The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, APRIL 13, i 863,

THE MURDER IN ST. GILES'S.

-•~--

On Saturday evening Dr. Lankester, the coroner for the
western division of Middlesex, opened the inquest at Turn-
hsm',.; Oporto Stores, corner of Broad-street and Endell-
street, _Bloomsbury, on Emma Jackson, the murdered
woman.

The event has created a very great sensation, as might
naturally be expected in such a neighbourhood, abutting on
and forming part, as it does, of what was formerly known
as the old St. Giles's " Rookery," which is inhabited by
costermongers and the very poorest class of Irish. The in-
quest room was not only crowded to excess, but the tavern
in which it was held was surrounded by hundreds of per •
sans while the inquiry was being proceeded with.
The coroner arrived shortly before six o'clock, having:pre-
viously made, with the police, a personal inspection of the
body and of the room in which the deceased lay.
The panel having been sworn,
The Curtner said they had been called together to inves •
tigate the death of a young woman named Emma Jackson,
some account of which they had no doubt heard. Ho had
felt it his duty to call them together that evening,although
he by no means anticipated they could at present go very
far into the inquiry, in order that they might see the body
just as it was discovered in the apartment where it now was
lying, No. 4, George-street. He had, the moment the
notice of the death was received by him, directed that the
body should not be moved, so that the jury might form a
judgment as far as possible, and so might arrive at a just
conclusion as to the cause of death. In order to do this
he was sure he need not impress upon them the advisability
of minutely examining the apartment in which the
body lay, and the various utensils therein, but he had also
to request that they would as minutely examine the room
adjoining that in which the murder took place. Having
done this, on their return he proposed to have evidence as
to the identity of the body, and that of the medical gentle-
man who was called in, and who would, so far as he could
do so at present, describe what he saw. He thought it
would then be necessary to adjourn the inquiry.
It was understood that the remarks of the coroner in re-
ference to the adjoining room arose out of the astounding
fact that during Thursday morning, when the murder must
have been committed, the room adjoining, which is only
separated from that in which the body lies by a door, was
occupied by two young women, who slept therein at the time
the deceased and the man alleged to have gone into the
house with her were there.
The jury then proceeded to view the mangled remains of
the deceased, which lay on the bed in the miserable apart-
ment where she was discovered, and presented a shocking
sight. It was ascertained that the front and back rooms
were divided by a slender plaster partition, with a door in
the centre of so slight a character that on being put to the
test, a person speaking moderately low could be distinctly
heard. It is therefore astonishing, if there had been any
words or any conversation whatever between the deceased
and her murderer, or any struggling, as appearances indi-
cate, that nothing should have been heard by the two young
women referred to. They have, however, both been sub-
pcenaed to give evidence.
On the return of the jury,
John Jackson was examined, and said—l reside at 5,
West-street, Seven-dials. The deceased woman was my sis-
ter. She was 28 years of age, and was a single woman. She
lived at 10, Berwick- street, Soho. She worked at shirt mak-
ing with her mother, with whom she resided. I last saw her
alive on Sunday evening at the Fox, in Wardour-street,
where I hold a situation. She was with some other person,
and had been drinking a little. She was not in the habit of
drinking habitually that I am aware of. She was with
male companions when I saw her on the Sunday. I
know notning of where she was on the Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, or Thursday last. I have no doubt that the
body viewed by the jury at 4, Goerge-street, is that of my
sister. I have seen it, and identify it as such.
By the Jury—l have seen the men she was with on Sun•
day since that time, and I have seen one of them to-day.
Martha Curley, a respectable -looking girl about 18 years
of sge, was next examined—l reside at 4 George-street, St.
Giles's, and get my living by being in service there. lam
servant to Mr. George, who keeps the house. It is alod ging-
house. We take in people at all hours of the night. We
do not make any inquiries as to the characters of the people
we take in. Others attend the door besides myself. I have a
young woman to assist me at times. Her name is Catherine
Mulind. I recollect admitting the deceased into the house
on Thursday morning last, at seven o'clock. I was not up
when she came, The street door was shut, and I was made
acquainted with the dcooased and a man coming in by a
young woman and a man who were at the time going out.
They called me and I got up, and found deceased and a man
with her in the passage and coming up the stairs. The man
looked to me a man of middle height, but I could not tell his
age. He had black clothes on, but 1. did not observe whether
he had on a cap or a hat. The young woman asked for a
