The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-15 00:00:00

DU FCII-RHENISH.

Assault in a Railway Carriage.

sessions for the Sham-
broOonkldinveissideanYoafftßerenolofoorndsahtitrhe,e hpeeltdtyat Bletsoe, before Lord
St. John, chairman, Mr W. Robtrts, of. King's Walden,
Hertfordshire, and Mr Wm. Howlll, of Nether Crawley,
nmons taken out by the
dLiuretocnro,rsfaorfmrehrse,
saipsleaanrded itto,
ja uYCompany, to answer ai
risa
charge of having committed, a breech of No. 5 of the bye-
laws on Sunday, Nov. 13. The cat° had been postponed in
consequence of the illness of the principal witness, who had
suffered severely from the attack Which Was
made'
on him:
Mr John Jeffery, traffie inspector of the Midland Railway,
said
underthe su ma mbyon.
Isa
‘Ni,v.,a as takenf which
h
out b? the company's autho-
ritye
at in an authentic copy.
The magistrate's clerk read it as fellows:—" Any person
found in a railway carriage or estalon in a state of intoxi-
cation, or committing any nuisaree, or otherwise wilfully
interfering with the comfort of Ober passengere, is hereby
subjected 'to a penalty not eZ edina 405., and shall
immediately, or, if travelling, at the first opportunity,
be removed from the companre
Henry Martin then said—l was 4 premises." Mr
passenger on Sunday
evening, November 13, from Leicester, in a second-class
carriage, having passed the day at the bedside of a son who
is now past hope of recovery. i
a Nils alone as far as the Ir-
cheater station, and there the twe defendants entered the
compartment in which I was. 1 btlieve they were the first
to speak. One of them said it
" master, we mean to
smoke here whether you like it or int." My reply was that
I had not made any objection to sffoking, and had not had
time to do so. One of them said "'Who the hell are you 2"
I can hardly say which of them mai( that, for I was terror-
stricken, and they both chimed in se that I could hardly say
which of them spoke first. The one I know to be Howell
said to the other, "Give me a light,"
down both window,, and one said Roberts said, " He
has no business here—we'll blow hire out." They then let "
lle's a bankrupt, and
only dares travel on a Sunday," They evidently alluded to
me. I think it was Roberts who then
mid ho would throw me
out. Howell said " We'll serve him at Briggs was served and
then we'll throw him out," and at that moment I would have
given all I possessed to have had some moans of communi-
cating with the guard. This was on tlin evening before the
execution of Muller for the murder of Mr Briggs. Howell
then said, "I am Tom King, and I'll make an end of him in
three minutes and a half," Ho tucked up his sleeves and
said, putting his fist in my face, "I'll maFe an end of him the
He stood up in the earflap. I vas sitting, and he
said "Stand up, you—_"" Then he Eqaared np to me and
put one fist in my face and hit at me with the other, and at
that moment 1 became terror-stricken. Ile then put one fist
in my face and made as though he would strike me on the
eye, and then I became partly unconscious. I have never.
been so well since as to attend to business es usual. %V hes
I came to myself I found they wore gone. When I got to
the next station Roberts came to the window and was again
abusive, when Mr Scott, of Leicester, overheard him, and
came into the carriage and asked me to join them in the
next one. That, I think, was the station before we got
to Bedford. I did not hear distinctly what
when he came Co the carriage again ; but he used Roberta
filthy
s
language. There was a light in the compartment in which
I was, and also in the one into which I after welds got. l.t
was not a light night, as it was raining very hard. The
person who asked me to come into the nest carriage went
and made the complaint. Mr George Vickers, the station-
master at Oakley, proved that a complaint was made that a
gentleman had bean grossly insulted Eby two persons. Mr
Martin was the complainant; and said they had threatened
to murder him and throw him oat of the carriage as J3riggs
wee served. The two persons were pointed out to him, and ho
noticed them get out of a secondeclass carriage and go down
the platform. They got into a th4d-class carriage, and wit-
ness went and asked for their names and addresses. Tney
t
first efused to give them, bat when witness had asked twice
or three times Roberts said his came was Simmends, of
Balduck, and the offer one said, "Mine is the same."
They refneerl to give any other names. lie demanded their

