho wished to make
any statement.
The prisoner merely replied, " No, sir."
Mrs. Harris, recalled, stated that she had been
informed by the sister of the prisoner, that the pri-
soner had been married and had given birth to two
children: These children were dead. "Witness did
not inquire what was the cause of their deaths.
The coroner then read over the depositions at
length, and said that all the circumstances were of
such a character as seemed to render a verdict of
wilful murder inevitable. The medical man exam
mined in the case indeed said that, though the child
had fully breathed he could not conclusively say
that the child had been fully born alive. But the
other facts should not be overlooked—the deter-

mined persistence in concealing her condition by
means of a large crinoline—no clothes being pro•
vided for the child, although the accused must have
known that she had gone her full time—the denial
for half an hour that she had given birth to any
child—the concealment of the dead body in a box—
and the marks of violence on the throat, which
were plainly visible—all seemed to show a settled
intention to make away with the child, and doubt-
less to deposit it in the street at a convenient oppor-

tunity.
The jury, after a long deliberation, returned a
verdict of wilful murder against Rebecca Porter,
but stated, in tendering their verdict, that had the
law given them an option they would have brought
in a verdict of manslaughter in preference, as they
believed that there could have been no malice
against the deceased, but that the mother had de-
prived it of life in an attempt to conceal the fact
of its birth in order to avoid the shame of detection.
The coroner then made out the warrant for the
committal of the mother to Newgate for trial at the
Central Criminal Court.

Commercial Fraud at Sunderland.

A commercial fraud of a disgraceful character has
been brought to light at Sunderland. Mr. Thomas
Kay, of the firm of Riches, Kay, and Marshall,
merchants and shipbrokers, was a prominent mem-
ber of the Methodist body, and was held in high
respect in Sunderland. He died suddenly on New-
Year's-day, after returning from a " watch night
meeting" at a Methodist chapel ; and it was then
discovered that the deceased had been carrying on
a system of obtaining cash to an unknown amount
by means of fraudulent bills, in which the signa-
tures of persons dealing with the firm were used as
acceptances without their knowledge or consent.
His partners, who expected the firm was clearing
about £2,000 a year, have been well nigh ruined by
his deceit; and, instead of a comfortable balance of
£4,000 in the hands of the bankers they found but
£1,500, which may in all probability be condemned
ou account of bills in the hands of the bank. The
way in which deceased effected the fraud was this
—ship captains are in the habit of drawing ad-
vances from the merchants or brokers who freight
their vessels, in order to pay bills and port charges,
and of receiving various gratuities. As the firm of
Riches, Kay, and Marshall did a pretty extensive
chartering business, such advances and payments
were often made, and almost invariably by
the deceased. The person to whom he paid
an account was sure to be entertained
with an interesting conversation on religions
or other topics, according to taste, the ingenious
merchant in the meantime folding and turning
about a piece of blue paper, with an apparently
careless air. On the paper were pencilled a few
words of receipt for the amount advanced, and
having a pen handed him. at some stage of the pro-
ceedings, the unsuspecting captain readily " put his
name down," as requested. The deluded recipient
of the advance having taken his departure, the
wily merchant was then at liberty to unfold his
paper, which assumed the form of a bill stamp,
and the pencilled receipt being duly obliterated,the
paper could be filled up to any amount, the signa-
ture of the person who had received the advance
appearing across the paper in the form of
an acceptance. Such was the repute of the
firm that this sort of paper would be discounted to
any amount by the banks, and as fast as the bills
became duo they could bo easily replaced by nego-
tiable acceptances of the same character. It is not
known what amount of bills of this kind may be
running, for on the opening of the safe, after Mr.
Kay's death, there were found no fewer than 150
blank bill stamps, bearing the names of various
parties who had signed them innocently in the way
we have already indicated. The stamps were princi•
pally of is. and 2s. each, and they were no doubt in-
tended to be filled up and passed cif as genuine
bills, so that deceased would have been able to
obtain almost any amount of money from the dis-
counters. There is another story, to the effect that
Mr. Kay got a well-known solicitor to make a will,
disposing of a large amount of property with much
form and pomposity, and on the strength of that
easily induced the solicitor to lend him £2,000 or
some such amount. Fortunately, however, the
legal gentleman in question obtained back nearly
the hole of the amount. It is generally supposed
that the realisation of deceased's estate will cover
all claims against the firm that may arise through
deceased's course of conduct.—Newcastle Chronicle.

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