bed for two hours, and I showed them both into the room on
the first fluor back—the same room in which the body of the
deceased was found. They said nothing more to me after I
admitted them into the room. The man paid me a shilling,
but did not speak. I did not hear him speak. I then put
the hasp in their room door, and went again to bed. There
were two young women sleeping in the room adjoining that
in which the deceased and the man had entered. There is a
door leading from the back room to the front, so that any-
thing transpiring in the back room I should think might be
heard by those in the front. I did not get up again till
almost half-past 11 o'clock, when Mulind came and called
me. When deceased and the man went into the room I
placed the hasp in the staple. It is our practice to do so to
prevent robberies.
By the Coroner—The first I heard of this happening was
my sending Mulind up to the first floor back to see why these
parties had not come down. Mulind came running down
into my room and saying there had been a woman murdered
in the first floor back. This was about a quarter before five
on Thursday afternoon. I ran upstairs with Mulind, and
then saw the deceased lying half across the bed with her feet
on the floor. Her head was at the foot of the bed, and she
was lying on her back across the bed. I think her arms lay
over her chest, and she was covered with blood. When I
saw her I came downstairs and told Mr. George, who sent
to the station-house for the police. The body was not moved
or touched to my knowledge before the police arrived. I
believe the police saw it just in the state in which I had pre-
viously seen it. When I went into the room after the disco-
very I found the back room window wide open, but it was
closed down when I let them into the room. The back door
was not fastened, and if the man had dropped from the win-
dow into the back yard he could have let himself in at the
back door, and could get out by the front door.
Mr. John Weekes examined—l reside at No. 4, High:
st red, Bloomsbury, and am a surgeon. I was called by the
police on Thursday, about half-past five in the evening. I
am quite certain as to the time. I went to No. 4, George-
street, and proceeded to the first-floor back room. I there
found a woman lying dead on her back, and her feet touch-
ing the floor, and her legs fixed, Her head was resting on
the bed, with the face upwards. One arm was across the
chest, the other across the abdomen. She had on her che-
mise, and it was low down below the breast. Some portion
of the bed clothes appeared to be saturated with blood. This
was the upper part of the clothes. The neck and back of
deceased were one mass of coagulated blood. The arms and
hands had very little blood upon them, but I did not notice
which arm had the most upon it. One was slightly
smeared.
Coroner—There is blood upon the arms now.
Witness—l washed the face and neck, and then examined
the body superficially. I found one wound on the neck, on
the right side of the trachea. I found five wounds alto-
gether. On the right side of the neck there were two
wounds, one a little above the other. They were both in-
cised wounds. The first, which is the largest, extended in
an oblique direction, and severed the windpipe. The second,
although of less size, had laid open the internal jugular.
The third and fourth wounds were both at the back of the
head, and extended into the bone of the spinal column.
Coroner—Do you think that either of the wounds you
have described would have caused death?
Witness—Wound No. 1 or No. 2 would have done so,
Nos. 4 and 5 might not. The wounds are of that character
that I think it impossible any person could have inflicted
such on themselves ; indeed, I am am sure they could not.
Coroner—Did you find any instrument by which it was
likely such wounds could be inflicted?
Witness—We did not, although we made strict search
for any instrument. lam quite positive, judging from the
oblique character of such wounds, that it was utterly im-
possible for deceased to have inflicted the wounds on herself.
By the Jury—l think, supposing that the wound which
severed the windpipe to have been inflicted first, that it
would have been almost impossible for the deceased to have
screamed or cried out. Whereas, on the contrary, if either
of the wounds at the back of the neck had been inflicted first
she could have cried out, I believe deceased had been dead
some five or six hours when I saw her.
The witness here said that he could not give a minute
description as to the extent and internal character of the
woundswithout a post-mortem txamination.
The Coroner observe ! that he had directed a post-mortem
that s
examination of the body to be made, as it might turn out
.
?me of the other wounds besides thatwhich had severed
the windpipe had caused death. Moreover, they did not
thattherefore,
eproei
fsoorne might
proposedno not
tobe
adjourn detected thetihno in
inquiry s t mr
ya, c h
in
order to enable the.
Ho
now,
'police, who had the matter in hand, to
trace out any evidence which might elucidate the circum •
stances under which the deceased met her death, and he
would suggest that they
vestigation on the afternoo should hold their adjourned in-
n of Friday next, the 17th inst.
The jury acquiesced, and the inquest was adjourned ac-
cordingly.