The evidence in support of the charge against the pri-
soner was of the most conclusive description, and it was
currently rumoured on Tuesday that, although counsel had
been retained by the prisoner's friends to defend him, it was
his determination to plead guilty to the charge. He was,
however, advised not to take that course, as it could not
possibly benefit him, and he therefore pleaded not guilty.
From the opening statement of the learned counsel for the
prosecution it appeared that the deceased was a woman
about the same age as the prisoner, or rather younger.
She had been married, and had two grown-up children,
and upon the death of her husband she had taken up her
abode at Chidwell Heath, in this county, and obtained her
livelihood by going out to work as a charwoman, and she
was always regarded as a sober, industrious woman. She
became acquainted with the prisoner at this place. He
was a labourer, but there seemed to be no doubt that he
was an idle, worthless fellow; but notwithstanding this,
the deceased seemed to have consented to go to live
with him as his wife, and they cohabited together
for some time, The conduct of the prisoner towards her,
however, appeared to have been so bad that the deceased
determined to break off the connexion that existed between
them, and ehe left him about three months before she came
to her untimely end, and wont to live at the cottage of an
aged man named Warren, at Chidwell Heath, as a sort of
housekeeper. The old man had a son, James Warren, and
an intimacy seemed to have sprung up between the deceased
and this young man, and they were engaged to be married,
and the banns had been published, and the marriage was to
have taken place on the Saturday week following the day on
which the murder was committed, which was the 24th of
September. The prisoner seemed to have been very angry
at the deceased leaving him, and upon several occasions he
appeared to have entreated her to resume the connexion be-
tween them, but she always refused to do so, and the pri-
' soner upon several occasions was heard to utter dreadful
threats against her, and he was repeatedly heard to say that
if she did not live with him again he would have her life.
A remarkable conversation appeared to have taken place
between the prisoner and the deceased about six weeks be-
fore the murder: The latter, it appeared, had been to a
public-house called the White Horse, which is a short dis-
tance from the cottage where she was residing, and ;he saw
the prisoner there. He called her out, and he then asked
her whether there was any chance of their coming together
again. The deceased told him that there was not, and said
that he had had an opportunity of making her his wife if
he had chosen to do so, but that now that was past, and he
had behaved so ill to her, she was going to be married to
another man, and they could never come together again.
The prisoner then said to her, " Milly (which was the name
the deceased was familiarly known by), then you must die,"
rhe deceased rejoined, " It I do, you will have to die, too"
—and they then parted. The murder, as above stated, was
committed on the 24th aepteeenee, and hetween 10 and 11
o'clock iu the morning. The:old man Warren, it appeared,
went out about half-past 10 o'clock for the purpose of fetch-
ing some beer, leaving the deceased in a small washhouso or
building adjoining the cottage, in the act of washing. He re-
*rued in the course of a very short time, and went into the
washhouse and saw the unhappy woman apparently in the
act of taking some clothes out of the copper and leaning
over it. He called out to her, " Milly, dear, here is the beer,"
and was surprised at not receiving any answer. He went up
to her and put his arm round her and, to his horror, she fell
upon him and forced him to the ground, and he observed
that her throat was cut, and she gave one sigh and then
died. Aa soon as the poor old man had recovered from tho
shock he gave an alarm, and Mr Bowers, a surgeon residing
at Romford, was soon upon the spot, and upon examining
the deceased ho discovered she had received three frightful
wounds on the throat, one of which had divided the carotid
artery, and must have caused almost instantaneous death,
and the injuries were of such a character as to preclude the
possibility of their having been inflicted by herself. It was
evident that a foul and brutal murder had been committed,
and suspicion at once fell upon the prisoner as the perpe-
trator of the crime. The facts which were disclosed left no
doubt that this suspicion was well founded. It appeared that
on the eaorning of the murder, and very shortly before it was
committed, the prisoner met a man named Turner, and after
some conversation had passed between them, the prisoner
made use of the observation that " he would hear of some-
thing presently," and he then went to the hedge and took
out what appeared to be a knife, and the evidence left no
doubt that he must have proceeded almost immediately to
the cottage and watched until the old man left, and then
rushed upon the unfortunate woman while she was in the
act of washing, and have cut her throat before she had
any opportunity to give an alarm, and he then made his
escape, leaving her in the condition in which she was
found by the poor oid man when he returned with the beer,
and the medical man was of opinion that no struggle what-
ever took place. A police-constable of the K division,
named Dunmow, who had been sent for, upon examining
the garden, saw marks of footsteps csf a peculiar description
which were at once recognised as those of the prisoner,
and the constable and several oth( r persons at once
set off in pursuit of him. The footsteps led them
to a pond, about a mile from Warren's cottage; and on the
banks of this pond there were indications of a man, wearing
corduroy trousers similar to those worn by the prisoner,
having kneeled down, possibly for the purpose of washing
himself, and in this pond a cap, belonging to the prisoner
was discovered, with some marks on it which were believed
to be blood, and which had been thrown into the pond with
a brick in it for the purpose of making it sink. About 30
yards from the cottage there was also picked up a knife,
such as is commonly used to kill pigs with, which turned
out to have been in the possession of the prisoner on the
morning of the murder. This knife was very sharp and
covered with blood, and it was clear that it was the weapon
with which the prisoner had committed the crime, and that
he had thrown it away after he left the cottage. The pur-
suit of the prisoner was continued; and after Dunmow and
the others had gone a considerable distance they saw the
prisoner jump over a hedge into a plantation, when the con-
stable followed him, and the prisoner was discovered con-
cealed under a hedge. The first question that was put to
him was, whether he had been at Chadwell Heath that
morning. He replied that he had not ; and the officer then
said that he should take him into custody on suspicion of
having murdered his old sweetheart. He made no answer,
and upon his his clothes being examined, it appeared that
they were wet up to the chest, as though he had been in a
pond ; his waistcoat and trousers were very bloody, the cuffs
of his jacket were torn off, and he had no cap. These cuffs
were afterwards picked up in a field through which the pri-
soner had wined during hie flight, and they were found to
be completely saturated with blood. The above were the
principal points in the case, and it will be seen that they
tended most conclusively to establish the charge against the
prisoner.

A great many witnesses were examined for the prosecu-
tion. One of them, named Rogers, deposed to the following
extraordinary facts :—He said he was in the habit of at-
tending Romford market, and he did so one Wednesday in
the month of August last, which was about three weeks
before the murder was committed. On his way home he
stopped with his horse and cart at the White Horse publio•
house on Chadwell-heath, and ho saw the prisoner there and
asked him to mind his horse and cart while he went into the
house to have some refreshment, and he sent the prisoner
some bread and cheese and porter. When he went out he
noticed that the prisoner seemed to be very dejected and
low-spirited, and he observed to him that he appeared to
have something on his mind, and he replied that he had.
[To pressed him to disclose to him what it was that troubled
him, and the prisoner then said, " Well, I have been looking
for a woman for a month to hal, a her blood. I saw her
once, but I was too drunk to attack her, and I thought that
if I did she would be able to give an alarm." The witness,
who is a member of the Jewish persuasion, urged the pri-
soner not to entertain such feelings, observing that he never
heard of their people (the Jews) doing such things. The
prisoner then said—l have sworn to do it, and do it I will.
The witness then said that perhaps he would think better
of it, to which the prisoner replied, " Look here, Sir, I have
had a month to consider of it, and surely if in that time I
don't rcdect on it, I shall not ROW ;1. and he then pulled out
a knife, and wished him to look at it, but he refused to do
so, and as he wee going the prisoner said, "Good bye, Sir;

Henry Augustus Munns, who was convicted of wounding
a young woman named Charlotte Turimr, in a transport of
jealousy, with intent to do her grievous bodily harm, was
brought up for judgment late on Tuesday evening, and
sentenced to ten years' penal servitude.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT',—LmitrooL, DEO. 13,
CROWN COURT,
(BLfore Mr Justice Mellor.)

Sarah Wearthy, a married woman, was charged with
having caused the death of her mother, Catherine Rico, a
woman upwards of 70 years of age.
Mr Peel prosecuted ; prisoner was undefended.
On Aug. 13th a surgeon saw the body of the deceased,
who had died during the previous night ; he found eight se-
vere bruises about the breast, neck, and shoulders, and also
that the collar bone and six of the ribs were broken, four of
the ribs being broken in several places. These injuries were
sufficient to cause death, and must have been produced by
kicks or blows from a heavy instrument, and in the sur-
geon's opinion could not have been inflicted more than 48
hours before death. _ .

A police-constable w_.s culled, who proved that in the
month of July, being attracted by the moans of the old
woman, he entered the house and found the prisoner using
most revolting language towards her mother, and kicking
her violently about the breast, shoulders and abdomen ; she
was also striking her severely with a thick stick. He fur-
ther proved that some days previous to Ler death the old
woman made complaint to him of the prisoner's violence.
His Lordship directed the jury that however strong the
suspicion against the prisoner might be, and however much
they might desire that she should be punished for her re-
volting conduct, yet in the absence of evidence that she had
beaten her mother within 48 hours of death, they must ac-
quit the prisoner.
The prisoner was then acquitted.