LATEST PARTICULARS.
After the dose of the inquest on Saturday evening, there
was considerable disappointment felt that the coroner,having

the two young women present, a 8 also the other servant girl,
Mulind, in attendance, did not examine them to complete
the chain of evidence so far it goes, of her who first dis-
covered the body after the murder, and of the two females
who were in the adjoining room at the time, and remained
there some time after the deceased and her murderer were
admitted. The point would then have been ascertained as
to whether, when Mulind went up to the room, she found
the hasp which the witness Curley had turned had been re-
moved, or if the door was still fastened on the outside.
There is also a padlock on the door which the police state
when they arrived they found fastened.
It has not transpired whether the man and woman who
were coming out when the victim and her murderer were ad-
mitted, and who called the servant, are known, and have
been traced. It must have been broad daylight at the time,
and they may be enabled to give a much more minute de-
scription of the supposed murderer than the half-sleepy
girl who had just risen from her bed, from which, in all
probability, kho had been dragged some half-dozen or dozen
times during the night in this disgraceful den. Their evi-
dence would be of paramount importance; and it is to be
hoped in such a case as this no false delicacy will prevent
them coming forward if they can give the faintest descrip-
tion of the paramour of the murdered woman.

The medical man called in expressed an opinion that
when he saw the body deceased had been dead some five or
six hours. In that case the murder must have been per-
petrated about mid-day; if so, it is astonishing that nothing
should have been heard, and that if the murderer had
dropped from the window into the back yard he should not
have been seen by some one.

SUNDAY NIGHT, Eleven o'Clock.

In consequence of information which reached the police,
to the effect that a man who was known to be acquainted
with Emma Jackson had been seen on Wednesday about
the neighbourhood where she resided, Sergeant Thomson,
of the Detective Police, and Sergeant Lambert, of the E
division, proceeded to• day to Aldershot, and brought to
town with them a private of the 18th Hussars, named
Langdel], who, it appears, on being questioned, admitted
that he was acquainted with the deceased, but said that
although he had come to London on the evening prior to
the murder without leave he had returned the same night
at nine o'clock. On being taken to the George-street police-
station last night, and the persons who had seen the deceased
and a man on the morning of the murder, being sent for,
they were not able to identify him as the man they had
seen, and he was liberated by Inspector Garforth.
The police are making the most diligent search for the
murderer.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

THE NAVY.

The total number of workmen now employed
upon the Royal Sovereign turret ship at Portsmouth
we are glad to ob-
is e
rnvee rl y
having 3 00,
ba
ededni t
placedi on a l h
upon
s ,
few days. Her plating is now being carried on
rapidly, and the cylinder or hollow pivot of her
foremost turntable and turret is in its place. Ac-
cording to the official returns the ship's tonnage
will now be 3,963 tons, and her seagoing draught of
water will be 23ft 9in. Her horse power is 800
nominal; her length is 240 ft and breadth 62ft lin.
Her sides will consist of 3ft of solid timber plated
with 52-inch rolled armour plates (by Brown, of
Sheffield). The upper deck will be formed with 1-
inch iron plating laid on the beams, the latter being
alternately of iron and wood, and strengthened with
double rows of stringer plates. Over this iron
plating will be laid 8-inch wooden planking. She
will carry seven days' coal at full speed, which is
estimate at 12.25 knots. The time named for her
completion is September next, but it will tax the
utmost energies of the officials in Portsmouth yard to
complete her by that time, even if they are allowed
to employ an unlimited number of hands upon her.
The Royal Alfred, in the same yard, is a 34 broad-
side gunship, of 4,045 tons, 800 horse power. She
is 273 ft in length, 68ft 6in in breadth, and her esti-
mated speed is to be 11i knots. Her date of launch-
ing was fixed for February last, but as she is as yet
without armour plating it is impossible tosay when
she will be launched. Both the Royal Sovereign
and Royal Alfred, it is almost needless to repeat
here, are wooden vessel, iron-cased. The armour
plating of the Royal Alfred is 41in. It is important
to notice the difference in the estimated speed of
the two ships. At the same time the official re-
turns do not express whether this "estimated" rate
of speed is calculated for the measured mile or at
sea, and we must presume therefore that it is meant
for the former. The work in both ships is being
executed in the best possible manner, whether as
relates to wood or iron.