OXFORD CIRCUIT—WOACESTY.R) Dec, 14.
CROWN COURT.
(Before Mr Justice Byles,)

George Smith and Charles Carr were charged with bur-
glary at the house of George Evans on tho 30th July last,
at She'sley Kingly, and stealing articles of clothing there.
Mr Best was for the prosecution. The prisoners were not
defended.

After the prosecutor and his family had retired to rest on
the night of July 30, about 1 o'clock, the prosecutor heard
a noise in his shop, Ho armed himself with a revolver and
went down. He there found the two prisoners packing up
some trousers and other things in a bundle. He showed
them his revolver and threatened to use it if they offered re-
sistance. Smith came towards him and struck him, upon
which the prosecutor fired off his revolver. and struck him
several times on the head with it. Carr then came towards
him and he also struck Carr with the revolver, and ulti-
mately gave them into custody, The prisoners seemed to
consider that as they had not carried off the goods they
could not be guilty of stealing, but after his lordship
summed up,

The jury found a verdict of guilty against both prisoners,
His Lordship sentenced eaoh of them to five years' penal
servitude.

Edward Wilkes was indicted for damaging the dwelling
houses of one John Haywood, at Queen's-cross, Dudley, on
the 11th October last, by the explosion of gunpowder.
Mr Mottsram was for the prosecution. The prisoner was
not defended.

The prisoner is a collier at work at Spring's Mire, under
Lord Dudley, at Dudley, awl was working at the time of
the explosion at reduced prices. e prisoner was on strike.
Haywood went to bed at about 10 at night on the
10th October. The house was a four roamed house, and
contained besides himself his wife and eight ch;ldren. At
about 10 minutes past 4 o'clock in the morning tie was
awoke by the sound of smashing glass. He then saw
fleshes from gunpowder, and heard en explosion and the
sound as of footsteps running away. He lit a candle and
went down. Before going to bed he had put up the shut-
ters of the window of the ground-floor room. The shutters
did not reach the top of the window and when he come
down he found a pate of glass above the shutters broken,
and that the mortar had been scattered under the window.
He also found a hat, a cork, in which was a hole for a fuse,
and a match which had been lighted. There was also
found, within a few yards, part of a breakfast-con, which
had contained powder. A married daughter of the pri-
soner was at her father's house on the night in question;
and she stated that About 3 o'clock in the morning her
mother and the prisoner came home, and after they had
been in a short time two men, named Jervons and Foxall,
came and said, " Come, let us go and get a -- up in time
this morning ;" and then her father put on his boots and
went out with them and did not return until half-pest 6
o'clock. A man named Frank Bennett was taken up on
suspicion of being concerned in the outrage. On the 13th
of October the prisoner stated to a relative of Bennett's
that Bennett was innocent, and that the hat that was found
was his, and that he had lost it at the bother at queen's-
cross, but that it (the bother) was not done to hurt the
naan, but only to frighten him, The prisoner stated to
Police Superintendent Burton how it had happened that he
had gone with the two men; and added that he should not
have gone if he had not been drunk. The prisoner now
stated in his defence that when he started with the two men
he only went out for a walk, and had no knowledge of their
intentions until they got near to Haywood's house, when
one of them produced a bottle with gunpowder in it, and
that then he refused to go any further, and when he heard
the explosion he was frightened and ran away, and in so
doing his hat dew off, which he was too alarmed to pick up.
The prisoner had borne a good character hitherto,
His lordship left it to the jury to say whether the
offence had been committed, or only an attempt made to
commit it, and whether there was any intention to damage
the house, persons being therein, and, if so, whether tho
two men, Jervons and Email, had that intention, and then
whether the prisoner participated in it.
The jury found &verdict of Guilty of the aCempting to
commit the felony.:
Sentence deferred.

MIDLAND CIRCUIT.—Yonic, Due. 13.
(Before Mr Justice Keating.)

Last night the jury, after an absence of three hours and
a half, returned a verdict of Guilty, with a recommendation
to mercy, against Alice 'Wilson, whm was tried on the charge
of having murdered her son. his lordship passed sentence
of death, but said ha would forward the recommendation of
mercy to the proper quarter.
A few other cases were tried to-day of no public interest,
and thus ended the business for the North and East Ridings
of Yorkshire.

LADY FRAN KLIN---1 widow of the celebrated
Arctic explorer and dise,v,:,rer is residing at prsarnat_at
Barcelona,