The paddlewheel steam storeship Rhadamanthus,
from Woolwich, with engine gear and supernu-
meraries arrived at Plymcuth on Friday evening.
The screw steam frigate Orlando, 50, from the
North American station, is expected in Plymouth.

especially the deployments, were well performed.
The division afterwards paraded in marching order,
by batteries, formed at wheeling distances, when
the clothing and kits of the non-commissioned offi-
cers and men were minutely inspected. At the close
of the day's inspection Col. Nedham expressed him-
self much pleased with the undeviating steadiness
of the brigade under arms, which betokened a high
state of efficiency, and reflected considerable credit
on Col. Talbot. The inspection will terminate to-
day with an examination of the books, accounts,
and official records of the depot brigade.
The detachment of surveyors, draughtsmen, and
photographers, selected from the companies of
Royal Engineers at headquarters, Chatham, for
service in New Zealand, took their departure from
Brompton-barracks on Saturday. Prior to leaving
Chatham the non-commissioned officers and men
were inspected by Col. H. D. Harness, C. 8., Direc-
tor of the Royal Engineer establishment, who after-
wards addressed them. He reminded them of the
important and highly responsible nature of the
duties they would be called on to perform, and en-
joined them to maintain a consistent course of con-
duct and an undeviating attention to their duty.
The non-commissioned officers and Sappers com-
posing the detachment have been specially selected
for this service from the companies now at the home
stations, and the whole have gone through the com-
plete course of instruction at the various schools at
Chatham, They will be absent from England for
several years, and during the time they are employed
in New Zealand they will receive a high rate of
pay. The nature of the duties on which they will
be employed will be chiefly on the Government sur-
vey of the islands compcsing the colony, and the
designing and superintending the erection of vari-
ous public buildings, as well as the formation of
public roads, bridges, &c., and, generally, on the
various description of engineering works. Should
their services be required they will also be employed
in the colonial Mint. They will embark at Ports-
mouth on board the Australian ship Norwood.
A general field-day of the whole of the troops
quartered in and around Chatham took place on the
Great Lines on Saturday afternoon, when all the
available forces of the garrison were assembled
for brigading by Major-General li. Eyre, com-
manding the Chatham district. The troops on the
Lines comprised the mounted D battery of the 9th
Brigade, Royal Artillery, with their Armstrong
field guns, ammunition and ambulance waggcns,
&c., the companies of Royal Engineers at head-
quarters, the three depot battalions of infantry,
consisting of the depot companiea of 21 regiments,
and the battalion of Royal Marine Light Infantry,
the whole numbering a force of between 4,000 and
5,000 men, with about 100 officers. The troops were
formed on the Lines at 2 30 p.m., with the Royal
Artillery on the right, and the Royal Marines occu-
pying the left. At the termination of the ma-
noeuvres, which were extended until an advanced
hour of the afternoon, General Eyre assembled the
whole of the commanding officers, whom he briefly
addressed, remarking on the manner in which the
several corps under their command had acquitted
themselves. The entire force afterwards marched
off the ground to their respective quarters.
The Megrera screw troopship will embark to-day
at Portsmouth the right wing of the 2d Queen's,
who will arrive there by South-Western Railway
from Farnborough and Aldershott, for conveyance
to Plymouth. On the 2d disembarking from the
Megvera at Plymouth, the left wing of the 32d Regi-
ment will embark in her, for conveyance to Dublin,
whence she finally returns to Portsmouth with the
remainder of the 87th Regiment for Aldershott.